Game-Summaries:8/6/2018 Recollections

Recollections by Ci

It began with rumors in the House of Time that Halisstra was planning to make a diplomatic trip to The Nightshade Kingdom to invite the Shadar-Kai to take the Initiate's Gambit and open up the Magistery to those willing and interested. Zanna, Ember, Rezik, and myself went to Halisstra immediately and expressed an interest in accompanying her. She graciously allowed all of us to come along. Our journey was relatively tame, and our passage to the golden forest was uneventful. Upon nearing the golden city we encountered the Moonguard. This time we met Nimrethil, another Moonguard captain. After some discussion, Halisstra provided enough surety to Nimrethil to allow us all to enter The Golden City of Elves. We each were left to ourselves to explore the city. Rezik chose to learn more of the Moonguard, and we gained much insight into their organization. Ember spend her day researching Torillan Magic. Though it took her most of the day, she was able to decipher and learn 3 new High Elvish spells. Zanna spent her day working with the Artificers of the city, and learned the secret of making what they call a Double Bow, a bow of strong and cunning design. She also received an elvish set of Tinker Tools as a thank you for you her work during the day. I spent my time with the elvish scouts outside the city, tracking and hunting game. Though my skill could not match that of the elves that call this home, I learned a great deal about survival in The Golden Forest, and was given s set of elvish hunting arrows as a gift. We also shared many tales of martial prowess, and many glasses of strong elvish wine. I am humbled to admit, my prowess in drinking paled compared to that of the elves as much as my skill in hunting had. The next morning, after a departure breakfast hosted by the Royal House of Tylar and with my head somewhat the worse for my night of camaraderie, we set out for the final leg of our journey to The Nightshade Kingdom

We arrive and are admitted to The Nightshade Kingdom after observing strict protocol, which thankfully The Black was well acquainted with. While Halisstra is speaking in the streets to large groups of Shadar-Kai, pleading our case, the rest of the Unifiers split in to smaller groups to answer any questions, and to hopefully encourage any interested listeners to join the Magistery. Our group meets with a number of Shadar-Kai and are able to convince six to leave the Shadowfell (No small feat in itself, we are led to believe) and to make the journey to Solace with us. Two of these in particular, spend a great deal of time with us: Aicath and Iniad. From them we learn that The Raven Queen rules all here in The Nightshade Kingdom, and displeasing her carries a high cost indeed. Being doomed to become a Nightshade is one such punishment. It seems that though young Shadar-Kai are led to believe that it is impossible, tales exist of Shadar-Kai leaving the Shadowfell. It seems some of these elf brethren long for a life outside the shadow, and will be open to our invitation. Indeed Aicath and Iniad are among these, and bring with them the secrets of Whisper and Shadow which they will share with the Magistery when they arrive. It seems that the Shadar-Kai have learned how to manipulate shadow, drawing mysterious, unsettling energy from alien dimensions and turn it to their own uses. Their rogues use it to cloak themselves in darkness and truly become one with the shadows, and their casters to call upon powerful forces of darkness and shadow. We also learn of a great evil amongst their people; while all Shadar-Kai have a predilection towards the dark, there are some who draw upon the darkness more deeply than others. They call those give themselves completely to the Shadow Plane Light-Eaters and warn that they are not to be trifled with.

As we gather to leave, we discover the other groups have done as well as we! We are returning to Solace with 24 potential initiates and great deal of new knowledge. I am impressed by these Drow and by our Headmaster Halisstra. She is as skilled a negotiator as a warrior, it seems, and completely without the prejudice towards some races often seen in Eomas. These Shadar-Kai as well seem to be hardy folk, and will prove to be strong allies. It seems they have a particular hatred for demons, with the Demon Lord Orcus chief among those hated. If they oppose Chaos as strongly as we do, it is no doubt they will find places of honor here among us.

Recollections by Rezik

The House of Time & Halisstra – an interesting idea I’ll have to think more on. However, for now, it seems that rumor has it that Halisstra is headed to the Nightshade Kingdom on a diplomatic mission. I absolutely was not going to miss this – the first time we had gone through the Nightshade Kingdom I had promised myself that I would visit again – I find the shadow realm and shadow magic to be a real curiosity.

We had to follow a similar to path to the Nightshade kingdom as we did last time, through The Golden City of Elves. We entered the city and had the opportunity to explore the city (a second time for me). This time I used the opportunity to learn more about the Moonguard and their famous blades.

The following day we set out for our trip to The Nightshade Kingdom. We arrived fairly quickly and were able to enter after passing through the main guard.

While at the Nightshade Kingdom, we were asked to meet with groups of Shadar-Kai in an effort to answer questions and convince them to join the Magistery. The teams answered a number of questions and were able to convince some of the Shadar-Kai to join us.

We wanted to learn more about the The Raven Queen and The Nightshade Kingdom, which Aicath and Iniad let us know more about.

The Shadar-Kai who live in the Shadowfell are led to believe they’re unable to leave. It seems that since they have lived in the Shadowfell for so long, they’ve learned how to manipulate the shadows and use them to power their magic. This is something I’ll have to explore more of and see if it’s possible to use their knowledge to empower our magic.