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[AliceTheOwl]

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In Cuspin, the party discusses how they plan on dealing with the army marching behind them. They find the city of Cuspin well-prepared for an invasion, however.

 

They rest after their long journey, and, the following day, Flora meets a woman named Srinna while looking up spells at the library. Srinna is interested in learning Flora's Locate spell, in exchange for teaching her an attack which goes after a person's mind, rather than body.

 

She returns for lunch, and sees Daris also returning to the inn, accompanied by the Creator. The Creator goes upstairs to speak to Michael, who rushes down a moment later, deeply apologetic, and then he vanishes. The Creator serenely joins them once more, and asks each how he might reward them for their many trials. Rastal asks that Liv's family is safe, but the Creator shakes his head and informs them that Rastal must take care of that. However, when Liv asks that they be protected, he agrees. Flora asks for more magical ability, which he agrees to, and Lyrien asks that his nightmares cease. He skips over Daris, having already ascertained his wish, and looks to Arachne, the latest addition to the party. She insists she requires no reward, but the Creator gleans an answer from her, nevertheless, and nods. Then he vanishes.

 

The following day, Flora asks Srinna what she needs the Locate spell for. Srinna speaks truthfully, telling her that she's been hired to locate Eireille. Flora balks, and so Srinna takes her captive to interrogate her, teleporting both of them to a remote location.

 

After several hours of grueling pain, Flora realizes that she has a way of warning Eireille, and gives up the last known location. Srinna has her dumped outside.

 

Lyrien finds her soon after, and they return to the inn, where Flora shares the news, and Salem sends a message to Duncan, who's watching over Eireille.

 

Flora goes upstairs to rest, and tells Salem that she'd prayed for help from the Creator, and how upset she is that he didn't do anything to help. He points out how little the Creator has been involved in their story thus far, and she gets mad at him. What he doesn't say is that he suspects the rewards the Creator is dangling in front of them is because things are only going to get harder and more grueling, and because he won't help them no matter how difficult things are.

 

Daris, meanwhile, seeks out the apothecary, who's hiding out in his second-floor apartment above his shop, having run out of supplies for making new potions. He does, however, have a back stock of alchemist's fires and some serum that increases the potency of alcohol, as well as a love potion (and the antidote), and one that makes a person beautiful for a short while.

 

That night, they sneak out of the city and lay siege to the army's supplies. Daris and Flora (invisibly), with their backup, approach the supplies and throw alchemist fire on the pile, while Rastal and his backup create a distraction. The plan works beautifully, and only two soldiers are hurt. Thanks to a judicially-applied spell to speed them up, they're able to scoop up the injured ones and beat a hasty retreat.

 

Predictably, the following day, the attackers have no luck in battering the walls, or even getting very close. All but one of their catapults are destroyed.

 

That night, Daris sneaks out, and, with Arachne's help, is able to quickly dismantle the moving parts on the catapult and cause even more chaos in the encampment. When it's used the following day, the catapult merely squashes several of their own.

 

A messenger arrives the following morning, offering a truce in exchange for their turning over the heroes. The Lord in charge of the town thumbs his nose at the offer.

 

The party decides to help reinforce the wall, meanwhile, and goes to Srinna's home to raid the stonework. However, when they go in, they find servants (who gladly escape when told to scram), and a young woman tied up in the basement. She introduces herself as Etemma. Later, she confesses she's Srinna's sister, and a necromancer. She's aghast at the notion Flora seems to have that necromancers are necessarily evil.

 

Daris seeks out those who ordered the love potion and the beautifying potion. He finds a young man who'd ordered the love potion, having ordered it to use it on himself. He'd despaired of ever falling in love, but then his now-wife moved to town, and he wound up not needing the potion. The other is a little girl with a crush on a priest. They warn the priest of her plans after handing over the potion.

 

With the siege winding down, the sentries spot reinforcements coming in from the road to Filo. The party regroups to come up with a new plan. They send runners for reinforcements of their own, and decide to attack before the reinforcements from Filo reach the city. Meanwhile, Daris tells the party the truth about Cyl: that she's a dragon, and liked Jaydus better than she liked them. However, he decides he'll contact her, and sends a message to Jaydus.

 

A day later, Cyl arrives in full dragon form, thoroughly intimidating what remains of the army. When she rears toward them, they scatter. She swoops toward the incoming army and roasts them with her fire breath. The remaining survivors are picked off by crossbowmen in the woods.

 

However, one contingent still presses forward, and the commander insists on trying to fight his way into the city. He makes it, though his backup scatters at the sight of the dragon. He speaks of the ruin that's come upon his family because he dared disobey Aciarren. The party decides that, if he has a death wish, they'll honor it, and leave him to his devices.

 

The following morning, word reaches them that they've had to cut a body down from the walls, after the man hanged himself.

[TheQuestionMan]

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Too cool for my words

 

 

Thanks for sharing Oh Great Owlish One

 

 

QM

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

Heh. Well, the players weren't too pleased with some of the developments . . . ^ v ^;

 

Overall, though, it's interesting how writing figures into this. Obviously I can't plot out everything the PCs do and know exactly how each game is going to go (not without some severe railroading, at least), but having a deep understanding of all of my NPCs helps me set up some very interesting things for them to stumble across. And I LOVE when they stumble across these little Easter eggs. ^ v ^

 

Unless the next session goes really, really fast, it's two to three sessions before I hit a "big reveal." Should be obvious what that is when it happens, and I don't think any of the players know what it is.

 

I can't wait. ^ v ^

[AliceTheOwl]

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The party waits in Cuspin for the reinforcements to arrive. While they're waiting, Daris gets a letter from Jaydus, remarking upon the fact that there are troops from Thornwilde closing in on the town of Wheatedge, where he's staying. After the reinforcements arrive, they set out to Wheatedge to lend a hand.

 

Along the way to Wheatedge, Flora notices that Arachne seems out of sorts, and lends an ear. Arachne is feeling tearful and strange, and doesn't understand why. Flora recognizes that Arachne's odd feelings seem to circulate around Etemma, the necromancer who seems interested in Daris, and supposes that Arachne is in love with Daris. Arachne is aghast at the idea.

 

When they reach Wheatedge, they find it the picture of peace. They track down Jaydus, who is supervising a field full of "volunteers." He tells them they're from the defeated Thornwilde Army, and are earning their freedom through repairing the fields they harmed in the battle. He reveals that Aciarren seems to lead through fear, not through any sense of loyalty, and he's talked most of the soldiers out of returning to Thornwilde.

