Session+97

**Session 97** **1-7-17** **Surviving Mask's Hall, Back to Lyrabar, and On to Myth Coramanth**

Having turned off all of the mechanics in the room of liches and healed up by a barrage of wand waves, the companions chose one of the two doors as the next direction. An additional 20,000 gold was in the fountain of the lich room.

Thorn could Mask's familiar voice whisper in his head, "I hope you're enjoying the fun so far, Mr Thorn. Remember I am the Prince of Shadows..." The young halfling looked questioning toward the ceiling, muttering about the Hall, and looked over the door for traps. An imperceptible needle flicked out to stab Thorn's finger, leaving him feeling light headed, but he got it unlocked and led them slowly down the corridor as he searched for traps.

Thorn carefully disarmed traps as he went, smudging runes and sprinkling silver dust. Accidentally missing one, a meteor swarm went off sending 4 massive fire balls out through the hallway! The young halfling rogue barely managed to duck and weave out of the way as his friends stared wide eyed from the doorway. "Are you alright?" Wren blinked slowly, weaving a new warding hex over Thorn, and held up the wand of healing, "Do you need the stick?" Thorn chuckled and shook his head, "I'm alright."

Posy led the others in behind Thorn as he worked on the next door. Azarius stayed in the lich room, watching over the area as the others moved on. Thorn opened the door to see a room with a window where he could see another room beyond.

Cautiously entering, the young halfling examined the window to see a faint shimmering disturbance. He picked up a stone and tossed it through the window. The window shimmered slightly, but the stone landed on the floor of the next room. Wren and Mali joined him, looking over the window to recognize some sort of conjuration magic in it, but neither recognized the spell.

Thorn frowned, but carefully moved through the window to be teleported to the fourth room in a grouping of six. Two floating specters felt his presence and immediately moved through the walls to appear in the same room. Seeing their aggression, Thorn drew his daggers and stabbed them into one of the ghostly figures! Another specter floated through the walls, surrounding Thorn. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Two of the ghosts laid their cold hands on his warm flesh, draining away part of his life and experience!

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Looking through the window, Wren caught the sight of a window in the next room where she could see shadowy figures moving and heard the sound of battle. She immediately warned the others. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Erevin slipped through the window to appear in the fifth room, the one beside Thorn, and was able to see the halfling in the window surrounded by specters. Behind him was another window to a sixth room where another ghost was coming to the wall. He called his bow to have a ghost touch power to it.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Mali was next, teleporting to the second room... back where she started... but she was able to keep going forward back into the window to go into the third room, adjacent to Thorn's. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Posy moved through the window in a rage to the 6th room where there was a specter and she could see Erevin's back through the window. She slammed her hearth hammer into the floating figure. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Thorn tumbled behind one of the ghosts and dove through the window toward Erevin to appear in the second room back with Wren in the original room. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Another whisper came to Thorn from a disappointed Mask, "And I had just given you a clue..." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Wren looked at the slightly shriveled halfling, "What was attacking you?" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Ghosts," Thorn sighed heavily, "And the windows seem to be random to the rooms." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Wren frowned, "You're going to need to see Mali about that sort of damage."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The specter escaped from Posy to float into Erevin's room, and two of the ghosts who had been with Thorn also melded through the opposite wall to join the elven woodsman while the third moved through the wall to Mali. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Wren wove a protective anti-spectral magic bubble around herself and went through the window. She ended up in the first room that had stairs leading up. She could see Posy through the window in the room.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Erevin took aim, and shot his bow into the torch in his room, turning it to engage a mechanism with a click. and dove through the window to end up in the fourth room where Thorn was a moment ago. He yelled out, "Turn off the torches!" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Mali nodded toward the window and turned the torch in her room to hear a click as well, and shouted it to the next room where Thorn still was. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Posy leapt through the window, chasing the specters, but appeared back in the second room with Thorn... she continued on to the window only to appear right back in the second room again. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Thorn moved to engage the torch, turning it upside down until it clicked. The rooms were getting dimmer.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Two of the specters moved into the first room to try and attack Wren, but her anti-specter bubble forced them to keep their distance. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">One specter attacked Erevin, draining more of his life and experience as another specter drained Mali. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Wren made her way up the stairs to see a large room filled with mounds of treasure... there was only a couple of arrow slits in the walls, no doors or windows. She wove a detect secret doors, but there weren't any to find.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Erevin wielded his bow, sending arrows into 2 specters, and killed one. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Posy, frustrated, moved through the window again and passed into the next room with Mali to smash the specter with her hammer! Turning off the torches seemed to disengage the teleporting. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Thorn leapt through the window after her to arrive next to Posy, and sliced his daggers into the specter!

