Arc 3

Arc 3 is the current story arc of the main campaign of Kalatos.

Shopping and Sewers
The group splits to do some shopping. Valarin goes to an herbalist's shop and gets the remaining supplies for healing potions, then looks for an enchanter's shop. She finds one, called "Coello Leveret's Menagerie of Eccentric Oddities". She enters and is greeted by a rabbit-like humanoid named Coello Leveret, the enchanter that owns the shop. After testing a number of items, she requests an lightning-based enchantment on a rapier.

Meanwhile, Kali goes to Googonax's smithy and orders a modified quarterstaff, then meets back up with Scathir and Elsi. The three of them go to a jeweler's shop to buy diamonds and jewelry they are hoping to enchant. Afterwards, they look for an enchanter's shop and find Valarin coming out of Leveret's Menagerie. They enter. Kali requests a necrotic-based enchantment be put on a necklace she bought from the jeweler and also buys a Hand Chain of the Eldritch Claw. Scathir orders an enchanted deck of cards.

They all head back to the Brass Owl Inn. They make conversation for a while, and Scathir eventually heads upstairs to go to bed. He sneaks out the window into the street and looks for signs of thieves' messaging throughout the town. He also finds a blacksmith, where he asks the smith to forge a swordbreaker.

Kali also leaves the inn to look for some form of a fighting ring. While she does not find one, she finds Scathir wandering the streets. The two decide to look in the sewer for a fighting ring. They climb down a sewer hole and wanger the tunnels. They begin to hear a skittering sound, which occasionally disappears, but always returns. After a while, a giant spider appears in front of them. They stand off against it. Scathir climbs up onto Kali's shoulders and they run away from the spider. However, it seems to teleport to where they run, so they fight it and leave it unconscious. They leave the sewers to return to the inn, where they find Valarin has been performing and dancing with the other patrons of the Brass Owl.

Trouble is Found
In the morning, the party leaves their rooms and descends the steps to the tavern. Valarin is greeted by Amber, the Brass Owl's proprietor, who is holding onto a letter from someone who came by while the party was in Mellivald. Valarin reads the letter and almost burns it in the fireplace, but decides against it. She reveals that it is from a person named Zygami, her former mentor that she left after a series of mistreatments (though she does not explicitly reveal what happened between them). The letter states that Zygami has information about the settlement Valarin grew up in and he wishes to share that information. She decides hesitantly that she will eventually go see him, although not without recently purchased magical items and support from the rest of the party.

The group then leaves the tavern in search of a fight ring again. This time, with the aid of the native Valarin, they are able to find a sort-of-hidden tavern called the Octopus's Embrace. They find it is empty save for a barkeep and a few patrons. Upon speaking to the barkeep, Kali is able to talk their way into participating in "the Runaround", which is apparently a nightly fighting ring within the Octopus's Embrace.

After signing up for the fight, the group makes their way into the street. In need of money, the idea of burgling Zellivath's lawmaster Tedka Nuendrat is floated. While most of the group takes it as a joke, Valarin starts moving towards the inner city, where the estate is located. Scathir chases after her but is not able to catch up in time. She makes her way onto a building located right next to the city's inner wall and makes a jump for it. Barely managing to make it across, she looks around and notices a few Luminguard stationed on the wall starting to move towards her and shouting for her to stop. She does not do so, but instead jumps off of the wall and into the inner city. Luminguard stationed there begin to chase after her, so she ducks into a tower. She runs up the stairs and attempts to hide, but soon after a crowd of Luminguard find her, so she jumps out the window and falls to the ground outside.

Meanwhile, the other three have been waiting in an alley. Elsi flies up to see what is happening just in time to see Valarin jump out of the tower's window. They fly over, but not before she lands amidst a crowd of Luminguard. She escapes them, but in an attempt to save Valarin, Elsi attacks a Luminguard. The crowd pulls them to the ground and knocks them unconscious. Valarin sees this and returns, hoping to fend the Luminguard off, but is also knocked unconscious.

While this has been happening, an alarm bell has been set off within the inner city and people are being ushered inside by Luminguard. Recognizing the danger that they would be entering by trying to save the other two at this point, Scathir and Kali return to the Brass Owl to decide on what to do next.

Knowledge and Lies
Kali and Scathir decide to follow through with the Runaround challenge later that night while gathering information about the inner city from the tavern's patrons. They ask Amber to not mention their involvement with Valarin if any Luminguard comes asking, and she agrees. They run a few errands and once the sun sets they head to the Octopus's Embrace.

The energy has increased drastically since the morning. In the crowd, an announcer calls for the challenger called "the Dragon Lady" to enter the ring. Kali, who has doffed all elements of disguise, enters the ring. The circular fighting ring descends about fifteen feet into the floor and reveals a gate. The gate opens, giving way for a two-headed, magma-spitting dog to enter. Kali fights with the dog and successfully defeats it, earning a respectable sum of gold as a result.

