Atemcester Arc

Arc Summary
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Session 65

 * Google Document (8-19-22) (HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE! :D)

Ashara looks around at her unconscious friends and uses Sending to bring Kain into the loop as she uses Kilwin’s healer’s kit to attend to their injuries. Kain is very confused and alarmed by Ashara’s message and, while he can’t teleport anyone to Raven Rock directly, says he’ll try to find a way to help. Ashara stands watch over her friends for a time.

In the morning, Briar returns to consciousness at the Nest, lying on a cot. He awakes with a start, waking up Ashara in the process. As he looks around, Briar notices that the rest of the party is still asleep and on cots around him. Briar asks if they’re okay, and Ashara confirms that they basically are, all things considered. She explains that what burned has burned and that there’s a number of casualties in the town, although she’s not sure how many there are. She says that a few surviving townsfolk witnessed us fighting Tyrian and Slumberjack and, when the dust settled but most of us didn’t seem to be getting up, they approached and helped carry the unconscious party members to the inn. There are a number of ordinary people around the inn as well, milling around and nursing mugs. Ashara hasn’t really talked to any of them, though, and has been waiting for the rest of the party to wake up. Around this time, Reides wakes up as well. He’s groggy and coughs up some smoke before he fully comes to and begins to panic. Ashara reassures him that everyone’s okay and explains what happened. Reides realizes that he was carried in a wheelbarrow while he was unconscious and is a little sad he missed it. The conscious party members joke around about pranking Kilwin and Jorah awake around the time the two of them wake up. Jorah, maintaining the tradition, is suffering. Kilwin is really distressed and asks if we know what happened to Slumberjack. We don’t yet, but there was no body or other sign of them after the fight. The demon bodies also got eaten by Slumberjack’s last attack. After some dithering, Kilwin reveals to the rest of the party that Kima contacted him via Sending to tell him that some of the people who had their souls removed during the devastation of Port Valor are now just normally dead. He’s initially not sure what that means, but thinks it can’t be a coincidence, eventually realizing that the souls may have been powering the orb that Slumberjack was using to cast spells. We hate that, especially when we think about their big last attack! Kilwin wants to immediately leave the Nest for Raven’s Beak to look for the orb. The rest of the party counsels him to slow down, since we’re not really in a state to be going anywhere. Jorah’s not sure he can even walk and he’s very hungry. He also doubts that a powerful magic item like that would get lost that easily, although Kilwin doesn’t want to ignore the possibility that Slumberjack dropped it accidentally during their fall. We also discuss how Slumberjack’s behavior seemed off and how they seemed to be in pain before attacking us. Kilwin mentions that Slumberjack has a history of losing control over themself and this seems to be the awful logical conclusion of that. Reides gives Briar a very sincere apology for dumping all of our baggage on him at once. Jorah offers to get us some food while we explain Everything to Briar, although Ashara says she’ll get it instead since Jorah looks like he might barf if he moves too much.

Briar learns that the souls of the people of Port Valor were taken in an attack by someone serving a demon lord’s high-ranking lieutenant. That demonic lieutenant is also searching for objects called the Abyssal Crests that can be used to unseal his master, a powerful demon lord who’s been locked away for millennia. Back in the Exeter, we took one of these Crests, which is actually Kilwin’s armor. Tyrian and Slumberjack are both currently serving the lieutenant, although Slumberjack didn’t really have much choice but to agree to go with him. Jorah sounds awful, so Kilwin heals him a little bit. Jorah also mentions that there’s an unknown number of enchanted weapons that can summon said demonic lieutenant, and we’ve managed to collect two of them. They’re something else we have to deal with! Briar admits he’s surprised at how much we have going on right now, but doesn’t seem particularly disturbed by it and still wants to travel with us for a time. The rest of the party is relieved.

In addition to the orb, we realize we need to find Cricket and Gin and the Heartkins. The drow barkeep cuts in to tell us that the Heartkins had checked in us while most of us were unconscious and might come back again once word gets around that we’re awake. Ashara bemoans the lack of privacy, but we decide to wait for a little bit. Reides brings Pepega back from the pocket dimension directly into a hug. Pepega is clearly worried about Reides upon seeing his current state, and she accepts the hug. The doors of the Nest are thrown open, and the Heartkins enter. From the brief glimpse outside, we see some lingering smoke, but the barricade has clearly been moved and our carriage is no longer out front. Akaia speaks first and says she’s glad we’re awake and that we actually saved everyone. Jedson adds that the remaining demons fled Raven Rock after the fight at Raven’s Beak. The Heartkins saw them leaving, so they figured it was safe to come back. They also brought Gin back with them, and he’s safe and sound. Kilwin tells them that Mick didn’t survive the attack and apologizes. Reides assures them that we were with him, so he didn’t die alone, and Kilwin says he told us where to go and was very brave. The Heartkins are clearly saddened by the news. Still, they tell us that the innkeeper has offered to let us stay at the Nest as long as we’d like without charge. Unfortunately, we’re pretty sure we need to go and soon! Ashara asks if we can have some rations instead. Akaia thinks this is a really bad idea, especially considering that we’re still really beat up. We assure her that it’ll be better for everyone if we leave fairly soon, although we probably do need to at least rest for most of the day. We make plans to leave Raven Rock around dusk. First, though, the party heads back to Raven’s Beak to look for the orb or any possible hints to Slumberjack’s fate. Jorah is prepared to use Quickbrand as a cane, although Briar lends him a quarterstaff instead. Some of the villagers offer to prepare our carriage for us while we’re gone. As we leave the Nest, we look at the stables, which have been returned to their regular state. Cricket is alive and well! Apparently, the stabled horses were taken inside the inn during the attack to keep them safe. Cricket enjoys the many pats he is given.

At Raven’s Beak, the whole party looks around. Kilwin is able to get a pretty good look at the shore from the edge of the cliff and sees no signs of orbs. Briar looks for some animals he can talk to and finds some seagulls. He casts Speak With Animals and yells to them. Eventually, they take notice and some land on the cliff’s edge near him, tilting their heads. Jorah comments that seabirds are usually Interesting to talk to. Briar asks the seagulls if they saw any of what happened last night, and one says it was The Darndest Thing. He saw a blinding light on the cliff and flew over to look, where he saw a person falling from the cliff. They were on a splat course and he was a little excited, because it would’ve been a free meal, except the person just disappeared. Briar thanks him for his help and feeds him part of a ration as thanks. The seagull is very happy about this and tells his companion that they’ve gotta tell everyone about this guy. Briar realizes he must be going. Briar tosses some more ration food away from him as a distraction, and the party flees as a huge flock of seagulls descend on Raven’s Beak. Kilwin thanks his friends for looking for the orb with him, even if it was a long shot. Briar speculates that Slumberjack transported themself to another plane, especially since demons and revenants are involved in this whole mess. We’re also confident that we’ll encounter Slumberjack and the orb again at some point. Kilwin uses Sending to update Kima on the situation. She lets him know that quite a few of the preserved devastation victims passed and urges him to save the remaining ones if he can.

