LEGENDS OF EKSTASIA:
Tarry Crew
BOOK II
Chapter 1
Part 1: Prologue
23 Moonshine, 169 CE
The adventuring group known as Tarry Crew has defeated the necromancer demi-god Nosferatus!
During the battle at the peak of Mount Willowbea, the Bone Rod of Shavinati rendered Nosferatus vulnerable who thus was smote unto destruction with a deadly strike by the Turquoise Sword of the Nirvarak, a nomadic orc tribe whose relic was lost and then found by Aelun and the Tarry Crew. Dyana and Colonel Melina Werdell dueled until Dyana cinematically kicked the Chalkanian militant off of the bow of the airship Hurricane.
After the battle, the party was ferried by Cidwell and his airship back down to the caves of the Ogvak, an orc tribe of mystics who’d helped Tarry Crew find their way to challenge and defeat the necromancer.
They now find themselves celebrating and resting, enjoying solace and healing among the hospitable orcs of the mountain caves.
Xyryra Ton, a Nirvarak orc nomad who’d encountered the Tarry Crew previously, had also joined the celebrations as all the inhabitants of the Willowbea region of the Thief Kingdom (aka the Northeast Kingdom) had noticed the lack of storm clouds at the peak of Mount Willowbea and thereby were informed of the defeat of the great evil that prevented their dead from finding eternal rest.
In the caves, Cidwell, Ridi and Keyran, of the Shyrmpinatus Consortium, a resistance group who oppose the imperial Chalkanians, enjoy drink and revelry as Daeryn keeps her wits about her and refuses strong drink. Dyana proselytizes about her religious beliefs in Anubis, God of Death from another world-system, as Randir and Aelun relax and enjoy the celebrations.
The Tarry Crew discusses what to do next and decide they wish to find a way back to Niminya where they seek a peaceful existence away from the conflicts of the continent Gyrusia. Xyryra overhears this and says that her cousin Zhartul Ton-Rend, a “well connected” citizen of the capital of the Thief Kingdom “Wilmingtown”, can help them find passage back to Hollindagen.
Eventually the celebration comes to an end and everyone settles in for the night.
24 Moonshine, 169 CE
The Tarry Crew sets out from the Ogvak caves and descends the mountain, making their way through the lower cliffs and then the valley beyond. As they reach the forested valley at the base of the spires of Mount Willowbea they find the corpse of Col. Werdell scattered in the snow having been kicked off the airship at the top of the mountain mere days before. Among her remains the Tarry Crew finds a mysterious tome which Daeryn recognizes from her time with Captain Kalindyr in Port Magdalia. They also find an absurd amount of imperial platinum as well as Col. Werdell’s notepad which mentions the names “Lt. Brandt Hubrecht”, “Serafin Darkclaw”, and “Juhn”.
They continue until reaching the shore of the lower Lake Willowbea at nightfall where Daeryn spots several tribes with horses before taking a night’s rest.
Part 2: Horsin’ Around
25 Moonshine, 169 CE
In the morning they spot a tribe of orcs and elves riding by horseback southward and stop them. Xyryra recognizes the leader- it’s her estranged sister Helek. Xyryra is hesitant to interact with her sister at all but the Tarry Crew’s desire for horses to travel on leads them to attempt to barter with Helek for horses. Helek challenges them to an arm wrestling match in which Daeryn single-handedly dominates all three rounds. They win five horses for all of them to ride and make friends with the swift animals. Daeryn is additionally awarded two mysterious round stones with strange etchings in them.
The Tarry Crew travels beyond the foothills of the Mount Willowbea region and reach the moorlands of White Clay. They ride all day without incident before camping for the evening.
26 Moonshine, 169 CE
Just before sunrise they are attacked by an owlbear who’s been possessed by some sort of wraith. Aelun, being a druid, is reluctant to injure the owlbear as they’ve known many owlbears in Niminya who aren’t violent, but Daeryn wastes no time in using her ranger’s hunting skills to put down the raging monstrosity.
As the owlbear dies a black ichor evaporates from its corpse as a brief image of a wraith appears and speaks: “LIRI… IS… MINE!”
Aelun recognizes the name Liri as “Lady Liri”, the archfey who presides over the unseelie court in the Feywild.
The Tarry Crew travels all day without further incident. Just before sunset they cross the small White Clay River and camp for the night.
27 Moonshine 169 CE
On Randir’s watch early in the morning he spots a tuft of blond hair sticking out from under the snow. He and Aelun investigate, finding the corpse of a nobleman. Meanwhile Dyana is given a vision in her dreams from Anubis of a nobleman who is searching for one who “is deserving of his estate”. Upon awakening Dyana casts “Speak with the Dead” and asks the corpse five questions, accidentally burning through the first three. Eventually they discover that the nobleman, named Lord Hartvale, wants his family to know that he did in fact die and for them to begin to grieve, as they probably just believe him to be missing. (He also had a moderately-high “body count”.) On his corpse they find the deed to his estate and a plain-looking tan bag.
Tarry Crew continues by horseback for most of the day before reaching the Pike River, which is much deeper and swift than the White Clay River. Aelun casts “Walk on Water” on the horses and they cross the wide raging river easily enough.
They travel slightly past sunset and make camp.
28 Moonshine, 169 CE
Now in the flat plains of Wilmingtown, the Tarry Crew rides without seeing much, save for one thing.
A bright gleam or flash occurs from the sky. It’s pretty difficult to spot exactly what it is, but Aelun is the only one who can really see more than just the gleam. They spot what appears to be a golden slither dashing to and fro around the sky like a bird. Aelun then loses track of the object before shrugging it off.