Meanwhile, Scathir speaks with the barkeep to get some information. He learns about the lawmaster Tedka Nuendrat: about his background, about his family's connections with the triumvirate, about his suspicious rise to power, about his relaxed and insincere form of ruling. He also learns that there may in fact be entrances to the inner city by way of sewers, though he does not learn of any for sure. However, the barkeep directs him towards a member of Caddo's Crowd who may be able to smuggle Scathir and Kali into the inner city. Wishing to not bring up complications as a result of being entangled with Baldwin Haffler, Scathir asks if there is any other contact. The barkeep tells him about a former figure of the Hook named Zygami, who lives just outside the outer wall of Zellivath. The two leave, deciding to speak with Zygami the next day.

Valarin and Elsi wake in a cell, along with a third people. They introduce themselves. After a few minutes, Valarin magically disguises herself as Tedka Nuendrat and makes her voice sound like his. She attracts the attention of some guards outside, who immediately bring her outside the cell. Through some close intimidation, she convinces them to let Elsi go as well and release the two without any mention of the incident to anyone else. They are brought upstairs, are given their things, and they return to the Brass Owl, taking a rest after a long day.

Scathir has another vision. In the morning, he and Kali are met in the tavern by a disguised Valarin and Elsi, much to their surprise.

A Time for Rest
The party has some much-deserved downtime! During the next few days, Scathir spends time familiarizing himself with the streets of Zellivath, Valarin begins to spread a rumor that Tedka Nuendrat has been replaced with a fiendish entity of some sort, and Elsi just hangs out. Kali makes a return to the Runaround and handily wins another victory, this time over a massive, vaguely reptilian creature with a large frill and three horns on its head. Scathir spends that night getting further acquainted with the barkeep. A few days later, all of the group except for Scathir heads over to Coello Leveret's shop. In an alley behind the shop, they test their newly-made magic items: Valarin receives an electrified rapier and Kali receives a necrotic necklace. In addition, they purchase a bag of furry blobs that transform into animals when thrown.

Voices of the Past and Future
The group goes to Zygami’s house to confront him about his letter to Valarin. Kali and Valarin are both still in disguise. Upon knocking (perhaps more forcefully than needed), Zygami comes outside to greet his guests in a brief exchange. It is (accidentally) revealed that Valarin is there, and he invites them inside to talk.

He tells the group (although he is really speaking to Valarin) about how he attempted to find Brelath Glen. He says that when he was not able to, he travelled to the House Grenjon and has since received a threatening vision: a colossal figure standing over a burning city, Valarin standing at its feet, and with the wind whispering to find her. More tense discussion is had, ending with a furious outburst from Valarin. She attacks him with her Thundering Strike. A fight breaks out, leading to Kali and Valarin smashing through the front window. Zygami vanishes from the room. After a moment of standing around disoriented, Valarin strikes at a nearby bird in anger and it transforms into Zygami, revealing he was transformed by the polymorph spell. He fights with them for a while longer, and Valarin deals the killing blow with her Thundering Strike. However, when he dies, he does not fall. Instead, he remains standing and is overtaken by an orange cloud of fire and electricity, seeping from his eyes, mouth and wounds. A voice unlike his own speaks to Valarin:

''I have watched you come. In your future, find me.''

The body then falls to the ground, lifeless.

At this point, a group of Luminguard have come rushing in from the surrounding area, alerted by the loud noises. They tell the group to stand down and drop their weapons. Elsi, undisguised and still in danger of being discovered (having recently escaped the prison), turns invisible and flies into the air. Valarin makes use of the Empire’s crest they attained in Mellivald and convinces the Luminguard they are private investigators working for the Empire. The guard disperses.

Elsi flies to the cave the party visited to retrieve the dragon in order to avoid suspicion of the Luminguard and then sends a message to the party. The rest of the group brings Zygami’s body into his house and discuss setting up a sort of “home base” there. However, they all agree that it may be best to return the Brass Owl for the night and meet Elsi at the cave the next day. Kali heads back. Scathir spends much of the night in Zygami’s house. Valarin walks to the edge of the Lethnass Wood and stares into the forest in meditation for the night. She has a vision.

The Jumping-Off Point
The group gets their rest independently. Scathir takes Zygami's body to a sewer entrance and then goes into the Lethnass to meet up with everyone else. He meets Kali on the walk. They both arrive at the cave where Elsi has been waiting. After a little bit longer, Valarin arrives. The group immediately notices that her eyes have changed color, from their original solid black to a hint of flickering orange. Scathir and Valarin deduce that some sort of entity has created (or awakened, or something else) a connection within Valarin, but are unable to figure out what exactly is happening. Further discussion leads to an agreement to travel to Brelath Glen, her former home, and try to find information.