We return to the Nest for a much-needed long rest. Briar contemplates taking some time to make sure that the people of Raven Rock have some farmable land but, considering that the town is already built out of volcanic rock and that the demons seemed focus on what easy targets they could find, infrastructure damage is relatively limited and the majority of the people survived the attack. Still, approximately a tenth of the houses seem to have been destroyed. While it isn’t good, it’s not as bad as we feared, and Briar decides to stick with the party. As we rest, several villagers stop by and thank whoever is awake at the time for our efforts in saving the town. The villagers also provide us each with ten days worth of rations to take with us.

As we wake up and get ready to go, the Heartkins come to check on us. They’re still a little skeptical of the wisdom of our plan to leave so quickly, but we hold firm. Jorah says he wishes we could stay and help Raven Rock deal with the aftermath, but we have time-sensitive business up north. They understand though and give us some winter cloaks to keep us warm for the journey, since the nights will start getting cold as we head north. The cloaks are trimmed with brown fur around the neck and bottom, with a brown interior and black exterior. Kilwin and Jorah start putting them on immediately, baffling Akaia. Kilwin says he’s just very touched by the gesture! We say our goodbyes to the Heartkins. As we head out, Kilwin thanks Reides for saving him with potions multiple times and gives him the potions of healing from the Robe of Useful Items. Reides says it’s no problem and he’s got Kilwin’s back!

The road out of Raven Rock is just as rough as the one in, with volcanic rock lining both sides of the path. After two days of travel, there’s signs of that rock giving way to more plant life, but it’s not until after another two days of travel that we start seeing rolling hills and the air starts getting chillier. Reides is doing fine though! Kilwin sends a message to Slumberjack telling them that he hasn’t given up on saving them and that the party could tell that something was wrong. They do not respond, although Kilwin doesn’t know if his message didn’t reach them or if they simply didn’t want to say anything. After another four days of travel, the hills give way to plains and in the distance, we can see large fields of winter wheat and crops. We realize we’re probably nearing Terrath. Jorah is familiar with the village from his time in Atemcester, while Kilwin has actually heard the farmers of Cowersby gossip about it. Terrath is a farming village that provides most of the crops to feed Atemcester. The city provides the village’s farmers with magically enhanced tools that help them increase their yield to the level they would need to sustain themselves along with the city. The farmers in Cowersby sometimes express jealousy of these magic tools.

On Leaffall 21, we arrive in Terrath. We don’t plan to stay overnight, since we don’t know how far Tyrian is behind us, but Jorah wants to stop in the inn for a meal and the local gossip. Reides is also curious if word of what happened in Raven Rock has spread, although we left quickly enough that he thinks we might be the first people here who could bring that news. We head to the inn and Jorah approaches the innkeeper, a portly human man with thinning gray hair and mutton chops, wearing a stained apron and going ham on a dirty glass with a cleaning rag. Jorah asks for food and any information the innkeeper might have heard about Atemcester lately. The innkeeper (who pauses to yell at a dog howling outside) offers the day’s special, Eadrenan bass. The innkeeper shares that the ships in port at Atemcester are still waylaid there, since a big storm has been over the Eadrenan Sea for quite some time. The farthest they can safely travel is Davenport, and there’s not much point in that. The innkeeper says they wouldn’t even be able to sail to Port Valor, if anyone would even want to. Farther ports are even more out of the question. Jorah mentions that we need to catch a ship somewhere, and the innkeeper says we’ll either need to wait it out or try to find someone crazy enough to sail into the storm. In exchange for the info, Jorah lets the innkeeper know that demons attacked Raven Rock and that it’s not the safest times right now. This is the first the innkeeper has heard of the attack. Jorah returns to the rest of the party and relays this, and we all order food, which comes with a soup and bread appetizer. Briar secretly seasons his soup. Despite his general wariness of people tampering with food, Jorah sees no sign of it, and Briar enjoys his more flavorful soup in secrecy. Kilwin observes that the storm has been going for quite some time. Jorah says he has a bad feeling about it! Reides would prefer not to discuss this in detail in a random inn, but we’ll talk it out later. Briar gets the feeling he’s missing something! Kilwin assures him that we can all share our backstories with him when we’re on the road, although he admits he shouldn’t speak for the rest of the party.

After we’ve eaten and left Terrath, we discuss the storm in a bit more detail. Briar learns that the Empire of Laverathia exists under the northern Eadrenan Sea and that Reides is from its capital, Aquos. Reides acknowledges that it might not be a regular storm, but he’s not too worried because Laverathia knows how to handle storms. He mentions that his dad doesn’t slack off when it comes to nature. He also shares that he was born during a storm. Reides also realizes that he really needs to tell Briar what his deal is, so he asks Briar if he remembers what Jorah said to the Heartkins that made everyone else really mad. Briar does but he winks at Reides and tells him that he wasn’t really that interested in it. Reides says that Briar is too good for his own good before revealing that he is, in fact, second in line to the throne of Laverathia. Briar is surprised! He says that he’s met people of many different standings though, some of whom were very colorful (blue is new though). His opinion of Reides appears to remain unchanged! Kilwin points out that the storm is going to help Reides meet his friend if nothing else, which Reides concedes. Ashara is also looking forward to seeing Kain again. Jorah figures he and Briar can just kind of hang out while this is happening. Jorah is pressured into telling the party a story of his bounty hunting days. Once, he was searching for a thief named Gale who was in Quadroad. Jorah had asked around, interrogated some people, and eventually learned the location of someone named Gale. Jorah went searching and made a plan to ambush Gale in his rooms and bring him back to the bounty office. The Gale he found though, was six feet tall and wearing full plate armor, which Jorah thought was strange. It turned out that this Gale wasn’t the thief, but was a member of the Drake Guard and Jorah was sneaking into his rooms. Jorah asks us to consider the effect of getting hit by a cart and says this was more like getting hit by a dragon. Still, Gale was unarmed, so Jorah survived the encounter long enough to straighten things out. He never did find the correct Gale, though. Briar tells Jorah that Erak has mentioned that he’s shockingly inaccurate with his crossbow. Reides tells him about the time he beat Jorah in an archery contest. Kilwin mentions that Jorah put a crossbow bolt through a tossed coin when we first met him and it was very impressive! Kilwin then concedes that Jorah has not consistently been able to replicate that in battle.

We’re still about two days away from Atemcester. Reides is having some anticipation about how it’s a city full of wizards, although Jorah says plenty of people there aren’t wizards. He didn’t even know many wizards back in the day, since he stayed away from the downtown area, spending most of his time in Westside and Southside, where the orphanage was. The big mages were generally in Downtown or Portside. The main wizards Jorah interacted with were those working with the Mana Wardens, since he would get into trouble a lot. Kilwin points out that he still hasn’t told us what he did, but Jorah would rather not talk about it. Kilwin thinks there’s a good chance we’ll find out anyway and Reides points out that Jorah will lose control of the narrative, but Jorah’s mind is unchanged. Briar asks if there’s druids in Atemcester, but all the ones Jorah has met have been on the other side of the Spine. There are lots of temples dedicated to the good and neutral gods, though, especially Ioun. Jorah also tells us that we’ll be able to drop the winter cloaks soon, since we’re coming up on the Everspring Forest. It surrounds Atemcester and the mages use enchantments to keep it springtime there year-round. We kind of don’t like that! Jorah knows but it is but what it is. Reides wonders how many spells he’d know if he formally studied magic like the Atemcester wizards, but the rest of the party assures him that he is a very cool and powerful wizard without that. Briar says if he studied in Atemcester, he’d probably know useless spells instead of the ones he does know.

