Session 16: It's Nice to be Wanted

Game Date: 11/10/07
In-Game Dates: Novander 23 p.m. – Nov. 29 a.m.

Ambling back to Morwen’s, the team decides to split up in the morning: Nialia will go look for Araven, and the rest will travel north to the cave of the sphinx to retrieve the treasure.
The next morning, however, Lady Juliet intrudes on the party’s breakfast with dire news: likenesses of the elf woman who poisoned the farm children have been posted all over the city, and people have reported seeing the woman arm-in-arm with Nialia. Knowing that rumors will spread, Juliet informs the party that if Araven cannot be found (and submit to being arrested), the angry townsfolk will turn on those people seen to be Araven’s companions. Soon, Lady Juliet will be forced to arrest the party if only to save them from a lynch mob. It is at this point the party realizes the common room of Morwen’s is filled with barely-disguised city watchmen. Juliet also mentions that if the party flees the city, it will be seen as a sign of guilt, and the party had best never return.
It is Quirky who finally comes up with a workable solution: since Nialia claims she can guarantee that Araven will not return to the city, Mayor Miel and Lady Juliet can pin the crimes on the dead goblin sorceress, since the goblin had demonstrated shape-changing disguises already, and was trying to gather weapons for her tribe for raiding purposes. Lady Juliet grudgingly agrees to the necessary deception, and the party breathes a sigh of relief.
With the problem of Araven resolved, the group sets out as a whole for the cave of the Sphinx. Just before leaving, Potter waves down Rowan. He has a gift for her: a young fox that he saved from a farmer’s henhouse instead of letting the farmer kill it. The fox takes to Rowan immediately, who throws her arms around Potter in gratitude. Potter mumbles something incoherent in embarrassment, and Rowan rejoins the group with her new animal companion, who she dubs “Gus.”
The journey to and from the sphinx cave is uneventful, though Rowan finds a new suit of elven chain for herself. While riding, the party asks Nialia about these new abilities she seems to be exhibiting (sniffing, among other things), but Nialia passes the oddities off as part and parcel of her burgeoning power as a druid. Most of the party seems mollified by this, but others are still concerned.
Returning to the town, the party is greeted by the guards and townspeople as heroes! Evidently the deception worked, since many of the families of farmers with poisoned children come up and thank the party (which isn’t awkward at all). The party returns to Morwens and proceeds to have practically everyone in town clamoring to buy the heros drinks.
Rowan gets dolled up and goes to “show Potter her new armor.” Badger, feeling mischevious, pulls Quirky along and follows the ranger. Grumble drinks his body weight while Nialia orders… steak. Raw steak. And ale. After her food, she leaves the city to commune with nature. Meanwhile, Rowan and Potter have a quiet evening together. Quirky pulls Badger back to Morwen’s before things get heavy. Potter takes a while to get there, but he finally tells Rowan of his feelings for her, and she demonstrates her feelings for him in turn.
The next morning, Quirky is waiting for Nialia as she re-enters the city. The little cleric proves himself to be sharper and more deductive than he’s previously appeared as he talks to Nialia about the changes coming over her. He suggests that for the sake of the party she tell everyone the truth about what’s happening to her. With that, he heads off to check on Heidiana and Rascal at the temple. Nialia and Rowan have both made it to Morwen’s for breakfast when Quirky comes back with news that the bounty hunters seem to have staked out the front of the temple. The party goes to the temple and is met by the leader, Zalania, and one other bounty hunter. Zalania gives the party a week to track down the people Rascal sold the jewel to and get back to Miel with it, or they will take Rascal’s head, which will still earn them a bounty price, just not as high as the one for returning the gem. If successful, the bounty hunters agree to let Rascal go unharmed.
Grumble finally convinces Rowan to go to the half-orc blacksmith (probably the most popular NPC that has never gotten a name) and barter on his behalf. Rowan finds some boots for herself, but doesn’t get the magic shield Grumble covets. Grumble starts asking around as to the story behind the half-orc and the shield, finally going to see Lady Juliet and then the half-orc. The half-orc turns out to be an outcast, similar to Grumble, and the two of them ALMOST share a moment, but then racial memories take back over. Grumble leaves, still without a magic shield.
At the end of the day Rowan heads to Potter’s place to “pick up her new armor.” Badger corners a solitary Quirky over drinks and dinner at Morwen’s, and convinces the cleric to talk about his past as they take turns pulling pranks on the tavern customers. After several hilarious (to the gnomes) pranks, Morwen herself shows up behind them and puts a stop to the mischief by pulling some prestidigitation of her own, much to the embarassment of the two gnomes. Even though they’re both pretty tipsy, Badger gets the feeling Quirky was on the verge of revealing something about his past when Morwen interrupted. Frustrated, she heads to bed.
The next day, the party readies themselves for the trek south to a ruined keep; the last known destination of the party Rascal sold the diamond to. Morwen comes to them over breakfast and asks the group if she could do a fortune reading for them, as she used to be an oracle for the Royal Court in the capital city of Fallo. Agreeing, they head to Morwen’s house, where the sorceress has them all draw a card from her fortune deck. The cards begin to levitate off the table, still face-down, as Morwen casts her diviniation spells. Abruptly, she snaps forward, red-white fire illuminating her and the cards. The cards begin to spin around and even through the astonished party members as a voice at once like and completely unlike Morwen’s issues from her throat. As she reads off the images on the cards, one by one, they turn to dust before the alarmed eyes of the party. She intones:

