#qualinost

Ryai knows the elves don't execute people, but they could very well be banished for this. Vodren tries to suggest self banishment and to sneak in later, but the punishment lies heavy on Ryai's head if that happens having him become a Dark Elf. Ryai wants to plead their case and cooperate. Breaking out of prison is better than turning tail and running.

The group decides to go and meet with the gaurd. Captain Angoviaras greets the group and reiterates the charge of treason. Ryai, pretending to be a cousin named Cal, asks the Captain on what grounds. The Captain reads the charge again and tells them they have been accused of the murder of Vanthanoris Althonos while in Crossing. "Cal" lies that he's never been to Crossing and has spent most of his time in Wayreth. It doesn't sway the captain and asks if they'll come quietly. Not wanting to risk Ryai's family, they go. The gaurd tells the group to leave Inevitable and Marovie behind. Laith goes to take Marovie into his study and comes back with a little vial and slips it to Shim. Laith tells Ryai to trust Shim and the group is taken to the dungeons.

The group is stripped of their items, however the gaurd ends up doing a poor job of looking for hidden items and they manage to slip a few things into their cells. Once they get to thier cells they realize this is the nicest prison some of them have ever been in, with Bomba being a repeat offender here. The gaurd named Ellie gets the group situated and tells them about how things work and asks if anyone has any food allergies.

As they get settled, they start to try and get thier bearings on their current situation. Ryai tries to study the architecture to try and get an idea of the layout, but gets too caught up in his family's work to glean anything useful.

Shim inspects the locks to see how easy they will be to pick. They notice they're of dwarven design and has been something they've worked with before.

Vodren chats with Ellie about the situation and tries to get a feel for his opinion. He seems like someone trying to just do his job.

Bomba's earring picks up that the gaurds above are talking about her. One mentions that they think it's dumb that she's been arrested since she's been in Qualinost the whole time. Another tells him it's Paladithel's order and if he wants to stick his neck out for her he is more than welcome to.

As it creeps closer to dinner, Shim takes out the little vial Laith slipped them. He twists the little owl lock on the top and out comes some hastily sketched blueprints of the dungeon showing where the evidence room is and a secret tunnel in the empty cell leading to the Roseblack.

As it quietly gets around to the other cells it reaches Ryai who recognizes the the Roseblack. They quickly try to plan thier escape and Ryai tries to remove the rod holding his privacy curtain off the wall. He manages, but it makes a loud noise alerting Ellie. He asks "Cal" what happened and Ryai tells him that he's a curious person. He makes Ryai switch cells and he ends up in the cell with the secret path.

Broud goes to rip his off the wall to give to Ryai and not only manages to do so, but open the bars separating their cells to slip it through to him. Casting Rumblegut's Surprising Staff, Ryai pokes Shim and then casts invisibility on them. Ryai hands the rod back and Broud closes the bars like nothing happened, getting Ryai slightly flustered.

Shim closes thier privacy curtain and waits for dinner to arrive. As the gaurds come to drop off their food, the one asks why "Cal" moved. Ryai responds that he was just trying to get a better look at his ancestors handiwork and everything clicks better with Ellie. Vodren offers to fix the broken rod and they take him up on it. He does with a simple mending cantrip and the gaurds give a little look of guilt once he does.

They deliver Shim's dish and Shim slips out the door without them noticing. Once Shim is out, they head straight towards the evidence room to grab everyone's stuff, easily picking the lock.

As they wait, Ryai goes to explore the cavern for a bit. If it wasn't for Ryai's latent magic, no elf would be able to see in the caverns. The walls are entirely made of rose quartz as rose vines litter the walls. He makes it to the bottom and finds a chest. In it are three sunrods and an old pocket book of Qualinesti law. He grabs the book and heads back up, telling the group what he found.