As we travel, the path begins to slope down as we move along the Atemcestari Peninsula. Sure enough, the cold weather quickly recedes when we enter the forest. Briar observes the forest to see if any of the wildlife is distressed by the unnatural climate, but everything seems to be doing well enough. Eventually, we see a lake on the northern end of the peninsula, with a river going northeast into the sea. There’s a circular platform in the center of the lake, with bridges extending out to settlements on the lakeshore. The bridges aren’t actually suspending by anything and are, in fact, floating, as are the towers in the sky around the city. The towers have large green crystals at their bases, just like the one Kilwin found on the way to Kahzdurga. We discuss the cool rock, and Kilwin shows it to Briar, who recognizes it as an aerocrystal. They’re also used in the construction of airships. Briar is a fan of airships and was once yelled on one for trying to steal some of the aerocrystal, which is more of a concern for the people who can’t turn into birds. Kilwin asks if he’d like to have the aerocrystal, but Briar says it’s okay and it was more about the experience of being part of an airship ride.

In the late morning of Leaffall 25, we officially arrive in Atemcester. Jorah admits that he’s not sure where we should stay and doesn’t want to impose on Julia. Reides tries not to look excited as he casts Sending to his friend to ask if he knows a place to stay. His friend responds that the Fish and Spell in Portside is a good place and they can meet up there too. Jorah agrees that we should go there. Reides realizes he still needs to get some saltwater taffy! Kilwin asks if Jorah wants to visit Julia even though we won’t stay with her, but he says he’ll do that later. Jorah says there’s a ton of magic shops Downtown, where we can get some major shopping down. Reides starts feeling insecure about the Atemcester wizards and wonders if he should use the Hat of Disguise to give himself a long beard. We think he’s fine as he is, although Briar would like to see Reides with a long white beard anyway. We talk about needing items to move underwater, although Reides can handle our breathing. Since Briar can shapeshift, he says he’ll be fine without one. Jorah is also pretty confident that his crossbow will work underwater, but might want an upgrade anyway. Reides is pretty sure he’ll finally be able to find an Enduring Spellbook. Ashara wants a new dress. Kilwin has saved up a lot of gold for what we’ll need in Aquos, so he tells the party that he can help out with any purchases after they’ve figured out exactly how much that’ll be.

To make it to Downtown, we need to move through the Southside district. It’s one of the poorer districts of Atemcester, but the main street appears to be fairly well-off. There are many magical shops, but Jorah is aware that it’s mostly a tourist trap and most of these shops are running scams. Someone is hawking magic wands that don’t do anything, and someone offers Reides a sheet of thin blue plastic that they claim is a cloak of invisibility. Reides and Briar are very tempted, but Jorah manages to stop them from making any dubious purchases. Jorah warns them that while these are scams and probably do nothing, it’s an even worse idea to buy magical items to Portside, since there’s a much larger chance that they actually do something dangerous. We make it to the Creidon Bridge and feel the faint vibration of the aerocrystals beneath us. Reides stomps on the bridge, but nothing happens. Jorah says it’s very sturdy, since carts cross it every day. As we cross, we see many of those carts, as well as wizards conversing as they walk, carrying stacks of tomes and parchments. Fairly soon, we reach Downtown. As we approach two guards, wearing large purple chestpieces with eye emblems and blue robes underneath, Kilwin asks if Jorah did anything that the guards would remember him years later for. Jorah swears he didn’t and it was more of a personal thing. It’s also been eight years since he left, so he’s sure it’s fine.

There’s a huge circular building in the center of downtown with the largest of the floating towers positioned directly above it. The building on the ground is the Teleportation Nexus, which contains teleportation circles that lead to every major city in Lyvernus, as well as Arc-Delia. The tower is the Circle Tower. It’s the home of the Circle of Eight, a council of eight wizards who rule Atemcester. Jorah doesn’t remember the names of all of them from when he lived here and has no idea how it might have changed since then. Still, there’s a wizard representing each of the major schools of magic and are considered masters of their crafts. Although there’s a diversity of spells within the school, the mage representing the School of Necromancy tends to be the most controversial of the seats in the Circle. As we walk, Briar keeps an eye out for other druids. While we try to find the right kinds of stores, Jorah escorts us to a place called Valmorra’s Magical Gewgaws, which he thinks is the most likely to serve our needs from the few times he’s had to come downtown. The building he brings us to is very small, about the size of an outhouse, but he maintains that it’s the right place and goes inside, disappearing. Each party member walks through and finds themself in a much larger building, which they can tell from the view out the window is actually one of the towers floating above the city. Kilwin is a little freaked! Jorah is very blase about the teleportation, though. It’s pretty normal for Atemcester!

Inside Valmorra’s Magical Gewgaws, we see a ton of magical items, including large alembics, alchemy supplies, and arcanomechanical contraptions of unknown (but probably not practical) purpose. Behind the counter is a high elf with short hair and piercing, arcane blue eyes. She welcomes us to the shop and, noting that most of us seem new to the city judging by our reactions to the teleport, tells us to take our time. Reides asks if she’s Valmorra, and she says she is! He tells her that he’s looking for an Enduring Spellbook. She seems confused and asks if classes start soon. When Reides clarifies that he’s not a student here, she asks if he’s from Arc-Delia, since there’s also a big magical academy there. Reides is stunned by the existence of more magical academies, but Valmorra just says that the high elves love magic. She figures that Reides is just transferring into school now and offers him an Enduring Spellbook for 100 gp, which he is more than happy to pay. He is slightly bewildered by her offer of multiple spellbooks and mention of a color selection, but is fine with just the one and requests a purple one. Valmorra gets out a forked twig and her eyes begin to glow with arcane power as she casts Locate Object to find an Enduring Spellbook in purple. She knocks over some contraptions in the process, but doesn’t seem too concerned and checks to make sure nothing’s written in it yet. She also casts a spell to set it on fire, just to demonstrate that it’s the genuine object. Reides pays for it and clutches it to his chest. It’s still warm! Kilwin brings up our quest for objects that will let us move underwater, and Valmorra is able to produce one Cloak of the Manta Ray for 500 gp and three Helms of Underwater Action for 300 gp each. We hold an extended conversation about item attunement slots, and Jorah realizes he will probably have to drop one of his attuned items to move normally around Aquos. Ashara insists on not getting either item for herself or having someone else get one for her, so Kilwin buys the cloak and Jorah buys one of the helms and then they trade objects. Reides offers to chip in, but Kilwin says it’s okay, since Reides will need a lot of gold to fill in his new spellbook. Kilwin asks if Valmorra has any divinations, but she advises him to try at a temple. Jorah asks if Valmorra knows anywhere to get a magic crossbow, since his heavy crossbow is older than him and he’s been thinking about an upgrade. Valmorra has an enchanted heavy crossbow for 900 gp and an enchanted hand crossbow for 800 gp. While Briar, Kilwin, and Reides are initially open to contributing to the purchase, the enchantments turn out to be pretty underwhelming, so Jorah just passes on it. Valmorra also advises Briar to try some of the city’s culinary institutions when he asks about astrally aspected foods. He also asks if she knows any druids in the city, but she says there’s not many around that she knows of. Reides asks about spell scrolls too, but Valmorra only has one in stock. They tend to get snatched up pretty quickly! It’s for Glyph of Warding and costs 300 gp. Reides thinks the spell sounds neat, but then he learns about the cost of the material components and passes on it. We joke around with Valmorra about breaking into the store, but Jorah says he knows better and enjoys keeping his limbs. In the end, we leave Valmorra’s Magical Gewgaws behind and split up to continue our shopping adventure.

