The party spends a few days in Leen restocking and getting their fortunes told. Then the expedition rolls into town. We meet Vicar again, and he introduces many new faces to us. But is this expedition made of the baddies?
Having spent most of the day running from a horde of giant spiders, we arrive at Leen at sunset, from the east.
We see the torches and lights and fires of civilization. we see a large two-point big-top circus tent to the northeast of town, where people are beginning to leave that tent. There's a sea of smaller tents between the big top and the city wall, and then there is Leen itself. Leen is surrounded by a chest-high stone wall.
We approach the town, following the road, and find a sentry patrolling the tents. He's a Drow man with a spear. He greets us; we tell him that we're traveling to Leen, and inform him of the tens of thousands of spiders.
He thanks us for this warning; we don't think he's taking it seriously. But he says that the camp's arachnomancer will be able to take care of it. Oh, you have an arachnomancer? The guard smiles and compliments her skill.
We've run into the expedition!
We learn that the expedition will leave in three days, and we'll get a departure briefing the night before.
Entering Leen
A map of Leen, with the spiky diamond-in-brackets symbol of the Harbingers of Discovery in the upper right.
We move on towards Leen itself, which is hazed with smoke from the town's many kilns and forges. It's a refinery town for nearby mining camps. Leen sits across a major road between the Southeast and Quadroads.
Leen is in the southern part of Grash; it has a large population of Dwarves, Halflings, and Goliaths. There are some Humans, and some Half-orcs too. And Drow. The expedition is majority-Drow, that we've seen, but the population isn't.
Salris remarks about how it must be interesting for Ryltar to be back among his kin. He replies that it's bittersweet.
We ask around for a place to sleep, and receive directions to the Stone Pillow. The eastern part of town that we're walking through has lots of immaculate mansions and structures — a high-class part of town.
Salris pays for our first round. The tables in this town seem to be racially segregated.
The Drow sitting at their table are in their cups.
We pay for dinner and breakfast and two rooms for the next three nights, and get a wonderful rest.
3 Days Until Departure
We get a hearty, slightly-charred breakfast, in the slightly-post-bar-brawl main room of the bar.
We decide to pool our rations and change how the accounting is done for that.
Ryltar leads the party out into the Carnival. We see:
A firebreather
"Meggora's Mysteries"
"Slash"
An odd-animals tent
After some discussion, the Party enters Meggora's Mysteries. Inside its tent, we find a small room with multiple incense burners. Not really any specific incense, but it sometimes smells like religious incense. One of the tent flaps defining the room lifts up mysteriously; Ryltar enters and the flap closes.
Ryltar and the fortune-teller
Ryltar comes to a room with a basin filled with trinkets and coins and semiprecious gems and stones, and tools and books and weapons: a veritable hodgepodge of items. There's a crescent table. And against the far wall, a bed.
He discovers a person, a female of some uncertain species and uncanny disposition, who asks him what he wants to know. He wonders if she tells fortunes? "Yes," she replies. "Many things." She gestures to the bowl, and asks him to leave an offering.
He leaves a sample of the obsidian pumice with green crystals from the graveyard, and five gold.
She drifts over behind the table of accessories, and Mage Hands a crystal ball from the table to a shelf. Then she pulls out a deck of cards, and asks him what he wants to know.
"I want to know about the missing star. When will it return, and what does it bring?"
"What is its connection to you?"
"I believe the six-star prophecy is related to what my instructor told me to find in the Arcadia Infinitum."
She offers the deck; he cuts it.
The first card drawn is the Leviathan, a tentacled mass. "You're journeying. The prophecy is connected, but its is not the star you seek. There is a connection. Something more."
Next card: The Stranger. "You already know something about it. You said your friends? There may be something more to them. And you will meet someone that will lead you further than you know."
Finally: The Blind Man. "Your mentor."
He thanks her. She waves her hand over the cards, and the cards disappear. He bows, and leaves. The curtain opens to reveal the Party. "She reads fortunes, if anyone's interested," Ryltar tells the Party.
