Previously

• The party received a note in the Journal of the Five Leaf Clover, which turned into a lamp.
• Pliny rubbed the lamp.
• Smoke started spewing out of the spout, filling the space around them.
• They voluntarily followed the magical tug to enter the lamp.
  • The lamp got bigger or they got smaller, as it pulled them into the spout of the lamp.
• As they flowed down the tunnel, they heard, “Keep hold of the thread. What happens in dreams is real… after a fashion.”
• Tick
• And they found themselves back in Phlan.
• Magic circles opened behind each member of the party.
• They each disabled their skeleton, and heard Ragvala’s voice: “Amazing! Simply amazing!”
• And the scene went white…

The Ticking of the clock

• The party heard the ticking of a clock, Tick, and walked along a path with an endless sea to both sides. There were no stars, no light. Yet they could see.
• Scenes passed by on the right and left of the path. Some they watched. Some merged together to highlight theme and insights. Some they interacted with and learned new things.

Tick 19 - Zoyana in the command tent

• Tick
• The session ended with a vision of Zoyana at the camp, after leaving Aegar, Pliny, and Fang at the watchtower.
• In the form of a spider, scurried her way to the command tent…

Tick 20 - Travel back to Greenest

• Tick
• Another scene appeared on the left. The talking again merged with the other discussions with key observations coalescing.
• At Pliny’s white fox camp.
• They spoke with Leosin about his experience and what might be going on.
  • Leosin didn’t know where they were headed: which city or anywhere else.
    • He thought that they were going to have to split up what they’ve taken so far, and that they would probably group with other merchants to hide.
    • He filled Aegar in on the Harpers and that they want good in the world, but this is clearly a bigger deal than any of them had realized.
    • Leosin told of a fellow harper named Carlon Amofell, a human spy with a short gray beard, who was one of those who were also concerned about the Cult and had gone North to investigate something north of Baldur’s Gate when Leosin had come South. He didn’t know of any other Harpers currently investigating the Cult. He only came because he heard about the eggs.
  • Leosin’s sense was that the eggs needed to stay here to hatch.
    • Rezmir was bitching about something about them needing to go to early.
      
    • And from that he gathered that the eggs were near hatching, and that the eggs would need to stay here until then.
    • He got the sense that whatever else was happening with the Cult was separate from the hatching of the eggs.
      • That Rezmir and her crew were here (as opposed to somewhere else) because of the eggs.
      • That the reinforcements came here because Rezmir was here.
  • Once the raiders sent off the treasure, they would need to return for the eggs-now-dragons.
    • Leosin thought that they needed to either capture or destroy the eggs.
    • Aegar was visibly confused about how there could be a benefit to capturing them.
      • Leosin replied that “there are those who say that there’s good in everyone” - and so they could be raised as good dragons. And there are the other people who aren’t crazy.
      • But the other reason is: who’s the mamma?
        
      • And this is now high-level stuff, and those eggs are pieces on the board. Destroying the eggs, killing the hatchlings gets you one thing, but different groups around would have different opinions. The Lord’s Alliance: destroy all the eggs. The Emerald Enclave: rescue all the eggs.
      • It really depends on which perspective you’re taking whether or not it’s best to just destroy them and get them off the face of the planet or to use them. They are part of the natural order; whether that’s a good thing or not, who knows?
      • “What would I do? I don’t know what I would do. I would capture the eggs if I could, but I wouldn’t hesitate. If the question was destroy them or let them go there would be no question. You can always figure out what to do tomorrow. But letting the Cult have them, that’s not good. That wont end well”

Tick 21 - The Cult Cavern

• Tick
• In the cult cavern, the fight momentarily suspended.
  • Aegar reached down and said “Ilmater forgive me” as he pocketed the medallion of Tiamat from a dead cleric.

Tick 21 - Aegar’s first dream of dragons

• Tick
• After leaving the cave, the party found the nearest hidey-hole and rested.
• Zoyana tossed and turned throughout the night, but awoke fully rested.
• Pliny had dreams of lounging on a floating pillow in a palace while eating grapes and drinking sweet wine.
• Aegar had a more foreboding vision:
  • Aegar dreamed of lightening
  • A tower surrounded by a hedge maze
  • It was dark, and 10 eyes looked out from the dark.
  • One pair of eyes, the pair right in front of him, closed.
  • A moment later, he felt the current as his scales stood up like they were hairs.
  • And then he felt a bolt of lightning strike through him. He’s resistant to lightening. It didn’t matter. Through every nerve, through every bone, his entire body was engulfed in energy in a flash of white… and turned to dust.
  • He woke up. Sweating. And realized he was with his friends and everything was fine.

Tick 22 - Jos runs

• Tick
• The next morning, the party discussed their situation and plans.
• Aegar relayed what his steed had seen while they were in the cave:
  • A bald man, wearing red robes, left the camp at a gallop on one of the hunters’ horses.
  • Azbara Jos had run.

Tick 23 - The eggs

• Tick
• The party crushed the last of the 3 eggs: 2 black, 1 blue.

Tick 24 - Frulam’s chamber

• Tick
• In Frulam’s chamber.
  • In the chest in the side room, the party found Frulam’s Purple Regalia and a bag with 11 gp and a few small gems worth 27 gp
  • On the table, among the papers were a map, a note, and Frulam’s Journal
  • A separate sheet of paper:
    • _**“Everything must be freighted north to Naerytar. Rezmir** allowed us to keep some pearls, a ring, and a handful of small stones.”_
  • Note:
    • Great. Reinforcements. Galvan the Blue sent Cyanwrath and a group of kobolds, cultists, and clerics to “reinforce” us. Just when our setup was stabilizing, and the eggs were entering the last stage. WTF. How am I supposed to get any work done?
  • Note:
    • Mistress Rezmir has said we will be attacking a small town today, to show another successful conquest for the queen Tiamat – praise Her glory. So long as it’s over swiftly, and Cyanwrath doesn’t try another of his “honorable” antics, I shall endure. What I would give to be half dragon – like him – so that I may ascend to equal or even greater status than Wyrmspeaker Rezmir herself. Yet he squanders every opportunity, being a soldier of “honor” and “duty”.
  • Decoded version of Note In Code, slipped between the pages:
    • Various treasures and locations of strategic interest are marked with an ‘X’. Send men to explore and gather additional intel.
    • Travel routes are varied. Once camp is broken, split off and take time to avoid any pursuit by losing scent of our goals. Keep the caravan’s moving, collecting and distributing attention along the coast. This should throw the Council off and keep eyes off the prize.
    • Castle Naerytar lies in the Mere of Dead Men. Watch out for the bullywug and lizardmen tribes that roam the area, as well as Voaraghamantha, who is not fond of unannounced visitors. Carnath Roadhouse marks the safest point of entry.
    • The Hoard must reach Naerytar at all costs.
    • Wear the purple with pride. Praise Tiamat!
  • Note signed Severin, slipped between the pages: +Rezmir,
    • The time is drawing close.
    • The Blue Wyrmspeaker is sending forces to support your raid on Greenest.
    • Take the loot north and bring Skyreach to the Well.
    • DO NOT SEND ANOTHER SHIPMENT DIRECTLY TO THE WELL!!!
    • Now that the time nears, secrecy and security matter more than ever.
    • Hail Tiamat!
    • -Severin
• The party gathered spoils from throughout the cave
• The party discussed:
  • “This is a problem. This is this is bigger than what I originally expected.”
  • “We can’t hide any more because one of them got away”
    • “He’s got a day on us, so we should not be here when they get back.”
  • “We should warn Greenest. They should prepare for the dragon.”