Bomba starts to get extremely bored and asks if she can have her pan flute at least. Ellie complies and tells the gaurd up top to grab Bomba's pan flute. Shim, who hasn't made it back yet starts to hug the wall as the gaurd realizes the weapons have been stolen. They slip back into the dungeon and begin picking the cell locks.

Once the alarm is sounded Ellie goes towards Shim's cell. Vodren drinks his potion of mind reading and scrys that he's noticed that Shim hasn't touched thier food. Pressing further he picks up on his conflict with the current situation. Vodren starts to talk to him to convince him to leave Shim's cell alone. He mentions outloud that he doesn't know what to believe or what killing the clerics will do to Qualinost's relationship with the gods. Ryai tells him that if they don't do anything Qualinost could be the next Istar. Ellie however is unmoved and tells the empty cell to make a noise if Shim was in there.

Bomba uses minor illusion and fakes the sound of Shim talking, absolutely throwing Ellie for a loop. Ryai tries to talk to him again, assuring him that while things seem dire and dark, they should still do right by the light.

Ellie asks how they plan to get out of the prison and Ryai asks if he'll keep it secret. Ellie agrees and he shows him the secret passage to the Roseblack. He asks how Ryai knows this and he assures him that he's a little special. It finally clicks for Ellie that he is speaking to Nona, but Ryai corrects him telling him he no longer goes by that name.

Ellie unlocks Ryai's cell, then goes to unlock Broud's to find that it's already been unlocked, along with Bomba's. He unlocks Vodren's and Shim pops back into view with all the important weapons. Ellie allows them to flee as they slip into the Roseblack.

The group enters the rose quartz filled caverns and begin to explore. The vines where they are look like they've adapted to their living conditions, but aren't thriving. Ryai is utterly enamored with the view and takes his time to sketch out the place. Vodren keeps an eye out for tracks. Bomba tries to commune with any potential ghosts, and Shim tries to analyze the geode structure. Broud keeps watch.

Vodren manages to find a set of heavy boot prints marching through.

Shim can't gleam much architecturally since it's a natural formation, but is able to tell where the air is coming from.

Bomba finds surprisingly, no ghosts.

Ryai eventually takes the charge leading them through the caverns towards the air. As they pass, they find a section of vines that are green. Vodren inspects them an finds that they are rather vinegary is taste.

They eventually find the exit and Ryai slips out first. He finds that the exit leads to the edge of the northern bridge towards Darken Wood. Hidden there as well are four Silvanesti elves, supposedly keeping watch. He slips back and tells the group that they can steal a near by boat if they are careful. They all manage to go up and out, rushing the boat. The Silvanesti notice them and call out asking if they are fleeing. Ryai tells them not a chance in hell.

They still think he's Cal.

While on the boat, Ryai reaches out to Aroth with sending. He tells him that the meeting place has changed to the abandoned house outside of town. He responds with why and Ryai has to rest before responding. He agrees and is set to meet them, bringing back up in case they were followed.

They arrive to the abandoned house to see that the front door is still off it's hinges. They head inside and begin to barrel down the hatches. Shim begins to build alarms near the doors to notify them if there are intruders. Broud is estatic to find out the kitchen has raisins and begins cooking. Vodren goes on patrol to make sure they're safe. Bomba begins to investigate.

Ryai sends another message to his father telling him they've escaped. Laith is relieved but has not heard word from anyone else about it. He then rests again, reading the book of Qualinesti law from the Roseblack. While reading, he gets the feeling his ancestor put it there to teach the escapee a lesson.

