It's a dino-rooster!

Session 29

Arriving in camp, many in the area greet Agden Longscarf with the half-Dwarvish and half-Elvish phrase "stars be with you". We're brought to one of the center tents. "Hi is Vesryn here?" and an elf stands. Vesryn is revealed to be Kra'naelen's adoptive sibling. It turns out he was sent as part of an exploration party only a few days after Kra'naelen had set out from Uthodurn to find Bol'bara in Urzin. Scouts from his home city had detected illusion magic in the region of the ruins of Molaesmyr. Upon arriving and performing a more thorough investigation, it seems the city can change. The street layout changes and buildings move, but luckily no injuries have yet been sustained.

Kra'naelen asks the group to introduce themselves to his sibling. Then, they chat about the local ley lines being very messed up and no one has any idea what's going on. Vesryn shows us many, many papers and notes, including maps and lots of other stuff. His parchments are dated and edited to show a "now" version of the city. Analysis shows that maybe it's not actually changing, but might be a psychic "vision" being projected into the minds of the locals. This is backed up by Briya noticing that the layout of the city changes, but the fundamental "elevation/natural state" of the it doesn't change at all. The conversation turns to  magic for a bit; about how Kra'naelen's wild magic might be quite good for studying these phenomena.

Sumina (Kra'naelen and Vesryn's mother, a powerful mage) heard about the illusion magic discovery and that it was the sort of magic that is Vesryn's specialty; maybe he could help or at least get a lot of information for his thesis.

Anyway papers: based on the times and which things change, it may possibly point to an origin. The nothic compass points in the same direction. There have also been reports of other parties within the city, including those where Empire colors have been noticed. In fact, the head of the Cerberus Assembly, Ludinus Daleth, is from the ruins of Molaesmyr. He is one of the 8 founding archmages of the Cerberus Assembly, meaning he is old enough to remember the city before it was in ruins, and that he's the only original member still alive.

Even with some searching, this current encampment can't find center of operations for the Empire group. However, they want to so they can at least try and have some cooperation, to try and defeat this illusion magic. In addition to the tainted fae happenings. Dark shadow is very much a thing here. It seems to be the reason for the sunlight bottles. Each one lasts for only around 5 minutes, and can be reused if they're activated for less than that. They've seen shadowy boars, other creatures, but this was the first dragon.

The group inquires as to who, exactly, Agden Longscarf is. He claims his skills as a scout are largely owed to his super quick speed, and it has allowed him to be an independent contractor who works out of Shadycreek Run. (Cue Briya's "mercenaries" pose)

Vesryn's top priority is to find Monica, who went scouting yesterday but hasn't returned. She is very capable in battle and more than able to take care of herself. He suggests that our next stop is to talk to Tholina. We do, and discover that she's not very interested in Vesryn's work, is quite rich, and has funded most of the expedition herself. She's a Dwarven woman with dual braids, pints of beer, big meal and big personality. She's wearing giant gold earrings and large gold belt, showing her love for all things treasure. Finally, she offers to pay us 35 gold per week if we take up this search and rescue.  

Cass mentioned she studies chronomancy, more specifically known in this part of the world as "dunemancy", and casts gift of alacrity on Vesryn. Tholina goes to a cask and pours a big to-go mug of beer for Cass. It's a family recipe that obviously comes from a long line of master brewers and is how she made her gold. It acts as a Prayer of Healing spell. Then we follow Vesryn outside of camp to the bridge that crosses the water north. Cass casts Alarm for the bridge to make sure we're not being followed while Briya has Detect Magic up and flowing.

Prophet hears Skysibil Abriana in his mind and is told, "We have caught a glimpse of Mint's body; I fear she is gone forever. They are currently crossing a river on a large boat. Careful!" And he replies, "Thank you for delivering this message; I will relay it to my devouts." Maltheo can't see anything along the waters in this weird magical place.

Detect magic from Briya seems to indicate that it's all around. It's like looking at it all through a big, vague storm cloud. In fact the weird "vibe" of magic is all over the place. Vesryn denotes that, "Yes we've been able to establish from various texts it's a converging point of multiple ley lines here. As many as six, but they have been crumpled up or blocked in some way. You could consider it a bit of 'knot'."

The group faces a skill challenge to enter the city and start exploring. Prophet uses sound from his instrument to try and discern what may be out there, and notices that music doesn't travel very far. Briya wildshapes into a Dire Wolf and uses the gloves Monica was wearing to try and get her scent. A tiny trace indicates she's heading west. Kra'naelen tries to mark north on the nothic compass, but fails pretty badly. He also feels the energies of the ley lines so much that it's almost like he could pull on them.

The group continues west and notices hundreds of feet up, a sort of city-outline is there; a wall but chunks are missing, with wild growth taking over. We're able to make it to the end of the structure. Vesryn knows the area somewhat from his time here and says there's a market nearby. Briya loses the scent, so we go to the marketplace. Vesryn puts up sparkling lights and we move to the south, to discover more in our next chapter.