Tick 25 - The Lady of the Spring

• Tick
• The water in the pool rippled, and two heads started to appear.
• Aegar looked more refreshed, and where there was formality before, softness was apparent in whatever relationship they had developed.
• When he was waist-deep in the water, Aegar seemed to realize he was bare-chested. The Lady smiled and flicked a finger, wreathing him in a kilt of the same shimmering water she was wearing.
• The party greeted Aegar with wry smiles as he scurried to put his armor back on.
• Pliny followed and plied Aegar with questions. (“It looks like you lost something big fella…”)
  • Pliny noticed that Aegar was looking a little beefier in the shoulders, and commented on it.
  • Aegar and shared, “We… talked.” He tried not to show he was blushing. “She’s kind. She bestowed… strength so that I can protect my friends. I wouldn’t call it love; this is not something that is new to me. But… she managed to ask for, um… She needs dragon teeth.”
  • Pliny, dumbfounded: “She what?”
  • A: “She needs dragon teeth. From a white dragon.”
  • P: “So we can go to a market?”
  • Aegar grimaced: “It appears not. She would like to do it herself. She needs a white dragon. I’m not in a position to say no to her.”
  • Pliny broke out in a broad grin and started nodding his head: “That’s love Aegar! That’s love!”
  • Aegar shook his head, “No, but we have a year and a day to return a white dragon. And I intend to keep my promise.”
  • P: “Remember a year and a day from this day Aegar, because that’s going to me my wedding anniversary.”
  • A flabbergasted conversation ensued about the fact that tomorrow was Pliny’s planned wedding day…
• While he equipped himself and the boys talked, Zoyana eyed Meriessi and confronted her about not being totally clear. Meriessi was confused.
  • M: “What do you mean? What did you think was going to happen when he came into the water?”
  • Z: “Certainly not something that would make him beholden to you.”
  • M: “I made him an offer and he made his choice, and that’s not my responsibility.”
• A few moments later, Aegar found himself confused and started talking to a squirrel thinking it was Zoyana.
• They party said their goodbyes to Meriessi and the spring.
• As they left camp, Aegar caught his foot on a root and uncharacteristically stumbled.

Tick 27 - Updating the Governor

• Tick
• Another scene appeared to the left.
• Aegar headed up the road toward the keep, and was greeted by the guards.
• He was quickly escorted into the keep where he was met in the foyer by Governor Nighthill
  • “Welcome back! Make some fucking omlets?”
• Nighthill called for Escobert and brought him into the drawing room, where Leosin was lounging.
  • Leosin was doing much better, and was planning to leave the next day.
    
• Aegar provided updates about their escapades and warnings to prepare for potential retaliations. He described
  • destroying the dragon eggs,
  • the leadership that they found,
  • that this seemed a cell of a larger organization,
  • that Greenest should be prepared for retaliation and needed an area to go in case of another dragon attack and in case something came looking for the eggs
  • the letters and map that the party found, including the coded message that Aegar had deciphered
• The group discussed Aegar’s insights:
  • The places noted on the map did not surprise Nighthill: they were either known settlements or places known or rumored to have treasure
  • The group discussed that the cultists seemed to generally be sending their carts west, and then north to Baldur’s Gate. And that Leosin’s plan to go to Elturel, followed by a river journey to Baldur’s Gate, would probably be faster.
  • The group consensus was that the notes’ reference to “the Council” was probably referring to the council group of factions across Faerun, including the Lord’s Alliance, the Harpers, the Emerald Enclave, the Zhentarim, and others, that met to address grave dangers.
  • Leosin thought that Ontharr Frume and the Order of the Gauntlet would want to know these things, and that he would want to hear them from Aegar and his party.
• Aegar made a tentative plan to meet up with Leosin at his inn the next morning and start the trek to Elturel (pending discussin with the other Looting Luters)

Tick 28 - Aegar’s second dream of dragons

• Tick
• Aegar headed for the inn, and had Eled point him to Pliny’s room. Aegar knocked.
  • P: “Widow Swift, is that you?”
  • A: “No, it’s Aegar. Would you open the door please?” He did. “I understand things did not go as you planned.”
  • P: “I think the wedding’s off. I think it’s best if we adventure, if we keep doing what we have, and I guess I’m not someone who’s meant to settle down anywhere. I think I’m just meant to journey my friend.”
  • They talked a bit longer, and Pliny handed off the remaing bottle of Elven Battle Spirit (6 shots).
  • The sexual tension rose to a steaming simmer before Aegar took a spot on the floor and the part laid down to rest.
    • Aegar had a dream… of being in a dark, damp forest. Stepping in muck. He looked forward, and in the darkness, there were two deep black eyes. And then from behind him, he felt his skin peel off as he was bathed in acid. He woke once again sweating
      • Aegar crawled up and in bed to be the big spoon to Pliny’s little spoon.
    • Pliny also had a dream… of lounging in a pillow, being fed grapes and drinking wine. He looked down and saw a book. He recognized the five leaf clover on the front. The book began to open, and as it opened his dream was bathed in light. He drifted off into an endless sleep.

