Narrative

Day 35 began with gates opening and closing, and guards who looked like militia. One guard leaned over to another after noticing the party. The party used the cover story that the prisoners had been taken from the station as part of a drill to test prisoner safety, and they paid the guard for doing well in the drill.

The guards chatted idly while handing out the coins. The roads were fairly quiet, with a few people milling around the building, some militia, and a few of the Duke’s guards. The party changed course toward the back of the building. A guard on the back gate let them in, and Morgana tried to bribe him. Duke’s men were all inside. Morgana turned into a spider and went inside to check what was happening.

Inside, offices had been ransacked. Some guards were still doing paperwork, while others were being interviewed by the Duke’s men. In the curtained office, the captain’s office, a human man in white gloves was investigating the office and the false drawer. He was acting very odd and was named Mr Seneshell. The prisoners were ready. Someone came in and gave an order to bring them out the front.

The party tried to attach the bangle to the cart, but there were many people around and it was difficult to get there. They got invisibility. They tried to swap the horses for fresh ones. The horses were named Daisy, Applejack, Carrot Muncher, and [uncertain: Harpvicarch]. A kobold female and a halfling were escorted out. The party attached the bangle and loosened an axle.

The Barrier thickened, and two groups were hitting it. The party could feel the dome’s pull. They gave the captain a further platinum for getting them this far, then headed out of the militia house. Twenty minutes later, Morgana sensed movement toward Claymeadow. On the way out, the party saw two watchmen, one of whom seemed off; Geldrin checked and found he was an automaton.

At the gate queue, the party went around to the front and persuaded the guards to let them through. The guards thought the automaton-like watchman had been removed from duty. The other watchman got something out of his pocket and went around the other side of the wagon at the front of the queue. The party checked the cart and did not find anything. They asked [unclear] to check on them. There were two carts travelling on the road with no panic. Six people were on the exterior, but the party could not see inside to tell whether there were guards there. They began to catch up with the carts.

The carts had been single file, but once they seemed to spot the party, they moved side by side with crossbows pointed back. At 02:00, the cart guards told the party to maintain a distance and leave them alone. Morgana tried to persuade the horses to stop. The guards shot at the party. Someone got on top of the cart and shot back.

The back doors opened, and the man with white gloves stood in the middle adjusting his gloves. The second cart’s doors opened, and a ballista fired at the party. Battle began. Morgana stopped the carts with thorns and killed all the external people and horses. Geldrin killed two people on the ballista with an acid ball. The boss’s lower half turned into a snake, and he leapt toward the party, attacking Dirk and Morgana. Guards in the cart turned into llamia. All the prisoners in the wagon appeared to be unconscious, drugged in some way. Geldrin killed the snake guy with a fireball. Eliana killed a llamia after the fireball. Morgana killed the other llamia with another cart wheel. All the bad guys were dead.

On the snake guy, the party found a silver chain with a serpent pendant. It was a magical talisman, described as +1 cleric cash rolls [unclear] with Noxia catch spells. The prisoners were magically asleep: Lady Katherine Cole, the Elementarium, the kobold, Lady Katherine Neugate, Lord [uncertain: Harmock] Hayes, and a half-elf female. The party moved the captives to their cart, set fire to the enemy carts, left, and headed off the main road airwise toward Bluemeadows at 04:00.

The party entered Bluemeadows, with “River” crossed out in the notes. At a church or church-like place, the fields were full of bluebells in bloom, which was odd for the time of year. The bluebells were very hardy and looked like crops. Geldrin added a College of Surgeons symbol to the wagon, and the party headed into town. A man on the steps who looked like local militia stopped and came to talk to them. He did not have a serenity stone. Lady Esmerelda was mentioned. The bluebells were used for dye. The party got provisions. Grey Gables was the next town airwise.

The kobold woke up. He was Mr TJ Biggins of the Plantation of Newt [unclear] Vain, outside the dome. He did not get on with the greenscale family, the Loose Teeth, or the Blackscales, who came to his town for tributes and then left. He thought the party were Bumblebeers, people from down the road described as red Goliaths but bigger. The party headed out of town airwise.

TJ said Lady Envy was boss of the llamia. The sand dome was to keep elementals out. His town was known for mining. People came to get tributes from his town and then left. Fire and earth raids hit the town. He saw a gnome the last time the Bleakshrouvers came to town. If people paid enough coins, they could get into the dome. Dirk showed TJ what the dome was using a bun, and TJ then called it the “Bun.” A side note listed Pride, Lust, greed, wrath, envy, gluttony, and sloth.