As Bomba explores the house she enters the master bedroom. She opens a jewelry box to find nothing in it. As she closes it and puts it back a black shadow from lashes out at her, cutting her deeply before disappearing again. Bomba flees back to the rest of the group, showing Broud and Vodren in the kitchen. As Ryai listens to the description from the room over he tries to figure out what it is until he realizes Shim is alone. He rushes to where they're working to see a black cloaked figure standing over Shim, knife at the ready. Ryai slips between the both of them and catches a look at the figure's face. He finds that she is another Silvanesti with cold eyes. She takes off past the two of them to the outside of the house. Ryai yells to cut her off while Bomba, Shim, and him go after her. Vodren slips out the back with his bow ready and Broud grabs the hot frying pan he was using. From the shadows Vodren is stabbed as poison courses through him. As she runs back into the house, he takes a shot at her leg crippling her. The group manages to corner her back into the bedroom. Vodren manages to cut her other leg with his spiritual weapon. She tries to flee out the window again but ends up falling flat on her back. Shim drops the sap bomb on her and she is stuck to the ground. Bomba lands the finishing blow to her, knocking her out cold.

They inspect her things and take her poisons. As they look they find a writ, that gives her authority over any of the gaurds from the heir apparent Paladithel. As Ryai reads the writ, everything begins to click. With Paladithel in the speaker's ear he's convinced him not only let him marry Princess Laurana posthumously, but to knock off the two other princes from succession putting himself as next in line.

They tie up thier would be assassin, putting her in the basement. While waiting for Aroth, Ryai takes the time to search more thoughly through the house and finds a few potions, a book, and midnight pearl earrings.

Aroth arrives and Shim asks him to keep his horse in the back. Shim notices Aroth's hair is flowing despite there being no wind.

As they head inside Ryai recognizes the breeze as a silent stalker. Ryai mentions that they've already had one tonight which peaks the Half-Elf's interest. Broud calls up that the Silvanesti assassin is awake. They go to try and talk to her, but she won't budge. She tries to break her binds, but is caught. She lunges forward in the chair and is tripped. Vodren who's had enough of this puts her down. With the assassin dealt with they begin thier talks with Aroth about what they found.

The group theorizes that since the clerics were nowhere to be found above ground, they must be hidden in the Roseblack. Though the maze of crystals will be hard to navigate to find them on short notice. Also with the revelation that Paladithel is heir apparent, they're convinced that the speaker's days are numbered. Ryai theorizes on the day of the sacrifice that he'll go for the speaker.

Unfortunately with the tree under his control, they knows they can't attack him directly. Aroth suggests calling a red dragon to take out the tree but Ryai and Shim refuse. They talk about taking the Fang of Verdance away from him to see if they can get some sort of control over the tree. With him being surrounded, and thier most knowledgeable source on Paladithel's schedule dead on the ground they decide to try and lure him away during one of his speeches. Aroth says that Ryai had to have good dirt on Paladithel, and Ryai reluctantly agrees.

The reason Ryai left was because Paladithel raped him.

With the revelation, they begin to plan.

Using a minor illusion they will create a vision of Nonasse to catch his attention. And with one of Shim's devices, they can record a message to lure him away from the crowd. Ryai making Shim and Bomba invisible will try and pickpocket the knife away from him once alone.

Ryai and Vodren plan to run back up during the scenario while Aroth will send his silent stalker to attack Paladithel once he is separated.

While not an easy choice, the group decides to split to conquer thier separate tasks. They two groups swap supplies and spells, and the wizards make contact via sending to thier allies.

Ryai contacts his uncle Ayder, informing him of his return, but not to tell his father, and the fact he's bringing two clerics with him. Ayder was surprised at Ryai's new ability but was very cross with his decision to bring the clerics.

Konguq tells Morris about only Ace and Vorlo are coming back. Morris informs her that they lost the fishing nets, but two new crew members are looking to join and need her approval.

After they've made thier contact the group rests up to head out the next day. They meet one last time and give each other farewells. Vorlo and Vodren are crying and Konguq threatens to turn any of them into zombies if they die on her. Ryai tells Ace to follow what he feels is right for him, since if they wanted to do what they were told they would have stayed home. And with that the two groups split.

Vodren, Ryai, and Broud head to the teleportation chamber and are met by a white robed dwarf named Ivani. She looks tired but gets the group on their way rather quickly.