Tick 29 - Travel to Elturel

• Tick
• On the road to Elturel
• Another scene appeared to the left.
• Aegar asked Leosin what was in Elturel:
  • Ontharr Frume. As far as the Cult of the Dragon goes, he is one of the few that has any kind of head on their shoulders. This is not some kind of quacky cult that is never going to take power. Whatever they are hatching is a big deal.
  • “I’ve known him a while and want to get a sense of what the Order of the Guantlet has been seeing of their activities.”
  • “He’s a bit of a loud man, but I think he’s a good one.”
  • “He’s my next point to follow up on the lead you gave me and see if he knows what’s going on with Verram the White, anything more about these raids, especially the raid on Greenest, and what else the Order of the Gauntlet might know about their raising of Dracoliches and other mischief.”
• Leosin shared what he knew of the Cult of the Dragon
  • Way back when, Sammaster was a crazy necromancer wizard who had some connection to Mystara, the goddess of Magic. He somehow found out or developed the concoction and ritual that allowed dragons to become liches, and recorded it in a tome.
  • Before Sammaster, dragons did not become liches. They would grow old and die. Humans became liches. Humanoids became liches. But dragons didn’t. And can’t. They require a humanoid wizard to facilitate the ritual and recipe to turn them into liches to live forever.
  • Sammaster’s book became a sort of a religion in trying to get dragons to turn. And this was tied to a prophecy of Sammaster’s that undead dragons would rule the world.
  • They have this crazy idea that if they convince the dragons to become liches, then they’ll be the chosen when the undead dragons take over.
• Leosin shared a little more about Rezmir: she’s evil, she carries an evil sword, she wants credit for the success in Greenest, and she’s a micromanager.

Tick 30 - Talking with Frume

• The prior scene blended into another one on the left.
• Tick
• Talking with Frume
  • “My friends, we have important business to discuss. At this point, you know almost as much about it as we do, and thanks to you, we know twice as much today as we did a tenday ago. Something rotten is afoot. We have no formal organization to oppose these rascals — not yet anyway. We’re working on that. And we need people like you, who know how and when to fight, and how and when to keep their heads down and observe. We can’t promise you anything except long days filled with danger and stress — but what could be better than that, eh?”
• Everybody updated everyone else
  • Order of the Gauntlet vs kobolds = tournament
    • Frume’s kobolds were tied to the Cult of the Dragon (lots of discussion of “the little fuckers”)
  • The Cult of the Dragon:
    • Timing is an issue. The tracks leaving the cultists’ camp and the map from Mondath’s chamber both indicate that the wagons were heading west to pick up the Coast Way road, where they would turn north to Beregost and Baldur’s Gate. That’s about 550 miles, so 25-30 days.
  • Leosin is leaving to follow up on Varram the White
  • Frume was happy with the destruction of the dragon eggs. Leosin was still so-so.
  • Frume is going to try to gather support for investigating and dealing with the threat.
  • The party is going to Baldur’s Gate to try to find Resmir’s wagons and follow them north (to the Mere of Dead Men north of Waterdeep?) and better understand the cult’s plans.

Tick 31 - The Temple of Selune

• Tick
• Different now. They had jumped ahead.
• Zoyana was talking with Priestess Ashglade in the Temple of Selune in Baldur’s Gate.
  • The priestess poured a swirling pearlescent liquid into Zoyana’s cup.
    
  • “This is a Moon Draft, a potion of moon healing. It will help us get a sense of what’s going on and hopefully dedicate you to Selune in a way that should give you guidance what’s good and what’s bad.”
• Zoyana drank. She felt suffused with warmth. She started to sweat a bit and have chills at the same time.
• A look of confusion crossed the priestess’ face and she stopped the spell, saying, “Hmm… that’s weird. Let me check something”
  • Priestess Ashglade started casting another spell on Zoyana, then stopped. “Oh. Oh, my. That should have worked.”
  • A conversation ensued about what Zoyana remembered about what happened to her that ended with a look of deep concern on Priestess Ashglade’s face and “This is beyond my scope or anyone here. You need to go, House of the Moon. To Waterdeep. Whatever it is, it’s beyond my ken.”
    • “I don’t know what this is, but if you want help from us, from Selune, you need to visit the Priestess of the High Moonlight. I’m not sure she can help, but if anyone can she will”
    • “If you were possessed, it would have come out and attacked me. But nothing happened that way. But also, nothing that I did had an effect. It was stopped. My blessing didn’t make it through, and I’m not sure what is protecting you or shielding you. But to to break through that as well beyond my skill.”
    • She ultimately excused herself and wrote Zoyana a note of introduction to Naneatha Suaril, the Priestess of the High Moonlight, asking her to help.

Tick 32 - Murkwater Maniac & Tiamat ritual

• Tick
• As the last of the quasits died, Zoyana grabbed the boy and ran for the exits.
• As soon has her foot hit the floor, everyone heard magically-enhanced clapping, followed by the voice of the Murkwater Maniac:
  • “Yes! Marvelous! Marvelous! A divine performance! You’re my best cast in years!”
  • “The passion, the drama wrapped in a sublime blanketed despair.”
  • “Let’s do it again for real. The Dragon Queen is coming!”
• The Murkwater Maniac clapped twice again, “Places!”… and the scene returned exactly like it was when the party first entered the room…

Tick 33 - Professor Stein and the Cult of the Dragon

• Tick
• They were in a Hopstra University classroom, listening to the droning of Professor Stein
  • 
  • “In 902DR, the Chosen of Mystara Sammaster, completed his… Tome of the Dragon, containing his theories, experiments, and conclusions in his efforts to… Anyone? Anyone?… turn dragons into dracoliches and… an effort to… bring about the prophesies in… Anyone? Anyone? Chronicle of Years to Come? Black Chronology? Which? Anyone? … Chronicle of Years to Come.”
• Pliny chimed in: “Hey, Professor Stein, what do you know about purple mist?”
  • “Hmm… purple mist. I’m teaching class here. Please sit down.”
• Professor Stein continued: “One of the key prophesies spoke of the end of the world. What did it say? Anyone? Anyone know how Sammaster translated the prophesy?…
  • “And naught will be left save shattered thrones with no rulers. But the dead dragons shall rule the world entire, and…”
  • “And that started him down the path of founding the…”
• Aegar chimed in: “The Cult of the Dragon”
  • ***“The _Cult of the Dragon. Thank you sir. Different sages have translated that passage differently. How else did Elminster translate it?“***
    • Aegar: “I know not sir.”
    • “Class? Anyone? Anyone?”
• At this point, Pliny gathered the Elven Battle Spirit and began the time-honored tradition of drinking whenever Professor Stein said “Anyone”
  • “‘And naught will be left save shattered thrones, with no rulers but the dead. Dragons shall rule the world entire, and…’”
  • “Later in 902DR, Sammaster attempted to transform the red dragon Shargrailar into a dracolich using his formulae. Did it work? Anyone?”
    • Pliny took a drink and passed the bottle to Zoyana.
  • “Anyone know the results? It did work. Shargrailar was the first Cult dracolich.”
  • “Today the Cult of the Dragon is still active. Anyone know…”
  • He continued droning on for some time about the modern history of Cult of the Dragon …

Tick 34 - Ties to the Goldenbel

• Tick

• On the left, they were in the John Wilkes Booth Theatre to if they could develop any new leads about the Murkwater Maniac.