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Mali wove a spell to burst a powerfull sunburst, radiating light through windows next to her. The bright light turned two of the specters to ash and burned the others! It even slightly burned Posy and Mali herself. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Posy took down another specter with her hammer as she moved into the next room.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Thorn reached through the window with his daggers with a blur of rapid strikes that just missed the specter. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Wren, seeing the glare of light through the window, moved through the windows to arrive next to Erevin, "Erevin! I found gold upstairs." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">He nodded to her, sending another barrage of arrows into the last specter to bring it down. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Wren used the healing wand to heal the wounds on Thorn and Erevin, but she was unable to restore their draining, "Let's go upstairs and see if maybe there is something in the treasure to help you." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Treasure?" Thorn took off through the windows toward the stairs, "Mine!" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Wait! There might be more of that drug on it!" Wren called after him as she and the others followed him up.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">In the treasure room, the companions found 20,000 gold, 2 vials, a wavy dagger that was transparently thin with an ethereal glow on it, and a bastard sword made of a strange golden metal. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Posy snorted at the dagger, "That would have come in handy..." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The vials were a milky white liquid and held a max restoration dose. Both Thorn and Erevin drank them to restore most of their draining,

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The dagger is a +3 ghost touch dagger. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The bastard sword was light... weighing and acting more like a short sword. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The sword from the treasure in the fiery caverns was a frost brand sword. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">It seemed that the rewards at the end of a challenge would have been more handy to have in the beginning...

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The group moved back through the windows and down the hall to return to the lich room to go through the other door. Wren wove the warding hex back over the halfling rogue. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Thorn disarmed and unlocked the door, leading them into a hallway that turned to the right. He moved in carefully, looking for and disarming terrifying magical traps. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">He got the next door open to see a strange room with a pillar arcing electricity out into the room. Guarding the opening in the wall to the second part of the room was a massive liquid silver golem. Around the wall, appeared to be a second pillar that was also dancing lightning arcs.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> Thorn peered into the room with a frown, "You might want to stay out here for a minute." He ran through the room as quick as he could, dodging to avoid the bolts of lightning arcing through the room. As he approached closer to the enormous mithril golem, it reached out and pounded him with one it's massive fists! The highly dexterous young rogue tumbled past the golem, vaulting off the wall beside it to tumble behind it where he could see another pillar of lightning in the room near a torch on the wall. The mithril golem pummeled him with both of it's fists, breaking bones and leaving massive black bruising over his halfling body! Amazingly Thorn still managed to get to the wall and focus through the pain to engage the mechanism that turned off the lightning in the room! The golem appeared less liquid-like, hardening into a solid mithril form.

Everyone watched from the door, hearing Thorn's groans of pain until the lightning stopped arcing. Erevin pulled his moonblade and charged in, but his mighty swing clanged against the hard metal. Posy charged in behind him with her adamantite hearth hammer to pound a large dent in it's leg! The golem swung it's fists, smashing Posy with one and Erevin with the other!

Mali shapeshifted into a tiny hummingbird. Wren stepped into the doorway, releasing a powerful bolt of cold into the golem to cause it to become brittle and start to crack. Thorn stayed in the corner of the room, drinking down the potion of healing Posy had handed to him before he went in the room, mending some of his broken bones. Erevin wielded his moonblade, hacking into the mithril figure with it's cold seeping in to make the golem more brittle.

Posy smashed her hammer again and again into the golem, hitting it squarely into it's chest to shatter the golem into chunks and pieces in the room. The companions gathered all of the pieces into bags. With the golem down, Mali and Wren made their way around to Thorn and healed away his wounds and bruising.

