Azeri had a head start and surprising new speed, and the party was not able to catch up with her. Though the distance to Askelios was long, they all ran flat out (except Akta, who jogged behind, and took quite a while to catch up). When Azeri reached the outskirts of the town, she began to attack the townspeople! Some ran for their lives; others turned and fought. Those that did were cut down. The party rushed in to take Azeri down themselves, but Azeri had some new tricks up her sleeve. She put a curse on Edge, making it so anyone who got near to him would be injured. One of the townspeople who stood his ground was unaware of this, and in rushing to defend his town, ran right past Edge and died instantly!
The battle was furious, and when it ended, Azeri had been knocked unconscious, and four of the townspeople lay dead. The party grabbed their fallen comrade and hustled out of sight. It took some time and effort, but they were eventually able to break the dark spirit's hold over Azeri, and she awoke as herself. Immediately, the enormity of what had happened crashed down over her, and she began to weep.
The party made their way back to the camp outside of town, and slept. The next morning, the 19th day of Eyre, they decided to continue their journey to Varna, in part due to Akta's pleadings. They arrived there in the afternoon of the 21st day of Eyre, where Akta went straight to her mother's home. When Reita, Akta's mother, saw her again for the first time in 15 years, both burst into tears. The party was invited in.
When they entered the home, there was another person there, a human woman named Elane, She was dressed in the vestments of the Church of the Silver Flame, and it quickly became clear that she had a position of no small authority in that church. She explained that Reita, a worshiper of the Silver Flame, had years ago reached out to her to help her locate Akta. Elane had eventually learned of Akta's imprisonment by Zelian d'Deneith, and was making plans to get her out, when the party beat her to the punch!
In the course of their conversation, Taumir asked his usual question about the Thirteenth Moon. When Elane realized that he was one of the Whisper Wood elves, she was greatly surprised - she thought they had all been wiped out! She explained that his people had been working on a way to give dragonmarks to any person, regardless of bloodline. Zelian had found out about it, and felt so threatened by it, that he had had them all killed. The party was great relieved to have finally found some answers!
Another shock was coming for Elane, and Reita too - as they all talked the existence of Akta's dragonmark was revealed. Elane was as astonished and stunned as the party had been upon their first learning of it, and Reita too, as Akta had managed to keep it hidden from her too. With all these revelations, Elane seemed to make a decision. She declared that Zelian was dangerous, dangerous to the world, and needed to be stopped. Elane could not get the Church of the Silver Flame involved directly, but she could hire a group like the party to take him out. Would they do it?
Taumir, Tselem, and Azeri did not hesitate. Edge, however, told them they were all insane! Zelian is one of the most powerful men in the world, he reminded them, and House Deneith is already hunting them. The chances that they would even survive this is small, let alone accomplish their goal. The party remained committed though, and Edge grudgingly agreed to come along.
Elane said they would outfitted with whatever equipment they wanted, and given the support they needed to carry out their mission. Tomorrow they would travel to the city of Flamekeep, the headquarters of the Church of the Silver Flame, and start their mission from there. With that, she retired to an inn she was staying at in town, and the party took their leave of Reita and Akta.
Rewards
- 1,000 XP for Edge, Tselem, and Taumir; 200 XP for Azeri. This means leveling up!
- You found 200 GP on the bodies of the townspeople; split it however you wish.