• They took their time investigating.

• Pliny went up and checked the box where they first found the Murkwater Maniac, but found little but cobwebs.

• Aegar investigated the other wing of the Mezzanine and Balcony, also finding nothing.

• Downstage left, just below the first balcony box, Zoyana noticed an out-of-place panel that Pliny might have kicked when he climbed up the wall. A light breeze blew from inside, indicating an open space.

  • She pulled, and discovered an office underneath the balcony box.

• To stage right, Aegar found a table littered with notes and poems, each with some doodles and scribbles:

• On a slip of paper:

Sometimes we are less unhappy in being deceived by those we love, than in being undeceived by them.
…
BLONDE LEG

• On the back of an envelope:

DOBLE GLEN …
And once, or twice, to throw the dice
Is a gentlemanly game,
But he does not win who plays with Sin
In the secret House of Shame.

• On a piece of paper, folded in half:

The Fiend
It walks around with a mirror
Showing the reflection of your soul
Tricking you into believing it’s his personality
Making you fall in love with it
Filtered with friendship traits
Luring you to its kingdom
******* from you your blood and soul
Turning you against yourself
Making you your own enemy
With it success is foreign
And no outside things are allowed in its castle
It makes you toxic with its diabolical nature
And blinds you from reality
It controls you till it becomes you
Soon when you look into the mirror
Your soul wont be reflected
The only thing you will see is
The fiend …

GLEEN BOLD

• Carved into a piece of wood:

LEND GLOBE …
T.I.A.M.A.T.

Is she an ancient chaos serpent of death?

Is she the prototype of the mother?

Is she just a myth or, has she been created?

• On a long piece of parchment:

LONG BLEED …

The Love of Tiamat
     behold now everything on this earth;
     the fields with abundance of grain,
     palm-grove harvests rich and fruitful,
     the forests that separate kingdoms and the fires that scorch them;
     the brickwork of ancestries and the towers that reach our gods.
  behold these crop-fields that we call life and death,
  grown on the back of a sludge-like entity
  sowed, and heaped, in granaries of self-doubt;
  collected by children’s dirty hands;
  bronze-sickles, charcoal-eyes;
   while the storms unwrap in the south…
  gales have swept these homes and huts of clay,
  the dog-faced pazuzu gnarls at the moon, as inimical as it is revered;
      a mother’s love for the murderous son is as complex
      as the children’s dependence on these fearsome steppes.

behold now everything on this earth;
  the countenance of the origin-beast-mother carved in the mountains of the north
  and the efflux of her genitals streaming to the south of the marshes,
  into that great ocean whose shores we know only by myth
  and whose waters is the abode of the primordial one,
  whom hurls the long-spear of flood and storm
  deep into the sides of these lands - for these lands are hers:
     when all comes about, has not the lands risen strongly
     from her bottomless and abysmal womb?
     was not the pleasure that shook the members of the old, old gods
     into ejaculation, indeed, the motion of her scaled loins?

is she not the temple to which all sacrifices are offered, all libations put forth:
  is she not the shrine; the death-black ziqqurat; the lighthouse emitting darkness?
  is she not the stele inscribed with all words of grace,
  and the eloquence of our beautiful poets?

over the lapse of a thousand millenia,
  she has been constricting the gods of the heavens
  in a strong leather noose,
  f o r   i s   n o t   v o i d   o r i g i n a l   t o   a l l ;
      c h a o s ,   d i s c o r d ,   o r i g i n a l   t o   o r d e r ?

• As the party discussed, Pliny started to put some pieces together with his grandfather Barley Pan and some of his tales of the Followers of the Goldenbel.
  • “There was some dragon thing he did. He was old by the time that I got to know him, so I don’t know much…”
  • “I always thought he was crazy. He was always talking about the Followers of the Goldenbell, the fog and all this crazy shit someone named Xoc told him about.”
  • “Some kind of crazy cult. They wanted to raise a dragon and make it so that dragons could do something. They had some kind Head of Avarice that he was always talking about.”
• Zoyana: “That’s what the Cult of the Dragon are trying to do.”
• Aegar: “That is exactly what they are trying to do.”
• Pliny: “You think they’ve been doing this, since my grandpa was was here?”
• Aegar: “I do. The Professor today was talking about how they were trying to raise the dragons hundreds of years ago.”
• Pliny: “You might be the first person who’s ever listen to Professor Stein, Aegar. Holy shit.”
• Aegar: “This has been going on for a very long time.”
• Zoyana: “Maybe we should go back to the library and see if we can find out more information about Goldenbel.”
• Zoyana also wondered whether the Murkwater Maniac might join up with Rezmir and the Cult when they finally arrived.
  • The party discussed and decided they should find and eliminate him before that happened.
• Pliny started wondering whether the poetry looked anything like poetry that Hans had written. But his efforts were inconclusive.
• In addition to the poetry, there were some rough notes, barely more than scribbles. They roughly described the play and the scene that the party participated in the night before.
  • The boy as a sacrifice
  • A party of adventurers to try and stop the summoning as as part of the ritual. (The two extra charmed adventurers were part of this plan)
  • The quasits as the leaders wearing dragon masks.
  • The cult is trying to summon Tiamat, wearing their dragon masks and chanting, and some form of living sacrifice is needed, so the boy was the placeholder for whatever sacrifice has to be had to bring Tiamat.

Tick 35 - Aegar & Hamdi talk of Ilmater

• Tick
• On the left, Aegar & Hamdi in Little Calmishan
• Hamdi: “So, where have you faced this failed goodness? And, how did you come by this Oath? It is not every day I see a dragonborn in plate mail wearing the red rope.”
• They saw Aegar telling his story, but jumping forward until,
  • “…After the campaign, my mother chose to keep Isil as a trophy. He had gained a certain following among the thralls and was hated by the aristocracy. At this point I had been having nightly conversations with him. My talk was of escape. He had none of it. I think he knew what was in store much more than I did. As a reward of my successful campaign, the Viscountess allowed me to execute Isil’dril. I… performed my duty.”
• Aegar was silent for a time, Far away.
  • He imagined the scene, his mother on a throne, speaking down to him as she gave the order, a tall, silver-haired elvish woman is standing behind her and to the side…
• Hamdi’s face went sad here, knowing suffering well.
• Aegar continued, “Ah, at the Feast that night I left. I have been making my way West ever since.”