Session 66

 * Google Document (8-26-22)

The party finishes their shopping adventure and reconvenes Downtown. We discuss that we have a massive to-do list in Atemcester: Attempt to secure the city’s Abyssal Crest (despite having no idea what or where it is), find a trustworthy mage who can seal away the Everburning Longsword and Dunan’s dagger in a demiplane, charter a ship to the Laverathia zone. Reides and Ashara also have dates, even if Reides’s isn’t a “date.” We decide to try to find rooms at the Fish and Spell first, since that’s easy and needs to be done early on anyway. We make our way across the city to Portside. The rest of Downtown is very magical still, although that starts to fade away as we approach another floating, humming bridge.

In Portside, some of the grandeur of the city falls away. While the buildings in Downtown were made of finely wrought stone, the buildings in Portside are made of more average stone, as well as wood and plaster. There’s a faint whiff of sea air, although we’re still separated from the ocean by the river. There are plenty of sailors here, with ships moored in the river and lake. We make our way to the Fish and Spell, which is larger than a lot of the buildings in Portside. A number of sailors are milling about, some rolling bones, some just chilling. There’s a sign outside with the name of the inn and a picture of a fish curled behind a magic wand. Briar points to the sign and says that’s Reides! As we go inside, Reides is clearly nervous. Inside, there’s more sailors hanging out, a warm stone fireplace and a table where a hardened bartender, a man with a graying beard and an eyepatch, sits. At one of the tables, there’s a younger sailor with a book, looking expectantly at the door. He has long brown hair, brown skin, a flowy shirt, brown pants, and leather boots. He puts his book down and beckons us over. Reides says hi! As we get closer, we see the sailor also has a scar on his left cheek. He introduces himself as the strapping sailor that the triton told us we’d meet here and invites us to sit. Reides sits on the table. Kilwin and Jorah sit at the table too, but Ashara and Briar make their way over to the bar. Jorah offers Kilwin some of his firewhiskey to prep himself for this interaction, but Kilwin thinks he’s good for now. Reides takes out the saltwater taffy he bought during his shopping trip and hands it over to his friend, saying he owed him some. The surfacer is happy he remembered! He also has a present for Reides, a bottle of firewhiskey since Reides liked it so much during their first meeting. Jorah likes this guy! Reides thinks surfacers make the best booze, but the surfacer is pretty sure that firewhiskey wasn’t made on the surface. Reides asks if it was the dwarves, and the surfacer consults a book to check. Apparently, almost all fire-themed alcohols were created by the fire genasi, although the dwarves were displeased with this and created forge whiskey themselves. Reides thinks he’s tried forge whiskey, and Kilwin says there was some in the bunker. The surfacer is very curious where Reides has been! He asks Reides to make some introductions first. Reides mentions that the spell cut him off when he tried to say his name before. The surfacer expresses some mild frustration with magic before saying Aske. Reides asks what his name is! He says Aske! Reides says he did ask! Aske eventually clarifies that it is spelled with an e at the end. He gets teased about it a lot, apparently! Kilwin and Jorah introduce themselves, and Aske asks if Jorah’s name is like the elf in the stories. Jorah says Aske isn’t the only one who’s gotten teased for his name! Aske thinks Jorah probably isn’t quite as easy of a target though, since some people don’t read quite as much.

Reides also points out Ashara and Briar at the bar. Ashara orders something, sniffs it, gags, and then drinks it anyway. Briar also takes a sip. Ashara tries to start a tab under Jorah’s name, but is unsuccessful. Briar just slaps down a gold for their drinks instead. Reides says they’re just letting off some steam, since we’ve been through a lot lately. Aske gets it! Some of his crewmates are apparently much rowdier when letting off steam. Bar fights are involved. Reides says Jorah could handle the bar fight! Jorah doesn’t really want to be volunteered for any bar fights, although Aske says he seems like the rough and tumble type. Jorah says that’s not by choice! Reides says Kilwin could take the bar fight too, but Kilwin would prefer not to! Aske mentions that his ship was supposed to leave a while ago, but the storm is probably going to keep delaying him, so he’s down to do whatever Reides wants while he’s here. Jorah says he has some personal business, meeting some old friends in Southside, to take care of, so Aske could guide Reides around. He says Reides can come if he wants, but he’s not going to know any of them. Reides glares at him because he sees exactly what Jorah is trying to do. Reides asks if Aske is from around here, but it turns out he’s from Davenport. Aske says it’s a nice place, especially this time of year as it starts to get a little colder. At the bar, Briar and Ashara continue drinking and a sailor sidles up to them, clearly with a competitive mindset and seeming to challenge them to a drinking contest. They accept his challenge! Watching them, Reides kind of wants a shot too and goes up to the bar. Aske chinhands and watches him. Ashara shows Reides the Meow Meow Shot she is drinking. Aske approaches the bar, and Kilwin tries to figure out if there’s A Plan from Jorah. Reides does a shot and Aske is impressed with his newfound alcohol tolerance. Briar offers Aske a shot too, and he downs it with aplomb. Aske explains that the rest of the crew is scattered around Atemcester. The captain normally retreats to finer lodging, but the Fish and Spell is Aske’s personal hidey-hole, while the rest of the crew is elsewhere. Reides kind of wants to meet the guy whose pants he’s wearing, but Aske doesn’t know where he is right now. He does know some fun trivia about the Fish and Spell, though! Despite the bartender clearly being a former sailor, Aske says the place is actually owned by a retired wizard who uses magic to help it run more smoothly. Aske tells Reides to walk toward the fireplace, which is currently out. Reides does, and a fire suddenly flares up as he approaches, startling him. Aske apologizes for spooking him! Reides says it’s fine, but he’s had to deal with fire a lot lately. He’s intrigued though! Aske also says the plates are enchanted with a spell called Presto Chango, which cleans them when you’re done eating. None of us have heard of a spell called Presto Chango, and Kilwin and Jorah wonder if someone somewhere is getting pranked here. Reides realizes that the spell being described is actually Prestidigitation, and we respect that no one actually wants to say all that. Reides thinks he should try that spell at some point. Aske asks about Reides’s magic and if he can pick up new spells. Reides says he needs to study a lot to do it, but he can and he has. Aske seems to think this over as Reides casts Mage Hand to poke him, startling him.