 

Rastal apologizes to Jaydus for mistreating him, and Jaydus readily accepts the apology. However, he makes no offer to rejoin them, and they find out the following day that he's met a girl, and thinks he may have gotten her pregnant. He tells them he has reason to stay here, and that he likes in it Wheatedge.

 

The party stays for a bonfire dance, and they wake the following morning to several hungover party members. They arrange for a ride halfway with a merchant caravan, and leave just after lunch. The trip back to Cuspin yields only one encounter with enemy forces; the rest avoid them.

 

They go to a small port town, whose inn doesn't have room for all of them. Flora and Salem stay in the church. They catch a fast ship to Romennor, and outrun a member of the Thornwilde naval forces along the way.

 

Using Flora's locate spell, they pin down the location of the people holding Liv's family captive, as that is one of the tasks they must complete to earn god's favor. Daris invests in some maps, and they take a ferry to head off the kidnappers at the pass.

 

They find an opportunity to corner the kidnappers, and do so, which makes their efforts in stopping them far easier. One kidnapper takes a hostage, but is taken out by Daris before he can harm the child. Daris is knocked out for his trouble, but Salem and Rastal rush to his aid and see to it he has no permanent scars for his valor.

 

They leave most of the kidnappers jailed at the next town, but keep the leader for questioning. Daris asks Arachne if she has a spell to loosen their captives' tongue. She says yes, but that it will take time. As they board a boat to return to Cuspin, she's found out that their captive has a magical item for keeping in touch with the spy network, hidden under her clothes, and that her efforts to seduce her captors would result in death of any who took her up on her offer. She and Daris ply her for the exact procedure for getting a hold of her contact, and concoct a plan for using this resource to their advantage.

[AliceTheOwl]

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The heroes journey by sea back to Cuspinport, and, at about the halfway point, encounter another ship. The Captain boards the ship, and, after slaying the Captain and First Mate on the heroes' ship, slips away into the cargo hold. The sailors who pursue him are killed, and he almost gets away with a small piece of cargo.

 

However, the heroes step in and thwart the quick-footed Captain, and they take him hostage. They find he's stolen orders for the Queen's Navy, as well as a large, flawless diamond (which Arachne drools over, and Daris palms to give to her later), and a small eyepiece. Flora experiments with the eyepiece, and finds that it identifies both magical items, and whether someone is an ally or an enemy, by surrounding them in either blue or red. Magical items show up as a darker shade of one of those colors.

 

They negotiate for the return of the Captain and help figure out their interim Captain, then set sail once more. A boy from the Thornwilde ship volunteered to be taken hostage, and he has a communication device for keeping in touch with his fellow shipmates, lest the heroes attempt to renege on their negotiated deal.

 

The boy is polite and reasonable, making him easy to talk to, and he's fascinated with the tales Lyrien spins. He shows the distrust common in Thornwilde residents, but seems open to escaping a life of servitude to the corrupt and greedy. By the time they leave the Captain adrift, as per their agreement, the boy has decided to stay with them, for the time being.

 

The remainder of the journey is uneventful, but for Daris teaching the boy the Art of the Balanced Sword, and the occasional questioning of their prisoner, Amber.

 

After reaching Cuspinport, they travel, and see an encampment of people flying a white flag. Flora peers through the eyepiece, and sees that they show up as purple, meaning their alliance is to neither the Crown nor Thornwilde. Upon meeting the residents of the camp, Flora meets Morui, an innkeeper's son she'd met in Shadowdale. He's surprised to see her, and a little embarrassed. He explains he and his fellow soldiers, having been drafted, have defected, and want to help the Crown in their fight against Thornwilde. They accompany them to Wheatedge, where they're accepted as reinforcements for guarding the town.

 

There, Jaydus tells them of a spy problem he's been having, and they agree to help. They have Amber locked up securely, and announce through her communication device where she is. The following day, Daris is suspicious when he visits the captive to find her gag has been removed, but she tells him nothing about why that might be.

 

Shortly thereafter, they receive a message to meet "in the usual place" through Amber's communication device, and arrange a trap, casting a spell where Amber will be unable to fully identify herself.

 

They go to the spot Amber outlined, but she takes off running. They catch up to her in a meadow, where she's met by two cloaked figures, and they recapture her, as well as the two she's meeting. They find out that she has rank over the spies around Wheatedge, and that they'd visited her the previous night to find out whether her information had been compromised.

 

At that point, Amber strikes a deal, having realized it's that or continue to be hauled all over creation with them while they figure out what to do with her. In exchange for the twelve secret entrances around Filo, she asks that they release the two other spies. For her own freedom, she says, she'll give them the key to easily defeating Lord Mannis.

 

They get the locations (outlined on a rough map drawn by Amber), which the Seraphim Seth verifies, and they release the other two prisoners. Then Amber tells them that Lord Mannis, who's currently in charge of Filo, is deathly afraid of fire.

 

As agreed, they keep her with them, but with a lot more liberty, until they can verify the truth about Mannis' pyrophobia. They journey back to Cuspin then, and gather an army of 2000 to oppose the Thornwilde forces in Filo.

 

Most of the soldiers are sent in through the front, but a smaller force comes with the party through a secret passageway leading to Mannis' keep in Filo. As they're about to head in, Father Salem asks Flora if he can borrow her ring of invisibility, and she hands it over. Then Salem and Daris sneak in past the guards at the passage.

 

Salem slips by just fine, but Daris missteps, and catches the attention of half of the guards. He distracts them with a quick lie, and then points out the army coming their way. In the confusion, he slips by.

 

He and Salem make it to the common room, where there are 150 more inside. Daris slips Salem a lock, and Salem is able to secure one of the weapons cabinets, but is noticed in the process. Daris distracts everyone by leaping atop the second cabinet and toppling it, then the reinforcements arrive.

 

They rush upstairs, and locate Lord Mannis holed up in the second floor ballroom. They fight their way past the guards, and Daris fires a bolt, after lighting it aflame. Lord Mannis yelps and screams at having fire headed straight for him, and, in his panic, it hits him square in the shoulder.

 

Rastal charges for Mannis, dousing him in lamp oil and then touching a torch to him. Mannis flails and screams, throwing off his cloak. Once he's standing again, Rastal engages him in combat, and strikes some minor blows. However, Mannis' panic has also lent him an air of desperation, and Mannis stuns Rastal.

