Game-Summaries:8/11/2018 Recollections

Recollections by Jeroy

Zanna has secured an interview with the organization "The Cloaks" which Nimor was recruiting for. Unsure of this group and its intentions we sought counsel with Felicia of the Blue. She says she does not know of any underground organization known as the Cloaks and urges caution on our path ahead. Her advice is full of wisdom but thin on information we could use. As we were unwilling to walk into an interview with a shadowy organization with so little intel we sought out counsel with Halisstra. Zanna did most of the talking and most of the hand gestures. Halisstra said she "knows nothing of the cloaks but Nimor is dangerous and should be killed. He is more powerful than Danifae." This chilling fact crawls up our spines making the hairs on our neck stand at attention. We thank her for her time and prepare for the quest ahead.

The meeting with the Cloaks was at Silver Tongue Theatre in Solace where the play "To Harp at Midnight" is being performed. Shuffling in with the crowd we are greeted by an usher asking for tickets to which Zanna responds "WeAreHereForAnInterview." The usher, unfazed simply responds, "right this way" and we are taken to a booth on the second level on stage left. An individual in a black robe with his back to us is standing before us. He turns to see us and with a warm smile and sparkle in his eye as he greets us. "My name is Zeth Tragalkin, I work with the Cloaks" he says. I find it a bit odd for a shadowy figure to be so forthcoming. He continues "I was very happy to hear that you accepted our interview to join the Cloaks but I have some questions for you each." He doesn't offer us to sit down. He turns to Kaylorr, "what are your abilities?" He responds regarding his powerful healing abilities. He nods and looks over to me "what is different about you rather than others?" I respond sternly that I can kill things and don't need magic to do it. Zeth turns his attention to Avant "Why should the cloaks hire you?" He responds with his desire to make a lot of money. Finally his gaze meets Zanna's "what is your background?" Zanna turns around and looks behind her, "There'sNothingBehindMe?" Even the barbarian is confused by her answer. Zeth's eyes return to Kaylorr, "what is your connection to the Cult of the Kraken?" Motioning over his shoulder we look to see in a booth over stage right filled with 6 City guards all armed with crossbows pointed at us. "Answer this question carefully, they will shoot at the first sign of treachery. Why were your names found on the body of a cultists?" His hand extends a parchment covered in blood with the names of each member of the Eternal Order and some other members of the Magistery. We indicate "we have no idea why a cultist would have our names on a scroll." I'm surprised our names have managed to get around, I remember killing every cultist we've met so far and dead men tell no tales.

The room suddenly becomes dark, magically dark. We cannot see anything around us but hear a mechanical mechanism creak in the darkness. The lights return and we see Zeth of the ground before us dead, his neck broken. We look up to the open sky to see a moving magical dark sphere moving across the dark sky, blinking out the stars as it passes. A curtain next to us has caught fire and we hear Sargent Kalugin cry out from across the theatre "They killed Captain Tragalkin! Kill them!" Six crossbow bolts rip through the air past us. Panic fills the theatre. People rush to the doors but they are locked. Patrons pile up against the doors in a desperate attempt to escape the fire. [DM Note: someone knocked over a lantern and started a fire in the ensuing chaos] A second volley of crossbow bolts fly past us.

Zanna grabs the scroll from Zeth's body and desperately attempts to put out the fire however it only leads to the fire becoming worse. I check Zeth's body to find he has a magical mechanical contraption all along his back. City guards begin to run up the stairs to our booth. We are trapped. Kaylorr, Pearl, and Avant fight off the guards giving me time to pick up Zeth's body and we make a run for the door. The doors have opened and in the chaos we were able to hide in plain sight to get out of the theatre. We dodge the city guard by slipping into a nearby sewer to examine Zeth's body and figure out what just happened. We remove the mechanical device on his back. It appears to be a wing suit strapped to his body. We remove the suit and Zanna examines it to figure out how it works and spots a maker's mark providing us a valuable clue to the origin of the device. I check Zeth's body for more clues and find another scroll. It is a report of recent raids and items found associated with the Cult of the Kraken. We make our way back to the Magistery to ask around about the maker's mark we have found. The artificers recognize it as Kalid's, and non-magical and eccentric inventor obsessed with flight.