While Kilwin and Jorah watch Reides and Aske’s interactions from a respectful distance, Ashara and Briar continue their drinking contest against the sailor. Briar starts to feel woozy early on, but decides to keep going until he soon feels like he’s going to hurl. The sailor tells Ashara that her friend can’t hold his rum. She carries on in his honor. Briar turns into a little cat, prompting the bartender to point to a sign that says No Magic. Jorah apologizes for Briar, picks him up, and takes him outside. Kilwin decides to stay to keep an eye on Ashara, who continues drinking past the point where she starts feeling sick. The sailor also seems to not be feeling very well, but he demands more shots from the bartender. Ashara takes off her arm and slaps it on the bar, asking for more too. The bartender tells them to keep their pants and arm on respectively. On their last shots, the sailor finishes his and looks at Ashara confidently before suddenly running outside to puke. Ashara is the champion!! Some of the sailors outside start loudly complaining of the smell of fish. Aske calls this Exhibit A of the many magical things you can see at the Fish and Spell. Jorah observes that it’s been 8 years and nothing has changed in Atemcester.

Kilwin, noticing that Ashara does not look very good, walks her outside and casts Lesser Restoration on her. It helps a bit, but she still feels out of it from that many shots. She asks if Reides and Aske are going on a date. Kilwin thinks they might! Ashara realizes that she forgot to buy a dress and it’s too late now. She’s also very distressed about Raven Rock, but accidentally calls it Ravencroft. She asks how she looks! Kilwin says she looks very nice, trying not to mention that she looks kind of green. Ashara realizes he’s being untruthful but that it’s just to spare her feelings. She tells Kilwin he needs to get better at lying. Jorah does something to remove the rest of the alcohol from Ashara’s system, telling her to apologize to Briar since he was planning to do that for him instead.

Inside, Aske nudges Reides and says he’s picked up quite the cast of characters. Reides agrees, but also says that he’s not any more put together than the rest of the party. Since half of Reides’s friends are indisposed and the other half are taking care of them, Aske suggests that he and Reides go explore Atemcester on their own for a bit. Reides wants to at least tell Kilwin that they’re going, but Aske points out that they can do that on the way out. On the way out, Aske is grossed out by the sailor’s puke. Reides goes over to pet Briar, who is unsuccessfully attempting to escape Jorah’s arms. Kilwin mentions he’s been meaning to ask Briar if it’s okay to pet him when he’s animals, and Reides points out that Briar seems to be enjoying it. Kilwin scritches Briar behind the ears very quickly. Reides asks if Aske wants to pet him, but Aske thinks it’s a little weird. He doesn’t usually pet people he’s just met! Briar gently hisses at him though, so Aske caves and scritches him behind the ears too. Briar purrs in response. Reides also takes Pepega out of the pocket dimension to introduce her to Aske! She strikes a cool pose. Aske says hello and tells her that it’s very nice to meet her and she’s very cute. Reides says he’s going out with Aske now and will be back later. He wonders if he should just put Pepega back in the pocket dimension, but Kilwin offers to watch her. She cuddles up to him, and he pets her a little. We tell Aske it was nice meeting him! Kilwin tells him to take care of Reides, which Aske says he’s experienced with doing! Reides and Aske walk away and, just before they leave the spell’s range, Jorah casts Hunter’s Mark on Reides. Just in case!

Aske walks backwards, a few steps ahead of Reides, and asks what he wants to do. Reides admits he’s a bit overwhelmed by Atemcester! He says he just learned there’s multiple magic schools, which was crazy to him. Aske knows about the Academy of the Archmagi in Downtown and that, in general, they love their magic here. Reides also admits he felt weird about being mistaken for a student earlier. There was nothing like that back home! Aske wonders what Reides’s home was like, and Reides says it was lonely. He explains that he’s pretty sure it was just his family situation and hopes it wasn’t lonely for everyone. Aske has some good news for him! He gestures around at the crowd of people around them. Reides is definitely not alone anymore! He also points out that Reides has picked up some pretty good friends during his travels! Reides agrees that he hasn’t been lonely for a while, at least not since he first met Aske. He says Jorah thought it was weird that he was fished up though. Aske thinks Jorah does seem like the type, but points out that that’s probably the most normal way Reides could’ve made it to the surface. Reides jokes about swimming all the way to land or climbing the hull with his incredibly powerful muscles.

Aske suggests going to the library or getting some food, and Reides leaves it up to him. Aske has something he wants to show Reides around 5 PM, so they have a few hours to kill and can probably do both. While Reides has eaten some food already, Aske thinks he’s probably still hungry and takes him to a place he knows. He asks Reides to ignore the smell, but Reides says he was in Port Valor for quite a while, so he’s used to it. Aske grins. It’s a restaurant near the docks, with an outdoor eating area on the water, called the Atemcester Fishery. Aske promises they don’t only serve fish, since he’s not sure if Reides is sick of that from living underwater so long and his time in the ship’s hold. Reides says that was a while ago now! He tells Aske about his adventure with the Deytrwood salmon although he admits that Jorah helped him catch the fish and Briar cooked it because Reides still can’t cook. He could’ve eaten it raw, though! The clientele of the Atemcester Fishery seems to be younger sailors and other workers from Portside. Reides and Aske are quickly taken to a table. Reides pulls Aske’s chair out for him because he was informed that it’s good manners. He teases Aske about being rude, but Aske claims that sailors are supposed to be rude and adapting to your company goes both ways. He says Reides needs to start singing sea shanties and screaming profanity. Reides does, in fact, scream “Fuck! Shit! Damn!” Aske appreciates it but thinks this might not be the place for it! He offers to teach Reides some shanties sometime. He observes that Reides has adapted to surface life really well, noting that he could barely walk on land the last time he saw him. He asks where Reides’s travels have taken him. Reides explains that he left Port Valor to go east and made his way back there before it blew up. Then he went to the Exeter and up here. Aske thinks that’s quite a journey! Reides says they went as far as Malino’re and that they visited Kilwin’s home in Cowersby. Aske says his dad is from Malino’re, but we probably didn’t meet him since he lives in Davenport now. If we go to Davenport, we might meet him, though! Reides jokes that he’ll find Aske’s dad to tell him how horribly rude his son is. He’ll swim if he has too! Aske jokes that he’ll have to find Reides’s dad then, but the storm is still bad, so whether he’s sailing or trying to swim, he’s “mighty boned on any account.” Reides mentions that there’s magic items that can help and that his friends bought some since they’re planning to go out there. Aske can’t really spend his entire savings to go swimming, though. Reides thinks he’d be happier up here anyway! Aske says he has one question. Reides tells him to ask away! Aske says that’s fine and he’ll leave, but Reides had to do it the one time. Aske asks when the belly button piercing happened. Reides explains that it wasn’t that long after they parted! Aske thinks it suits him! Reides says he made friends with someone who ran a tattoo and piercing shop. They were awesome and also did Reides’s ear piercings. Aske appreciates the color of the earrings! Reides would introduce Aske to his friend, but says they’ll have to see how it goes. Aske says it’s grave times and that he was very happy to hear from Reides that first time to know he was alive. Reides says he was also happy to learn Aske didn’t get caught up in all that! Aske says it was rough for a lot of people, but had to be rougher for Reides since he was actually there. Reides admits it was horrible but that we’re trying to do something about it. Aske says he’s had to get good at reading people from his time as a sailor and realized early on that Reides was one of the most driven people he’s ever met, with a subtle determination. Reides says most people just say he’s stubborn. Aske can see that too! The food arrives, consisted of fish stew, baked fish, blackened fish, non-fish soup, and greenery from Terrath. Reides says pog! Aske is surprised he knows some Dwarvish, and Reides says he knows pog at least! He also tells Aske that he invented pog coffee in the Exeter and that Aske should go there and try it sometime. Aske says fine, he will sail to the Exeter. Reides tells Aske to stretch his land legs, since he was born with them! Aske says he might after he’s hung up his sailing hat. They eat. When they leave, Aske gets up first and says he’ll get Reides’s chair this time. Reides is impressed at his manners! Aske wonders when Reides will forget his, although he thinks it might be good to wait for them to be around some sailors before screaming more profanity.