 

Before he can strike a killing blow, however, Flora casts a spell toward Daris, who reflects it at Mannis, and Lord Mannis falls for good.

 

Before they can celebrate their victory, Arachne suddenly looks panicked, and dashes outside. Aciarren is there, still playing the part of disinterested viewer, but toying with the idea of killing the heroes. While he monologues, Daris notices that Aciarren's precious sword is edging out of its sheath, and he keeps Aciarren distracted long enough for Salem to finish stealing the highly magical item.

 

Just after the sword is free of its sheath, however, it flies across the square, Daris hears Salem swear, and it stabs the priest, embedding into his leg. Aciarren follows that up with a spell so powerful that all standing near Salem drop dead of unseen wounds.

 

Salem himself is alive, but barely. Daris rushes the evil mage to prevent him from retrieving his sword, and cuts off Aciarren's hand. Aciarren ignores him, casting another spell at Salem. The effect is some measure of agony, as is obvious from the fact that the pain awakens Salem. He tells Flora that the sword is "alive," then he dies.

 

Flora is distraught from her husband's death, but she clings to the sword. Before Aciarren can attack again, however, Arachne suddenly transforms into a large, copper-colored dragon. Alarmed, Aciarren teleports away.

 

Their pact with God fulfilled, Rastal gets his wish: a bewildered Lord Vaishan appears in the center of the chaos. Rastal charges him and attacks, but is unable to do any damage. Still bewildered, Vaishan runs.

 

The party heads to the church, where they find a quiet and somber Messiah, unsurprised to see that Salem has died. He tells them he had an odd sensation, "like coming home," and knew he had to come to Via. He excuses himself. When he returns, he tells them that Filo is now under his blessing, and that no ally of Thornwilde will ever be able to enter it.

 

While Flora grieves, Piercylwin and Al arrive, and Piecylwin tries to take the sword. Flora refuses to give it up to him, saying she'll only give it to Al. When Al takes it from her to hand to Piercylwin, she frowns at him.

 

Piercylwin reveals that the sword has always had a piece of his soul in it, so no wonder it's unspeakably evil. He tells them he'll need several rituals to de-soul the sword, and he and Al depart.

 

Shortly after, they locate the disappeared Amber, who's been captured again, as well as Vaishan. While Vaishan is also captured, he's unable to be injured in any way, apparently under some divine protection. Rastal shakes his fist at the heavens.

 

As dawn breaks on a freed Filo, the heroes go to Daris's home to rest and recover.

 

Next game: Sunday, September 9th at 4 PM. Flora has a healthy baby girl, the Messiah has some weird and confusing feelings to sort out, and the tide turns as the word about Filo gets out. Meanwhile, Aciarren fumes ineffectually.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

Cool, wish I could write like that.

 

Thanks for sharing. IOU REP!

 

QM

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

Oh, you don't want to write like me. You want to write like YOU. As for getting better at it, the key is practice. And to read a lot.

 

I should note that Father Salem was an NPC, and that his death had been in the works for MONTHS.

 

His pregnant wife, however, is a PC.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

I love details... sometimes I forget to add them in.

 

Thanks again for the gmail. It was a sanity saver!

 

QM

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

You're quite welcome. ^ v ^

 

I'm really bad with description and detail, but I've gotten better. I used to just write pages and pages and pages of dialogue, which I'm decent at writing, but too much is definitely a bad thing, as you start to wonder if these people are just blathering on in a vacuum with nothing better to do than talk. So I really had to work on it, and I'm glad people have noticed that I don't totally suck at it anymore. ^ v ^

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

Still wish I could remember all the IC banter. Some of is really funny.

 

 

I will leave that last sentence alone...

 

 

QM

[AliceTheOwl]

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You did that just to make my eye twitch, didn't you?

[AliceTheOwl]

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Flora mourns the loss of her husband. Meanwhile, Filo issues an evening curfew to curtail the nightttime attacks on residents outside the city's protection. When people's houses are broken into and the residents attacked, Michael goes out to deal with it, accompanied by Daris. When Daris asks how he knows where the next attack will happen, the Messiah replies only, "I read ahead."

 

Shortly thereafter, Aciarren appears, but is prevented from doing any harm by Michael's intervention. Aciarren growls and grumbles, but vanishes, and ceases his attacks. Daris notices that Aciarren's missing hand has grown back, much to Daris' disappointment.

 

Time passes, and Flora gives birth to a healthy baby girl. She names her Hope, but, for several days, wants little to do with her. She finds that her daughter's moods mirror hers, and also that the resident necromancer has a way with little ones. Meanwhile, she dreams of Salem, who, in the dream, is back in his Seraphic form, and he tells her that he's not really gone, though he can't really be near her.

 

Following the entirety of the party sharing a single prophetic dream, they head to Elmfair, which is besieged by invaders from Thornwilde. Some go by dragon, others are teleported, and the ones prone to magic sickness are transported by divine means (as in, the Messiah teleports them). They get to witness a Deus Ex Machina (called that by the Messiah, though his explanation has them all wondering what windmills have to do with it) as Michael transforms into a seraphic form and, while Arachne/Cyl picks people off the edges and distracts them, blows most of the encampment away.

 

Shortly thereafter, they learn of their mission in going to Elmfair, as a young woman, a former slave, approaches Daris, requesting that he teach her the Art of the Balanced Sword, as well as teaching all the other slaves who want to do something about the Thornwilde threat. He finds himself well over his head the following day, when he goes out to teach his pupils, and meets all 145 of them.

 

He instructs them all on the specs for the weapons they'll need, and, when they're all equipped, he begins teaching. It takes several weeks for any of them to reach a proficiency level high enough that he can move on.

 

When it is time to move on, they return to Filo on foot, stopping by Asini on the way there. There, Tyrren stops by to visit his little sister, Cyl, and offers enough backhanded compliments that she looks totally disheartened by the time he leaves. Nonetheless, she agrees to visit him and his lovely wife, and Daris accompanies her, where he learns much about the competitive nature of dragons, and how manipulative and sneaky they can be.

 

They move on to Filo, where Rastal asks Vaishan what he was doing in Rosehollow. Vaishan is evasive and rather cocky for someone behind bars. When Rastal gets nowhere, Daris strikes up a conversation with Vaishan later, and learns that Vaishan had been attempting to show Aciarren that he was just as capable of stealth as Aciarren's spies, and was attempting to go somewhere unnoticed.