When the three arrive, they find themselves in an overgrown gazebo with what appears to be an abandoned home. They are greeted by Ayder being held at knife point by a 3ft gnome with bright pink hair and a human staring into the trees not paying attention to the situation at hand. Ryai and Vodren draw thier weapons and vouch for Ayder, Ryai telling the gnome that he asked him to come. The gnome obliges and let's the half elf go, and the human strides up the the three, and happily shakes their hands, introducing themselves as Shim. The gnome follows suit, introducing herself as Bomba.

Ayder notices Ryai's white robes and change in physical appearance, and understands a little better now why Ryai didn't want to tell his dad right away. Ryai also didn't want Paladithel to find out he was back. To which Ayder silences him, telling him not to say his name. He urges the group try and find a way inside the abandoned house. With the door locked Ryai casts Knock and they are able to slip in.

They start to discuss the situation at hand and how Qualinost is barely holding on. After the death of Princess Laurana to a dragon the Speaker of the Suns has locked himself away. Paladithel has presented himself as the hero of Qualinost with his proposal to ritualistically sacrifice roughly 3 dozen clerics to bolster the forest defenses, using the dead princess as Martyr to his cause. And with his ability to control the great tree at the center of the city, he's got the power to back up his words.

Ayder asks what their plan is and Ryai gives currently his outline. That the want to stop the ritual from happening and turn the majority opinion from Paladithel's plan to raiding Pax Tharkis to save the dragon eggs that are being held there. Ayder doesn't seem all too convinced by it. Paladithel has a choke hold on the public opinion, and metallic dragon hatchlings can't fight. Also the last time he saw Ryai he was pretty doe eyed about the world around him.

As they try to figure out and discuss what their next plan is when Bomba and Vodren notice a figure in the window and hear it run off. Fearing they're going to be outted Bomba runs to meet him on the other side of house, busting the door down. Shim unleashes one of their handcrafted bombs and attempts to entangled the figure, which they now recognize as an elven gaurd. The entanglement fails but he does sustain damage. Ryai tries to shroud him in darkness but he takes off. Ryai manages to catch up to him and convince him however they just want to talk.

The gaurd eases up and returns to the others with questions, like why they broke into the house and why Shim attacked him. Shim lies and said it was only just to keep him still so they could talk and Bomba lies that they broke in because she had to pee. The gaurd buys it but requires them to pay 45 steel for the door Bomba broke, which Shim gladly pays. When Broud and Ayder arrive on the scene the guardsman immediately becomes hostile towards Broud due to him being a half ogre. The group meets his hostility and the gaurdsman recognizes that he's outmatched 4 to 1. He leaves them alone but says if Broud acts out it falls on the Aedlock house.

After he leaves they discuss thier next steps. Ayder asks if they have any place to stay to which they don't have an answer. Bomba offers them a place at the temple she's been taking care of in Qualinost. Ayder urges Ryai to go see his father, but Ryai is hesitant on it. After some back and forth, Ayder heads back without much to add. Ryai tells the group that after they get settled in the temple he'll talk to his father. They decide to check out the great tree in the center of the city to get more information.

With Broud in the party they do get stopped by quiet a few elves trying to challenge them, but the group challenges back and they pay them less mind. When they get to the square the tree is starting to change colors and from it's branches hangs the corpses of Draconians and dead members of the dragon armies. Paladithel is talking to a large group, rattling off his plans to save Qualinost. Ryai decides to stay away from the square and look for ways to escape if needed. Bomba watches the crowd for any figures of note. And Vodren and Shim inspect the tree.

Bomba notices a half elf in the crowd, not as interested as the others in Paladithel's speech. He starts to turn away from the crowd.

Ryai notices that canals are not as in use as they usually are and would be a good way to move around the city unmolested at least. Broud joins him and Ryai points it out to him.

Broud asks Ryai if he sometimes missed Paladithel. Ryai freezes for a moment, but admits that Paladithel hurt him in a really bad way. But that sometimes he thinks that he should have just shut up and accepted it.

