Mosquito! Date (1/9/17)

Ilyana sat in her cell grinding her teeth as she stared up at the tiny window that could so easily spell freedom. A moment’s concentration would turn her body to air, and she could be back to the forest and away from this insane city. But curiosity stayed her. She wanted to understand this place with its maze of streets and crowds of people all scurrying about with such industry and often selling such delightful treats. She needed to solve the puzzle of the humans who had changed so much from her memories. Forgotten magic!? All following a single god?! It all made no sense. But mostly she needed to know WHY she had been incarcerated. And so, she waited.

Marty was surprised to find Shelby and Mjelde gone in advance of the festival. It seemed so unlike the extremely professional soldier to desert her post while Lexington was out of town, but her absence was obvious. And to take Mjelde with her…

Euwyn stashed the bell in tower, silencing the clapper and placing the powerful item on one of Narlock’s stasis pillars. Noise outside attracted his attention, and he went to the observation platform to confirm that Hedge had indeed arrived to haul away the food the farmers had brought as tribute in lieu of cash. Donating it to the orphanage seemed the best thing. He had no network set-up to sell it, and Edgar had likely carried in enough for the two of them. No, three of them. Where was Ilyana, anyway…

Lexington couldn’t sleep. All around the city was alive at all hours, buzzing with people swarming in from all over in advance of the festival. The streets seemed to be selling food and wares at all hours and when there wasn’t selling to be done, there was carousing. But none of this is what kept him awake, it was Ilyana’s dream. A massive body, buried in the earth, growing and thrashing as insects gnawed at its pulsing form. He woke with a start, and immediately the fearful thoughts came again, “Did we unleashed a horde of bugs from Coronado’s Ferry by removing the bell?” He had to know…

Convincing the others wasn’t difficult. Everyone shared the same lingering doubt. It would be nothing to ride out and check. Just to be sure in advance of the festival….

They gathered their forces, freed Ilyana from prison and rode forth. On the second day they met the advancing line of insects. Giant mosquitos attacked the party as they crossed the river. Two of their horse were killed, including Marty’s brave charger which he had saved from the gnolls just months before. Stashing the remaining mounts on the far side of the river, they approached the town in stealth. The bugs were everywhere! Far numerous than in visits past and it had been just three days. They need to find that body and somehow get to the bottom of this mystery, and quickly too! Splitting their forces, they snuck forward to search.

Bugs! Date (1/9/14)

Bugs! Bugs were everywhere! Crawling on the walls. Squirming along the ceiling. Scuttling across the floor. All fixated on the party! With bulging eyes and clicking mandibles, they came from every direction. Placing their backs together, the party fought to hold the space, barring and barricading doors and windows as they claimed the guild hall using swords and spells. Marty was able to heal the cuts and burns received from the battle, while the swarm crawled all over the exterior of the building emitting a constant, mind-numbing drone.

Ilyana spoke of a bizarre occurrence. During the battle she witnessed several fire beetles heading for a back room. When she maneuvered to look, she saw the bugs battling a zombie. She didn’t think much of it in the heat of battle and, in the relative calm of the aftermath, an investigation indicated they had destroyed one another.

With nothing else to do the party spent the day, much as they had the night months ago, huddled in the guild hall surrounded by a horde of enemies. As the sun went down, the bugs retreated back into the city. Then at sunset, the bell appeared as it had before, but this time as it tolled, Euwyn was there to seize it. The few zombies which had formed quickly dissipated. Hedge was dispatched to see if the streets were clear, but as soon as his feet hit the first floor, the ground erupted with new undead horrors. These looked like animate piles of grave dirt and where they touched the ground erupted seeking to bury Hedge alive! The team defeated these with the help of their new cave druid and beat a hasty retreat back to Malwan.

Return to Coranodo's Ferry (Date 1/9/11)

With the Harvest Festival fast approaching, Lex decided to seize upon the opportunity to spur the group into doing a quick dive into the lingering mystery of the city on the far side of the lake. He found the Prince embroiled in an illicit liaison with Relania Bell, and Brother Marty struggling to help Mjelde with her Father Haddad issues. Marty had just arranged for Shelby to take the young priestess under her wing for a course of martial training.