“The first card: The Wheel of Dragons… One will slay the one bent on slaying them.
“The second card: The Broken Mask… One will lose themselves forever.
“The third card: The Paige of Cups… One will find their heart’s desire.
“The fourth card: The Hand of Glory… One will betray, to the ruin of all.
“The fifth card: The Throne of Chaos… One will either die in failure or live in love.

“Answers to ancient mysteries must be learned,
Lest he who was vanquished once more return.
All must suffer, all must toil,
Lest the mountains fall, lest seas boil;
All will be tested, but all must prevail,
Else all good will die and all lights will fail;
All links will be bent, but the chain must not break!
In life’s name and for life’s sake,
All must stand against the house of Bel,
Lest the world become a demesne of Hell.”

Morwen collapses after finishing this rhyme, and the party quickly revives her. Morwen believes the message to be divine in origin, but has no idea which card was meant for whom. Still pondering these ominous prophecies, the shaken group mounts up and departs the city.
Two days riding brings them to a disused game trail, where Rowan guides them to the remains of a ravaged keep in the center of the clearing. The sun has just set when Nialia finally tells the party her secret of the past few days:
She tells them that Araven has awakened the Lythari blood that lay dormant in Nialia. Nialia’s grandmother, she believes, was once Lythari. Now Nialia will gain the powers of the Wolf Clan as the transformation progresses. How long it will take for her powers to awaken she does not know, but she can now become a wolf at will, and even cast spells while in this form. Badger seems the most excited out of the party at this prospect, while Rowan seems to hold the most reservations, though she keeps them to herself. Nialia changes before their eyes and pads around the perimeter of the ruins, trying to track any scent traces of their quarry. She smells three people who recently came to the place, and smells blood, but is unable to tell for certain if they are still here. There are other smells she can’t identify, both plant and animal. Returning to camp, the party agrees to enter the ruins at dawn, building a fire in the clearing in front of the ruined gates, hoping perhaps any surviving adventurers will come out to them.
While they encounter nothing from the ruined keep, both Grumble and Badger, hear the rustlings of large things moving nearby in the forest. Grumble sees pale, luminous eyes reflected in the firelight, but they vanish before he can investigate.
Dawn comes over the horizon, and the party gears up to enter the yawning blackness of the ruins…