Chapter 1, Part II: Here We Go Again

Oznuk Goskem

    Written by Justin

As we drift off to slumber, we find ourselves aboard the dream vessel again

Oxford Kahma was about to break a story last night, got roughed up in an alley, passed out. He was in Verdantia

Zara was on a hunt with Zabel (sister), found a nook in the Underdark big enough for the two of them to pass out

Grayce was on a ship, working her way across the ocean

Oznuk was up late studying at the Arcademy and passed out at the library table

Tiziri lives in a nomadic tribe in the desert in his mom's tent

6 hours of sunlight in a day on Fynali

We all create a dead hero for our secondary characters to interact with on the dream ship

Oxford was in a town that was the site of a great battle when he felt the yearning for the first time. Realized there is more connecting people than separating them.

Zara was back from a long trip, selling what she hunted. Zeke was hounding the attention, no one paid Zara any mind. Fang on a necklace begins to glow

Grayce had her moment when she was stealing a decorative spyglass. The spyglass was glowing when she went to grab it

Oz's moment is with a book that is NOT about Brio, a very strange thing to be found in the Goskem compound

Tiziri is from a desert east of Brimhold, he's a bit of a McConaughey from Dazed and Confused type, he went to steal shit from an oasis city on the edge of the desert, yoinks a fishing tackle box, a fishing hook glows

We can see each other's faces, and the OG party's faces

We wake up and it's neither cool, nor night, the sand is scorching and the sun is burning hot above us. Dunes of desert sand in every direction. Our 5 backup characters are here as well as a human teen girl, Selena Peat, a future champion of Wiltspar

Oz has read fictional books about similar scenarios to what we're in, in the About the Author section the Author mentioned being on the interdimensional boat that is the Moonlight Carnival

Zara is panicking internally because she realizes her sister is alone in the Underdark under Hatharcha. Realizes the areon the continent of Centra, which is known to be one of the most dangerous places in the entire world

We follow the child to a giant tree surrounded by a wooden wall, with a lush oasis

Guards are a giant snake dude and a hairy bugbear

We need to register at the tree if we're going to stay

It is a big mofuckin tree, most of us have heard tales of the tree and of Wiltspar in our lives. Wiltspar is the holdout that all the evil is trying to get to

Tree is a deep onyx color with silver fibers streaking through it. A glimmer on the leaves.

Selena takes us to the tree, and behind a door, behind a desk are two Harengons

Penelope and Chauncey. Penelope is happy and Chauncey is over it

The Wiltspar is considered the World Tree, monsters want that shit

3 animals roll in, a chipmunk, a squirrel, and a lizard. They are noticeably rotted, carrying

Selena brings us up the tree to see Aurifar, who seems like maybe the leader of this place?

Aurifar is an elf in long robes and he seems to know our names

He wants us to travel to an old hideout of his in the desert, inside this hideout there are several precious medallions, we need to bring them back

The Alchemist Jonas Goodman, Healer and doctor Hanx Calhoun, Monk Nitro Glycerin are the representatives of the Arcademy here in town

Harmonizing with the Wiltspar tree is going to be a way to get home

Traveling the desert can be very dangerous, Aurifier is putting his faith in Selena and Tiziri to navigate us through the desert

Possible traps in the hideout, most of them went off when they fled

As we are preparing to set off, we feel woozy and everything goes black, we feel like we're floating, adrift in a black void, we feel that yearning again and travel toward a bright gate, as we are embraced by the warmth of the light, we are reminded of our glowing objects

We hear a whisper

Grayce - steer your vessel through the waves, both high and low

Oz - sharp, precise, you must let your mind shine as bright as your devotion

Oxford, lilting, jingling voice, stack the odds in your favor and you can never lose

Tiziri - steady, husky voice, Stay grounded, keep steady, and follow your gut my champion

Selena - giggle of a child, the natural world

Eagan, Lindy, Tucker and Arty were the other members of the expedition that Selena was supposed to be on

We dispose of some sand elementals

As we come to the passageway in the mountainside we see footsteps in the sand, four sets of footsteps

NW corner of the first room two picture frames, pictures of Aurifier and a stately elf, nameplate reads Typhon Darling

North room has a candle with a plaque in front of it, withered and dried up plants on either side, tapestry on the wall is a circle with 9 stars, 9 with 4 points and 1 with 13

Plaque on the later says "In memory of the valiant keepers who gave their lives in the pursuit of a better Fynali"

South end of this room has a bunch of broken wooden objects piled up that may have been a barricade

The candle situation is a sacred ritual to remember those who have been lost. It is a ritual of Brio

Tiziri takes the portraits off the wall in the first room

The 8 outer tapestry stars are related to the Warden's shield

We find Eagan and Tiziri bullies him out of the ruins

Tiziri finds a bunch of clothes and some gold in a barracks-looking room. Patrol schedules and a warning about dust mephits (a little late for THAT)

Side drawer of one of the chests has a key

Ford goes to a further room and finds two more individuals

Arty is dead, Lindy? and Tucker? are being SUS AF, claim a trap caused him to go crazy and they had to kill him and stuff him in a hole?

Grayce locks herself in a hallway with a trap?