Kalid's inventor shop is filled with trinkets and models of flying objects. Some small and to scale, some hanging from the rafters large enough for an orc to fit in with their great wings spread out. We see Kalid engrossed in his work, intricately assembling a small mechanism with the help of magnifying glasses. We knock on a beam in his shop to get his attention. "What?!?! Who...Why...Uhhh Wha wha what can I do for you?" He responds nervously with his magnifying lens still on, his eyes are the size of dinner plates, and his hair hasn't been combed in days. We say that we are here responding to an advertisement he placed in a local paper for an apprentice. His eyes light up "Wonderful!" He exclaims, "but all of you?" Finally removing his lenses. We nod emphatically. He explains his ideas of flight and how he is working on a wonderful machine that is very close to granting flying to the non-magic user but he cannot get it to work "But I'm so close!" he ensures us. "However I need to move my workshop, I'll pay you 100 gold to help me move." We look at each other.

Zanna ask "WhyDoYouNeedToMove?" To which he very clearly dodges "oh ya know just, um I don't like....this place is sma...I just think...Look can you start or not?" We aren't satisfied, Kalid sees Avant strengthens the grip on his sword. "Please, if Lord Yakam.......oh shoot" "Who is Lord Yakam?" Avant asks with his hand still firmly on his sword.

"Lord Yakamov, he's a noble in Solace. I have been building wing suits for the Cloaks. But then Yakomov came in and demanded I build them for him and his group." He continues to recount the business deal with Yakomov, a man with a wide face and a mustache. "I've made eight suits for them so far. They threatened me if I didn't make them. Once I have them built they take them to Deadric who does some kind of magic spell that lets them fly, not glide like mine but actually fly from the ground!" He looks off in the distance, see his dream come true, but shakes his head back to reality "But that magic they use, it's not like the magic of Solace and it isn't something my machines need to fly! I almost have it figured out, we just need a few more test but I think I'm almost...." He rambles on as we formulate a plan. I take Kalid back to the Magistery for protection while Zanna, Avant, and Pearl go to Deadric's Arcanum.

After dropping off Kalid I make my way back to Kalid's workshop to rendezvous with the group. Strolling through town I keep an eye out for the City Guard who are looking for us and for this Lord Yakamov that has threatened Kalid. As I turn a corner I see Avant frantically running towards me "Turn around! Get in an alley! Are they still behind me?!?!" He is chased by nothing but awkward stares. I stop him and in in between his gasping breaths he tells me there are 10 guards back at Kalid's shop including Sargent Kalugin and that he was lucky to escape. I give a rye smile back, "sounds like a party, I know a short cut - follow me." Sneaking back to Kalid's we see the guards ransacking the workshop and leave empty handed and frustrated. After they leave we watch the shop for Yakamov but are rejoined by the others.

"What was as Deadric's?" I ask Zanna. She begins to explain, but there are too many side details for me to follow. In a daze I look to Kaylorr. "Deadric makes magical Cloaks, in his shop was a mirror that he used to spy on the Cloaks while they were in his shop. He also had a secret room with a statue of Nimor that turned to dust when Zanna touched it"

"ItMadeMyHeadHurt" She jumps in

"I know the feeling" I reply.

"Deadric also had a note on him" He pulls a blood stained scroll from his robe. It is a letter from Deadric to Nimor warning him that the Cloaks were beginning to get suspicious and that they may need to start their plan sooner than they had initially thought. "Plus he had three more wing suits, so there are four more out there somewhere." Kaylorr explains and flashes his new swag to me. "Looks like Yakamov's Manor is the next loose end." Pearl adds "lets get him and get this over with." We all agree.

As we approach the homes of the Nobles we notice there is more commotion than a normal day in Solace. People are running in the streets to and fro, something is wrong. We turn a corner to see Lord Yakomov's Noble house engulfed in flames as the towns people stare and attempt to help put out the flames. We stop in our tracks. Were we too late? Is he in the house? Through the commotion Avant sees a carriage racing to the north through the city streets and points him out. "It's Yakamov, he's trying to get away!" Avant says "He's trying to get out of the city!" "Where is the nearest city gate?" I ask.

"NorthGate,ButItIsToTheDocks, TheNortheastGateIsTheNextClosest." Zanna exclaims

"We need to get there first" I say

"We fly there with our suits. Zanna, RUN!" Pearl pushes Zanna with her Staff of the Woodlands as she pulls a butterfly from her hair and whispers an incantation. Zanna races off after the carriage as we take to the sky. She reaches the carriage with ease, crawls on top and creates an illusion of a box for her to hide in. As we fly to the gate we see there are four creatures wearing wing suits flying high above the carriage in formation. Cultists protecting Yakamov no doubt.

We reach the gate before them "We can't let them pass!" Kaylorr exclaims. "We won't" Pearl taps her Staff on the ground twice and up from the ground erupts a wall of thorns over the gate. We stand before the wall of thorns, the carriage barreling down upon us with its horses at full gallup. The driver and Zanna engaged in battle atop the carriage. "She's gonna stop that right?" Avant questions. "Of course, she's got this. She killed me a Ci no problem in a training match, how hard can a chauffeur be?" I respond.