Vodren and Shim inspect the tree. Shim notices that the sap is filled with little green flecks, which is not normal for trees. While Vodren tries to connect with it, Inevitable pops his head out of Vodren's backpack and nips his ear. In the voice of Habakkuk he tells him that his brothers are hidden in the city and that he is giving him the mission to go and save them from this fate.

After this interaction, Paladithel takes a step off his platform and makes his way to Shim and Vodren; his entourage continuing in his place. Bomba notices the half elf start to leave the crowd. And Ryai makes his way to Vodren and Shim, telling Broud to stay put.

Paladithel starts asking the two what they're doing around the tree, to which Shim eats a leaf baffling the elf. Vodren tries to deflect but Paladithel demands that he show him his Holy Symbol. Ryai tries to pull Vodren away saying they were leaving when Paladithel recognizes him as Nona. Ryai quickly tries to lie saying he's never heard of her and that his name is "Cal", and he falls for it hook line and sinker.

Paladithel continues to harass Vodren when Bomba comes up to tell Paladithel to fuck off. She threatens his masculinity and in return he stabs the tree with a dagger and presses a button on it. The tree begins to move and traps the five of them in a cage of branches. Ryai goes into panic mode and begins gripping onto Vodren for dear life. He tells Bomba that he'll let them go if she kisses his boot. She instead goes to punch him and the tree reacts, stabbing Bomba in the shoulder. Paladithel looks a little surprised at the sudden movement but plays it off as intentional. That's when the group realizes that the tree is a Dragon Tree. A tree that is fiercely loyal and even has a breath weapon. The branch through Bomba's shoulder was a warning shot.

During the ruckus, Shim goes to investigate the dagger. As they approach they notice a rune on the hilt and the blade is shaped like a tooth. As Shim tried to touch it however the blade poisons them.

Now in the position of power, Paladithel corners Vodren to reveal his holy symbol. He does, revealing his ability as a nature cleric. Paladithel is content with his reveal and says that he doesn't need his assistance for what he wants.

Bomba, not sure what to do, consults her ghostly master what she should do. He appears before her and tells her that it is better to lose the battle to win the war. She submits as he shoves his boot on her face, content. He takes a final look at "Cal" still surprised at the similarities and leaves.

When he's gone Broud rejoins the group and gives Bomba a little healing to help her recover from her injury. Broud mentions to the group that Paladithel seemed to imply he's got all types of clerics, not just the ones for the gods of good during his speech.

Shim describes the dagger, showing off their poisoned finger. Ryai recognizes it as the dagger he spent the last three researching before leaving home. It's called the Fang of Verdance, a dagger made from the tooth of a green dragon. It had a tether to something and needed the right things to make it tether. It could control plant life but he couldn't quite figure out how and couldn't get the dagger to do more than get branches to move and leaves to fall off. What they do know is that Paladithel's constant use on the Great Tree is poisoning it.

They decide to follow thier next lead, the Half-Elf that was in the crowd and hunt him down. Bomba takes to the rooftops, Vodren tries to follow boot tracks, and Ryai asks around. Bomba spots him going to a stable and tells Marovie to tell the others.

They catch up to him and Ryai recognizes that he's in make-up to blend in better. He's actually half Kagonesti. They approach and try to figure out where he stands and why he was in the crowd. He doesn't think that Paladithel's plan is going to work, and plans to head out. Vodren tries to convince him to stay by showing off his cleric abilities, to which he is stunned but not moved by. As he gets on his horse, Ryai tries to convince the horse to stay warning it about the draconians in the forest. The horse is unmoved, saying his master controls them. Ryai questions the half elf about his control of the draconians and the half elf is ready to flee when he mentions it. Shim tries to slow the horse with a sap bomb but it manages to slip out. Bomba taking the chance to stop it while it's distracted jumps on the horse and threatens the half elf. He caves and tells the group to meet him in a private area.