However, they first travel back to Zellivath to gather some supplies. Before they go, they dye Elsi's hair purple and their skin a different shade. In town, Valarin gets rations, some of them get some new ranged weapons, and Scathir revisits Zygami's home. Elsi goes to the Silver Archive to investigate records of their family's history. They find a finance report concerning a winemaker in Vinan, but nothing else. The group sets out for Brelath Glen.

Casting Long Shadows
The first day of travel goes by without issue. On the second day, as the sun begins to set, Scathir notices the faint sound of wings flapping. He alerts the rest of the group and they decide to bed down for the night, keeping watch on a tree where the flying thing may have landed. They attempt to shoot into the tree to reveal what it may be, but find nothing.

While the party rests, Kali and Elsi take watch. Elsi sees a familiar shadow demon emerge from behind Kali and attack her. The rest of the party wakes to the sound and squares off. In the next few seconds, one by one Amelia Haffler, the white dragon from the adventure's beginning, and a resurrected, possibly undead Moss emerge from the dark woods. They show down in an intense battle. Valarin takes down Moss with her Thundering Rapier and sees as her eyes flash with orange before she dies entirely. Amelia and Elsi sling spells at each other and Kali does flips around the dragon. All the while, Scathir is hiding in bushes and Baldwin is swooping down to attack from above, only to disappear again between attacks. Kali goes down once but is revitalized. The dragon and Amelia are killed. Kali waits against a tree for Baldwin to come to her. He does, but unfortunately he also strikes her down before she can deal enough damage to knock him out. Valarin kills him and he dissolves yet again into golden dust.

Scathir performs burial rites on Moss and Amelia. Valarin harvests some materials from the dragon's body. They all take a long rest.

Disparate Threads
Elsi has a vision.

On day three of the journey, the group walks through the woods uninterrupted until Scathir gets caught in a snare. Valarin breaks him out. The group notices a hiding figure in a nearby bush. When they investigate it, they find it is a strange gnome who is hunting for deer. The group then notices a goliath sidekick running behind them, trying to surprise them, but move out of the way and let the goliath collide with a tree instead. They speak briefly, but soon return on their way.

The fourth day also goes by without issue. However, Valarin attempts to contact Oriole, who responds to her message with a warning about strange and strong invaders in Brelath Glen.

On the fifth day, Valarin notices that Elsi's eyes have gained a flickering orange quality, though none of the rest of the group can see it. Elsi informs them of their vision: their former house, a fireplace, a mask, a door made of flame, and a network of linked chains that exploded.

In that same day, Scathir notices the sounds of a group following the party. He falls back invisibly to inspect and finds a group of dragonborn who are indeed following the party. He goes back to the party to inform them. When the group beds down to rest, Valarin sneaks away from guard duty to check out the dragonborns' encampment. She finds them in the dark, with no lit fire, discussing. She makes out fragments but is unable to determine the conversation's meaning. She casts Dancing Lights to form a spectral dragonborn figure. It doesn't seem to intimidate them, but they do pay attention. She switches tracks to pretend to be a fey seeking real estate in the forest. They're much more receptive to that for some reason, and open up to her about invaders that essentially forced them into violent conquest of neighboring groups. Valarin doesn't get much concrete information and so she attacks them. A chase ensues, leading the group of dragonborns to the party's camp. The rest of the group are awakened and they fend off the threat. They fight. Kali takes care of a few, and one of them recognizes them as a Dakshina. The fight ends with two dragonborns unconscious and the rest dead.

Arrival at Brelath Glen
Valarin, Scathir, and Elsi talk about responsibility to each other and to each person's self to stay alive. Valarin is insistent she is careful when she needs to and her continuous state of resolve proves her aptitude to handling tough situations. Scathir makes it clear that one day it will not work, leading to her death. The trio part ways and go to bed. In the morning, the group finds that the dragonborns they knocked unconscious the previous night had escaped, as they were not bound in any way. They set off, and the next few days go by without issue. As they get deeper into the forest, Valarin begins to hear voices on the wind, calling to her specifically.

The group slowly approaches the Brelath Glen. They begin to spot scorched trees, and soon come upon the Glen. However, it is thoroughly razed, burnt, and torn down. Upon investigation, the group finds a pyre with a huge portion of the Glen's population, burned and dead. As they investigate the bodies, a very large group of dragonborns comes out from hiding to surround the group. Kali recognizes many of them, including a leader which comes into view, named Albak Edasha, and it becomes clear that this is (or was) their group. They also see the two dragonborns that they knocked out earlier, that escaped in the night. A standoff lasts until Albak commands the dragonborns bring someone into view, and Valarin recognizes the hostage as her mother figure and the matriarch of the Glen, Bellatrix. Valarin immediately surrenders, followed by the rest of the group. They are bound by ropes and the entire group begin to walk out of the camp, towards somewhere else.

