Session 23 — On the Run

Moments after Blumf slew Monfok in the sphere of darkness and the others finished fighting off Brur and the guards in the room, the doors burst open and over seventy additional guards rushed in and surrounded the party with weapons drawn. Pylax, the captain of the guard, demanded that they explain themselves and tell him where “Lord Kane” was. Many in the party were stunned by the sudden reversal of their situation (though they should have seen it coming!) and were unsure whether to lie or attempt to convince them who Monfok really was. The bodies of the dead guards at their feet would make lying difficult, and when Charlie felt an observer enter his mind he and the others hesitantly decided to try the truth.

A woman stepped forward, identified herself as Lady Tiegen, wife of “Lord Kane”, and again demanded that they tell what they had done with Monfok. Believing this to be Xavier’s true wife, Charlie asked her if she’d noticed a sudden negative change in her husband’s disposition years ago. She replied that he was and had always been a good man, which made the party think that she was either under some spell or was also an impostor.

Again Pylax and Lady Tiegen demanded to know Monfok’s location, and at last the party told them they could find him in the sphere of darkness. Just then the darkness was dispelled, and only blood-stained tiles where found in its place. Perhaps Monfok was not destroyed after all!

Their questions still unanswered and his patience at its end, Pylax ordered every member of the party be arrested while an investigation was conducted. Kerath, Keeva, Qeew, Charlie, Jade, Blumf–still feeble-minded–and Argora–still in wolf form–were imprisoned in separate cells in the dungeon beneath the manor. With the exception of Argora, whose gear had temporarily melded into his wolf form, all of their weapons and equipment were confiscated.

They spent most of the day in silence, and Qeew in particular began to despair. That night she was visited in secret by Snuff Pagus, who warned that they had acted too soon. Before Xavier could be returned to power, they would have to find a way to reverse the ritual that transformed his body. Furthermore, Xavier’s true wife and daughters had been endangered by their actions. Monfok had given them to a band of orcs to the south for safe keeping. In exchange for acting as their captors and keeping them alive, Monfok agreed to turn a blind eye to the orcs’ activities, allowing them to pillage and murder outside of the city with impunity. Though it was unclear why Xavier and his family were permitted to continue living at all after the ritual, it was now evident that if word got to the orcs that Monfok had vanished that they might consider the deal broken and kill the wife and daughters.

Lyra too visited the prison in the form of a rat. While Jade distracted the guards she transformed everyone else into rats and shepherded them toward the sewers before also shapeshifting Jade before the guards’ very eyes. They all escaped through tunnels that lead out of Blassingdell. Once they were a safe distance from the city walls, Lyra transformed everyone back into their normal forms.

She explained that, with the guards on high alert, it was now very dangerous for both herself and Xavier in town. Because he’d attempted to leave the city before and was prevented by some unknown forces, perhaps magical in nature, Lyra had found a safe place within the walls for him to lie low for the time being. She also relayed that Xavier was confused by new symbols that had very recently appeared on the Founderstone near the historical record: the alternately flashing symbols of Pholtus and Mask, the gods ostensibly allied against Cyric.

Because of Snuff’s warnings, most in the party agreed they should make for the orc stronghold to the south to rescue Xavier’s family. However, Jade did not see any sense in risking his life anymore for this cause. He sketched a map in the dirt and pointed out that they could all just walk away, go literally anywhere else, and live long prosperous lives. Knowing how best to sway the tabaxi, Charlie offered to buy his services for this mission for 1000 gold pieces, plus a share of whatever loot they recovered. Jade argued no more.

Meanwhile, Blumf, unable to comprehend any of this conversation, drew a picture of his friends in the dirt. It was very nice.

Since they lacked all of their equipment, the party asked Lyra for the remainder of Durgeddin’s weapons that they’d left with her instead of taking them to Monfok. Armed only with these, they set out on their journey south, leaving Lyra to safeguard Xavier. Along the road they encountered an innocuous couple traveling the other direction. Qeew told them she and the others were coming from Blassingdell, and once they had gone the others recommended that they try to avoid attracting attention and telling strangers about their business while they remained fugitives.

They traveled until nightfall. Early in the evening they were attacked by a family of three owlbears. Despite the fact that Charlie accidentally flung a fireball at Argora during the fight, they eventually slew the beasts and cooked them up for dinner.

After some more days traveling, the party began to encounter helpful pictorial signs seemingly directing them towards the orc stronghold they sought. As they neared it, they saw corpses mounted on spikes and were taken by surprise when one bloated corpse exploded near Blumf, showering him in gore. Just then they were attacked by eight orcs, also bloated and visibly diseased. As they killed each one they exploded as well.

After the fight the party rested, and Qeew decided to send a very short telepathic message to Lyra to update her on their progress, to which Lyra could reply. In response to her description of the diseased orcs, Lyra stated that the party must have encountered the “Nurtured Ones”. She also briefly remarked that the town was now “in uproar” but did not explain what was happening there.