Tick 36A - The Unhappy Deceiver - A House of Shame

• Tick
• They were in an old tavern in Heapside, The Unhappy Deceiver
• An image of Bel, Archduke of Avernus painted on a wall
  • 

Tick 36B - In the basement: The Murkwater Manaic and The Followers of the Goldenbel

• Tick
• They were in the basement, after the fight, putting together the pieces:
  • Tarz had come across the The Followers of the Goldenbel Handbook in the Hopstra library.
  • Based on the handbook, he sought out the ruins of the temple that had once held the Fiery Head of Avarice (where our players had once played a one-shot with different characters).
  • At the temple, Tarz found the chest that had held the Fiery Head of Avarice, along with a glowing symbol.
  • When Tarz touched the symbol, it flared and a fiendish creature appeared.
    • The creature gave him a magic tome that was tied to the Archdevil Bel, and had much more detail about the real story of The Followers of the Goldenbel.
  • Within the scene, a montage began, as the fiendish creature spoke:
  • The Followers of the Goldenbel were part of Bel’s plans to unseat Tiamat as the ruler of Avernus, the 1st level of the Nine Hells.
    • Bel wanted to thwart the Cult’s plans to summon Tiamat, and keeping artefacts, including the Fiery Head of Avarice, away from them was part of that plan.
  • The fiend listened and shared, and in the end it led Tarz into a Warlock pact with the Archdevil Bel. Tarz was promised to grow his bardic power, but he did not ask what he would give in return. This was where he started down his dark path. It drove him nuts.
  • Being touched with so much power, Tarz mashed up the story of a Cult’s plans to summon Tiamat with Bel’s plan to rise in Avernus.
  • As he gained in his theatrical skill through his demonic pact, Tara got tied in. And when things went awry, Tarz called to Bel for help to bring her back.
    • Instead of reviving her mortal form, Bel gave her eternal life… via vampirism.
• The montage faded and the scene switched to the left of the path, as the party discussed:
  • Zoyana deduced that the Cult of the Dragon and the Followers of the Goldenbel would not be allies.
    • Because the Cult of the Dragon follows Tiamat and the Followers of the Goldenbel follow the devil Bel, and those two are in a struggle to rule the first of the nine levels of hell. There wasn’t enough in Tarz’s writings to describe the relationship between Tiamat and Bel directly, but it was clear that the two organizations, such as they were, would not be allies.
  • Pliny filled in details about his grandfather’s stories of chasing the Followers of Goldenbel and rumors of the Fiery Head of Avarice.
• The party realized that the devil on the throne in the mural on the floor above was Bel, in all his devilish glory.
• Zoyana suggested that they leave everything where they found it, since it showed the details and background of what Tarz had done.
  • The party agreed and Aegar left to find Marshal Ravenguard with Fang in tow.
    • Aegar: “There’s no need…”
    • Fang: “I can carry a message, yeah!”
• While Aegar was gone, Zoyana and Pliny kept searching.
  • They found a number of weird books, a bunch of plays and poetry, some demonic tones and stories.
  • The building, including the The Unhappy Deceiver above, had been a temple of some sort to Eldath, goddess of Life and Nature, under another name. And had been commandeered before Tarz’s time by some followers of Bel. Bel’s emissaries introduced Tarz and Tara to the place.
  • Tara had only her dress.
  • Zoyana, spooked by the ghost at the John Wilkes Booth Theatre, searched thoroughly for a hidden door or room, but found nothing.

Tick 37 - Planning in BG

• Tick
• The scene on the left transitioned to Baldur’s Barrow where the party continued discussion and planning
• Zoyana continued, “I don’t think we’re going to be as lucky as we were with that blue half dragon. Taking out Langaderosa, Aegar.”
• Pliny: “One thing that I prepared, just in case we came across another dragon was Calm Emotions, but I agree, I think it’s gonna be harder.”
• Aegar: “Was our intention was to follow her? To stop her? To join her caravan? What is it we’re trying to do?”
• The party continued into a conversation about what they were trying to do.
  • They had been trying to figure out what the Cult of the Dragon was doing.
    • They weren’t wanting to attack her here in Baldur’s Gate.
  • Based on Rezmir’s comments and Frulam’s writings, they were planning to follow Rezmir to Castle Naerytar, or to the Mere of Dead Men, or wherever her Cult caravans were going.
  • The plan was to catch up with Rezmir and her carts here in Baldur’s Gate, and then to follow them to wherever they were going. And find out what they could along the way.
  • The party had expected Rezmir to join one of the northbound caravans to Waterdeep, and planned to join (nobody followed that road alone).
• After some negotiation among themselves, the party agreed to check in with Ackyn again, and somehow join up with Rezmir’s caravan once they or Ackyn found the Cult of the Dragon coming through Baldur’s Gate.
• Aegar dished out some gifts: Pliny and Zoyana received one greater healing potion and one regular healing potion each.
• “Will they recognize us?”
  • There was discussion of whether the Cultists would recognize the party.
    • Rezmir might remember Zoyana, but she was little in the flashbacks of when her family disappeared.
    • The party let Azbara Jos, the red wizard escape from the cave with the dragon eggs. So the Cult might have their descriptions.
      • He would know what they party looks like, and know that a halfling, a half-elf, and a paladin were together.
    • From Frulam’s journal, Zoyana didn’t think that the Cult had any idea who they were before their raid on the dragon eggs.