 

The party then researches what to do next, and learns of some items which may help in their bid to defeat Aciarren. Off to Esterboro they go, chasing the legend of a bow imbued with holiness. When they get there, they find themselves in the middle of a feud, where half the family believes the other half stole the bow and is hiding it, and vice versa.

 

Pondering how to get to the bottom of the matter, they head off to bed at the Esterboro inn and tavern.

[AliceTheOwl]

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The heroes find a number of stumbling-blocks in Esterboro, among them the residents' poverty and distrust of strangers, as well as the ailing health of Arachne, their dragon companion, who remarks that the village smells "odd," but is unable to elaborate. They investigate the mystery of the vanishing bow. Daris learns from an old woman that a handsome stranger came to town 75 years previous, and, when he left, the bow and the family's money was gone. Rastal meets a crazy old man, who, after being relieved of an insanity curse, relates that he saw the man change into a dragon, and the magical curse has kept him from uttering the truth.

 

Meanwhile, little Salem, Jr. calls Michael "Dada," much to Michael's consternation. This upsets Flora, and Michael attempts to correct the little boy, who stubbornly refuses to call his uncle anything but "Dada."

 

While they're out investigating, Arachne vanishes, along with Liv and Tai, the former spy for their enemy. They find the human women, but Arachne is still missing. Rastal and Flora search, while Daris returns to the inn to search for clues. He suspects the innkeeper of misdeeds, and a dire warning to the innkeeper sends him dashing out in the early morning fog to warn the cousins who helped plot Arachne's kidnapping.

 

Daris follows him alone, and challenges the kidnappers, who he's overheard talking about the deed. Flora and Rastal arrive in time to prevent him from harm, but not before the innkeeper relates a signal to the true kidnappers, who flee with their prize.

 

The party learns that the fae currently visiting Esterboro have taken her, and paid the young men generously for aiding in her capture. Upon learning the innkeeper's take is 50 gold, Daris tells him to consider it an investment from himself and Arachne.

 

The party commissions a ship to race off and intercept the ship which the three fae have teleported Arachne onto. They have two uneventful weeks of sailing, then finally spot the ship. Their captain hails it, and tells the captain of the intercepted ship of what's happened. The man is outraged to find illegal activity being carried out on his ship, and gives the heroes access.

 

They travel deep into the bowels of the ship, where it's dark, and the fae fling spells at them to slow them down, as well as to harm their vessel. They break a hole in the bottom of the other ship with a spell. However, the heroes press on, shrugging off any damage, and a fight ensues. The fae, despite the strength of their magic and quickness of foot, succumb to their injuries. While they question the one still conscious, the third fae, having been hit by a spell of holy magic, dies.

 

They recover Arachne, who is disoriented, and unable to say what's happened, except that she's been locked in a crate with no food or water for a long time. Upon reaching the heroes' ship, she goes to sleep.

 

Later, Flora talks to her about the fact that, in his panic, Daris had declared Arachne his fiancée. Arachne is unsure how to handle this revelation or what to say to Flora, and waffles on the subject. Flora expresses jealousy that Arachne has an eternity to spend with Daris, if she chooses, and Arachne changes the subject to that of her sex life. Embarrassed, Flora drops the subject.

 

The heroes return to Esterboro.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

Michael and Arachne vanish for a day from the ship, returning that evening. Neither speaks of why they left and what they were doing, assuring the party, "You'll see."

 

They reach Esterboro to find all the doors barred and locked, curtains drawn, and no one about. They head straight to the patriarch's house. When there's no answer, Rastal attacks the door, then Flora teleports them inside. Daris, who stayed behind, sees a mob approaching with torches, and departs for the inn. He finds this, too, locked and barred, but the innkeeper does let him in. The innkeeper explains that, several days before, they received a proclamation from God, through the Messiah, that their protection from the long-ago hero has been lost to them because of their shameful behavior in aiding in the kidnapping of a dragon. Also, the dragonsbane which grew so plentifully before is gone, having been burned and replaced by simple grasses.

 

Flora and Rastal free the patriarch from the basement of his home, and Flora teleports to the outskirts of the town. Then she walks to the inn, where Daris fills her in. She goes to retrieve Rastal and the patriarch. Michael treats the man's sanity problem, and the patriarch sleeps.

 

Daris goes out to speak to the matriarch the following day, and she confirms that the town is on lockdown because they've lost their protection, and the Fae are upset at them (for not delivering the dragon). Also, there is rumor of several pirate ships making sail for the defenseless town. However, the good news is that the soil is much richer than it was, and they've started growing this exotic bean called "coffee."

 

The patriarch sleeps for a full day, only waking the following morning. When he does, he's starving, and so the party fixes him food. He also doesn't remember a single day past the one where the thief-dragon cursed him with insanity, so he'd never be able to tell about who stole the family's treasures.

 

Daris hatches a plan revolving around coffee, figuring its rarity and energy-giving properties will intrigue the Fae. Flora goes to Elmfair, where Michael had brought some, but finds it's been used up. So Michael heads home long enough to gather up a supply of coffee and sugar.

 

The party finds him the next morning happily enjoying a cup of the delicious-smelling brew. He offers them some, warning them of the bitterness, and they agree this should work as a bargaining chip with the Fae.

 

They set out for the Fae settlement then, and Flora's connections get her inside. Arachne is left outside, as she's sworn to kill those responsible for her kidnapping plot, and staying outside will keep her away from those Fae. Ryllis stays with her.

 

They meet with the most powerful Fae in that settlement, and he's made quite jittery by the free coffee sample they offer. They bargain for the village's release from their vendetta, and trade another pound of coffee for a magical device which will protect Esterboro's harbor from any who wish the town harm. Another pound is traded for a dragon scale the Fae possess, and the information that a scale belonging to Taewil (the thief) is at the settlement to the west.

 

When the party leaves, they find that Ryllis has moved on to the Elven territory, having assured Arachne she'll be fine, what with having a Seraphim feather in her pocket. Arachne then digs in Daris' pockets to get the dragon scale, which crumbles on contact with her skin. She asks where they got that, and confirms it was one of hers.

 

The party returns to Esterboro to deliver the happy news, then takes a ship north, and another west. The voyage is uneventful. Coffee doesn't have the same effect on the Fae in the western settlement, but the trade is made, nonetheless, and they are given the scale of Taewil. This allows Flora's spell to hone in on the dragon, and they head north.

 

Along the way, Tia, the former spy, starts having bizarre dreams and talking in her sleep. Arachne, with some difficulty, reads her dreams, and finds her memory's being raided by Aciarren, thanks to a spell. Flora dispels it.