Thorn unlocked the next door to see a smaller room with a chest sitting on a table. He carefully opened the chest as he heard mechanical noises coming from beyond the next door. Inside the chest was 6 vials of resist electricity (30 resistance). Thorn growled out curses at the mocking reward.

The young halfling looked over the highly complicated lock on the next door. Wren wove a heroism spell over Thorn, boosting his morale as he tried to unlock the door. He used his own halfling luck and brought out his finest tools to finally be successful. The whole hallway had pendulum blades and spears shooting from one side to the other! Wide eyed, Mali wove a dexterous spell of grace over Thorn and her companions. Thorn rubbed his hands together, and nodded to his companions, "Wait here."

Thorn expertly tumbled and dodged through the hallway, timing each swipe and strike of blades and spears! As he wove around the corner, he accidentally hit a pressure plate on the floor and acid misted into the room. He kept going with full focus, arriving at the end to turn the torch in the room to shut off all of the traps in the room. The others made their way down to join him where he could see a large room. A brazier stood in the center of the room lighting up a shadowy statue with it's hands held out, cupped to hold the bauble Thorn was supposed to deliver. A dozen shadowy knights in black platemale stood on either sides of the long room. They stood still, but breathed and moved slightly.

Thorn described the room to everyone in hushed whispers as they gathered close. Mali flew up to the doorway, sending out a storm of fire into the room that exploded the knights into shadows that dispersed! Thorn stood at the doorway, peering with caution as the flames in the cauldron waved shadows on the wall recreating the knights in the room. The others started talking about mass spells to keep them busy while Thorn went into the room, but Erevin suggested a more stealthy approach.

Mali wove another storm of fire, dissipating the knights to let Thorn swiftly move through the shadows of the room in silence up to the brazier. He stayed in silence as they flickered back into existence. As he worked the mechanisms, his companions hovered at the doorway ready to help him should the figures start to attack. He continued to expertly move around the brazier as he disengaged the four mechanisms all around it. Once the last mechanism was in place, the room became brightly lit, and the knights vanished. The rest of the group filtered into the room.

Thorn placed the bauble into the hands of the statue and a large chest snapped open in the back of the room. Not trusting it, the young halfling looked over the chest for traps, but didn't find any. A shadowy sphere the size of a grapefruit sat on a pedestal within the chest... Thorn carefully picked up the orb and it liquefied into a black ink-like substance that seeped into his hands and ran up his arms invigorating him with a mythic level! * 5 Mythic Power points Any mythic point can be used to increase any d20 roll with a d6. (at any time, even after you roll) Hard to Kill Feat Improved Critical Mythic Feat (critical multiplier of your chosen weapon is increased by 1 ... giving Thorn's dagger a critical of x3)

With Thorn filled with power, the light of the pillars went out and everyone was submerged in utter darkness... a moment later, everyone arrived at the alleyway where they had entered the Den of Sin. Wren looked the halfling over with curiousity, "You're looking rather roguish." She winked at him. "Yes, I am," Thorn grinned.

The companions returned to the elven embassy, finding their friends waiting for them. Thorn glanced around the room at all of the hugging couples reuniting and summoned his mirror image from his dagger, and hugged his twin. The group settled in for the night, recovering and getting much needed rest. Any lost experience was returned with rest over the next couple of days.

The group sat around a big breakfast table enjoying their meal as they discussed plans. Thorn and Wren noticed that the food tasted rather bland. "I feel too good for this sausage," Thorn frowned, "And these hashbrowns are so beneath me." Wren glanced at Thorn and back at her food, stirring it around on her plate... it certainly looked like the same food, but Thorn was right, the food was definitely sub-par. One of the elven servants came closer to the young witch, "Is everything to your liking?" Briefly considering ordering something else, Wren shook her head, "It's fine." "You lied! This food is horrible," Thorn asked loudly with no shame, coating his plate in salt, "What is this kibble you're feeding us?" Wren's eyebrows furrowed for a moment as she realized the words that came out of her had indeed been a lie... she was released from the curse.