The party took the road around the lake, forded the river using the power of Strom, and entered the city. Not long after their arrival, the insects appeared, swarming in from all directions. No sooner was the first wave defeated, then another scurried forth to take its place. They ran! Ducking and driving through the deserted streets now home to an endless, teeming throng of giant insects! Hoping to put a quick end to things, the party made swiftly for the town hall. But gazing up into the bell tower, they found the spire empty!  

The Dead Princes (Date 1/9/6)

The group spent the journey back mulling over concerns about the fey and getting to know Ilyana, their new druid companion. Marty split off to spend some time with Drova and to tell her about her brother and father. Justice split with the group and headed for his fort.

Immediately upon their return, the group was met by Hedge. He had made a discovery and needed them to come quickly! While excavating the orphanage, Hedge and Edgar had discovered a pair of dead bodies in ruined, royal garb. They were obviously children, and each wore a magical, golden necklace. Preliminary investigations found they were males, in their early teen years, with no obvious life threatening injuries. Marty believed he would be able to speak with their souls in the morning once rested and properly prepared, so the sight was sealed up and placed under guard. The street urchins and orphans were sworn to secrecy.

Ilyana settled in at the tower. Marty stopped by the towered and urged the Prince that he must be more open in his worship of Strom. Euwyn said he would think about it. Mjelde told Marty she worried Father Haddad wanted to sleep with her. She feared if she refused she would lose her position or worse.

Marty had to officiate at the daily service, so he was delayed in arriving at the site. When Lex informed Shelby that a half-elven druid from the fey fort was now staying with the prince, she hurried to the tower to check her out, concluding after a few minutes that she was either an innocent child or a very artful spy. At the site, Euwyn considered identifying the necklaces, but stopped when Tiaco warned him not to mess with them. The bodies were removed in concealed carriage to the castle. Euwyn and Lex did some research and discovered a pair of twin princes from 57 years ago who disappeared on the lake, believed to be killed by Deep Tentacles. When Marty arrived, he used the power of Strom to rouse the souls of the corpses to discover. 1. They were the missing twins. 2. They had been killed by their mother using the magic necklaces. 3. Their mother had killed them because they were showing magical aptitude! Shelby ordered the matter sealed, and Euwyn took the deadly jewelry into his possession. No sooner than she got around other people though, did Ilyana start fueling the rumor mill.

Marty talked to Father Haddad, who claimed innocence and theorized that it was likely just Mjelde misreading her support for lust, probably not able to see men in any other light. Haddad decided he would simply back off and return her to light duties in the temple so as to avoid any further confusion.

Return to the Fey Fort (Date 1/8/30)

Practice continued as the party made their way through the forest. Every night when they stopped to camp, Yuri would recite the monologue with Lex to accompany him, working on the finer points and polishing up the performance. It became rote for all within earshot.

One day, just as they suspected they were getting close, the woods became dark and shadowy and whispering figures darted in the corners of their vision. The prince called a retreat and they backtracked to safe ground to prepare themselves for the show. That night a beast wandered out of the fey-tainted forest. Covered in acidic pustules, distorted and hunched, it was Antionne! He fought like a madman bereft of his senses, and the prince called for his capture rather than killing. Together they brought him down and bound him to a tree.

In the morning as the party was preparing spells, the wilderness came to them. The darkness deepened and all around them voices chortled and gibbered. One by one they fell into enchanted slumber. All save Marty who decided to fake it. Figures stalked in from the shadow, gathering up the sleeping party and carrying them to the fort to be presented before Queen Boudicca. They pled their case and played their song. Well, Yuri was disqualified for having already performed for the queen, so the performance changed to Lex on flute with Marty doing oratory and Justice providing drums. The performance was accepted and turned into a revel.

At the party, Lex was turned out by the Queen Boudicca, who said, he could not remain. The party also met a druid named Ilyana who asked them to wish for her release. And the Queen granted them audience with Gaston, who seemed content, if melancholy, and asked that his father be released in his place. He apologized for killing himself and explained how the Queen knew of his music and gathered his soul upon dying and reincarnated him here. He whispered to the Prince that the Queen might be a threat and that Malwan might benefit by having someone on the inside, namely himself.

The party were given leave to return, if in the future they felt their kingdom needed to parley with hers in an official capacity, and they awoke where they had fallen – even Marty. Antionne was among them. His sanity returned, he rejected the notion of returning to the lumber consortium just yet and decided to strike out on his own to find the companions he had traveled with.