The McGuffin - 5/13 session recap

During the trip back to Jalakampathra, Thoric and Kylian succumbed to blindness, and were led the rest of the way by their companions. Thoric played the pity card with the tribal elder back at town, but ruined it by making reference to Linitheriva. It still had an emotional impact, but Kej said that he had no official capacity to reward or cure them. He suggested that the townspeople would be thankful should they simply tell their story.

So the party went to the only inn in town and told their tale. They garnered a lot of sympathy and praise, and everyone bought them drinks and food that evening. Even the semi-local people who were staying in the inn gave up their rooms that the party might be able to sleep in comfort. Everyone expressed regret that there was no one in town who could cure their blindness, but free quarterstaves were provided to help them navigate. It was suggested that perhaps the Magister would be able to help them. A woman tried to give Thoric a pouch of gold that she had collected from the townspeople in order to help him pay for a cure. He refused the money, but thanked them for their kindness.

The next day, several teens dragged a large block of sandstone into the middle of town by rolling it on logs, and they presented it to Thoric for carving into a sculpture. He set to work immediately. Ander picked up his map from the town scribe, and Kylian was taken to a small roadside shrine to Peshtem just outside of town. Boreas bartered for magical reagents and manged to sell his magical orb too.

Xakoraki and Ander went out to visit Hondro and Nunpar, who were still engaged in their ceremonial vigil at the cursed mesa. Ander snuck up on the militia encamped there, and was greeted warmly after the surprise had subsided. Xak spoke to the two boys, and they seemed to have gotten a little braver in the last few days. This was ruined when Xakoraki described the tentacled hobgoblins and aboleth that they encountered in the temple just a few days away. The boys recovered some of their poise when they realized that aboleths needed water to move around. But Ander said that this one had generated its own water, and that it might decide to escape one day. That scared the crap out of them again. Mission successful, Xak and Ander returned to town.

One the second day, Thoric was still working on his sculpture when Vrisana appeared with a flash of light. She gathered the townspeople together and told them that the party had been acting as her agents to clear the goblinoids out of the temple of Yama. She said that they had exceeded her expectations, and that they were to be honored for their service. She then escorted the party into the elder's house, and the official formalities were completed. She then asked the party to accompany her back to her tower. She did not have accommodations for all of them, but was able to conjure a magical pavilion for them to inhabit for a few days.

Vrisana gave each party member, including Kylian, 3000 gold pieces. She granted access to her Linked Portal and Cure Disease rituals. She also cured both Kylian and Thoric of their blindness. Boreas worked on upgrading his staff, but Vrisana wouldn't buff it for him.

After two days, she said that she was concerned that Orvalion might have relocated in the days since their divination. She was anxious to figure out if he was still there. The party packed up and teleported to the location that John had shown them. Thoric called out to Orvalion, and everyone stood in place so as not to make a misstep, either figuratively or literally. Orvalion showed up quickly, sword in hand, but stood and listened patiently while Thoric explained the entire story of their search for him. He studied each of them for their reactions to Thoric's story, and then nodded once. He touched the wall to one side of the corridor, and told the party to follow him, and not to linger too much in the room where he was just standing. Portions of the glyph on the floor had bits of thorium worked into it.

When asked about the effects of thorium, Orvalion said that he did not believe Caelbhan was seeking him for that reason. He said that the dragonstone did not contain any thorium, and that he had no way to cure Caelbhan, even if he wanted to. Which he didn't. He said that he believed Caelebhan merely wanted the dragonstone for study, and didn't trust him.

After some brief discussion about whether Vrisana could be trusted, they went back and told her that they had found Orvalion and that it was safe to teleport into his location. She then returned with them.