 

As they approach, further scrying shows the dragon moving away, but at a slower pace than they're traveling. They adjust their route, until they meet up with a caravan. Flora's spell shows the dragon is actually inside one of the carts. They offer to accompany the caravan, and are welcomed.

 

However, that night, Lyrien the bard plays for the entire encampment, and recognizes one of the caravan guards as someone guarding Aciarren's keep. Daris distracts some of the guards while Flora sneaks invisibly up to the cart where her spell says the dragon is. The tang of dragonsbane makes her eyes water. Attempts to communicate with the dragon only result in a listless scratching sound.

 

They travel with the caravan for some time, but find they don't let down their guard at all, and actually seem to grow MORE mistrustful. They enlist the help of the Order of the Wish to create a distraction. Two days later, the caravan is fired upon the Order, posing as ordinary bandits. Half of the guards go galloping off to take care of the threat, leaving the party to dispose of the rest. However, when the guards see what's happening, they rush back to stop the heroes from freeing the dragon.

 

Flora invisibly ducks onto the cart, and finds a huge crate, which reeks of dragonsbane. It absorbs her fae-magic spells, and she doesn't dare use church magic, for fear of hurting the dragon, as well. She grabs a sword off Rastal, and uses it to pry the box open.

 

The dragon is calm as he's being rescued, though he catches Arachne's scent off Daris, and looks sharply at him. They break the chains holding him, and he transforms, then flies off to wash the reek of dragonsbane off. He is good to his word, though, and returns, where the bargaining for the bow he stole begins.

 

He contemplates their offer of exchanging his scale for the bow, then agrees, on one condition: that Daris not touch Arachne for a full month. Arachne is furious about this condition, but keeps her temper in check. Taewil agrees to return in a month to make the trade.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

The party goes to Woodbury to while away the month. Rastal returns to his home to see how everything is going, and to visit with Liv's family.

 

After a month, Taewil stops by, but declares that, upon reading party member's minds, it's apparent that Daris hasn't fulfilled his half of the bargain. He says he'll be back in another month. Daris keeps his temper in check after Arachne explains that time works differently for dragons than humans and that he's technically correct, then she leaves for her home cave, to sleep for a month.

 

A week later, the residents of Woodbury report that they've seen an army marching up the road toward them, and none of them recognize the banner the army is carrying. The party sends for Rastal, and they put their heads together. Then Daris and Rastal approach the negotiator (who has asked that the party surrenders) as a distraction, while Flora invisibly coats the area around the enemy soldiers with lamp oil.

 

They not only successfully delay the small army, but they confuse the messenger to the point where another negotiator arrives and attempts to kill her. They save her life, and find out that her lack of social skills comes from having been raised as food for Aciarren. From her, they learn that Ryllis has been taken captive, and they try to find Seth. He's eventually located in the southern Fae territory.

 

They call upon Piercylwin, who readily advises them, and agrees to offer some firepower to their arsenal. Then they rally the villagers, and attack, a day ahead of schedule.

 

Between the wall of flame conjured (thanks to the application of lamp oil), Lyrien's support spells and Piercylwin's conjuring of invisible walls, the enemy army is quickly scattered and taken down, and the town is safe.

 

Two more weeks pass, and a panicked lumberjack runs into the town, yelling about a monster. The party runs off, and is confronted by a demon, who is obviously looking for them. He's stronger than the last demons they fought, and he knocks Flora unconscious with a single gesture. He knocks Daris out as well, striking faster than any of them anticipate, but Rastal strikes a blow. The demon grins and grabs Rastal's sword.

 

Daris staggers to his feet, and surprises the demon with a strike that draws blood. The demon, now staggering to stay on his feet, grips Rastal's blade, shattering it. Then he vanishes.

 

When the heroes stumble back into town, injured and winded, Michael heals them. Then Rastal proposes to Liv, who initially refuses his proposal, on the grounds that he's unemotional and "not human." He gets down on both knees and pleads tearfully, and she bids him to stand up and agrees to marry him.

 

A week later, Taewil shows up again, and agrees to take them to his trove to retrieve the agreed-upon object. Daris goes with him, while Rastal and Flora head south, toward Esterboro. Taewil hands over the bow without any further fuss, and tells Daris that he'd attempted to seduce Arachne, while she was at Spider Mountain. Despite her frustration, she refused him, and he had to respect the love she had for Daris. He hands Daris a map and a small box, and gives him a lift to Spider Mountain. Daris and Arachne spend the next week getting reaquainted.

 

The box contains the scale Arachne had lost to the Fae, who'd given it to Taewil, and the map is of Via, with various blue dots marking various locations, and a symbol marking the locations of dragon caves. The biggest clue is in the dot at Esterboro, which is marked out in black ink. He realizes it's a map of magical items yet unclaimed. He shows it to his party members, who spot that the largest of these dots is located close to a dragon's territory, but is as yet unclaimed.

 

When the party reunites in Esterboro, the heroes return the bow to the Matriarch, who agrees to allow them to borrow it until their quest is finished.

[AliceTheOwl]

The party sets off from Esterboro to the Fae settlement, where they learn that Seth has been sent to another settlement. Along the way, they find Liv increasingly absent-minded, as her conversations with the Messiah have put ideas of science into her head. She goes on regular walks to observe the stars.

 

Flora, Rastal and their accompaniment teleport off to Seth's new location, while Daris opts to travel by dragon, as teleportation has been making him increasingly queasy and weak.

 

Rastal gets in (alone) to talk to a Fae armor-enchanter about his armor, which has started communicating with him. The Fae explains that such things happen, depending on the stability of the item, and offers to make it shut up, for a price. Rastal declines. While he's in the territory, he does some recon, and discovers something like a summoning circle in the center of the settlement. He relays this to Flora.

 

By the time Daris arrives, Seth has once again been teleported, and the Fae are unable to tell them where; "to another Fae settlement to the northeast" is the most specific they'll get. Off Flora goes to discover which one. By the time she locates Seth, however, he's been teleported again, this time to the Thornwilde Fae. Apparently, the appearance of the seraphim enrages the captive demon, however, and he escapes, ripping a path of destruction on his way out. Luckily, in the confusion, they're able to rescue Seth, who is weak and pale from his time cut off from the Heavenly Realm. Michael takes him home, and returns disoriented and blinking as if he'd stared at the sun.