Next, they head for the library. Aske advises Reides to hold back on the swears, since the wizards there probably wouldn’t like it and they can cast Silence. Aske admits he’s never seen them do that, but it seems like something they can probably do. As they approach the bridge, Aske grabs Reides by the wrist to stop him for a second. A boat is heading toward the bridge and a stone rises up in front of them, blocking traffic on the bridge as it rises up, allowing the boat to pass beneath. Aske admits he was astounded the first time he saw that. He was on a boat and certain they were going to crash if they didn’t stop. Reides thinks it’s pretty cool too! Aske says he’s been viewing magic differently since meeting Reides. Dealing with mages for business and food preservation made him think they were mostly kind of annoying. Reides asks Aske if he’s annoying too, and Aske says he’s sure he could be, but normally isn’t. Reides does think he’s different from most other wizards, at least the ones he’s met. One was extremely nice, but had an amazing spellbook and Reides was just kind of jealous, especially since he didn’t have magic schooling. Aske agrees that bookish types can be kind of intimidating. The other wizard was like 400 years old and trying to kill him, but Reides learned Fireball from him so it’s okay. Aske doesn’t think you run into those every day! He assures Reides that being self-taught means he’s brilliant. Reides thinks it’s really just him being stubborn, so Aske calls him brilliantly stubborn. The bridge descends once more, so Reides and Aske cross into Downtown.

The library of Atemcester is a massive building, located on the ground because it’s too large for a reasonable amount of aerocrystal to hold aloft. It’s one of the largest buildings Reides has ever seen, only rivaled by a few of the largest in Falas. It’s about 70 feet tall and filled with books. There’s several floors, each lined with 10-foot-tall bookshelves. There’s a large opening in the center of the building, allowing people to see all of the floors at once. Reides is amazed. He wonders if this place used to be a castle. Aske thinks it could’ve been, but he’s not sure how old Atemcester is. He likes to visit here when his ship docks in Atemcester to stock up on books for the journey. Reides remembers Aske having a ton of books when they first met. Aske jokingly wonders if Reides thought about him a lot, maybe dreamed of him a little. Either way, Aske thinks reading is a good way to keep sane on long voyages. Reides figures he’d have to, since his captain runs such a tight ship. They discuss her nickname, the Kraken. Reides says that’s a big creature and would even give his dad some pause. Aske says it’s apt, even if she’s not quite that strong. Reides remembers she hit him with a fish. Reides heard it! Aske felt it. Aske says she hates stopping in Atemcester, because of all the mages, but he thinks she secretly enjoys arguing with them. She reminds Reides of Jorah a little bit! He’s noticed that surfacers seem to have a lot of opinions about magic. Aske gets it, since some people see it as unfair that some people can circumvent the menial labor that they have to do. Reides can see that, but points out that some people aren’t strong enough for that kind of work and need to rely on their minds. Aske says some people can do both and flexes. Reides asks if he can do magic, and Aske clarifies that he just meant he has a brain.

Reides doesn’t even know where to begin looking for a book. He decides to try finding a book about tritons. Aske points out that there probably won’t be much written about them, which Reides knows, but he wants to see how wrong everything is if there’s anything. Reides has trouble finding anything just perusing, but finds a book about a guy who encountered a mermaid, which sounds similar to a triton but not quite. For one thing, mermaids apparently have fish tails. Reides wonders if the guy thought her webbed feet put together were a tail. Aske finds something, though, and delivers a large dusty book to Reides. Reides thinks the dust is a good sign! It’s called The People of the Sea by P. Valencia. Reides looks through and quickly realizes it’s random bullshit. It says that tritons are very peaceful and have no standing army. They live in villages with no organized government. Reides calls P. Valencia an idiot and says that everyone is part of the army and constantly preparing for the next nonsense. He wishes it was just villages down there! The book also says the tritons feed the bodies of their dead to sharks. Reides says that’s just offensive. He explains to Aske that the dead are taken to a special place called a coral graveyard and coral grows from their bodies. Aske likes the truth better than what’s in the book! Reides would like to have some strong words with P. Valencia. He thinks his brother would kill them. He admits it’s funny in a way, but wonders if this is why tritons hate surfacers so much in general. Aske suggests that Reides is in a good position to write a much better book than this one. Reides thinks his brother would actually kill him then, but for different reasons. Tritons are very secretive! Aske points out he’d have to leave the ocean first! Reides agrees that Viglis is not leaving his precious ocean any time soon.

Reides is demoralized by the bad book, so Aske suggests going for a swim, either in the river or the lake. Reides likes the idea and thinks he needs to let off some steam after that nonsense anyway. He jokes that Aske could write a book too, about meeting a mermaid. Aske brings up that mermaids are supposed to wear shell bras, not shell armor, so he thinks Reides might need a costume change. Reides says that tritons don’t wear shell bras and those sound very uncomfortable! Aske did think that Reides’s original clothes looked pretty comfortable for being underwater, more so than surface clothes at least. Surface clothes are too hot for Reides temperature-wise. He tells Aske about the cloak the Heartkins gave him and how he couldn’t even wear it. Aske asks if it at least looked good. Reides says of course it did!

