Story

The 300th Sun, 1264
The sun begins to set over the Western sea as a man plays a lonely song to himself and the waves gently lap the shore.

A woman walks down the road to a tavern. She opens the door to find a musty old tavern. A strange man sits alone in the back, eating peanuts.

Two whited haired men sit to left, in conversation with a turtle with a moustache. Closer to the bar, yet another white haired man desperately tries to join a conversation with an elf and a halfling, to no avail. At the nearest table to the entrance, a girl in a dark cloak sips her drink, her hood doing a poor job concealing her horns.



The noblewoman sits down at the table with the elf and halfling, introducing herself as Cleo from the next town over. No one at the table believes this as she is dressed in fine fabrics and leathers and literally wearing a golden crown. Her attempts at being inconspicuous have gone extremely poorly. The others continue to ignore the white haired man, also strangely dressed in a blue and gold uniform, introducing themselves as Faron and Valeria.

Meanwhile, at another table, the masked man is being interrogated by the others in his group. He tells them he's Akou, and where he's from, "masks are all the rage in fashion!" throwing a verbal jab to the woman wearing a crown the table over. Unconvinced that masks are now the height of fashion, the turtle introduces himself as Mikey, a former pirate from way out east in Kapteyn. Upon hearing that name, Colt, sitting next to him realizes that he once knew a fellow by the name of Mikey, but hadn't seen him in years since the accident. Mikey tells him that he is the boy from his past. The two share a moment in remembrance of their childhood friend. Weirded out by the trauma, Akou leaves to attempt to join another table.

The blue clad white-haired man attempts to chat up the hooded girl sitting at the from of the tavern, but he is met with the coldest reception yet. Defeated, he heads to the bar to drown his sorrows.

Just as Akou sits down, the people at the table have been discussing sleep arrangements for the night ahead. Cleo has found from the barkeep that there are no rooms left at the inn, but he doesn't reccomend staying here for long. Reports speak of a group of hooded figures kidnapping lone travelers for an unknown purpose. Valeria has offered Faron and Cleo a place to stay, as she regales the two, and now Akou, the story of how her and her friend Lysana had been taking part in the Western Sailing Race. A devastating crash took the life of her friend and stranded her in Toliman for the past year. Akou attempts to cajole her into some accomodation for the night. Valeria plainly states that, she "doesn't know if you'll fit, this might be a girls thing."

Upset with the continued trauma, Akou heads back to his original table, figuring that maybe he could bunk with the turtle. Unfortunately for him, he finds out that turtles carry their own accommodations on their back, but Colt offers to share his rooftop if Akou agrees to help keep watch. He accepts, given that the alternative is he sleeps in a dark, wet alley alone.

Overhearing talk of accommodations, the hooded girl walks up to the bar to ask the barkeep for her room key. Whether by poor memory or malice, the barkeep acts as if he has no idea what she speaks of. The white haired man slams his axe down attempting to intimidate the barkeep into helping the girl, but the barkeep only responds with mild annoyance, asking him to keep his weapons out of the tavern. Luckily, the girl is able to convince to the barkeep for an old shack out the back of the tavern, but not before hearing the story of how his beloved horse passed away recently, and that it was formerly the horse's home. She is unfazed.

Faron saunters up to the bar much more friendly now for some reason, to ask the man his name. He declares,

"I am Ambrose Everdawn, Royal Guard of Solum! It is simply obscene that you do not know the goings on in the capital, it's the only place that really matters!"

He proceeds to rattle the news items he had received from his weekly briefing. Of course the Summer Festival and new year approaches in only 60 suns. Weaker crop harvests are reported across the League, while Brannick does not seem worried and is actively seeking marriage. Echoing the barkeep, he also speaks of the hooded men sighted across the Southern Union territories.

"Thus I am here to protect you citizen. Now I will return to my government subsidized housing for the night, I bide thee adieu."

As the night winds down and people return to their various dwellings, Cleo, Faron, and Valeria, decide to question the man in the back of the bar. Asking him what his deal is, they receive a cryptic response,

"I am Morgan. The journey will be longer than the Alfven, and steeper than Solum's Crown,"

before the man returns to lining up his peanuts. Perplexed, Faron grabs some of his peanuts before leaving for the night. He is unfazed.

The patrons shuffle out of the tavern leaving only Morgan and the barkeep in an otherwise empty room.

Just before they leave, Valeria turns to Cleo. "Honestly, I don't believe your story. If I'm letting you stay in my home, at least tell me your real name?" Cleo relents, telling her group that her real name is Illya, but nothing more.