They stop for a nights' rest. Scathir is able to escape from his binds and break out the rest of the group. They poke around the site looking for their equipment, and are able to find it, but decide to leave the majority of it with their captors, save for a few miscellaneous items like spell components and daggers. They then retie themselves in such a way that they can easily break out if needed.

The next morning, the group sets out with their captors again. Valarin begins to sing, and is joined by some of the dragonborns. They are eventually led to a large temporary encampment, populated mostly by dragonborns but also a few other humanoids from the Glen. Albak speaks to a messenger, and simultaneously, Valarin finds a way to fart a message to him, which briefly catches him off guard. The messenger runs off and returns, and Albak leads the four to a large tent. Inside, there is a very ornately decorated room, and sitting at a desk is a humanoid in a crimson cloak wearing an owl mask.

A Greater Purpose
The Red Owl makes some brief and scattered introductions. They free the bound party. They make it clear they know something about the party, and also suggest they need something from them. The conversation turns tense as the suggestion that the party will not work with them is met with threat of further harm to Brelath Glen's residents. The Owl puts the party to sleep one by one through magic.

Scathir has an abnormal vision. He stands in a blank space, with a sort of window in front of him. It plays scenes from all throughout his past. A woman's voice speaks to him and questions him about his faith and the deity he serves. She says that she has heard of this being too and that its time with Scathir may be coming to a close. She finds a scene in Scathir's past of a child and asks him about it. Scathir says that the child is an "investment", implying that he feels he has some sort of stake in this child's wellbeing. The woman says farewell, and Scathir is overtaken by the window and now stands in a field outside of a city. Spirals of purple, blue, and red begin to envelop him as a different voice whispers a message in his ear.

The group wakes, bound and being carried on the backs of dragonborn as they walk out of the campsite. The group is led by Albak Edasha, the Red Owl, and an ornately dressed human woman. They see nearby the ruins of a house. Strangely, Elsi recognizes it as their house. The group enters and walks through to find a living room with a large fireplace. As the group files in, the human woman removes an alabaster lion mask from a bag, which Elsi recognizes as an heirloom they have been carrying for the entirety of the adventure. She puts it in the fireplace and lights a flame, though it is extinguished by Valarin. Elsi, unwilling to let the mask be damaged, casts a spell to harm many of the dragonborn and the three leaders. A small scrap ensues, with Elsi being stunned by the human woman and Kali engaging in a choking match with the dragonborn carrying her. They are put to sleep though, and wake bound more tightly and not being carried by a dragonborn. The human woman lights the mask in the fireplace and the wall is soon overtaken by flames that form a strange door. The woman opens the door and the party walks down stairs on the other side.

They arrive in a large stone room, with chains from every inch secured to an iron orb in the room's center. There is a clear power eminating from this room. The dragonborns, under direction of the Owl and the woman, begin to set up a device of glasss tubes and metal boxes that stretches all the way across the room. Each tube connects to a center pedistal with what looks like an iron flower on top. When the construction on this contraption is completed, the Owl instructs Valarin to step into the center of the room. In a small act of defiance, she does so, except nude besides for boots and an iron symbol to a strange god.

A strange ritual begins. The Owl strikes the central orb with an iron rod and the room begins to vibrate and the power becomes stronger. Small bits of energy begin to drip from the orb and orbit around the rod. The Owl brings the rod closer to Valarin, and she begins to glow with the same orange energy coming from the orb. The energy around Valarin becomes bright and is almost immediately drawn to the rod. Strangely, she begins to slowly change, and as the energy leaves her, she becomes human, losing her purple color, her horns, her tail, and some of her innate abilities. The Owl then touches the rod to the orb. It absorbs all of the rod's energy and the chains immediately shatter. The orb glows a violently bright orange and a voice comes out, resembling the one that came from Zygami in Zellivath. However, the Iron flower opens up beneath it and a small mote of blue, red, and purple light floats upwards from it. The voice screams in protest, but all of the iron sphere's energy is drawn into the flower and all of the glass tubes are filled with this orange energy. The voice goes quiet as the last of the energy is drawn in to the contraption. When the last of it is sucked into the device, the flower closes, the mote drifts back inwards, and the iron sphere remains supended in the middle of the room.

The human woman orders a cleanup of the contraption to begin. She addresses the party directly and invites them to travel with her to Mirleheim for a proper introduction and possibly explanation. She lets the party reclaim their things (including the alabaster lion mask) and draws a teleportation circle in the floor. She vanishes in it, and the party hesitantly follows.