We look up to see the cultists streaking down from the sky dive bombing all four of us. Avant and I are knocked down, Pearl and Kaylorr begin to battle. We struggle to break free of the Cultists, shoving and swinging at these creetons. The rumbling of the carriage grows louder and louder. I struggle to shove a cultist off of me. Pearl takes a mighty swing with her staff and looks up at the last second. The rumble of the horses becomes deafening. Avant yells "Watch Out!" as the world slows. I see the eyes of the cultist before me widen as my signal to leap away. I look back to see Pearl and Kaylorr dive away from the of the carriage in desperation as it careens into the wall of thorns. The horses and carriage, at full speed slam into the wall of thorns, the cultists unable to get away are caught in the maelstrom. I land on the ground with a thud at Avant's feet. "Nice Dex" he says as he offer me a hand up. I laugh as I make my way to my feet. "You guys OK?" Avant asks. Kaylorr and Pearl give two big thumbs off as they dust themselves off. "That was close! Glad we all...WHERE'S ZANNA?!" We look to the splintered wreckage of the carriage. Our stomachs drop as our hearts sink. "Is she....?" Pearl looks to all of us.

"HeyGuysWowThatWasFunOhMyGodHowBigOfACrashWasThat?!!?OhManAmIGladIWasNotOnThatWhenItHitThatWall" We turn to see Zanna walking through the dust where the carriage had been barreling down. "YouGuysOK?"

We breathe a sigh of relief, and from the wreckage comes a moan of pure pain. Yakamov survived the crash. He quickly tells us Nimor is in a windmill 25 miles to the north. "I told you what you asked. Have mercy on me" he pleads. We turn him over to the city guards who just watched all this unfold. Kaylorr hand Yakamov over to the city guard "Tell Sargent Kalugin this man is responsible for the fire and worked with those that kill Captain Tragalkin. We are not the enemy of the Cloaks" They are not following along but agree to pass along the message. We take a wing suit from the wreckage for Zanna and take off for the Windmill in flight. "WeHaveToGetThereBeforeNimorKnowsWeAreAfterHimAndGetsAway!" Zanna exclaims. As we near the windmill we begin to notice that there is an unnatural wind carrying us to our destination. Soon we realize we are no longer in control of our flight path. From the top of the windmill Nimor appears, he is a large man with a dreadlocked beard. His body is covered in mechanical devices. He floats towards us as we begin to circle around him 80 feet in the air. He speaks further in an unknown language, touches a button on his chest and suddenly 5 portals open in the air near us and before we can say anything each of us flies into a portal.

I awaken alone in a hot and dry room. I hear a booming voice all around me "What can you possibly threaten me with? I am the shaper of worlds!" There is rock all around me and one portal in the room. I have no idea where I am or where the others are. "PEARL!?!?! AVANT!?!!? KAYLORR!?!?" No response, I pause "Zanna?" Still nothing. I draw one of my javelins as I approach the portal. Slowly I extend the Javelin into the portal when suddenly I feel something push the other end. I pull back quickly to find a note on the end of my Javelin.

"HiJeroyHopeAllIsWellMyRoomIsDarkAndDampLikeACrypt. What'sYoursLike? XOXO Zanna" I don't know how she writes so fast.

I take a deep breath and leap into the portal arriving in another room with Pearl. "Where's Zanna?" I ask her. "I don't know, how did you get here?" I explain to the portals and we agree to jump in together. We soon all move through the portals to end up in the same room. A crypt that has the sarcophagus of a drow named Dizzadowarden, it appears to be 300 years old. We decide to hatch a plan to get out. Kaylorr tried to jump through each portal to see what happens and arrives back in the crypt in 15 seconds. "What did you learn?" we all ask. "They portals eventually bring you back here." Pearl decided to go next. Twenty seconds later she arrived back with her head covered in slime. "What happened!?!?" We all ask.

"It was Nimor, he appeared from another portal in another room. I tried to get away but couldn't. His beard went away and I saw his true form, he's a mindflayer." We gasp. "I couldn't get away as he wrapped his arms around me and put his tentacles onto my head. In my brain I felt him say 'I think I will give you a present' and he gave me this." She shows us a small, thin, black rectangular block with a button on the lower part of the face. "Try pressing it" Kaylorr suggest. She pushes the button and the block lights up saying "Slide to Unlock." Pearl nervously looks to us all and Kaylorr gives a reassuring nod. As she slides across the block lighting bolts shoot out in all directions shocking everyone. The block shows the face of Nimor laughing at us and goes back to black. Avant gets up, dusting himself off "well that didn't work."

