The City of Lights

Session 47

The group reorients itself as they "wake" from the vision of Azeersa. She's still glowing and dreaming; Izi is still here. Yahnist thinks about how to injure a stone giant. The rest of the group debates on how to find the Fire Ashari visiting Wildemount. We think the best chance will be to have Cass contact Briya's great-father.

"Hello Elder Greenleaf, Briya's friend here, we are seeking Fire Ashari to help find a new Dreamcatcher. Very important. Where they be? Cass x x"

After a brief pause, words drift back on the wind to Cass: "Oh, hello. I'm glad to hear she's made friends. We have not seen the Ashari again. I hear they're still in the Kamordah region xo"

The Kamordah region is that of rich widely-cultivated farmland. (Think Bordeaux; famous for wines, too) That's as good a place to start as any. The group heads back to "The Library" in order to rest for the evening.

Cass tells Briya about a device in their collar that keeps them out of the Fey realm. In fact, it's an almost certainty that it'll kill them if they try and enter. This is being told to Briya in an effort to get Briya to spill the beans about her possibly being exiled from her home. Cass shares they were an administrative agent for the Fey government, but, "Got bored, and did stuff." Won't say what stuff though... it might have even been judged to be cruel.

Briya: "So you were kicked out of your home because you'd been cruel, but now you want me to share?"

Cass: "I come to you with an open mind; I'm not judging you and expect you to do the same. What have you done to be exiled? Did you betray a parent or grandparent perhaps?"

Briya: "Yes; well, no. It's not that I'm exiled... sort of. Kind of... Ugh, it's complicated. There was a key to where I lived but I was involved in its destruction. There was powerful magic that was lost, so I'm looking for a way to replace that before I can go back."

Cass: "You can't go back before?"

Briya: "Probably not. Or, at least it's better if I don't. I'm not sure how I'd be received if I went home without this task completed. That's all I really have to say about it. Good night."

Cass leaves Briya to visit Prophet to ask him some questions about the Kryn Dynasty.

Cass: "I think we might be in danger from you; I've picked up on some clues along the way."

(Prophet doesn't want to reveal anything, so Cass and Prophet make a bunch of rolls, but in the end, nothing is revealed or shared between the two.)

Long rest.

In preparation for the day, Kra'naelen receives Gift of Alacrity and Fortune's Favor from Cass, while Prophet casts Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum on the house and grabs one of the bottled eyes as an "escape key" in case we need to leave the ways prematurely.

We head to the basement to enter The Blood Ways. The spell takes effect and Prohpet's eye turns bloodshot red, the portal opens, and the group passes through the barrier.

We feel as though we're in a liquid, floating; it's very disorienting... Sort of like being in water that isn't water, and we're able to breathe. Because we were in the basement, it appears that the bones that had been on the floor are now floating around us. Looking up, we notice features that make it feel like we're in a blood vessel. There's also a feature that looks sort of like a scar that we recognize is most likely the way that a door or exit point is represented.

Briya wildshapes into a crocodile, to guides and pull us along in the directions we think are the right ones to move toward Kamordah. Briya doesn't do so hot as a Croc for navigating, but we move in our straight line westward. Prophet notices a few of what may be some "healed over" scars that most likely used to be other exits.

Kra'naelen gets a vibe that you can "feel" what's on the other side of the scars, so he tries touching one. He immediately gets a wash of sensations that give a glimpse of purple trees from the Savilirwood and it feels like there's a town on other side full of broken-down buildings. It must be Shadycreek Run.

We reach a fork that splits in three directions, knowing we need to take whichever "feels" the most south-west. We take the one on the right. After the 16-minute mark, we pass a floating skeleton and then twice we swim past more forks. Twice Briya is able to pick a side that branches out in what we feel is the most appropriate direction.

At the 33-minute mark, we encounter two scars across from each other. One on the left, one up and to the right. The higher one gives a vision of something we haven't seen before in person, but Rexxentrum is completely recognizable regardless. The one on the left appears further down, and gives a vision of a place where three rivers converge. It's the triangular city of Zadash.

Kra'naelen pantomimes to Cass that we have only 15 minutes to keep going or else we have to turn around to take this Zadash exit. We keep heading south-west and the tunnel becomes a straight line for quite some time. Eventually, on one of the walls is not a scar opening, but just a collection of long claw marks. Just as we notice this, Yahnist's crossbow starts to glow... it means something undead is nearby!

Turning, we notice something has been following us and is now 300 feet away and closing fast. It's a huge-sized creature that sort of resembles a hammerhead shark but way more disgusting. It fills the width of the tunnel.

Combat!

We defeat the shark, and exit shortly thereafter into a scar that seems to exit into a mining shaft in mountains near our destination.