Vurguron and the fortune-teller
Vurguron approaches, the curtain parts, he enters. He asks what the price is; she says it's stuff that people might find interesting or representative or needed. He thinks about what to give as payment; he notices he's got a signet ring with the sign of his birth family. He offers it with great honor, and takes his seat in front of the table.
He asks to figure out what he meant to come out here to do. He cuts the deck.
First card: The Judge. "Family. You have come from much. But much you have lost, too."
Second card: The Rider. "Your journey is still afoot. There are many more trials ahead of you, and one greater still."
Last card: The Key. "Ah. I see." She invites him over to the basin. "You have given much."
"It was a minor family heirloom; it meant a lot to me."
"You may have one of these items, from within the basin."
He looks for something really shiny, and sees a broken sword, a pointy dagger, a big shield etched with eyes, a copper spiral, some platinum chain-mail, a large chunk of obsidian with a symbol of fire in it. Vurguron picks up the sword hilt and looks at it, asks if she remembers who dropped it. "Yes," she says. "Be on your way," and ushers him out.
No one else is interested in getting their fortunes read, so we leave the Meggora's Mysteries.
Wandering in Leen
Bugfood sees a sign for a tent of odd animals, but it is closed.
We wander through the town, looking for things to do. In the town center, we run across markets.
Bugfood goes looking for a cape, but instead buys a hat made of skunk fur, and it fits around his horns well enough.
Jerry buys a replacement, wooden head for the longhammer, and leaves her hammer there to get it installed.
Bugfood examines his potionmaking things, and receives clarification on the mechanics. He makes three healing potions.
Jerry in the baths
Jerry spends 2 gold for a hot tub and relaxing bath in a bath-house frequented by half-orcs; she turns down all propositioners. The gossip among the half-orcs here isn't much of interest to Jerry; they're all from out of town and will be joining the expedition soon, but they don't know much of the expedition itself.
Vurguron and the sword hilt
Vurguron dons his fine clothes and goes to a jeweller to find out more about the sword hilt. He wants to move the hilt to his old sword, while keeping the gemstone from his old sword. The jeweller recognizes the gem as an arcane focus, and could transfer it to the new hilt, but they can't move it onto the sword. They're not weapons-smiths. They think it's post-Divergence make, about 900 years old, and it's missing the blade but might be able to be rejoined with the blade if the blade could be found.
Vurguron looks around the shop for a while. He asks if they have any loose cut gems; looking for the gem of his draconic ancestry, Tiger's Eye. They do have some. He does pick up a diamond to add to the amulet of his god, and can pick that up tomorrow.
Now he goes to the blacksmiths' quarter, and does hear of one who's willing to try the work: it's the old dwarf we saw at breakfast in the Stone Pillow! Vurguron goes to find him.
This dwarf wears old, regal attire, and parts of his beard have iron plates in them. Vurguron introduces himself and enquires. The dwarf explains that the platinum hilt requires a platinum blade, which Vurguron doesn't have at the moment. Moving the ruby is easy; that'd be the work of 10 minutes with the magic of the Ruby of the War Mage.
The blacksmith identifies the hilt as that of a magical sword, with only part of the enchantment there. The blacksmith offers to do it, but Vurguron isn't really interested. He offers to buy the old dwarf a drink, since he's eating gruel. "As the owner of the establishment, I might be interested in other payment." So Vurguron gives him a gold.
We all return to the Stone Pillow.
Zelrathi on the town
Zelrathi spends the day in his bedroom, doing magic maintenance. Several hours in, he hears the usual voice say, "Sleep." "No," he tells the empty room. No response. Later he hears again, fainter, "Sleep." "No," he says again. "Stop," says the voice, fainter, weaker, more desperately.
This is the first time since he's started on this quest that hes really sat down and meditated, and his insight tells him that surely nothing could go wrong. He continues meditating. Another hour goes by: no voice.
He now has more spell slots than he knows what to do with; he goes to find a hospital, and finds a medicine woman who's concentrating on triage. He Cure Wounds everyone she can't help. She's dumbfounded at his abilities, and thanks him. Then he goes to party.