 

Though the party is worried about what will happen when the demon reaches a human settlement, Michael points out that it's headed toward Shadowdale, and perhaps everyone is better off that way. But Daris decides that he can't allow the demon to cause further destruction, so off he and his dragon companion go. He uses the new-found bow to chip away at the powerful demon, while a figure in the shadows casts spells to further weaken the creature. When it falls, the figure steps into the moonlight, and Daris recognizes Aciarren. Aciarren slits the creature's throat to assure its death, fully ignoring the hero riding on the back of a dragon. Daris uses the opportunity to test the bow, but the arrow he fires sticks in the magical barrier Aciarren is maintaining around himself.

 

Daris returns the bow to Flora, informing her that it's useless against Aciarren. They decide they'll need more help, so off they go toward the mark on their "treasure map." As they approach, Cyl/Arachne bows out, unwilling to enter another dragon's territory for fear of alerting him to the presence of this great treasure.

 

They go to where the map is marked, and find the opening to a tomb in a hillside.

 

Next time, on As Via Turns: the heroes encounter a dungeon.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

Our Heroes realize that, in order to enter this tomb, they'll need supplies. Flora teleports to the closest village and picks up rope, lanterns, lantern oil, and plenty of food.

 

Then in they go. There is a warning, in Fae, chiseled above the door, of the dangers within. Daris picks the lock, and the door is pried open.

 

They proceed into the dark, and notice a breeze, as well as an unpleasant, sour odor. A twist in the cave brings them into total darkness.

 

The path branches off into several narrow passageways, which Daris explores. These contain traps, but Daris is able to duck out of the path of the sharp spikes the traps trigger. At the end of one path, he finds the top half of a human body, and lots of spider webs.

 

As they continue down the path, they're suddenly attacked by a pair of gryphons. Daris is badly injured (and healed by Michael), but the rest of the party gets rid of them. They climb up to the gryphons' nest, and find several eggs. Farther up that path, they find a vent leading outside, though it's on the edge of a cliff. They take the gryphon eggs and arrange them so they're kept warm and safe, with plans to raise the chicks for domestication.

 

Once again, they proceed, until they find a dead end (as well as the other half of the human remains). Embedded in the wall of this dead end are several gemstones. The largest triggers the falling of a large blade from the ceiling. Daris discovers through experimentation that the trap contains twelve of these blades. Once he's exhausted these, he sets to prying out the gemstones, as gifts for his left-behind fiancee.

 

They backtrack, and encounter giant spiders, which they dispatch without any problems. However, as they proceed down the narrow passage, Daris spots more, following them.

 

The next time they're cornered by giant spiders, Flora casts Icy Ground to dissuade them. But she fumbles her spell, and instead it ices up the ground they're standing on. The spiders, however, are reluctant to step onto this cold stuff, and spit webbing at the heroes from afar. Daris, propping up Flora so she can fire off spells, get stuck to Flora with webbing.

 

Eventually, they persevere over the spiders, and continue.

 

As they're walking, suddenly Rastal seems to vanish altogether. From Rastal's vantage point, nothing is different, except that sounds suddenly vanish, and he's looking at his fellow party members through what looks like a wall of water. He tries to return, and finds the wall impenetrable.

 

Flora steps through, and tries to teleport back through. While her spell seems to work much more easily, she instead teleports to an empty section of cave, with no one else in sight. She is only able to return when Michael reaches his arms through (shivering uncontrollably as soon as he touches the other side of the barrier) and pulls her back.

 

They decide to leave Michael behind to pull them back, along with a length of rope he can use to pull them back, and proceed.

 

Shortly after, Daris's sword, which can detect the presence of demons, starts to hum slightly, indicating they're drawing closer to a demon's presence.

 

Finally, they reach the treasure room of the cave. In it is a large stone sarcophagus, a flat, book-like box (examination proves there's another trap attached), and a bastard sword, suspended in the middle of the cave. The sword doesn't look like much, but Rastal takes it, anyway.

 

Daris disables the traps on the box, and finds it filled with land deeds, and one with a title attached. That one is to land in Shadowdale.

 

As Rastal is examining the sarcophagus, suddenly Daris's sword alerts him to the presence of a demon. And, indeed, a moment later, a demon strolls into the room. Daris, Flora and Rastal injure the demon, however, and he runs away. Rastal discovers that, in the presence of a demon, his new sword looks a lot more impressive.

 

They return, Daris's sword warning him there's a powerful demon following them. When they pass back into their world, the demon grabs Daris's coat and is pulled back through. In broken Common, the demon explains it won't kill them; it's been trapped there, and has only been able to get out by being "summoned by the blood-drinker." The demon shudders at the recollection, and they realize they have a shared enemy. They agree to let the demon accompany them, if the demon promises to help them against Aciarren. He agrees and introduces himself. As none of the party members can pronounce his name, he's dubbed "Bob."

 

Bob dispatches the rest of the giant spiders without breaking a sweat, and they emerge from the caves. They travel long enough to meet up with Arachne/Cyl, who's aghast to find they've invited a demon into their ranks. Even worse, the demon points out that Flora smells delicious to him. Flora isn't sure what to make of the news that she pings as "virgin" to a demon, as she's the mother of two children. Rastal and Daris suggest that she rectify the situation; perhaps their bard will help? (Lyrien declines politely.)

 

While they're making camp, a bard approaches with a message for Lyrien. Apparently, Aciarren has just been chased from Eriden, and he left a book of notes behind. Daris skims the notes, and realizes that Aciarren has been tracking them from their use of teleportation.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

The heroes summon up a cherub to deliver a message to Piercylwin, asking what to do about their demonic friend (after Arachne has been kind enough to disguise Bob with a spell, so he at least looks human). Piercylwin teleports there, swearing at them about letting a demon LIVE, and unwilling to reason out any solution that leaves Bob alive.

 

Daris pulls Piercylwin aside to explain why the demon is useful. During this conversation, Flora mentions that Aciarren has been tracking their teleportation spells. Piercylwin swears again, and vanishes.

 

They wait for him to return. When he doesn't, they set out for his keep, on foot.

 

As they travel, they realize they're being followed by a significantly-sized army. The army carries no flags and has no markings on its armor; in fact, they strike the heroes as somewhat ragtag.

 

While Flora is invisibly checking out the army, she's spotted by a woman, who's being carried in a litter. The woman smiles at Flora, and Flora scurries off to hide. Under cover of night, she slips off to run back to the heroes' camp, but she encounters a barrier. When she dispels it, her invisibility field also vanishes, and she's struck by a lightning bolt out of clear skies.