Aske and Reides go back to Portside, since the mages might not appreciate people swimming off the coast of Downtown. Reides offers to cast spells to help Aske swim, mentioning Dimension Door and Featherfall (for diving). Reides admits he’s scared of teleporting, but if they die in the process, at least they’ll be together! This gives Aske some pause. Still, they make their way back to Portside and look for a spot where the Mana Wardens won’t see Reides doing spells, since they tend to be the serious type. They find a spot in between some houses where they can reach the lakeshore. Aske doesn’t want to get his clothes wet, so he takes most of them off and folds them. He assumes Reides isn’t doing the same because he’s wearing triton clothes, but actually, Reides is wearing surface clothes and just doesn’t care. Aske, now in his underwear, says he’s ready to teleport. Reides takes Aske’s hand and casts Dimension Door, teleporting the two of them slightly over the lake, a few hundred feet away. Aske is gently freaked as he falls into the water. As he pushes his hair out of his eyes, he admits he understands the teleport fear now. Reides goes underwater for a bit until Aske dives down and gestures for him to come up. He has an idea! He asks if Reides can do that again but teleport them higher up, and then use Featherfall to slow their descent. Reides is down! They swim back to shore. As they prepare to teleport again, Aske takes Reides’s hand, since he thinks he has to for the spell to work. Reides says that’s right (lying)! They teleport again, high above the water, and (thanks to Featherfall) float down gracefully. They hear a child trying to get his mom to look. Aske hoots and hollers on his way down out of sheer joy and a little bit of fear. Reides realizes that he left his impulse control (named Kilwin) back at the Fish and Spell. They land with a big splash. Aske says it was very life-threatening and also amazing! Reides promises to keep Aske safe. They swim for a bit, but as the sky begins to darken, Aske realizes it’s time to take Reides to the secret thing. As he puts his clothes back on, Aske asks if Reides has any drying spells. Reides says he can cast Gust of Wind, but that might get a little deadly. Aske decides it’s okay and Reides likes being wet anyway, so Aske will just have to learn to live with it. He’ll dry off at the Fish and Spell later. Aske brings Reides back to the bridge and finds a promenade with a railing that’s good for leaning on. He points to the main city. Reides thinks it’s very pretty, but still isn’t sure what Aske is actually showing him. As the sun starts setting, lights begin to flicker on, spreading throughout the city and creating a halo around it. Stones lighting the bridge also begin to light up. All of the lights create a reflection of the city in the lake, almost seeming like another city under the water. Aske wanted to show Reides the ocean at night, but thought this would be good too. Reides is impressed and also a little homesick! Seeing the reflected city in the lake did make Aske think of Reides before. Reides laughs, saying that he didn't realize Aske was such a poet. Reides can’t believe he’s this far from home, but it feels good for the most part. Reides is still bothered by The People of the Sea, though. Aske says they need to get him some good books. Reides got a book with stories about sailors during his shopping trip, but hasn’t gotten a chance to look through it yet. He wonders if there will be lies about sailors in there. Aske wonders if he’s read the book and, hearing the title of one of the stories is The Great Storm, says it’s a really good one! He asks Reides to pretend he recommended it to him. They both observe it’s a really nice night. Reides calls it magic! Aske asks if he’s a comedian. Reides says he is, and Aske chuckles a little. Reides asks if it’s because he’s such a good comedian, and Aske says it’s something like that. Aske observes that if that storm didn’t show up, they wouldn’t have gotten the chance to meet up like this. Reides thinks storms seem to usually have his back though. Aske wonders if Reides is favored by Zasarra, the goddess of storms. Reides could be! He was born during a storm. Aske thinks that’s nice. Apparently, people said Reides didn’t cry at all as a baby, but Reides thinks they were just saying that to hype up baby Reides. He’s skeptical of the idea that any baby doesn’t cry. Aske agrees with Reides and says he seems like a bit of a crybaby. He remembers when Reides didn’t know what tears were when he first cried on the surface! Aske says it was sweet and a nice moment. Reides looks away in embarrassment. Aske says that this is a nice moment too, and takes Reides’s hand.

Earlier in the day, back at the Fish and Spell, Ashara leaves for her date soon after Reides does, the details of which will be revealed in the next installment of Dungeon Delvin’. Jorah tells Kilwin and Briar (still a cat) that he has something he’s wanted to take care of the next time they were in a big city for a while. He wants to deal with it before visiting Julia. He unspools the plain medallion from his wrist and says he wants to visit a temple of the Nameless God to learn about Kievan. He figured that Kilwin would want to come along. Kilwin thinks that’s a great idea! Jorah guides the trio to the northern part of Westside, where most of the temples in Atemcester (and the residential part of Westside) are. Southern Westside is where most of the non-magical shops are. Most of the temples are fairly ornate, adorned with sigils and statues of the deities they serve. One temple, however, is smaller, very plain, and made of black stone. There’s no sign, but Jorah and Kilwin can tell that they’ve reached their destination. Jorah hands Briar to Kilwin (who also has Pepega), but Briar is okay to walk around now. Kilwin’s not so sure and asks Briar to meow once if he’d like a Lesser Restoration and meow twice if he’s good. Briar meows once, so Kilwin casts the spell and Briar rubs against Kilwin’s legs as thanks. Jorah leads the way, with Kilwin and Briar behind him.

The interior of the temple is more or less barren. There’s an empty dais where we figure there would be a statue representing the deity in any other temple. There’s also benches around, but probably very few sermons actually happen here. At the pulpit, there’s a wizened old man leafing through a book. He has white hair, no beard, and wears black robes. He looks up, puts his book in a holster, and welcomes us to the temple of the Nameless God. He asks what our business is today. Jorah shows him the amulet and explains that we were to fight a paladin of the Nameless God to the death. He’d like to learn more about him and also, he guesses, apologize. When Jorah mentions the name Kievan, the priest says he hasn’t heard that name in some years. The priests and paladins of the Nameless God are few but tend to be quite fervent and know each other well. Kievan was a particularly faithful servant of the Nameless God, but fell out of contact with his comrades for many years. Now, he’s lost to them forever. The priest tells Jorah to take heart, though, since he can tell he bears regrets. Jorah tells the priest that we gave Kievan what funeral rites we could. The priest cradles Kievan’s amulet in his hands and tells Jorah that Kievan is with his patron now. Jorah also has something else to talk to the priest about, although he thinks it’s more of a side note. He takes off his gauntlet, revealing the black mark on his wrist. Kilwin is shocked because, despite Jorah’s certainty that he knew that was there, he definitely did not! Jorah explains that he had some unusual nightmares after Kievan died and woke up to this. The priest identifies it as the Mark of the Chosen. Kievan was blessed with it as well. It represents the cycle of life and death and is given to those who follow the will of the Nameless God. Jorah has been chosen! Jorah is stunned into near silence. He’s not really sure how that could be. The priest asks if the Mark hurts sometimes and if Jorah has dreams where he sees the faces of those who have passed on. Jorah admits that both of these things are true, but still doesn’t get why he specifically would be chosen. The priest says it could be any number of reasons, since the Nameless God is mysterious in their ways. It could be that Jorah’s connection to death is tenuous and needs to be maintained. It could be that he has a particularly strong connection to death that’s solidified enough for the Nameless God to take notice. Regardless of the reasons, the fact remains that Jorah has been chosen. Jorah admits that this is not at all what he expected to learn by coming here. He does admit that some of his abilities have seemed off since the Exeter, like suddenly being able to heal with a simple touch, and wonders if Kilwin has noticed. Kilwin did think he noticed some light coming off Quickbrand when Jorah killed the Dream Eater, but had chalked that up to the hag’s hypnotic lights. The priest identifies these as the Righteous Flames of Death, granted to those who bear the Nameless God’s will. Jorah thanks the priest for the explanation of everything, although he’s not sure if this is better or worse than what he expected. The priest advises Jorah that the Nameless God sees potential in him and has given him their blessing, but what to do with it is his decision. He also tells Jorah to trust his dreams. Jorah apologizes again for us having to kill Kievan and says he wishes he were here with us now. The priest says we all have to go sometimes, though, and thinks Kievan got a good death. Jorah says that we won’t take any more of his time and to have a good day before we leave the temple.