The Tarry Crew now find themselves among the outer rural region of the city of Wilmingtown. They notice agricultural fields growing roots and potatoes. The climate is a little more temperate here but the earth is still partially covered in snow this time of year. They camp, now only 16 miles out from the palisades of the Thief Kingdom’s capital city.
29 Moonshine, 169 CE
After passing through the farms, homesteads, shantytowns and hamlets of the rural outskirts, the Tarry Crew eventually comes to the northwestern gate of Wilmingtown. The guards there demand registry and tribute, which each of the Tarry Crew gladly shells over, all except Dyana who wants to sing a song for Thief King Tostig the Sunderer as her tribute. The guards begrudgingly oblige but forewarn the party that the stakes are higher for such a tribute, as if the Thief King is not amused the penalty will be exceedingly steep. The guards joylessly lead the Tarry Crew through the busy streets of Wilmingtown to the massive hall of the Thief King, where Tostig the Sunderer awaits his amusement.
Part 3: Sing Me a Song
Dyana attempts to sing a song for king Tostig. He is reluctant to enjoy it and so invites her to try again. She then tries to tell a joke which totally doesn't land. She then summons a small illusion of a pimp who does a dance for Tostig who is just barely impressed. Still largely unsatisfied, Tostig issues his decree: Dyana and the Tarry Crew are now conscripted into the city’s Daggerguard to help track down a wanted tiefling who'd last been spotted in the nightdark slums just beyond the southeastern gate. Until then, the party must remain in Wilmingtown. Tostig also agrees to reward them materially as well upon completion.
The group is offered to sit at the tables and enjoy food and drink. Xyra tells the party they will meet them at the Bloody Bucket Tavern at night and leaves the group. An elf named Vadan, the leader of the Daggerguard, tells the group about Thexire the blue tiefling. He's wanted for potentially colluding with the empire. He'd been spotted meeting with soldiers and potentially accepting payment in the wilds north of the city. The group decides to bring in Thexire alive for a higher reward.
(The horses are stabled at the northwest gate. The party has a map of the city.)
Daerun wants to find out info on the book she found (says "bell" in sylvan) on the remains of Col. Werdell. She and Aelun go to the Ozilamus district to find a scholar to help identify the text. They find Wrondar, the green tiefling who is the eminent scholar of the Ozilamus family. He tells them off the bat that the book is an instruction manual on how to create a golem. He agrees to meet them back in the Ozilamus district just after sundown.
Dyana stops by the brothel and connects with the workers there. The brothel workers, several of which made it down to Wilmingtown whilst the Tarry Crew was experiencing the time dilation during their travels in the Nine Hells, venerate Dyana, citing her as inspiring them to fight off the chalkies. Dyana begins to preach about Anubis, the ladies of the brothel now toasting to the otherworldly god of death. Dyana suddenly remembers that Anubis had appeared to her when they found the corpse of Lord Hartvale out in the wilds. She also remembers that she promised to put the soul of Lord Hartvale to rest by informing his family that he's dead. In doing so, Hartvale bequeathed his manor to the party. Dyana also sees a flash of a white-skinned human male but does not recognize who it is.
Randir sneaks past the king's guards and climbs a tower of the King's Hall. Getting a vantage point in order to look out over the city he sees if he can spot anything interesting. He first glances at the Nightdark slums but doesn't notice anything of interest. He then glances towards the center of town where he notices the colors of the elf-supremacist Dioltas knights (who’d been previously banished from the nation of Zither) congregating in the streets there. Randir then leaves the tower and ventures over to them. He then encounters a reunion with his old gang: the brotherhood of the Broken. The dioltas see the broken as traitors to the whole elven race. Randir, reunited with the Broken, suddenly hears of a commotion coming from the east gate.
Meanwhile, a Daggerguard captain and guard escort Daeryn and Aelun who venture just beyond the palisade to search for Thexire in the nightdark slums. there they are ambushed by mysterious people. Thexire suddenly dashes past them and runs into the city via the east gate, attacking the guards along the way.
Daeryn and Aelun give chase to the Thexire, pursuing him tightly. An alarm is sounded as someone busts into the brothel where Dyana is and informs everyone that there's ambushers at the east gate. Dyana leaves the brothel and runs toward the fight, colliding with the fleeing Thexire. Randir sees a commotion running toward the fray. Another ambusher, previously invisible, appears and takes off up an alleyway between the row houses of the burgess district and the eastern palisade wall.
Daeryn suddenly remembers that Thexire was aboard the Waveform Runner. She casts a cloud of fog to try and stop the second man. Randir quickly notices that the man is a Chalkanian. The Chalkanian man fires a magic bolt at Daeryn and Aelun but misses. Daeryn shoots him with her bow, slowing him down.
Aelun sends a psychic message to Randir to meet at the brothel once all is said and done.
Meanwhile, back up the street, Dyana paralyzes Thexire with magic, then binds him with a rope.
Daeryn suddenly also realizes that the Chalkanian they are chasing is none other than Lt. Hubrecht Brandt- the very man who personally oversaw the genocide of her people in abacus prior to her fleeing to sonas. He is quite old now, well into his 80s, though augmented by magic.
Lt Brandt mutters a strange incantation as two commoners flip and tumble over the city wall and land in front of Daeryn and Aelun. Attached to their heads are strange creatures with two arms and a tail, almost crustacean-looking. Suddenly, everyone can sense something very sinister and twisted in their minds…