As night falls, the background music level in the town rises, and Zelrathi goes around, healing and partying. Salris follows him, plastered. The person they ask suggests the Seven Hammers, a place behind a warehouse that very few people know about, but he might not want to bring the visibly-shitfaced Salris. Zelrathi says he wants to go to where the people are, and gets told that the Seven Hammers is where it's at.
Zelrathi buys a round for the room, and then another, of the booze that tastes different for each person. Zelrathi's is sweet, light, refreshing. It's very strong. He only orders one. Zelrathi has a reminiscence of a similar bar, a similar circumstance, an encounter with a patron. He gets anxious, nurses his drink more slowly. Salris stumbles over, encourages him to have a good time, more drinking. Zelrathi casts Minor Illusion to make it look like the beer level is going down faster than it is actually. Zelrathi's illusion isn't as effective as it might be; Salris doesn't notice. Zelrathi hands him his beer.
Over the course of the evening, the crowd thins, and people go back to their rooms.
Zelrathi pulls a natural 20 on his nightly coffeelock Constitution check. He tries to draw in the power, and nothing happens. So he goes to full sleep, opting to drop all his acquired spell slots. He gets six hours of restful sleep before waking up with a dread premonition. An "oh shit, I probably need to sleep" feel. He rolls over and goes back to sleep.
He shakes and shivers in his sleep, and he wakes in a dream in a distant area. Where he would normally be in the bar where he met his patron, he's now in a featureless void. He says, "Well, this is weird", but hears not his own voice. There's the sensation of a drop of water behind him; he spins in space to look and he sees a flowing gown. She's floating there, upside-down, reversed, face slumped against her chest.
"I think I did a bad," he says. There's a coiling within his being, a feeling of compression. He hears a command to sleep. He says, "I am sleeping." She inhales sharply.
2 days to departure
The Party wakes up.
Zelrathi casts a couple of test spells, to make sure his magic still works. Lesser Restoration, Prestidigitation, and Minor Illusion all work.
Bugfood makes one spell scroll of Goodberry.
Jerry, Ryltar and Zelrathi go to the carnival. They come to Meggora's Mysteries, and Ryltar explains what happened last time.
Zelrathi and the fortuneteller
Zelrathi enters, and offers on the alter many Druidcrafted flowers. He feels a presence behind him, and there behind him is the beveiled fortune-teller.
She asks what he wants to know. "I have a book that apparently only I can read about my prophecy. Scholars can't tell me anything about it."
"What question do you bring me?"
"Where must I go? Where is the next step of my prophecy?"
She gestures, and the deck of cards float in front of him:
First card: The Judge. "What you have said is true; your heart has been deemed worthy to bear this.And what will come to pass has already been written."
Second card: The Leviathan. "The Leviathan is not always a future to fight and defeat outside of yourself."
Zelrathi says, "Oh, interesting. But sometimes it is."
"The Leviathan is a great serpent, one both powerful and awe-inspiring. Something that will continue to follow you."
Last card: The Beast. "Powerful and strong, waiting to be released. Within the mountain that is covered in shadow, and has been covered in shadow time and time again. Under darkness. Down, down, shadowed. Where he hides his shame."
"So there's a beast, and this is where I'm supposed to go?"
"It is what is written in that book."
"So let me get this straight. There is a judge." They spend some time hashing out the interpretation of the cards. ""
Zelrathi offers her something weird, the wine that will turn you into an animal. She declines, saying it will have no effect. He offers her the blessings of all the gods, and she guides him to the exit.
Ryltar asks after what Zelrathi learned, and Zelrathi explains his surprise that the fortune-teller was able to read his book.
A pale crustacean, called a "cave fisher", like a scorpion without a stinger. Commonly found in the subterranean caves or the Outer Dark.
A three-headed snake
A well-fed digestive tract, belonging to an invisible crocodile
Ryltar takes notes, so that he may describe them all to Bugfood.
Around this time, the Big Top opens for all.