Outside, Jorah has a perfectly reasonable meltdown. He really thought Kievan just cursed him or something and the priest was going to remove the curse! He’s glad he doesn’t have to explain the whole situation to Kilwin, though. Jorah guesses he’s a paladin now! Kilwin admits that if Jorah had shown him the Mark, he also would’ve assumed it was a curse and tried to remove it. It wouldn’t have worked, though, since it’s apparently a blessing! Kilwin wonders if it is appropriate to welcome Jorah to the club. Briar finally unshifts and offers some tentative congratulations. The temple doors open again and the priest comes out. He tells Jorah to take heart when the Mark stings because it means he’s still alive. He then goes back inside. Jorah turns back to Kilwin and tells him that someday he’ll be that old priest who knows way too much, and because of that, fuck him. Kilwin can’t even be upset about it.

Still reeling, the lads try to figure out what to do next. It’s a bit early to go back to the tavern and wait for Reides and Ashara. Jorah tells Briar that he didn’t join the earlier drinking competition because he felt like the Amulet of Health was an unfair advantage. It felt like cheating! Briar says that there’s no such thing as cheating or honesty in a drinking contest, but Jorah takes drinking more seriously than he does apparently. Briar realizes that Jorah might have a problem. Jorah suggests going to visit Julia, although Kilwin wonders if Reides and Ashara might want to meet her too. After Jorah explains who Julia is, Briar wonders if she can cook. Learning that she can, he really wants to meet her. While Jorah admits that Julia hasn’t seen him in eight years and can wait a few hours if we want to look into sealing the sword first, Kilwin agrees to just meet Julia a little ahead of everyone else. Briar thinks it will be a lovely surprise! Jorah, very much still out of it, leads Kilwin and Briar to the Wayward House in Southside. He takes them down an alley away from the main street and the neighborhood immediately starts looking shabbier. Jorah welcomes them to the real Southside.

The Wayward House is surrounded by a wooden fence and beyond that, toys are strewn about in the yard. Jorah says some things don’t change before stepping over the gate. Briar vaults over and Kilwin just opens the gate and walks through like a normal person. There's an audible bustle inside the building and a plume of smoke coming from the chimney. Before Jorah knocks on the door, he warns Kilwin that he’s probably about to be swarmed. At the knock, the bustle briefly stops before picking up again. Roughly fifteen kids run out the door and surround the visitors, pointing at them. One points at Kilwin’s armor and says it’s shiny! Another asks why Briar’s ears are so long. Briar says his ears got tugged on too much and pulls the child’s ear a little to demonstrate. A group of children start pulling each other’s ears, but Briar tells them they don’t want ears like his. Suddenly, a voice from inside the house yells to quiet down. The kids instantly do and lower their heads as a six-foot-tall half-orc woman comes out. She has graying hair, a stained apron, and holds a ladle. She sees Jorah and comments that it’s been a while! Jorah says he’s back and not dead! He asks how the gremlins have been, and Julia says they’ve been good enough. She tells the children to go play, which they excitedly do as Julia escorts Jorah and his friends inside. There’s beds and chests lining the walls, and Julia brings us to a dining area to sit and talk. Jorah asks if Julia’s been getting his letters. She has, here and there, but she pranks him by pretending that she hasn’t been getting the attached gold. Things have been pretty nice in Atemcester, but Julia knows from the letters that Jorah’s been through a lot of shit. Jorah agrees and says he’s just visiting Atemcester for business stuff right now. He introduces Kilwin as the priest he described in his letters and Briar as someone who isn’t mentioned in the letters. Briar asks about the food, and Julia offers to let the group stay for some of the beetroot stew she’s preparing. She asks Jorah how the bounty hunting is going, but he says he hasn’t been doing much of that since picking up his current adventuring companions. Julia thinks that might be for the best, since it’s not the safest line of work. She’s glad he stopped by, since the kids love when there’s visitors. Jorah admits that he’s been really busy and hasn’t had time to sail over. Julia asks where he sailed in from, but Jorah says he came by the land route. Julia asks if he stopped in Hommlin on the way, and Jorah says that he did and visited his family’s graves. He asks if anything crazy has happened around here. Julia says the big local news is that Daria found a toad. It’s the talk of the orphanage! Julia’s also heard news about an official in Seaton being assassinated the other day. She’s heard it might have been a Pale Cloak killing, carried out by a group of assassins who leave calling cards with their kills. Jorah hopes the demons, dragons, and assassins all stay out of Southside. He also tells Julia the news about Raven Rock. Julia thinks the Mana Wardens could help, even though she has a fairly low opinion of them. She doesn’t think they could let demons attack the city without a fight and that the Circle would intervene even though they love floating up in their tower.

Jorah also tells Julia he has a question for her. She was once an adventurer, although she retired from that a long time ago, and Jorah is wondering if she’s heard of the Burning Knight. He explains that’s the demon responsible for what happened in Port Valor. Julia’s mostly heard of him through stories, parts of which were probably lost to the ages. She does remember seeing something in a dwarven ruin years ago, though. There were wall carvings depicting a flaming knight alongside something that looked like a rift or tear. There were also carvings of six heroes, each holding an artifact. Farther down the wall, there was a depiction of the heroes giving away the artifacts. There were also dwarven runes, presumably with more info, but Julia doesn’t know Dwarvish, so she definitely couldn’t read them. Kilwin asks where the ruin was, and Julia tells him it was on the southernmost mountain in the Spine of the World. Kilwin also asks if Julia happens to remember what any of the artifacts were. She only remembers a set of plate armor and a set of wristbands. We thank her for the information, because it helps a lot! Jorah is really glad he asked, because he admittedly thought Julia knowing anything was a long shot. He doesn’t want to tell her more, though, since the less she knows, the safer she probably is.

In exchange for her help, we offer to help out with dinner so she can rest. Briar offers to make the stew! Julia tells him the stew has already been made, we just need to serve it. Kilwin goes to set the table, but quickly realizes that Jorah is the only one who knows where anything is. As Jorah sets out plates and bowls, Julia points out that he’s forgetting something. You don’t want to eat stew with your hands, so Jorah goes back for silverware. While Kilwin puts out the food, Briar heads outside to gather the kids. He calls out to them, and a few pay attention. He asks who wants to see some magic! They all pay attention! They start hounding him and ask how to do magic. Briar explains that it’s important to listen to everything Julia says, but also they need to have the spark. He pokes one of the children in the chest. They ask if he put the spark in them, and he uses Druidcraft to make a little squirrel noise. Briar put a squirrel in them! He says the squirrel’s name is Ratataka. Because everyone listened, Briar offers to turn into an animal for them. The children don’t believe him because he’s a guy. Briar says he’ll turn into a huge jackal before turning into a goat, sparking an argument among the children about what a jackal and what a goat is. Briar turns back and admits to one of the children who’s sure he turned into a goat that he always gets those two mixed up. He promises he’ll get it right next time! He also tells the kids that some of them might be able to do that someday, but first they’ll need to wash up and eat dinner. And that’s just what they do!