 

When she wakes, she's chained and in a tent. Yelling summons some guards, who are nothing but polite, and who summon servants to feed her and make her more comfortable. She demands to speak to someone in charge and is brought before Lady Alanna, the mage responsible for her capture. Alanna sees to it that her bonds are changed into something less chafing, but refuses to untie her, recognizing her as a fellow spellcaster.

 

Luckily, Flora still has a mental link with Michael, who's able to report these developments back to the rest of the group. They confer, and decide to send Daris and Michael on a rescue mission, and continue along to Piercylwin's Keep. Daris doubles back, displaying a white flag, while Michael stays hidden from sight. (He apologizes in advance to Flora, explains his powers have gone wonky, and breaks contact.)

 

Daris is welcomed into the camp and brought to the presence of Lady Alanna. She is unable to tell him about the army's mission, except that part of it is to capture the heroes, alive. She is able, at least, to tell him her loyalties are not to Shadowdale, but to a town somewhat near Filo, and to Lord Sebastian, who rules the town and has kept it neutral in the current dispute. All information about this Lord Sebastian indicates he wouldn't send an army without good reason.

 

Flora is sent back by Lady Alanna's orders, to be delivered to Lord Sebastian, accompanied by four guards and two servants. Daris goes with them. After traveling for several days, he meets up with Michael. Together, they knock out the guards and free Flora, who goes to meet back up with the rest of her party. Daris heads back on horseback, lest he get teleport-sick, and meets up with the army once again (and waving a white flag again). Alanna once again treats him as an honored guest.

 

This time, Daris is able to piece together her comments to realize that she is after the Order of the Wish, and Piercylwin himself. He warns her of Piercylwin's power, and she stiffly informs him she's been briefed on what to expect.

 

Meanwhile, the heroes reach Piercylwin's Keep, and are invited in. Bob is sent to the dungeon after some arguing (in the demonic tongue) with Piercylwin. Piercylwin locks himself in a research tower until Daris arrives with the news that the army is after him. At this point, he storms out to meet with the leaders of the army, explains why it's bloody ridiculous that they should think the Order of the Wish is out to get them, and sends them on their way.

 

The army sends out fast messengers to confirm what Piercylwin has told them, then retreats, on the news that something is amiss with Lord Sebastian. The heroes accompany them, hoping to gain powerful new allies by helping with this new development. However, relations are off to a rocky start when Arachne can only jealously glower at the pretty, friendly Lady Alanna, with whom Daris has been spending more time than herself lately.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

It's been a while since we've had a Via game.

 

The heroes start out by heading toward Meadowvale, to see what's up with Lord Sebastian. As they travel, Daris notes that Alanna and Bob, their disguised demonic friend, have been spending a lot of time together. Alanna asks after Bob, and Daris squirms out of telling her anything concrete. Meanwhile, Flora hangs out with Alanna to talk shop with her, regarding magic. Alanna reveals none of her own techniques, but that doesn't hinder their conversations much.

 

They arrive at Meadowvale, where they're stopped and asked to surrender. Alanna turns herself in to be tried for treason, thereby letting her underlings off the hook for choosing between her or the Lord who hired them. As a condition of her surrender, though, she gets the party in to speak with Lord Sebastian.

 

He is defensive from the start, and will tell them nothing about why he's been trying to capture them. Arachne reads deeply enough into his mind to know that he's not being magically manipulated, and that he feels he's doing right. But whatever his true cause is, he's shielding it from his own consciousness. Before he throws them out for daring to make demands of him, she senses that he's experienced great tragedy. Flora loudly declares that, whatever Lord Sebastian's gone through, it can't be as bad as seeing her husband die in front of her. Arachne, sensing great emotional distress in Sebastian, tells Flora that was inadvisable, and ushers the party out before Sebastian can change his mind about letting them go. After they're out of the city, Daris tells Flora that her constant references to her widowhood are deterring them, and she stalks off to be alone.

 

Daris raises the question about what to do about Ryllis, and Flora flatly refuses to talk of giving in to Aciarren's demands. She does go to the church in Meadowvale, and has a priest summon a Cherub to relay some messages to the Queen, who is baffled as to what the Lord of Meadowvale is going through.

 

Meanwhile, Daris asks Michael to go find Seth for him, and Michael agrees. Seth appears, informing Daris that Michael was given some kind of vision upon reaching the Heavenly Realm, and that, if it works the way his own do, Michael will be compelled, when he wakes from the vision, to either share it or see it through. Daris asks Seth to free Alanna, and he does so. Then he asks if Seth will deliver a letter for him to Al, which he also does. The letter tells Al of their conundrum.

 

From there, they go to Filo, which is two weeks' journey away. When they reach it, there is a letter from Aciarren to Daris, stating his terms are accepted and informing him where to find Ryllis. (The location is the other side of the Thornwilde region; a small town call Windcliffe.)

 

Leaving Bob and Alanna in Filo, they go to Windcliffe, and find an exhausted and reticent Ryllis at the inn there. She is clearly exhausted, but also upset with the party. They correctly deduce that their failure to help her get out of Aciarren's clutches is what's upsetting her. They ask her what became of Al, and whether Aciarren has the sword, and she has to tell them she doesn't know.

 

Lyrien, the party bard, speaks with Ryllis, and talks her into staying with them long enough to get somewhere safe, at least. They head back to Filo, which has the Messiah's holy protection on it, and where Alanna has sent word that she's found the house bard who used to work for Lord Sebastian. The bard, she reports, has found solace at the bottom of a wineglass, and won't speak of what she's seen.

 

When they get back to Filo, Ryllis is upset to sense the nearby presence of a demon, though she knew ahead of time that Bob was their ally. She's unable to reconcile this, however, with her own recent trauma, and Daris takes her to a very nice inn nearby and pays her expenses.

 

They get the bard sobered up, and she is finally able to blurt out the long, sordid tale of Lord Sebastian's grief. It started when a sorceress calling herself Morrigan showed up at his home, offering her services. This was just after he'd announced his engagement to a woman he was very much in love with. Morrigan twisted and manipulated Sebastian, but to no effect, until his lady love was kidnapped. Then, he ignored signs of Morrigan's treachery, and believed her when she blamed others for the bad things that started to happen. However, he didn't listen to her when she advised that he follow the kidnappers' demands and turn over the heroes, as he didn't know the kidnapper, but suspected it was Aciarren. Finally, his fiancée was delivered to him in two pieces, still alive, but barely. She lived long enough to tell him he should've done as they asked, then her heart burst. Messily. The bard sobs as she recounts this part, and confesses that she fled in fear of the rage this put Lord Sebastian in. As far as she knows, she says, the sorceress is still in Lord Sebastian's employ, still filling his ear with poisonous words.