Anna strode into the room accompanied by two other elves, a pair of silver-haired twin brothers. "Good morning, Lord Erevin," one of the brothers addressed him, dressed as a rogue, "Your sister was kind enough to point you out to us. Do you mind if we join you for breakfast?" "Not at all," Erevin nodded and gestured to a couple of chairs, "Pull up a seat." "It's a little sub-par today, but I'm sure you'll find it fine," Wren nodded beside him. The two brothers sat down among them, pulling up plates. "Oh yes," Thorn nodded, adding with great sarcasm, "Enjoy the... food." Wren laughed softly, sipping her orange juice that tasted very watered down only to wrinkle her nose and turn to Erevin who was eating away happily, "Does everything taste alright to you?" "Mmm it's very good today," Erevin answered with a nod and another forkful of food. Wren leaned closer to Thorn, "Does this mean we wont enjoy food anymore? We're going to have to find some magic spice..." Thorn nodded to her, "They don't understand."

The brother dressed like a rogue introduced them, "My name is Aglarond Silvermist, and this is my brother Azaran." He gestured to the warrior who's appearance matched his own. "It is good to meet you both. Where are you from?" Erevin asked. "We are from Myth Drannor," Aglarond answered. "Ah, how fairs the crescent city?" the elven prince inquired further. "It is well. Quite the trip from here," the rogue brother nodded, "We were hoping to get a ship. My family makes fine things from crystal, and we were hoping to find some potential buyers in the cities around the Sea of Falling Stars here. We've been looking for trade contacts. Your sister has given me the names of some of the noble families here in Lyrabar, but we've heard that elven goods are popular in some of the southern cities, especially Chessenta, so we were thinking of heading to Cimbar ." "I've never been to Cimbar myself," Erevin nodded.

"Your sister has told us of your great adventures, so my brother and I would love to hear of your exploits," Aglarond encouraged. "Well better than my exploits," Erevin nodded, "Let me introduce you to my friend, Lord Chaat who I'm sure could arrange more boats than you know what to do with. If you're unfamiliar with the Chaat family, they are from Sarshel and do a great business over the Sea of Falling Stars. What matter of crystal do you trade in?" Aglarond displayed several nicely crafted crystal statuettes of elves and dragons, pendants with crystals set into them, and some rings, "The crystals are set so that you could also use them for tips on wands and many other things. My brother is quite skilled as a cutter." Azaran nodded his head, still sitting rather quietly.

"Mmm I have recently started work on a home here, and I am in need of a centerpiece chandelier," Erevin nodded, "Have your artisans fashion something worthy of me, and I'll guarantee that every noble from Myth Coramanth to Suzail will see it. Just tell me what you need." "Well," Aglarond blinked a little in surprise, "It would certainly benefit our reputation to do work for the prince of Myth Coramanth. We would be honored. We will send for the crystal right away." "It will put off our trip to Cimbar," the more warrior-like brother tilted his head at the rogue. Aglarond shook his head, "But this is for the elven prince."

Erevin smiled, "Do you have rooms here?" Anna stepped in and offered for them to stay at the embassy, "I would be glad to put you up." "Thank you, Anna," Erevin nodded to her. "Certainly. Anything for my brother," she nodded back to him, and paused her steps to look over the witch beside him, "Wren... you are looking very beautiful today." Wren stopped stirring the food on her plate to look up at the elven princess, "Why thank you, Anna, that's very sweet of you. You always look lovely." Anna nodded to her, "Thank you." Erevin raised an eyebrow, looking at his companions. He'd been with them day in and day out for such a long time... but certainly Wren and Thorn seemed to emit more of a presence at the table today. The elven prince sent word for the twin brothers to be invited to the late spring parties around Lyrabar.

Wren pushed her plate away from her, glancing around at her companions... all of which seemed to be enjoying the food except for Thorn who did look more handsome than before... She looked over Kale, he was certainly just as handsome as she remembered... though last night had been the first time she could remember actually outlasting him. She glanced at the beautiful dark skinned priestess on Erevin's other side... she was going to need to talk with Shri who had already been bestowed with divinity from her goddess.

Treasure The group sorted out the treasure, getting 20,000 gold each between gold and gems. 1 vial of lightning resist each (30 resistance) Uther = +2 Sunblade +4 against evil / does dbl damage to undead and negative energy / does triple damage on a crit / does bastard sword damage but acts like a short sword / once per day with a command it glows a 60' radius of daylight that hurts anything that is normally harmed by natural sunlight Thorn = +3 ghost touch dagger Frostbrand blade ?