The 301st Sun, 1264 YS
Akou and Colt awake together on a rooftop near the tavern. They soak in the golden sunrise as Mikey stirs from his shell on a street below. Colt turns to his new partner and tells him, "Hey, I'm headed to Arahall to pick up a package and with those reports of kidnappings around, I'd rather be travelling in a group." Akou agrees to tag along, ready to see new vistas to inspire his art. Mikey hollers from below asking to come as well. Colt relents, initially offering him a single bronze piece per day, before finally agreeing on two bronze pieces after much protest from the turtle.

Over at Val's shack, Illya is also planning on heading to Arahall, although her intentions still remain shrouded in secrecy. Like, Colt, she asks her companions to join her on the journey. Both are eager to get out of the hovel that is Toliman, especially Val, having been stuck there for over a year. The promise of pay seals the deal.

As Colt's party prepares to leave, Phoebe peeks out of her dead horse shack, inquiring where they're headed. She resolves to join them, payment not required, so long as they aren't headed to Solum. The boys are happy to have another person in their group. Strength in numbers?

The last to awaken is Ambrose. Stepping out of his government subsidized housing, he overhears Illya's party preparing to depart for Arahall. As a royal guard, he confidently approaches them, "HAIL CITIZEN," offering his services and protection, at no cost of course. They are skeptical given the previous nights events, but eventually decide having a royal guard with them would be prudent. As soon as they agree, Ambrose's facade drops.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you you wouldn't believe how lonely it is out here I thought they were sending me somewhere important but its been months you would nev-"

He continues his blubbering as both parties leave Toliman behind.



The 308th Sun, 1264 YS
After nearly eight days of travel, both parties reach Arahall, the Western Capital. Having awkwardly followed each other at a distance for the duration of the week, they go there separate ways, Colt and company to pick up his package, Illya to visit the park around the city walls.

Colt's Party
Colt takes his party to the address he was given on the edge of the Ducal Quarter of Arahall. Coming upon a house next to the outer wall, the group sees that it is noticeably smaller than the other grand estates within this area of the city. Akou steps forward and knocks on the door. They are greeted by a well dressed older man. He introduces himself as the butler of the house. Colt inquires about the package he is meant to pick up. The butler tells him the package is not in the house, that the master of the house always has it in his possession at all times. It is apparently very important and the master would not leave it behind in the house.

""However, if your need for this package is urgent, the master has been out foraging in the Western Woods for the past few days. You may wish to seek him there or wait until he returns," says the butler with a glint in his eye, "You should be easily able to find him, the woods are quite safe, everyone around has childhood stories of roaming that forest."

The butler then closes the door, leaving the party with a decision.

The party discusses the strange behaviour of the butler. Why was he unaware that his master had to deliver a package? Why was he unfazed by the disappearance of his master for several days? Why hadn't the butler offered to go and get the master himself? Feeling that something sinister was afoot, the party decided to investigate the house to see if the package is being hidden, or if the mysterious butler has anything to hide.

Akou produces a set of thief's tools and attempts to pick the lock on the door. This fails.

The next order of business is to have Mikey knock the door down. This does not fail.

Wood splinters fly across the room as Akou walks into the house first. The butler, understandably afraid, reaches for a frying pan, but Akou and Phoebe manage to calm him down by convincing him they are secret police members. He finds this unlikely, but without other options, he settles into one of the armchairs by the fireplace and anxiously waits. The house is effectively just a rectangular room with another rectangular room within.



After searching for a couple minutes, they reach the second door within the house. This time neither Akou's lockpicking nor Mikey can open the door. Luckily Phoebe is able to convince (threaten) the butler into unlocking it. They find a fairly standard bed room with a large bed with a rug at its feet, a dresser, and a comically large painting of a chef with a mountain backdrop.



They begin to rifle through the drawers. Phoebe throws the dresser open, finding only some brown tunics and socks. She (for some reason) decides to keep one of the socks. Colt takes the painting down and sets it on the bed. He spends a significant period of time searching the wall for any hidden doors or compartments, before it is pointed out that the other side of the wall is the dining room they were just in. He puts the painting back. Akou rolls the rug aside. Searching each floorboard, he notices one is out of place and a bit loose. Picking it u, he discovers a small pouch hidden below. Within are three pearls. Colt, Mikey, and Akou each take one for themselves, discretely. Unsatified with their heist, they leave as Akou informs the butler that another group of guards would be by soon to take his statement and apologizes for the door, flipping him a bronze piece as he walks out. They decide to go the Woods anyways, not believing the sock and pearls they found was really the all-important package.