They learn his name is Aroth, and that he's a spy working for the dragon armies. When questioned why, he says simply that he just wants to be on the winning side. He does however offer to help them with freeing the clerics with the logic of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". He also tells them if they can bring him Paladithel's head, he'll do more for them. The group asks that they rendezvous that night at the temple Bomba has been taking care of to fill them in.

With the appointment set, the last thing on the list being meet with Ryai's father. Something Ryai seemed to be dreading. Broud suggests that they go and at least check out the temple first, and possibly relax with a drink. Ryai asks for a bottle and Broud starts to recognize that Ryai has a problem.

They arrive to the the temple that Bomba has been maintaining and start getting set up there for their stay. While resting and drinking they take the time to get to know their newest party members.

Bomba's family is apart of the tinkers guild on Mt.Nevermind. She one day while exploring ruins from the age of dreams met her master. She spent time learning how to be a monk from him until one day she realized that only she could see him. It was then she realized that she was able to see ghosts. Once she was strong enough he instructed her to go to the temple in Qualinost to read and study the proper scripture of her God. She was recruited and offered a large sum to help Ryai and Vodren, but her master told her to do it because it was the right thing to do.

Shim was adopted by the Gnomes on Mt.Nevermind as a baby. They raised Shim almost like any other gnome and it took Shim a few years to realize they weren't even a gnome to begin with. Once they became old enough they decided to take on their own life quest to give their little clockwork companion, mousey, a bigger body. They were recruited and offered a large amount of magical scrap to work with. Bomba and Shim know each other from Mt.Nevermind and have interacted in the past .

While getting to know each other, they also try to figure out their next plan and how to tackle thier situation. They discuss methods on how to get the knife away from Paladithel and Vodren suggests that Ryai try to distract him. Terror crosses Ryai's face at the suggestion and Broud says he'd rather die a slow and painful death than let Ryai be alone with that man.

They also recognize that currently they have no real way to sway the people's opinion. Unleashing evidence now as they stand will only cause an uproar against them. Broud tries to lead with the idea that they get in to speak with the Speaker of the Suns, but Ryai drops that his father sits on the council. Giving them an in.

Vodren prays to Habakkuk and he tells Vodren that if he can actually prove there are dragon eggs at Pax Tharkis, he will personally tell the Metallic Dragons to go and enter Krynn again.

With them finally settled, it was time for Ryai to return home. He struggles with the thought, trying to rely on his vices to get him through. But Broud reminds him he's got one shot to make this work and he shouldn't do it drunk. He reluctantly agrees and the whole group promises to support him the entire way.

They arrive at his home and while it's not as big as some of the others around them, it's very clear it was built by a long line of architects. It's surrounded by the local gaurd but they don't hinder the group from entering. Ryai knocks at the door and from the other side he hears a little "meep" from the viewing hole. The door quickly opens and the family head maid Qualock and bows deeply, welcoming him home and telling him that they were expecting him. She seems surprised by the change, but doesn't comment further. She directs them to the study where his father was waiting.

He invites Ryai and the party into the study and sees Ayder waiting inside.

Ryai plays catch up for a bit while trying to get the full scope of situation from his father. Ryai introduces the group, and Ryai let's his father in on thier plans currently to try and save Qualinost. That they have at least two certain locations of the Dragon Orbs, with the other half of his group going after one. They have reason to believe that Pax Tharkis has metallic dragon eggs and that's what they're using to create Draconians. And that if they succeed on this Habakkuk will tell the Metallic Dragons.

Shim also presents a vial of the the great tree sap with the flecks, explaining how Paladithel is poisoning it with the dagger he has. Ryai's father takes the vial and promises to look into it for them for more information. He also let's them know that he started using the dagger after he returned from Silvanost with three Silvanesti elves who now accompany him.

They also request that he try to get them an audience with the Speaker. He admits it won't be easy since Princess Laurana's death. In addition Paladithel has been the only one talking to him.