Everyone visited Shandra's House of Wonders to spend their new treasure on new items. Don't forget to look up what you want. :-)

The companions teleported on to Myth Coramanth to discuss plans with an elven smith to work on the bags of high quality mithril they brought back from the golem. They arrived just outside of the mythal and were escorted in by one of the rangers chosen from the forest. He couldn't help himself but to keep gazing at Wren with a blush on cheeks. Thinking of his sister, Kale narrowed his eyes at Thorn, "No!"

Everything had a fresh late spring smell to it as the companions walked through the city. A crowd gathered around them as the walked, including several children who seemed to hang around Wren and Thorn. Lady Lionspaw greeted them at the palace, sweeping Erevin into a hug, "It is good to see you and your friends again. We never know when you will be popping in and out." "As often as I can," Erevin nodded to her, returning her embrace. "That is very sweet of you to say, my son," Hirotsu smiled at him. She glanced curiously at Wren and Thorn, "I sense a touch of the divine in you both." "Indeed, it is a pleasure to see you as always, my Lady," Wren bowed before the queen, "Hopefully the next time you see your son, he will have a touch of the divine as well." "He is already divine," Hirotsu winked at her, "Just look at the ladies of the court... they think so." Shri stood proudly beside Erevin, "Then they need to step back." Wren laughed and nodded her agreement.

Erevin told his mother the story of Lantan and Myth Taryn, and handed her some introductory letters from the elves who had been trapped for a thousand years. Elven maids and couriers hung around the courts to hear the stories, awwing over Posy as the story of her wedding was told.

The group went on tell the stories of the Halls of Mask and the Plane of Water... and the horrific monsters Ghandahaur had set upon the world. When the tales had been told, Horitsu turned to Erevin, "So I assume, my son, that you have come home to enter the Realm of Corellion?" "It is on the list," the elven prince nodded to her, "but first I need to see the elven smith... we have things to made." He showed her the piles of mithril the group had brought back. "Ah yes, Mogrim's friend," she nodded, and sent word to the smith to expect them, "I can certainly speak with the High Priestess Dulcet about having a gate opened up for you. If anyone can do it... it would be her here with her brother and the other priests. There is no one else that could do such a thing except for perhaps on Evermeet. I will send word to the temple of Corellion. We will see if Corellion deems it... we can perhaps a gate open to Arvandor tomorrow." Erevin bowed, "Whatever Corellion deems." Horitsu nodded and smiled, "I must say, my son, I am a bit jealous... I have served Corellion my whole life and I have felt his touch and his power... but I have never journeyed to his realm or actually seen him." Erevin offered her his bow, "You are welcome to take my place." The paladin queen laughed, "Corellion has asked you, my son, not me." She pushed the bow back toward him, "If that was his will, I'm sure he would let me know. I feel his presence every day." "Then you are blessed, Mother," Erevin nodded to her. "And..." Horitsu looked her son in the eye for a moment, adding, "Don't do anything that would reflect badly on me." He shook his head, "Of course not. I would not dare to put my feet upon his table."

"I trust my sisters have caused you no trouble?" Wren asked, turning to Horitsu. "Other than leading many young men astray... no, they have been very quiet. I'm sure they will be happy to see you," Horitsu nodded. "Of course. I have plans to go and see them... I just wanted to get the facts from you first," Wren smiled. "Quiet?" Erevin raised an eyebrow, "That can't be good." Wren nodded to him in agreement. "Well certainly you have nothing to fear from me," Horitsu assured her, "What young elven men do on their own time is their own business." The Lady Lionspaw turned to the group, "We have not heard any more news of Ghandahaur or the drow... however the scouts have reported lights in the sky and falling stars." Wren frowned, "That's not good... those falling stars are likely bodies... Let's hope that they're Ghandahaurian bodies." Erevin nodded, "We will not have defeated the drow until I walk the underdark and purge it of all of them." "I agree we must remain vigilant," Horitsu nodded, brushing off the violence in her son's voice, "I've spoken with Mogrim and they are watching their underground tunnels and passageways." Erevin nodded to her, "They should be ever vigilant."