The Big Top Circus
We go in, paying the 1 silver entrance fee. The announcer gives the big speech, and the first display is a beautiful lady and a pair of giant constrictor snakes, which do a routine. Acrobatic ring-play displays, accompanied by lights and flashes of sparks and magical pyrotechnics. Final event is the Slaying of the Beast, which is a huge creature with a three-eyed stalk above its head, menacing tentacles, scaring the patrons. They tell the story of an ancient hero defeating the monstrosity that ravaged the land. Jerry recognizes it: it's a froghemoth. After much theatrics, the clown-knights "slay" the beast.
The show finishes up, and everyone goes home. Ryltar tells Bugfood about the two-headed goat, and so Bugfood visits the animal tent that night. He gains the ability to Wildshape into the two-headed goat and the giant two-headed goat.
Then it's bedtime.
Last day pre-departure
Vurguron gets his amulet back, with which he can now cast Chromatic Orb.
Zelrathi asks Bugfood if he can see what's written in the book. We pass the book around, and none in the Party can see any writing in the book. Jerry asks Zelrathi if he's tried writing in it. He does, and we can see what's written in it.
Zelrathi shows the book to Salris the warlock; again nothing.
Bugfood makes half of a second spell scroll of Goodberry.
Zelrathi and his patron
Zelrathi takes a nap, and wakes up in the bar. He asks her, "What was that? Those last few messages?"
"I have my limits, and what you do drains them."
"What do you know about the stars, and the shadowed city?"
"It's on the far side of the realm. I told you before how to get there. It's in the prophecy. Your dark friend may help you."
Zelrathi expresses his exasperation at that, because he has many "dark" friends. She says that any of them may help.
And then he wakes up.
Introducing the expedition
Around noon, a small caravan pulls into the center of town. Leading it is a similar female Drow, and two guards, and with them are four other people. One of whom, everyone recognizes as Vicar. Vicar is the guy we found outside the city, and then in jail, the former acolyte of Corellon Larethian, who now serves Tula's patron. He recognizes us, and asks us what we're doing here. We explain, and ask him what he's up to these days. He's found the name of his god: Lythander.
Ryltar gives Vicar Tula's ashes and holy symbol. We explain how she died.
The next person off the cart is a large, able-bodied, grey-haired, grey-skinned male. He's an Aasimar. Vicar introduces us to Zeggil, who's been telling all sorts of stories.
Next is a male Hafling, Renir, who sounds like a Rogue.
Last off the cart is a red-haired human male, in a black cloak, reading a book. Vicar tells us his name is Osril. "Don't interact with him. he's not the most friendly person."
Our Drow contact notices us, and is surprised to see us.
At the back of the column is Ockoh, a seller of kebabs called "oosah", who has joined the party. He is a Dwarf.
We follow the caravan into the encampment. Our contact is House Captain Zarda T'haat, the directing leader of the expection ventures of the Harbingers of Discovery, and wears the bracketed diamond crest of the Harbingers. She's standing near a check-in table, where people are starting to line up and receive payments.
We head over to the sign-in station, and sign in in order:
Ryltar: assigned to the command squad
Salris: assigned to the "flank" squad, led by a male Drow in scale mail.
Bugfood: assigned to support, along with Ockoh.
Jerry Falone: assigned to the scouts, led by a female Drow led by skin-tight leather armor with two shortswords. The halfling joins them eventually.
Vurguron: Assigned to the same as Salris.
Zelrathi: healing and sleeplessness, assigned to support along with Bugfood and Vicar.
House Captain Zarada T'hat introduces herself.
His section commanders:
Rover Imbros: she leads the scouts
Blademaster Talsom: he leads the flanks
Racer Dirius: she leads the command group
Quartermistress Briza: she leads the supports
There's another, balding, Drow walking around: he wears a leather whip and a bone whip, with a silver leather mask over his face.
We're leaving tomorrow at first light for the Lost City of Storm's Eye.
Some of the creatures in the train, Bugfood does not recognize: They're four-armed, black-furred many-eyed creatures being supervised by Drow, doing manual labor. They're Glass Gator, a CR1 creature.