TJ said seven moons had passed between him waking up in prison and waking up with the party. He had gone to sleep at home and woken up in prison. The half-elf lady stirred. She was a youngish Rein lore elf, very elven-looking, and reminded the party of the twin guards of the Justicar. She was Lady Yadreya Egrine, Baroness of Riversmeet. She had been with the menagerie, where creatures had gone missing, especially the more experimental creatures. New ones had gone missing about a month ago. She wanted to know more about it, perhaps explaining why she was taken. She had been taken a few days ago after a spell was cast on her while she was in a chamber doing paperwork.

Lady [uncertain: Huthnall] was looking into corrupt slate and related matters. An Inquisitor from Salvation was noted, along with Thrice pass on the ground. Lady [uncertain: Suisant] De’Beauchamp was associated with Iron craft firewise.

Lady Katherine Neugate woke up and seemed reticent to talk to the party. The rescued prisoners all seemed to work off the same council. Neugate had been captured for four days. She mentioned the same people who were missing from the council. Neither Neugate nor Egrine mentioned the Guilt, and neither had met him. Lady Katherine Cole, Eliana’s boss, woke up and said she had been captured for three days. “3 paws - Beauchamp” was noted. The prisoners believed the Guilt had never been part of the council, but he had been. All of them had dried blood in their ear canal.

The ear injuries looked like eardrum injuries. Each prisoner was a little deaf in that ear, and it looked like something was lodged in the eardrum: a pupa in each one. The party pulled one out of Lady Cole. It was a large grub attached to the ear canal. Egrine had seen the creatures in the menagerie. When the grub was killed, Lady Cole got her memories back and said she had felt like she was being watched. Tarrak woke up from the removal. All the affected prisoners had forgotten that the Guilt was a member of the council, had been told not to trust him, and no longer felt watched after the grubs were removed.

A third figure was on the roof of the cart. Skum appeared on the roof to rescue Elementarium and gave the party Bob’s shell. Skum said he had never seen Elementarium at the Goldenswell guardhouse. Elementarium had sat there for two days. A human who walked like a horse and was missing two legs was noted. A silver dragon man wearing a cloak had cast a spell on Elementarium, and Elementarium walked out with them to the cart. Elementarium had been imprisoned for approximately two days.

Morgana kissed Elementarium to try to wake him up. It felt like she forced him, and she saw a laughing female dragon, possibly the Peridot Queen. At 12:00, Geldrin hit Elementarium; Elementarium opened his eyes, and they were green.

The party all slept while the rescuees drove them to Brookville Springs. They arrived or were en route there at 20:00.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

People and name-like figures mentioned include Morgana, Mr Seneshell, the human man in white gloves, Daisy, Applejack, Carrot Muncher, [uncertain: Harpvicarch], the kobold female, the halfling, the captain, Geldrin, Dirk, the snake-bodied boss / snake guy, Lady Katherine Cole, Elementarium, Lady Katherine Neugate, Lord [uncertain: Harmock] Hayes, the half-elf female, Lady Esmerelda, Mr TJ Biggins, Lady Envy, Lady Yadreya Egrine, Lady [uncertain: Huthnall], Lady [uncertain: Suisant] De’Beauchamp, the Inquisitor from Salvation, Thrice, the Guilt, Tarrak, Skum, Bob, the human who walked like a horse and was missing two legs, the silver dragon man wearing a cloak, the laughing female dragon, and the Peridot Queen?.

Groups and factions mentioned include militia, Duke’s guards, Duke’s men, watchmen, an automaton-like watchman, cart guards with crossbows, ballista crew, llamia, prisoners, the College of Surgeons, local militia, the greenscale family, the Loose Teeth, the Blackscales, Bumblebeers, red Goliaths but bigger, elementals, Bleakshrouvers, Rein lore elves, twin guards of the Justicar, the Justicar, the menagerie, the council, Salvation, and rescuees.

Places mentioned include the station, the militia house, the captain’s office / curtained office, the false drawer, the back gate, the Barrier, the dome, the gate queue, the road, the carts, Bluemeadows, the church or church-like place, bluebell fields, Grey Gables, the Plantation of Newt [unclear] Vain, the town outside the dome, Lady Envy’s sand dome, Riversmeet, Iron craft firewise, Goldenswell guardhouse, and Brookville Springs.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

Resources and payments mentioned include coins handed out to guards, payment to the guard for doing well in the supposed drill, Morgana’s attempted bribe at the back gate, one further platinum paid to the captain for getting the party this far, fresh horses, the bangle attached to the cart, invisibility used to reach the cart, the loosened axle, provisions bought in Bluemeadows, and Bob’s shell given by Skum.

Vehicles and animals mentioned include the party cart, enemy carts, the prisoner cart, horses named Daisy, Applejack, Carrot Muncher, and [uncertain: Harpvicarch], the horses killed in battle, and the cart wheel Morgana used to kill a llamia.