Tick 38 - Pliny in The Fox Traveler Outfitters

• Tick
• They saw Pliny and Fang enter the Fox Traveler Outfitters
  • As Pliny entered, most of the heads turned to look at him. “Finally, a place for a drink. It’s feels a little dry over on this part of town.”
    • He walked past a lady, obviously the proprietor, and over to the furthest part of the bar where he could have a view of the whole room.
• Pliny surveyed the room:
  • He looked down to his left to see a hellhound curled up asleep.
  • To his right were a couple of blue-collar guys sitting at the bar.
  • 
  • Across the room was a tall, silver-haired elven woman flanked by two blue dragonborn, obviously guards.
    • Something tickled Pliny’s mind about the dragonborn.
    • To Aegar, standing on the path, time seemed to stand still. The two blue dragonborn were wearing the armor of House Thanax.
• In the scene, the proprietor had been talking to the elven lady. At Pliny’s arrival, she pursed her lips and walked around toward the bar. When she got about halfway, she addressed Pliny, “Okay, how can I help you friend? What can I get ya?”
  • Pliny and the proprietor each tried, and failed, to gather information on the other.
  • The elven lady started tapping her foot in annoyance. + Pliny turns to look at her, and you all look into her eyes, and see lightening flashing across her pupils…
  • The proprietor slid Pliny his ale and headed across the bar and out through a door.
    • She was gone for a few minutes then came back and nodded her head at the elven lady.
  • The elven lady went stomping through the same door and down the hall. Her dragonborn followed her.
• Pliny pulled out a slip of paper and started doodling some notes about the layout of the room and the people he’d seen: the proprietor, the tall, silver-haired elven woman, the two blue dragonborn, the hellhound, the two men at the bar, and four other travelers sitting and talking at a table across the room.
• On the path, Aegar turned to Pliny, “You did not tell me that you saw those guards there. Those guards with the silver-haired woman. You did not tell me that they were dragonborn.”
  • Pliny: “I don’t think I noticed. Did I do something wrong?”
  • Aegar: “No, no. It is nothing. Let’s continue down the path. We should be very close to the end now.”
  • Pliny: “Yeah, listen. I could just…”
  • Aegar stepped ahead on the path, and in a few steps started to look insubstantial to the others, before they followed.

Tick 39 - Fang and Zoyana in The Fox Traveler Outfitters

• Tick
• They saw Zoyana the spider enter Rezmir’s room in The Fox Traveler Outfitters
• She looked around, and found a few legible notes in the trash can:
  • A simple, 3 word note with a signature: “Where is it? -Lennithon”
  • A note that looked like it was instructions to someone as part of a letter, but got some ink spilled on it. The name at the top was smudged, but a number of fragments were legible:
    • “…wait for the last cart to arrive…”
    • “…caravan to Waterdeep through to the Roadhouse…”
    • “…regroup at Castle Naerytar…”
    • “…blip to the Hunting Lodge…”
    • In a more abrupt script: “…Make the damned delivery to Severin and get back to work…”
• Zoyana returned to the others and shared what she had seen.

Tick 40 - Hobgoblins & meeting Álvaro’s crew

• Tick
• They saved Álvaro and his crew from the hobgoblins
  • A box lay open, jewelry spilling out on the ground.

Tick 41 - Aegar Searching for Armorers Tools

• Tick
• Along the road.
• Aegar spent the downtime of the day chatting with the other guards and searching for armor cleaner.
• Aegar befrended Samardag the Hoper
• He confirmed that the few wagons that came from the Foxtraveler Outfitters in Baldur’s Gate tended to keep themselves together and apart from the rest of the caravan. (While most of the other wagons had taken on passengers in the slog, each of those rebuffed any requests)
• Samardag pointed Aegar to anothern Cult teamster, Enom Tobun:
  • They saw the tale end of that discussion:
    • Enom: “I won a game of dice against a frost giant once. And then I got to swim. He set his teacup down, filled it with mead. I went swimming. It was quite grand.”
  • Aegar then inquired about the toolbox. They haggled, and settled on 160 gold pieces for the toolbox that was definitely worth at least 5 sp.

Tick 42 - Red Dragon Sighting

• Tick
• Closer to the Trollclaws.
• They were at the front of the caravan with Álvaro’s wagon. The road was entering rolling hills that turned into mountains up ahead.
• Looking out across the hills, their attention was drawn to movement, and atop an outcrop climbed a red dragon.
  • 
• It stretched its wings, reached up, and took flight. They were too far to actually hear the beating of its wings, but they could swear they could hear the woosh, woosh, woosh as it climbed into the air.
• Dretris, one of the guards, looked out with rapt attention. Zoyana and Pliny heard him and a couple of the others whisper under their breaths, “Blas Iwan”, and reached out their hands, arms outstretched, fingers wiggling.
• The dragon banked and headed to the North and the Trollclaws.

Tick 43 - Aegar’s dreams

• Tick
• They saw Aegar asleep. And entered his dreams.
• That night, Aegar dreamed of fire
  • The caldera of a long-dead volcano rising from an ashen plane ahead.
  • Below, it was dark
  • Then a pair of eyes, glowing red, looked up.
  • A moment later, the man on who’s shoulder the tiny dragon stood looked up too.
  • He raised his hand wordlessly, palm outstretched, fingers wiggling.
  • 
  • And then Aegar felt the blaze of fire. Searing. Crisping. Through every nerve, through every bone, his entire body was engulfed in flame… and turned to dust.
  • He woke. Sweating. And realized he was with friends, in the camp, and everything was fine.
• Aegar climbed out of his blankets, took a quick loop around the camp, confirming that nothing seemed amiss, and headed back to bed.

Tick 44 - Trolls and Dragons

• Tick
• They were crossing a saddle at the top of the Trollclaws, at the head of the caravan, the other wagons not too far behind
• A couple hundred feet in the distance to the North two trolls and a giant two-headed, four-armed troll were knocking over trees, hucking rocks, and making a bunch of noise as they moved straight to the West.
  • 
• They heard a roar. The trolls all turned and looked the other way.
• In the scene, Aegar: “We should move now. Let us get into position. Let’s tell everybody. Zoyana, can you…”
  • Zoyana called out, “What the fuck is that?” as she pointed to the northeast.
  • Pliny: “Oh shit.”
  • Aegar: “What?…”
• A red dragon, the same one they had seen two days before (Blas Iwan), flew into view and roared again.
  • 
• The red dragon swooped in and traded its fiery breath weapon for a couple of thrown boulders, engulfing the trolls in flame, and then circled away.