More exploration, Tiziri finds a cookbook

Grayce finds a fifth individual in the library

These creatures we killed are maurezhi, they consume a corpse and take on their form and memories

Tirizi finds 150 gp in the chest, healer's kit, grappling hook, wand

We pull the bodies out of the hole and they are Lindy, Tucker and Eagan

Tiziri finds 5 gp, some more desert clothes, and a Driftglobe, as well as notes from somebody writing about dangerous creatures nearby, the three types of creatures we have fought already, plus a giant sandworm bigger than a train

We save Arty but he's kind of a dick

I pick through the books that were not piled up by Arty

HQ that we are in is the HQ of the Keepers of Destiny

KoD is an organization put together by 8 people of immense power known as the High Keepers

Each of them especially skilled in one school of magic

Goal is to fight against all the darkness across Fynali

Believe that somehow Solana's influence remains on the world and that is why shit is so dangerous

Order of Righteous Conflict, which appears to be working opposite to KoD, actively working to bring Solana back

Dates on these documents lead me to believe that this particular hideout was abandoned a long time ago, it was active between 207-412 Era of the Warden

The 8 4-pointed stars on the tapestry represent the High Keepers

Scroll of Shield and Scroll of Magic Missile

In the big room the party finds portraits of Than Astra, a gaunt elven man, and Constantine Pluvaria, an aarakocra

On a metal arch, "Only those touched by the heavens may enter here. Blessings be shared to leave with more than you came"

Zara picks up a medallion, a symbol of fire, it lights up and feels at home in her hand

Two ghosts come out of the portraits, somewhat resembling the individuals in the portraits

Tiziri goes to touch one of the ghosts, uses his affinity power, and the ghosts reenter the portraits

Everyone grabs their emblem, except Oz who takes the other 6 into his pouch

As I am collecting the emblems a great fear takes me, I tell the group we need to GTFO

Zara Dusk-Fang Trouble

    Written by Sean

Greetings my adoring fans! It's Fynali's most famous raccoon, Trouble checking in!

Today was interesting but, you all know I faced it with no fear. It started off pretty normal, friend Zara, little Zabel, and I were on another epic hunt, we found a cozy little hole in the wall to go to sleep in. Zabel gives the absolute best cuddles. It got weird when I woke up cuz I was awake but everything around me was dark and I could see all of friend Zara's stuff floating all around me. It was like that for a bit but suddenly, BOOM! I came flying outta this little bag that seemed way too small to contain my greatness, that was weird but friend Zara was there! She looked really anxious, though... When I saw where we were it was really different! It was really hot and bright, not like the comfy dark and cool underground, AND little Zabel wasn't there, I think that's why friend Zara was all freaked out. I know I helped cheer friend Zara up, I'm really good like that.

There were these strange new people with friend Zara, I'm sure she didn't like that at all. There was another Orc named Schnoz, a devil lady named Tracey, an elf named Ziriri, a big bull man named Rox Lord Drama who I will be referring to as RLD cuz that's a really long name he shoulda thought of that before he decided on picking that name, and a younger human girl named Selena. Selena knows where we were, and she took us to a big tree! The big tree was really neat, I wanted to climb it but, friend Zara needed her trusty protector Trouble! The strange people and Selena talked to new strange people in the big tree. One of the tree people had undead doing stuff for him... We don't like that guy.

A lotta talking happened with the tree people, they must've known I was getting bored because this elf guy told us all to go places and do things! The old elf guy was interesting, he could like see stuff, he could see things that didn't happen yet, that was pretty cool, not as cool as me, though! Friend Zara talked to the old elf guy and he could see where little Zabel was! He said little Zabel was ok and that she was heading back home, that's good. I'm not gonna lie, guys I was a bit worried about little Zabel cuz I'm not there to protect her, friend Zara was really relieved too.

We walked for a really long time through the desert to go places and do things but Schnoz made us big blocks of ice to keep us all cool, Schnoz seems like a good dude. On the way there, we got attacked by angry sand and little mud birds but they were no match for me! The others helped, too, I guess. We finally made it to the place where we're gonna do things and it kinda felt like home, it was underground and dark, cozy. Friend Zara was able to follow the tracks of the people who were here before us she's really good at tracking, she saw they were basically lost probably cuz they didn't have me to guide them, it's sad, really. There was a room with a candle that Schnoz was really interested in but, when we got out of there, we went deeper and we found someone from the group that got here before us and Ziriri got really aggressive with the new person, could Ziriri not see that he was freaking friend Zara out? I really thought I was gonna have to teach Ziriri a lesson keeping his cool, if you know what I mean, friend Zara squeezes me a little too tight when she gets anxious. The new person was also really rude to Selena, I don't like this new person.

We looked around the new place, lots of boring broken stuff, old pictures of dead people. EVERYONE IS ARGUING AND FRIEND ZARA REALLY DOESN'T LIKE IT, THESE PEOPLE NEED TO CHILL THE HECK OUT!!! Schnoz thinks these new people are sketchy, I agree but he could learn a thing or two from me about tact. We found a hole! Schnoz sent a weird fey weasel down the hole instead of me! The nerve of this guy! The fey weasel found a dead body, that little wimp was probably scared out of his wits, I wouldn't have been, though! Now Schnoz is really sketched out by these new people... Tracey keeps calling friend Zara "wallflower" I like that nickname, friend Zara is pretty like flowers but it makes friend Zara nervous for some reason, she really needs to learn how to take a compliment. Fluff's getting real in here! Schnoz finally got fed up with the new people and attacked one of them with bell sounds? don't ask me, guys magic is really weird but, the new person turned into a creepy long-armed fleshy monster thing. With me on the team, we took those chumps down easily, and now everyone's freaked out. We kept exploring and found a room with all these weird necklaces, friend Zara picked one up and it started glowing! So cool! Friend Zara started acting strange, though... she seems more determined now. We took all the necklaces and left. We're back in the desert again but now it's nighttime and it's much colder. I really don't like this place.

Anyways, it's getting late and friend Zara wants to go to sleep now. Until next time, I've been your faithful champion, Trouble. Stay safe, everyone!