Session 18 - Through the Grapevine

11/05/5-10

As they left professor Berkinsail's home, the group were approached by one of the guards. He asked if they were done in there and after confirming, he requested their address, so that they could follow-up on what had been taken from the house. The party obliged and he let them know that a member of the Sila would meet them tomorrow. Now walking the streets near the university, the party wondered what to do and Milivoj suggested that professor Berkinsail, might be alive. Most agreed that it was a possibility, since the remains of the corpses in his house, were unidentifiable. They considered that he could have teleported or had been protected from the explosion using magic. Valeyo then brought up the professor's letter requesting a specific make of nails from Rekasev. He pointed out that it as aa suspicious request for a professor to make and that it could be a coded message for the ICM. It was addressed to someone called Venecia. Milivoj suggested taking the letter to Rekasev themselves, as it might lead them to the ICM and the rest of the party agreed, especially after Otto pointed out that he needed to go to Akulavod, which was also to the north. They decided to leave the following day, but not before waiting in Dragomir for the Sila questions.

Shiek went to the Conclaive to have the Jar with the smoke identified and discovered that it was called a Hounding Jar. The way it worked was that after speaking the name of someone in the jar, a Hound of ill Omen would be formed to track that person. Valeyo spend some time walking around, Cassini practiced his spells at the garden and Milivoj milled around. Sapphira had the idea of looking for bounties they could do on the way and was directed towards Dragomir's Arms. There were a few notable postings:

1. Seeking information on a Dragon spouting draconic propaganda north of Dragomir.
2. Missing person poster for a Hilda Firebrand - a young fire giant. It seems that she is from a fire giant settlement nearby and has ran off.
3. Bounty for a couple of Hill Giants, who have gone rogue and are causing trouble west of Dragomir, on the road to Stendolin.
4. Bounty for a gold smuggler named Omar Sharif, who is thought to be in the area.

Eventually they all met up in the barn. Shiek shared what he had found about the jug. They decided to save it for the future and Valeyo put it away. When Sapphira mentioned the jobs, Milivoj perked up at the mention of the giant girl. He had never really heard of female giants being out and about doing things. Otto had heard the same thing, where female giants are rarely seen or mentioned. None of that was shared with the group, so the party went to bed.

As he was falling asleep, Otto's mind was, once more, taken to a dreamscape, where he was encircled by shark fins and this large dragonborn creature standing around him. Something was different, there was a chill in the air, and as he looked at the horizon, the calm water he was stood on began to freeze. Slowly it began encroaching on Otto and this dragonborn creature. The dragonborn's details were still obstructed. The only clarity in the vision was the chill of the ice moving towards him. Her suddenly woke up and began writing his dream down.

In the room across, laying in his bed, Shiek felt a chill. His bedroom door, which he had locked, was slowly creeping open. He pretended to sleep and watched the door. A shadowy, human-sized figure crept in, almost completely silent. Shiek jumped out of his bed drawing his scimitar and got a good look at the creature. They appeared covered in plants, like leaves and ivies. Shiek reached out and grabbed the figure, recognizing it as a dryad. She cast Calm Emotions in the area, affecting Shiek and telling him not to worry. As Otto jumped out of his room, startled by the noise, he saw a small man in a Red Hat with a sickle at the end of the hallway. Otto attacked him and the creature called out "I'm gonna kill him, mistress".

In the middle of combat, the Dryad began lifting Shiek's clothes, revealing the item in his chest. There was the black and gold handle of what seemed like a dagger, stabbed through his heart. The Dryad's eyes went wide with recognition and she said "It is Malakagata.", before beginning to move away. The redcap attacked Shiek, calling him "Heretic!". After being repeatedly bashed by Milivoj, using his shield, the Dryad said "Goodbye", before disappearing into shadow.

Combat ended and Sapphira tried to track down the dryad, using her Favoured Foe. She couldn't get any tracks and it appeared the dryad left using magical means. Due to her vampiric nature Sapphira could still smell her nearby. Milivoj raised his shield to Cassini, who had taken the form of a black bear and after taking the smell in, he began tracking her. He reached a wall covered in ivy on which, Valeyo used Faerie Fire. Parts of the greenery began to glow, revealing the dryad, who was promptly knocked out.

After dragging her in the barn, the party began asking Shiek what had happened. Deciding that it is time to come clean, Shiek told them about what she had said about Malakagata, the King mentioned in the ancient journal he possessed. He then revealed his injury, taking off his clothes. Everyone was surprised that he was still alive, as the dagger was going straight through his heart. Shiek also mentioned that since the stabbing he hasn't needed to sleep as much. Valeyo asked how he got stabbed. Shiek's story was that he as attacked and felt a brief sense of "nothingness" after the stab, but soon wake up. He explained that when he hits someone, he can grab the dagger and throw out a spectral version of it. The dagger was very stuck in there and moving it didn't seem to cause him any pain. They decided to wait until morning to question the dryad. As an aside, Shiek also mentioned that when he first picked up the Hungry Twin he was a vision of a cat's eye.

As for the Redcaps, Milivoj said that they are nasty buggers, who come out of the woods and kill people. Otto also shared his earlier vision, similar to the last one. The sharks circling, but the sea starting to freeze this time. Everyone went to bed and awoke in the morning.

12/05/5-10

About an hour after waking up, the dryad began moving. The party watched her curiously, as she appeared indistinguishable from a bush crawling on the floor. She said she was tired and that the fight was unfortunate, as all they wanted was to confirm what was in Shiek's chest. Shiek asked how they could possible know about the dagger in his chest and she said she had some information, from her culture. She would be willing to share, if the party let her leave. After a brief discussion the group agreed, with Shiek and Valeyo pointing out that she had actually just tried to leave, and hadn't fought them. Satisfied with the agreement, she confirmed her status as an Unseelie scout in Dragomir on the lookout for interesting things. Her mission was to investigate the thing in Shiek;s chest and leave. Valeyo asked why they wanted the dagger, but the Dryad shook her head. Accoriding to her, the Unseelie didn’t want the dagger, but were simply interested in it. It was an artefact which held inside a long-forgotten Archfey. She was imprisoned in there for a long time and Malakagata is one of her names, others being Dirlagrauna, the mother of the Omlarcats - displacer beasts.

Shiek wondered how this ended up in the deep deserts of Almanat, but she didn't know. The Dryad didn't have many details, but the legends say Dirlagrauna was created by the Queen of Air and Darkness, but they had a falling out and Dirlagrauna disappeared. Valeyo asked if they wanted to release her, but the dryad denied it. She said that the Queen wanted to know if Dirlagrauna was active, so that she plan accordingly. With the conversation over, the party let her leave.

At around 9 o'clock some guards approached Valeyo, who greeted them. They were looking for the overseers of Berkinsail's estate. After confirming the contents that they had taken, the guards said there had been new developments in the case. Two figures had been seen fleeing east, presumably human, one a mage and the other wielding a rapier. The presumed mage, apparated them out of town, before they fled. Valeyo asked what would happen to his house and they confirmed that his mother would inherit, as he lacked children. With that the guards left.

Shiek immediately pointed out, that the man with the rapier was the same one who had been following them since the bridge and Milivoj suggested that the "mage" might be professor Berkinsail. They wondered if the slender man was working with the ICM or against them, but there wasn't much they could deduce at present. Valeyo pointed out that they might run across the pair, as the road east was the same one the group was planning to take. After talking about that possibility some more, the group began packing their wagon in preparation for their trip.