Tick 45 - Green Dragon Sighting

• Tick
• Mid-morning along the Trade Way, near Dragonspear. Timothy Dexter once again had the party take point in the carvan.
• Álvaro’s wagon followed closely and the rest of the caravan.
• As the wagon crested a rise and opened a view out across the valley ahead, there was an eruption of birds, as thousands took to the air at once.
• And then a green dragon climbed to tower over the valley.
  • 
• It roared and blew a green cloud into the trees. The party saw the green cloud come out before the rumble shook their chests a moment later.
• It then took wing, circling around before flying to the South West.
• The vision ended as the party heard the folks in the Cult of the Dragon wagon behind them say, “Ralionate. That’s… weird that she would so on the other side of Soubar and this far from the forest…”

Leaving the lamp

• At the end, they found that the path had been climbing, and they had been walking into a fog.
• They saw light up ahead, and continued walking toward it, the path clearly heading that way.
• One moment, They were on the path.
• The next, They were back at camp. Along the Trade Way. Looking down at the drawing of the lamp and Pliny’s book.
• The pages are now covered with a summary of what they had just seen:
  • The Cult of the Dragon
    • Dracoliches
    • and inconsistent references to Tiamat
    • Rezmir
      • And Zoyana’s Visions
      • Black faction Wyrmspeaker?
    • Galvan the Blue, who sent Langaderosa Cyanwrath (mentioned)
    • Sammaster
    • Severin
    • Verram the White
    • others
    • Attack at Greenest
    • Other raids from the Cult too?
    • Skyreach (what is Skyreach?)
    • The Well (what is the Well?)
    • Carnath Roadhouse & The Roadhouse, same thing?
      • The Red Wizards
    • Rath Modar
    • Azbara Jos
    • Voaraghamantha (mentioned)
    • bullywugs
    • lizardfolk
  • Dragons savaging the land
    • Blue
    • Red
    • Green
  • Other connected threads
    • Devils & the Archdevil Bel
      • Murkwater maniac
      • Barley Pan, the Followers of the Goldenbel, and the Fiery Head of Avarice
• They were back at camp.
• Aegar turned to the others, “Did we just? Did you just?…”

Did we just? Did you just?

• Aegar turned to the others, “Did we just? Did you just?…”
  • Pliny: “Did you see?”
  • Zoyana: “We all did right? We all did?”
  • Aegar: “Yes. Yes.”
  • Pliny: “We’ve been lucky.”
  • Aegar: “How so?”
  • Pliny: “We escaped a whole lot of close encounters.”
  • Aegar: “Indeed. We have been through much together.”
• Pliny: “Aager. Sorry I asked questions about the dragons.”
  • Aegar: “We are… we are past that. You didn’t know and I reacted poorly. I appreciate you.”
• Aegar: “I noticed that we didn’t see Thrump”
  • Zoyana: “Aww. Bummer. No Thrumpage. I don’t need it. I hope he doesn’t wait for me, I doubt I’ll be back.”
• Pliny: “Maybe Widow Swift is still waiting for me.”
  • Aegar: “I think that door is closed Pliny”
  • Zoyana: “Yeah.”
• Aegar: “Well, where to from here? There were some things that I had forgotten definitely about where the Cult is going.”
  • Zoyana: “I wonder if, where we’re going, there is going to be a white dragon.”
  • Aegar: “I do hope, so I am not sure how.”
• Aegar: “She seemed very insistent on getting the dragon alive, back to her.”
  • Zoyana: “The dragon?”
  • Aegar: “Yes.”
  • Zoyana: “What if we… if we had’n smashed those dragon eggs. Maybe one of them would have worked.”
  • Aegar: “Oh, I do not believe that any of them were white dragon eggs.”
  • Zoyana: “OK so maybe what we just need to do is still a white dragon egg, Aegar.”
  • Aegar: “I am very sneaky, that is true…”
• Aegar: _“At least, that the cult is heading to Waterdeep through to the Roadhouse. Do we know what the Roadhouse is?“ + Zoyana, quoting the note: ”…caravan to Waterdeep through to the Roadhouse…”. ”so the Roadhouse must be past Waterdeep on the way to Castle Naerytar.”
• Aegar: “Is Severin a person or a place?”
  • Zoyana: “Well, ‘…Make the damned delivery to Severin’, so I would say person.”
  • Zoyana had heard Rezmir call Severin a fool while in the Command Tent, and he was probably the person who gave Rezmir orders.
• Aegar: “And Castle Naerytar is in the Mere of Dead Men? So it seems that once we get to Waterdeep, we can look for the Roadhouse, but our goal is to go to the Mere of Dead Men, correct?”
• Pliny started thumbing through the journal, making connections between all of their adventures.

Evening talk

• That evening, after most of the travelers had bedded down, Gleamsilver returned.
• She got right to the point: _“We don’t work for the same people, but we’re all on the same side — we share a belief that the Cult of the Dragon must be stopped. I need to know what they’re carrying in those wagons and where they’re taking it.”
• Aegar: “We know both of those things.”
• Jamna: “Excellent.”
• Aegar tried to get a sense of her motivations, but (Insight 6) just couldn’t get a read.
• Aegar: “Before we continue, who do you work for?”
• Jamna: “Who do you work for.”
• Aegar: “We work for ourselves.”
  • Pliny: “I follow Aegar.”
• Jamna: “Sounds good to me.”
• Aegar: “And you?”
• Jamna: “Like you.”
• Aegar: “You’re not part of a greater organization?”
• Jamna: “The focus is on the Cult of the Dragon.”
• Aegar: “We know that they are taking their wagons up to the Mere of Dead Men to Castle Naertar.”
• Aegar: _“We know that they have to pass through the Carnath Roadhouse.”
• Aegar: “We know that they carry riches and treasures and loot from there hoarding and raiding from the South and they intend to give it to a dragon that lives in the Mere.”
• Jamna: “What dragon?”
• Aegar: _“**Voaraghamantha, as far as we know.”_
• Jamna: “And what what are they carrying?”
• Aegar: “As far as we know, treasure.”
  • Pliny: “Loot”
• Jamna: _“Did you notice the other guy who joined when I did? They added a patron along the way. What the hell’s a red wizard doing chumming it up with the Cult of the Dragon?“
• Aegar: “We have seen him before, and had run ins with him before. He was in the South, helping them take care of dragon eggs. Which we dispatched.”
• Jamna: “Dispatched?”
• Aegar: “We destroyed them.”
• Jamna: “that’s an expensive choice.”
• Aegar: “And yet here we are.”
• Jamna: “What’s your plan, then?”
• Aegar: “You ask a lot of questions and give zero answers, there is no reason why we should trust you.”
• Jamna: “Yet I just pointed out, the Red Wizard with the dragon guys. We’re having a conversation…”
• Aegar: “What is your end game?”
• She turned to Pliny, “Your friends very trusting is he?”
• Then she turned back to Aegar, “I want to stop the Cult of the Dragon They’re doing shady shit. I don’t know what kind of shady shit. But they’re doing shady shit, and that’s a bad thing.”
• Aegar: “You will forgive us. Their main method is deception. They use it quite often, and they’re sneaking up here. We don’t know you ,and we’ve been through much.”
• Jamna: “Well, if that’s the way you want to play it,” and she shrugged, turned, and walked away.

