That's a giant hole! (in the road)
The oasis attack group's origin is revealed, and the gang gets some quests. They help Mint fight an udaak at a nature reserve, and she finally gets some past life information.
Session 17
This time it's Prophet's turn to go shopping. He's got his eyes on a Cloak of Displacement and tries to say it’s fake in order to get it super cheaply. His effort is totally shut down. We then head as a group to the Nimbus Keep; it’s the barracks of the Aurora Watch and quite large. We see a few Echo Knights — soldiers who wear the traditional Kryn spikey-style insect-looking armor. They sort of summon ghosts that fight each other as they themselves fight each other. It's a bit reminiscent of Mint’s ability when the ghost of Tea appears.
Brought a few floors up and finally we’re to see Veryn Theyliss, a decorated and well-appointed Kryn captain. He’s an elf, but with a beard; certainly quite rare. He addresses Prophet and thanks him for our group; wants to debrief us for our encounter at the Ashguard Garrison.
More information about the group that attacked us at the oasis is revealed: it seems to have been a mercenary group named “The Shiver”. They used blood magic and a tentacle thing summoned with that magic. In fact, the goblin was masquerading; it got into the Shadowhands and was actually a rat person!
Blood magic is rare, and hasn’t been seed used around in a long time. But at the time of the Julius Dominion, blood magic was a large part of that region of Wynandir. “Hemocraft” is another term used to describe it.
Mint should go hunting for a udaak. Their only weakness is sound, due to having sensitive hearing. That sort of challenge might be exactly what they need to reconnect with past lives.
The Kryn are in need of resources to equip their soldiers. To this end, we're asked if we could reopen the steelworks at the Deep River mine. It's located near the edge of the Vermiloc Wood. Also, in the nearby village of Skaal, they’ve been asking for help with a frustrating kobold problem, and are plagued with planar rifts. It’s north of Rosohna. Maltheo asks for mounts for the 5 of us and we get permission to take moorbounders.
Abrianna reached out to Denberry Farm to have Mint's hunt all set up. We're under the impression it would be like a wild hunt, but it seems that there’s no need to as they’ve done a “farmed” version of this experience. It's spearheaded by the Masters of Memory from Den Omrifar. They help others reconnect with their past incarnations. This is mostly a quiet retreat — literally a park-safari vibe. Abrianna sets up the monitored fight and lights a censor with herbs making a green & purple smoke for Mint to inhale. They do so, pass a CON save, and it Mint, for once, relaxes.
The udaak is relentless, and plays with us like toys. It takes multiple attacks from Mint before she finally has a reverse-time vision like before: time flowing backwards, Wreath of the Prism. Belonged to Aawa; believed lost when she died, but had been in the Kryn for years.
After Maltheo was knocked unconscious and then revived, Kra’naelen did an awesome fireball combo. The udaak makes a bite-grapple against an unconscious Mint. Says Prophet, “Does this bring back any memories?”
Abrianna ends combat and harmlessly banishes the udaak. Kra'naelen thinks it was a Maze spell. After deliberation, it seems Mint was most likely Aawa, the one with the wreath, and Junaf the bow. Mint receives the calming herbs as a bonus. We head to “Ever in your Favor” Inn & Casino. A Human woman, fair skinned and dark haired (rare in Rosohna) welcomes us. Kryn magic is very based on probability and chance and manipulating those related energies. We learn of Shingle-Gits, a card + dice game.