I suggest going through the portals to the other crypt room where Pearl saw Nimor to see if another drow was laid to rest there. I arrived to see the same name, Do'Urden, carved into the stone work but this time it looks like it is only 50 years old. I jump back through the portals to the group. "Either the portals are moving us through time or different planes. Do'Urden is in both crypts and they are 250 years apart" I tell the group. Zanna volunteers to go through next, she leaps into the portal "SeeYouSoonGuysThisPuzzleIsKindaFunThoughDon'tYouThink?"

....

....

She doesn't come back through. Minutes pass. It's quiet. "Where did she go?" Avant asks. "Did Nimor...?" Kaylorr adds. Pearl cuts him off before he can finish "we are getting out of here - Jeroy how far below ground are we?"

"Hundreds of feet"

"How about the other chambers?" She asks me

"Get to the room I first saw you in. The one that looks like a castle's room." I tell everyone. We jump through the portals until we all arrive back into the same room. "We are only 10 feet underground. We can dig out." I hand a javelin to each of our group and we begin to dig through the room till we finally can see sky again. We finally reach above ground and use guiding hand to direct us back to Solace. After several long hours of trecking we find our way back to solace, realizing that we have dug up from the Old Solace Ruins. Haggard and exhausted we arrive finally back at Magistery consumed with the feeling of utter failure - Nimor escaped, Zanna is gone, and we were unable to determine who killed Zeth. The only way this could have been wors.......

"HeyGuys!WhatTookYouSoLongI'veBeenBackForHours!"

I turn my head to see Zanna, fresh as a daisy coming from the house of time.

"OhManYouWon'tBelieveWhatHappenedItWasSOOOOOOOOOCrazy. OKSoI'mInOneOfTheRoomsAndOutComesNimorAndI'mAllLike 'NOOOOOOYou'reNotGoingToGetMe' ButIWantToGoThroughThePortalHeCameOutOfSOOOOOOITryToPushPastHim.
BadIdea,He'sLikeReallyStrongAndSo, HeEatsMyHead, ButNotLikeEATSEatsMyHeadJustLIke.....SlurpsMyHead?AndAsHeDoesHeStopsAndSays 'Oh, I didn't' know you were one of them. I will let you live." AndHeLikeJustOpensAnotherPortalThatTakesMeBackToTheWindmill. SoILookForYouGuysButDon'tFindYou. BUUUUUUUUUUUUTHereYouAre!!!!!!"

"What did he mean 'You're one of them'?" Kaylorr asks

"IDunnoKnow. WeirdRight. LikeSuperWeird. EvenHalisstraDoesn'tKnow."

Weird indeed Zanna.

Recollections by Zanna

Nimor = a Mind Flayer (WHHHAAAAAAAT). Still at large

Cloaks = Detectives of the city guard (Felica.........)

Zenth = A Cloak that was assassinated by ? but they flew away on a flying machine shrouded in a darkness spell.

• Said he found a list of Eternal Order and Magistery members on a dead (Kraken) cultists (Daedric?)

Kalugin = Sergeant of the city guard thinks we are the one that killed Zenth.

Kalid = Maker of suit of Wing Wear (were meant as a gliding machine but were infused with some unknown dark magic that gave it flying capabilities)

• Made suits for the Cloak but was strong armed by Load Yakamov to make for the Cult of the Kraken.
• Fun fact: doesn't really like magic but seems like an alright fellow.

Lord Yakamov = douchey (little bitch) noble that was working with the Cult of the Kraken. In custody of the city guard.

Daedric = Cult of the Kraken member. Magic store owner who was murdered by the city guard. (?)

• Would spy on city guard while they were shopping. Had some medieval nanny cam set up using a special mirrors.
• Had a statue of Nimor with wings hidden in his shop. Touched it and then my brain hurt and then it fell apart.

Nimor - Able to create portals that send you to tiny rooms (no idea what that was about). See below for important room information. Fun Fact about the rooms: two of the rooms we were portaled into both had a Sarcophagus for Drizzt Do'Urden (He's real?!!) Jeroy was able to surmise that one Sarcophagus was 300 years older than the other. Can Nimor portal through time?

• Able to control weather (wind)
• Able to levitate
• Has a fancy mechanical amulet (portal maker?)
• Gave Pearl a flat rectangle with one button on it. Device is now in the Magistery (Good idea?)
• Last seen hiding out in an abandoned windmill 30 miles from the city of Solace.
• Known disguises - dude with a dreadlock beard

Cult of the Kraken warring with the cloaks/city guard