Party: Iskren / Sorval / Taurio / Zantaroth / Vultha
Griev 9th
As the party split up, we find certain things happening in unison, and certain following a logical progression.
After repairing some gear and contemplating the two Planeswalkers he served, Sorval finds himself ... beset by Wallflower, who manages to get the great hero to blush and take chances with being caught by bounty hunters rather than stay and explore her varied charms. Using his wings, he heads straight to the Wicker Goat, to find Taurio and Zantaroth.
Vultha scans the area where he was instructed to wait, keeping out of sight and doing his best to not alert suspicious guards.
Iskren, finding themselves surrounded by the debt-bound ghosts in a grey phantasmal realm. Chains are dangling from each of the spirits, a sign of their debt.. Worse though, Iskren finds a chain running from Little-T to them, but also from themselves to a point beyond his reach.
A gentle voice calls out to Iskren: "Sister, you here?", a child stands nearby, holding the chain that came from Iskren. Ten years, maybe. Elven features. A mask adorns its face. It is highly understanding of Iskren's plight and tells his sister that the Ghost Council itself visited him to explain his situation and pass a chain to him. He speaks of potentially inhabiting the soulless babe in Iskren's womb. Iskren is not opposed to this. As she says so, the boy says he will consider her motivations and tells her to move on, as another is waiting for her.
The other eventually is encountered, a lady elf, with four horns on her head, speaking in repetitions. The horned elf seems confused, as she was there to meet Ishtra, not Iskren. Her bodyguard stands by without saying a word. Iskren makes their stand and tells the lady that they will take control of the Shademurk's Orzhov chapter. The lady suggests that defiling a specific altar downtown would be a tradeable asset for the favours, one of which is turned down - slaying the remaining ghost of Ishtra.
Two small horns push through Iskren's skull, as they leave the lady and hurry to the Old Temple, where Vultha awaits.
Zantaroth reminds Taurio of the mission set by Iskren before Sorval arrives, wings out. Sorval focusses on getting beer and then seeks out his friends. Sorval treats the bar to a round in order to get back in the good graces of the crowd, before the trio rouses a rabble through the offer of alcohol and takes it to the temple. The strength in numbers makes for an uneventful journey for the party, though various lizard invaders meet their end.
Iskren checks with Zantaroth for coordination, before speaking to the oldest guardian of the Temple. Being informed that a sacrifice is required to gain the power of this place, the guardian brings forth a weapon to slice off Iskren's hand. They lose their hand, thereby enabling them to take the Bright Hand from Wellgar. Taking a little time to recover, Iskren manifests in the Ravnican plane again.
The immediate reaction is one of shock and violence, as a massive dinosaur and rider appear in the middle of the Temple. Iskren shouts at Wellgar that he is relieved of his duties, and that the truth and justice will return to the Shademurk as power is granted to them.
Expressing his disappointment, Wellgar casts ray of sickness at Iskren, kicking off a battle that can only have one certain conclusion.
At the end, the party reunites, Zantaroth running through Wellgar with his blade, Vultha claiming the priest's soul while a heavily damaged Iskren takes control of the Bright Hand, allowing the oldest temple guardian to disappear. The Boros crew call off the aggression, though a single Orzhovian guard still casts a ball of fire at Iskren. As Sorval's death ward triggers and keeps Iskren safe, the guard seems satisfied and does not take further action, proclaiming himself to be Tehn.
An old acquaintance, Megaera, had joined the fray, and the reunion with Sorval is a happy one.
The Irone Brotherhood become the de-facto guardians as the current Orzhov guards are somewhat damaged. Iskren takes a moment to declare an alliance between the forces of Boros and Orzhov in Shademurk, aligning their goals and ambitions for the time being.
A lady of undeterminable age steps up and talks a little with Iskren, asking to collaborate on certain matters, with her being a paladin of Serra. Sorval asks her to join him in liberating Shademurk, to which she replies there's the matter of the Fragment of Eternity running rampant still. She does point the party to a cultist hole, previously a shrine to Arcades Sabboth. Upon his request, she also tells Taurio the minotaurs seem to have arrived in Sunhome.
Iskren gives cleaning orders as Evril makes her way out.
Vultha asks if he can inspect the inventory of the Temple, for items the party can use. Taurio checks in with Zantaroth for his future plans. Zantaroth wants to reduce the followers of Arcades to cease to exist after giving him more information on a shard of the Destroyer on this plane. He seems distracted.
Megaera is offered a chance to join Iskren's side, but she prefers to go to her own dwelling for the evening. Iskren sends a message to Athra, mentioning their plans for tomorrow. After that, Iskren drinks a glass of wine and has Thaya draw a bath.
Taurio and Sorval head back to the Fogger and the Wicker Goat, with some drinking and plans to rendez-vous with Iskren at the Temple the next day. Taurio also organised a small patrol to keep an eye out for Iskren's safety. At the end of the evening, Sorval writes a letter to his grandfather.
Zantaroth goes on a scouting mission, steering clear of danger and scaring off non-danger. His mark flares up for a short while as he strays near the shrine of Sabboth.
Vultha heads for the Grove of Freyalise, finding the caretaker gone and a feral feel taken over the paths. Setting himself down, Vultha attempts to commune with the goddess, but cannot find the meditative trance to connect correctly, spending too much time noticing the damages done to the grove rather than feeling one with nature. He starts mending the damaged parts of the grove, slowly taking on the role of caretaker without noticing it, restoring paths and returning a sense of wholeness to the grove.
Zantaroth eventually joins up with his friend. He also tries to meditate, but finds himself distracted by the gardening efforts. Zantaroth gives up on trying to find his deity, rather joining into the restorative effort with Vultha.
As they round off their evening's work, Vultha and Zantaroth summon forth, through ritual magic, a large black and white bear. It urges to dispatch of the Nephilim, as that corrupts the land around to an extend none of the human or planeswalker influences have.
Vultha puts down an idol of Autumn Willow in the Poppy Field, building a small shrine and begging her protection down on the area.
And thus ends the evening of an excessively busy day.