*Decide what you want to have made from the mithril at the smith... mithril is lighter, harder to break, and counts as silver. It also has lesser arcane spell penalties and takes well to magical enchantments. Weapons, Shields, Armor?

Kale looked to Wren, "We should go and see my sister... I was thinking we could spend the night there." "Of course," Wren nodded, "But first I need to check in with my sisters." "You go on and see your sisters, and meet me back there?" Kale asked. "Of course," Wren nodded, and flew off to the Tree of Raven's Nest. Dressed in fine diaphanous black, Parula met Wren outside of the tree. "Parula! You're back from Lyrabar!," Wren embraced the blonde elven woman warmly, "How is your witch hunter?" "I miss him terribly. Crowe summoned me back... but he writes me letters every day!" she answered, linking her arm into Wren's, "Come, I'll show you." "Oh, okay," the raven haired woman followed her in, seeing a black wolf lying on the rug in her room, "You have a new wolf too! I'm very excited to see that." Parula chatted on and on about Jerrandis, showing her a box of letters and poetry. Wren scanned through them looking for any sign that he had gained any clue to her being a witch. "Is she going on about him AGAIN?!" a young elven girl with long silver hair entered the room. "Shrike!" Wren wrapped her in an embraced, "It's so good to see you." "I want to hear more about this... Jerrandis... and not from HER. She just gushes about him... it's disgusting!" Shrike shuddered, and sat next to Wren. "Oh... well let's see... He's a noble in Lyrabar," Wren started out. "Well that's good. At least we'll be taken care of," Shrike nodded her approval. "True... but don't go spreading word about you being a witch. He is a witch hunter after all," the raven haired elven woman cautioned. "Well surely he must know," the young girl looked perplexed. "He's... he's not the brightest of witch hunters," Wren laughed, "Though I've tried to teach him that there ARE good witches." "Dumb and rich," Shrike nodded, "I like it." "Well there you go," Wren smiled looking from Shrike to Parula and back.

"Anyway... Crowe sent me to get you. She wants to talk to you," Shrike nodded. "I'm being summoned. That's adorable. Where is Crowe?" Wren replied. "Well she is the coven leader," Shrike nodded. "Just currently operating, dear, just operating," Wren patted her shoulder. "I don't know... the way she talks... It seems much more permanent in her mind," the young girl shook her head. "Is that so?" Wren raised an eyebrow. "At least the way she lords it around," Shrike continued. "Oh lording too?" Wren sighed, shaking her head, "Let's go see Crowe." As she followed the young girl up through the tree, she noticed Crowe's pictures and style pervading the tree.

They went to the central chamber where most of the witches had already gathered and Crowe was sitting in their mother's chair. Wren sauntered through the room, letting her power drip off of her as she moved to greet her sister, "Crowe! It's so good to see you. You seem to have left your stuff all over the coven." "Wren," Crowe stood and bowed with rigidity, lies spilling from her lips, "I'm so glad that you have returned. I've missed you so much. Please, please come in." She embraced her with a fake hug. Wren sat down in her mother's chair, propping her feet up. "Please... make yourself at home," Crowe managed to speak with a terse sweetness, her violet eyes showing the anger that the rest of her barely concealed. "Of course," Wren nodded, "It's mine after all." "It is truly good to see you again," Crowe answered, "I have held up my end of the bargain and kept us out of trouble."

Wren nodded, "I have heard that other than a traipsing of men... you've remained under the radar of our Lady Queen anyway." "You wouldn't want us to deny our very nature, would you?" Crowe asked with a tone of innocence. "No, of course not," the younger sister replied, still sitting comfortably in the head chair. "I'll try to be more circumspect," Crowe nodded, "We wouldn't want everyone thinking that we're a coven of sluts." "Oh it's too late for that," Wren shook her head.

"So what brings you back, sister?" Crowe asked sweetly, "Just passing through hopefully?" Wren turned her face to her and smiled, "Why if I didn't know better, I'd say you were in a rush to have me gone... I thought you missed your sister?" "I do miss you," Crowe nodded, "But it's just that we have so much to do here." "Oh really?" Wren raised an eyebrow, "So you've worked on the hospitality of the coven for when we have guests? And you're keeping up with the alchemy and rituals?" "Yes," Crowe nodded, "There are sister out gathering herbs now, and we've performed various ceremonies to our patrons." Wren glanced at the others, looking for the truth, and it seemed in fact that they were keeping up.