Weapons, combat effects, and magical resources mentioned include crossbows aimed from the carts, a ballista fired from the second cart, Morgana’s thorns stopping the carts, Geldrin’s acid ball killing two ballista crew, Geldrin’s fireball killing the snake guy, the snake guy’s lower-half transformation into a snake, guards transforming into llamia, magical sleep / drugging on the prisoners, the silver chain with a serpent pendant found on the snake guy, the magical talisman described as +1 cleric cash rolls [unclear] with Noxia catch spells, Geldrin’s College of Surgeons symbol added to the wagon, the serenity stone the Bluemeadows militia-like man did not have, the bluebells used for dye, ear pupae / large grubs attached to prisoners’ ear canals, and the spell cast by the silver dragon man on Elementarium.

Information resources and identifiers mentioned include the ransacked offices, paperwork by guards, interviews by the Duke’s men, Mr Seneshell investigating the false drawer, the order to bring prisoners out the front, the town’s mining and tribute economy, TJ’s “Bun” explanation for the dome, the side note list of Pride, Lust, greed, wrath, envy, gluttony, and sloth, Lady Yadreya Egrine’s menagerie knowledge, references to missing experimental creatures, corrupt slate, and council membership memories involving the Guilt.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

The Duke’s men had ransacked offices and were interviewing guards at the militia house. Mr Seneshell, the human man in white gloves, investigated the false drawer and acted oddly before later appearing as the snake-bodied boss. His role, loyalty, and connection to the Duke’s operation remain open.

The party’s extraction relied on bribes, invisibility, a bangle attached to the cart, and a loosened axle. The exact function of the bangle is not stated but was important enough to attach to the cart. The watchman who seemed off was confirmed as an automaton even though guards thought he had been removed from duty. The other watchman’s pocket action and the checked cart at the front of the queue remain suspicious, even though the party found nothing in the cart.

The Barrier thickened while two groups were hitting it, and the party could feel the dome’s pull. The sand dome was later described by TJ as a defense to keep elementals out. The relationship between the Barrier, the dome, Lady Envy’s sand dome, elemental raids, and the “Bun” explanation remains unresolved.

The ambush revealed cart guards who transformed into llamia and a boss whose lower half became a snake. The silver serpent pendant talisman on the snake guy, its Noxia-related spell-catching property, and Lady Envy being boss of the llamia all remain significant.

The rescued prisoners were magically asleep / drugged. Their identities and affiliations are important: Lady Katherine Cole, the Elementarium, Mr TJ Biggins, Lady Katherine Neugate, Lord [uncertain: Harmock] Hayes, and Lady Yadreya Egrine / the half-elf female. Their capture durations varied: TJ experienced seven moons between waking in prison and waking with the party; Neugate was captured for four days; Cole was captured for three days; Elementarium was imprisoned for about two days.

Bluemeadows had bluebells in bloom at an odd time of year, grown like hardy crops and used for dye. The local militia-like man did not have a serenity stone. Lady Esmerelda was mentioned without context. Grey Gables was the next town airwise.

TJ’s account preserves several unresolved external factions and places: the Plantation of Newt [unclear] Vain outside the dome, the greenscale family, the Loose Teeth, the Blackscales collecting tributes, Bumblebeers from down the road, red Goliaths but bigger, fire and earth raids, mining, and a gnome seen when the Bleakshrouvers last came to town. Paying enough coins could get someone into the dome.

The side note listing Pride, Lust, greed, wrath, envy, gluttony, and sloth appears near Lady Envy and the dome information, but its exact relevance is not stated.

Lady Yadreya Egrine’s menagerie had missing creatures, especially experimental creatures, with new disappearances about a month earlier. She was taken after a spell was cast on her while doing paperwork. Lady [uncertain: Huthnall] was investigating corrupt slate, and Lady [uncertain: Suisant] De’Beauchamp was linked to Iron craft firewise. An Inquisitor from Salvation and Thrice pass on the ground were noted but not explained.

The rescued council members had forgotten that the Guilt was a member of the council and had been told not to trust him. They had dried blood, eardrum injuries, deafness, and pupae / grubs lodged in the ear canal. Removing and killing Lady Cole’s grub restored her memories and ended the watched feeling. Egrine recognized the grubs from the menagerie, linking memory control, surveillance, and missing experimental creatures.

Skum appeared on the roof of the cart to rescue Elementarium and gave the party Bob’s shell. Skum had not seen Elementarium at the Goldenswell guardhouse. Elementarium was led away by a silver dragon man wearing a cloak who cast a spell on him. The human who walked like a horse and was missing two legs remains unidentified.

Morgana’s attempt to wake Elementarium by kissing him felt forced and gave her a vision of a laughing female dragon, possibly the Peridot Queen. When Geldrin hit Elementarium, he opened green eyes. The cause and meaning of the green eyes, forced-feeling kiss, and laughing dragon vision remain unresolved.