Group Discussion

• Zoyana: “I’ll go feel it out.”
• Aegar: “Was I too harsh?”
• Zoyana: “I mean… I don’t trust anybody so…”
• Pliny: “Me either.”
• Zoyana: _“So let me go deal with it. I can’t make it worse right?… Right?…
• Pliny gave her a little pep talk.
• Zoyana: “I mean I can’t make it worse right?” and she ran after Jamna

Girl talk

• Jamna saw her coming, “Oh hi.”
• Zoyana: “We just want to know why the fuck you want to get rid of them the same way that we do.”
• Jamna: “The same way…”
• Zoyana: “Well what’s your plan?”
• Jamna: “Have you’ve seen them be warm and fuzzy to anyone you’ve ever seen?”
• Zoyana: “No, but you’re still not answering my my question. Like, what’s your plan to take them out”
• Jamna: “Oh, the gods work in mysterious ways.”
• Zoyana: “So what you’re basically telling me is that you don’t have a fucking plan. But you know that we’re pretty fucking badass and so you want to join up with us.”
• Zoyana: “Or are you trying to undermine us? That’s really what I want to fucking know.”
• Jamna: “I was thinking that maybe arrows pointed the same direction could work together, but… if you want to be all conspiratorial… Maybe you can go do the badass stuff while I stand back. That’s fine.”
• Zoyana: “So you really want to help is what you’re really saying.”
• Jamna started muttering to herself, “Sure.”
• Zoyana: “What help can you be?”
  • Jamna: “What do you need me to do?”
• Zoyana: “My next question are you going to be useful? Or are you going to be another motherfucker that we have to save? Because if that’s the case, then we don’t actually want you. So how would you be able to help us?”
• Jamna just turned in her leather armor toward Zoyana and curtsied.
• Zoyana: “So you’re useless is what you’re telling me.”
• Jamna: “Apparently”
• Zoyana smugly turned around and walk away.

While Zoyana was gone

• While Zoyana was gone, Pliny accosted Aegar.
• After a brief discussion , Aegar passed over 3,171 gp to Pliny

Together

• When Zoyana returned, she was confident that she had spoken nicely (just like Aegar was stealthy).
• Zoyana was also quite adamant that next time, Pliny not be so forthcoming about their plans.
  • Pliny was confused: “When do I ever know anything about our plans?”

Regroup and discussion

• Once the commotion died down, Zoyana found Pliny and told him what she found.
• She was wondering if all of these items were necessary for some thing that they’re doing or planning.
  • Pliny: “Maybe we should start running them.”
  • Zoyana: “We need to start stealing this shit.”
  • Pliny: “sounds good to me.”
• The rest of the penultimate day on the road was quiet. People were a little on edge with the death, but there was nothing to be done.
• On the road, they planned
  • Aegar: “I agree with Zoyana, I think the time for action is now. If worse comes to worse, we can we can ditch the cart and the caravan, make our way to Waterdeep and disappear there.”
• Zoyana: “I think we need to get I need think that we need to get rid of this stuff that’s in their carts. I think that that’s that they get the play that we need to make.”
• Pliny (being ignored by the others): “Well I’m pretty good at taking things.” and he pulled out two items that he had stolen earlier while they were discussing stealing stuff.
• Zoyana: “My only worry about stealing shit is that then they can find it. Do we need this stuff that we’re stealing, or should we just destroy it like we did the dragon eggs?”
• Aegar: “I think, as long as it is not in their hands, then we are okay. It could be that they are carrying some of that potion that we saw that turns dragons into dracoliches. If that be the case, then we need to destroy it, we need to get rid of it.”
• Pliny: “I say we just take what we can now. Try to get ahead of them. Put it in the bag of holding until it’s time.”

Looting Cart 1

• Zoyana cast Pass Without Trace on Pliny.
• The group approached the cart, and when in range,
• Aegar found a spot where he was hidden from the Cultists but could see his target spot and cast Sleep (44 hp affected).
• Pliny followed with his own Sleep (74 hp affected), then quietly made his way to the cart (Stealth dirty 20).
• Pliny climbed up on the cart and opened one of the boxes (Slight of Hand 17).
  • He saw (Investigation 10) some jewelry, and instead of trying to choose what was worthwhile, he just scooped an armful into his Bag of Holding.
• Pliny closed the box carefully, and repeated his open, scoop, close on a second box before quietly exiting the cart.

Alibies

• The group discussed whether they had the resources to Sleep a second wagon, having used their hightest spell slots. Aegar (Insight dirty 20) recognized that they got lucky in the power of their first round of spells.
• Rather than press their luck, they decided to go make an alibi and try again tomorrow.
• Pliny, pockets filled with gold, bag of holding filled with gold, asked Aegar to borrow some money to finance the night’s gambling.
• They spent their night with Enom and company, attempting to cover their theft.

Ruby Ring

• The next day was similar to the prior, and the caravan was quiet. The next day, they expected to cross the river and be in Waterdeep.
• Before they tried their luck on the second cart, Pliny dumped the loot to see what they got on their first raid.
• When Pliny poured out the Bag of Holding, two lumps of stuff fell out from the two handfuls that he had grabbed, and then another one came out, this third from the troll, followed finally by the vestments that Aegar had put inside the bag and something cloth-wrapped that Pliny put back in the bag real quick.
• Zoyana cast Detect Magic.
  • She didn’t get anything out of the gems and jewelery in the piles. She did get a ping on the troll’s pile of gunk, though.
  • In that pile, there was the rotting leg of some animal, string and refuse, and finally, a ring.
  • The ring was bronze, or maybe tarnished gold, with a ruby on top. It gave off a strong sense of Abjuration.
  • Zoyana cleaned it off and saved it for later, telling the others, “We got something here, but not from the cart. So I think that we need to hit the cart from the guy who died, and see if see what we can get.”

Looting Cart 2

• The party tried their luck a second time, targeting the wagon of the dead Cultist.
• Zoyana described clearly which boxes she had seen that contained magic items.
• Zoyana cast Pass Without Trace on Pliny.
• The group approached the cart, and when in range,
• Aegar found a spot where he was hidden from the Cultists but could see his target spot and cast Sleep (34 hp affected).
• Pliny followed with his own Sleep (65 hp affected), then quietly made his way to the cart (Stealth 24).
• Pliny climbed up on the cart and opened one of the boxes (Slight of Hand 19).
  • He saw (Investigation nat 20, 21) the wrapped magic item that Zoyana anticipated and some jewelry.
  • This time, he emptied the crate into his Bag of Holding, leaving only stuffing behind.
• Pliny closed the box carefully, and repeated his open, empty, close on a second box before quietly exiting the cart.
• Pliny returned to the group, “Do we need to go play some poker?”
  • Aegar: “Indeed”