Illya's Party
Illya's party arrives in Arahall minutes after. Having visited many times during her childhood, she easily navigates her way to the Ducal Quarter.

They are met with guards patrolling the park outside the walls. They inquire about an audience with The Lady Kellerin. The guards point them towards the main gate where they ask for a name to be added to the waiting list for The Lady to look over before deciding her schedule for the day. Illya writes only her first name: Illya.

As the party awaits news about their audience, Faron climbs a tree. The others enjoy their time in the park.

In the tree, Faron observes the guard rotations and notes three towers splitting up the curtain wall. There did not seem to be any clear path into the inner city other the primary gate.

Luckily they did not have to find one. After a little while of resting beneath a particularly nice tree, a guard appears and unfurls a scroll:

"LADY ILLYA OF MONSBERG, DAUGHTER OF ADRIK OF MONSBERG, YOU WILL BE SEEN NOW. PROCEED"

Illya had not accounted that Kellerin would know exactly who she was, given their shared past (oooooh). The guards escort the group towards the audience chambers. As they pass through the main gate, they notice another group on the left. They were standing outside a rather small house: two people with white hair, one hooded, and a turtle. They decided not to call to them, even though they appeared to be the same group from the tavern a while ago.

Entering the audience chamber, Kellerin leaps up from her throne and hugs Illya tightly. "Mymy you have grown! You simply do not visit enough How is your father How long -, " The barrage of questions went on, before Illya was able to get a word in. She asked to speak with the Lady privately, so Kellerin led her to the study behind the throne.

In the study, Illya regales Kellerin with her story. She had run away from the care of her Uncle Percival, since he wanted to marry her off to Brannick of Alaphor to secure a grain deal with the League of Igeum. She wishes for asylum in Arahall. Kellerin laughs and tells her of course, "anything to spite old Percy over there!" The only condition is that Illya go to find the royal head chef, Tobias. He had gone missing in the West Woods a couple days before their arrival, after a wholehearted promise of a mushroom tart for dinner.

After Illya exits the study, she tells her party they need to go find a chef whos gone missing in the West Woods. The party agrees to follow her.

Reunion
As both parties head off into the woods to find Tobias, they meet at the western gate. Colt's party walks past without saying a word (so edgy). Illya decides to follow them at a distance, with Ambrose following closer, miraculously avoiding detection several times. Both parties trek through the dense forest for hours as the sunset crept up on them.

After these hours of fruitless searching, Faron decides to attempt to ask the creatures around them for clues. While a spider and a crow fail to provide reliable information, a fox tells of that Tobias had headed past a couple days earlier, but it hadn't seen him since. Furthermore, there were other humanoids in the forest, hooded figures to the northwest.

Colt's party was the first to find the cultists. As the golden sunset gave way to the inky blackness of night, a soft purple glow could be seen in the distance. AS both groups approached they saw quite a strange scene. Four hooded cultists stood around a large brazier filled with a odd purple fire, hands raised and chanting a slow chant in perfect harmony. Five other hooded figures stood around, sitting on boxes, perhaps only there for guard duty. Above the flames floated the missing chef, seemingly unconscious, spinning slowly like a rotisserie chicken.

As Mikey approaches to get a better look, he steps on a dry branch. In the silence of the night, he may as well have sounded a warhorn. (I feel turtles are not particularly stealthy). The five cultists not currently involved the ritual immediately jump up to attack the party. Roll initiative!



The battle begins with Colt's group ahead and Illya's behind having caught up as the combat began.

Fill in the fight - lots of entangle

- crit bonfire from Phoebe

- accurate bow shooting from Ambrose

- Big fog from Val

- Mikey takes quite a bit of damage, immediately throws his trident into a tree

- Colt clobbers with his staff

- Akou mostly useless if I'm remembering

After the initial five cultists are killed, the other four stop their ritual. Tobias is blasted out of the fog into a nearby tree. If he wasn't unconscious before, he is now (oof). Three other cultists are quickly dispatched, but one is able to escape. Akou notices that the cultist grabs a necklace with a black gem as they flee. In this act, they get their inner sleeve caught on a box leaving behind a small piece of red fabric (ooh).

Illya stabilizes Tobias, he appears to be totally fine other wise. Strangely upbeat he asks if any of these people are Colt Aschen. Colt approaches and Tobias hands him a notebook before cheerfully walking away into the darkness of the woods.