"If you stay for a few days, we could have a nice big bonfire and a dance around it," Crowe offered. "That does sound lovely," Wren nodded, "I'll be gone for a couple of days, but I'll be back. Have you looked into the shop in the city that I asked you to work on?" "Yes..." Crowe nodded, obviously not working on it as much as she could have, "It's just when I go into the city I tend to get distracted." "Mmm," Wren nodded, "Men are so shiny." Crowe nodded, "Where is your shiny man?" "He's looking after his shiny sister," Wren nodded. "He is so devoted," Crowe nodded. "It's endearing," Wren agreed.

After the other witches presented themselves and went on about their business, the two blood sisters sat down to drink wine and talk about the tales of her travels and letters from Raven declaring that she was fine and not to come kicking in any doors. The friends that she traveled with were all fine as well. After spending the early evening hours talking with Crowe, Loch, and the others hearing that things had been fairly quiet... but it seemed like a calm before the storm. She bid farewell to her sisters and returned to Kale's sister's house.

"Is everything alright, Wren? My brother locked the door," Yenshul greeted the young witch, welcoming her inside. Wren glanced at the little latch lock and laughed before turning to Kale with a raised brow, "Really?" After just coming from the Halls of Mask where Thorn expertly wove his way through treacherous traps and nearly impossible locks... he latched the door? She could practically hear Thorn's laughter. "And he seems pretty jumpy," Yenshul went on. "I'm sure it's nothing you need to worry about," Wren nodded, "Has Thorn been by to see you yet?" "Thorn has returned too?" the young elven woman brightened. "Indeed," Wren nodded, "And he's even more roguish than before." "I should start baking muffins," Yenshul beamed, heading toward the kitchen, "He loves my muffins!" "Really?" Kale gave her a disdainful look. "What? What did I say?" the younger woman shrugged, turning back to Wren, "I have Kale's room clean, so you're both welcome to spend the night." "You're the sweetest," Wren nodded to her. "We could not turn down such hospitality," Kale beamed.

"We'll be gone for a couple of hours though," Wren smiled at his younger sister, "We're going to go walk around the city... it's been a long time since we've been home." Kale turned to Wren with narrowed eyes. She smiled with innocence, "What? You don't want to go bathe in the waters at the Temple of Hanalil? The cascading gold." "I know what you're up to," he accused her. She shrugged, "I'm sure Loch will go with me if you don't want to go... or I could go alone." "No, no... we can go," he turned to Yenshul, "Would you like to accompany us?" "No, I've got some more baking to do, but you and Wren go have fun," she assured him.

As Wren and Kale stepped out of the door, Thorn slipped in before the door even closed behind them. They could hear the latch engage, locking the door behind them, and Kale seemed to relax, "Oh good, she's locking the door. She'll be safe."

Erevin went to go see the rangers in the lodge out in the trees. Mira welcomed him in with a warm embrace as the other rangers pushed the tables back out of the way to take a knee, "Lord Erevin! You have come to see us!" "Really?" Erevin shook his head, "On your feet, scabs." They drank and feasted, singing songs of the old. Many coming to clasp his arm or slap him on the back... each one rubbing their hands in dirt beforehand to help him look more dirty. They exchanged tales of hunts in the forests... the buck getting bigger as the drinking went on. They told him who made the best arrows in town and which men and women in town were more amenable... several crude comments of Crowe came up as well. Erevin told them the tale of the fallen angels as they told him about the falling stars. He enjoyed reconnecting with his roots. Just a few years ago, he had been such a simple woodsman. He glanced up to the gap in the canopy of trees to see the stars above. When that baelorn had given him the moonblade... everything changed.

Posy and Uther went out into the Rawlinswood to hunt and have some alone time. They took down a good sized buck and enjoyed the evening.

Thorn reconnected too, but he was gone before Kale and Wren returned. Several muffins were missing from her tin and she had the biggest smile. "You look so happy," Wren smiled at her. "I am! I love baking!" Yenshul beamed. "I'm going to bed," Kale grumpily stormed to his room.