 

With this news, the heroes decide that something must be done about the evil sorceress.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

Daris discovers that the demon "Bob" has been sneaking off to talk to Ryllis. When he confronts Bob, the demon informs him (in broken Common) that they're going to Shadowdale to rescue Angelique. He assures the heroes that he knows a back way into Aciarren's home.

 

On the way to Shadowdale, the heroes encounter some thieves, resting after a day of kidnapping and looting. Daris frees their prisoner and the others chase the thieves off. The prisoner is ungrateful and frazzled, and demands to know what's going on. He asks the heroes if his son has put them up to this. They ask who his son is, and he initially refuses to answer, convinced he's hit upon the truth. Finally, they get it out of him that he's Michael's father.

 

They take a moment to digest the knowledge that the father of the Messiah (therefore the Creator?) is among them, and none too polite. He's also the ugliest person they've ever seen, and his appearance isn't helped by having been tied up and dragged behind a wagon for days. They call upon Seth, who eyes the stranger suspiciously, and informs the party that the man isn't God, and doesn't know what's going on. They reluctantly decide to keep John Williams around until they can figure out what to do with him.

 

They make it to Shadowdale without further incident, and Bob is true to his word. He walks straight up to a hidden passage and shows them in. It leads into the dungeon. Lyrien, the bard, is able to free Angelique with the application of some of the necromancy he learned under Aciarren's tutelage. However, the use of magic sparks an alarm, and guards swarm.

 

While they're at it, they free Lyrien's sister at last.

 

Luckily, before anyone can get seriously hurt, Al joins them, cutting down any and all guards in his way. He assures the party that his sword is safe, and they hurry out.

 

The end of the passage is blocked by guards, but Bob makes short work of them. They run to an abandoned home deep in the poor section of Shadowdale. Flora is unable to teleport them, as the town is under an anti-magic field. Al explains that he negotiated Ryllis's release by offering up himself as a hostage, and stating (falsely) that he has the location of Eireille he can give for his own release.

 

Angelique, who was passed out when rescued, is awake by nightfall, and is delighted to see John Williams, who is befuddled. He is, however, starting to believe the heroes when they say they're in Via. The heroes ask Angelique if she can get them out of this, and she nods. Then there's a flash of light, and they're all standing in the demonic realm. She shows them to her home, warning them that even her vermin are demonic, and goes off to rest and recharge.

 

A week passes, during which no one takes special notice of how much time Bob spends talking (in demonic) to Angelique. Then Angelique has recovered enough power to send them back. She does so, landing them in Filo.

 

While the heroes put their heads together to figure out, now, how to address the Morrigan situation, Daris and Arachne sneak off to get married and celebrate a short honeymoon.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: [Campaign Log] Via

 

The heroes are having another ordinary day in Filo when suddenly, time stops for everyone but them. They converge, then go off to find John Williams. He's in the library, absorbed in reading something about the history of Via. He looks startled, then abashed when they ask him about the time freeze thing. He explains apologetically that it will wear off when everyone is together. And, indeed, after they go to get Ryllis and all converge under Daris's roof, the world is back to normal.

 

Williams explains that he's been running experiments with his writing. On a related note, he asks Daris how many goats he owns, and Daris replies that he has four. Then he goes to check, and finds twice as many in his yard. Later, he counts and sees he has nine. He asks Williams just how many he'll end up with, and Williams replies that it's supposed to stop at twelve.

 

They confer about this new problem, and suggest that there are better ways of finding his answers. They bid him to call Michael to Via, so he writes that down. He also arranges a meeting with the Creator, and heads to the closest church. At the appointed time, the Creator appears, and Williams looks surprised, then vanishes. When he returns, he tells the heroes, weakly, that he recognized him as his imaginary friend from childhood. He'd been made to write lines that his imaginary friend wasn't real, but he'd felt so bad about "killing" him that he wrote just as many lines that he was real, and hid those pages. Apparently, it came true. He explains that he needs to stop his experiments, as the Creator needs to expend his energy on worthy pursuits.

 

That night, Daris wakes up in the middle of the night. He heads out to his parlor, where he finds a sleeping and very drunk Messiah on his couch. Michael is startled to find himself back in Via, and Daris offers to show him how he's come to be here. He opens the door to John Williams' room, and wakes him by throwing a bucket of goat's milk at him. When Michael spots his father, he goes very, very pale, throws up, then sprouts wings and takes off through a window. John Williams is surprised at his son's reaction, and doesn't understand why he ran away.

 

The heroes don't track down Michael until the following day. Having spent the night on the roof of the church, he's getting as drunk as possible. Daris coaxes him back, and Flora deals with Messiah drunkenness, take two.

 

This time, they wait until he's feeling better before springing the news on him. (He was, thankfully, too drunk to remember why he ran away before.) After he's feeling better and has kept some food down, they bring him to where his father is eating lunch. The results, predictably enough, are explosive, and father and son yell at each other until they're out of breath. (Michael does most of the yelling.) The news that John Williams has died in Michael's world comes out, which explains why Michael might find this all a bit strange.

 

Flora talks to Michael about Salem, and learns that Salem didn't really die; his body is gone, but his soul has merged with Michael's, which is very . . . different. Flora asks if she might have a chance with him, to go back to his realm with him, and he explains that he doesn't know how well Vian people would survive on his home plane. Flora locks herself in her room to sulk until he goes home.

 

Michael doesn't linger long. After he goes, Daris approaches Ryllis to ask if she's coming to Meadowvale with them. She tells him that he's the only one who's sought to make amends for her kidnapping and the party's subsequent failure to negotiate her release (they left that up to Al), and cites their failure to make her feel like one of them. She assures him she'll be safer in Filo. Tia, the former Shadowdale spy, also stays behind, for basically the same reason. Etemma, too, stays, to take care of Flora's children.

 

They set out for Meadowvale once again. Three days into the journey, they're ambushed. Liv and Alanna are knocked unconscious almost immediately, and Daris is also quickly taken down, though he does recover enough to help out. Flora goes invisible, which keeps her safe for a while, but the only ones unharmed are their dragon and demon companions, both of whom transform into their original forms to do more damage. Eventually, the bowmen are scared off, and the party hurries to safety before reinforcements can arrive.