Session Five - 3/30/25
1832 AS Apollal 14
The Return to Bentrios
We reach the edge of the forest and we thank our escorts of the centaurs from the Messengers of the Queen. They leave. We travel toward Bentrios. Gildas sends up his owl familiar, Yew, to scout ahead. The surroundings are eerily quiet as the forests and hills are non-fey. Corvinas feels a bit paranoid about the quiet and feels like the party is being followed. He notices movement in the brush that is not caused by wind.
Brigit decides to stealthily check out what's going on by hanging back while the party continues onward. She sees a fey creature intent on our purses. Brigit attacks the small creature and it goes almost catatonic in fear. Makani figures out that it is a leprechaun. I give him a gold piece and persuade him to tell us what he is doing. He says he’s trying to steal the axe. He then disappears. The party searches for him and Gildas’ Yew spots him nearby enjoying the coin I gave him. Gildas directs Yew to attack the leprechaun but misses. The leprechaun scurries away.
We have a day of travel and decide to camp out. Watches are standing and the night is quiet with no encounters.
1832 AS Apollal 15
The Party Continues to Bentrios
We traveled a half day to Bentrios. Tower renovations are being made. Magic shops are affected by the changes happening in the world. A lot of civilized chaos from the disruption in technology. We decide to travel to the temple of Siath to find Father Joseph.
Gildas explains that we have recovered the axe. Does the axe have anything to do with Salazar? It makes more sense for the Demon Lord of Rage to want the Axe. It seems like it may be a hostile take over from lightning taking over the infernal realm. We encourage Father Joseph to take over from the mayor of Bentrios in leadership as the mayor is completely embroiled in controversy and corruption.
We head to the mayor’s office in the tower.We ask the mayor what he plans on doing with the axe and we demand that he return it when he is done using it. He says he will do his best to return it when Salazar is done with it. The mayor then relates that his political power has been in steep decline for some time and that the economy of the city is in shambles. He has made mistakes with the use of the military and in dealings with foreign powers.
Outside we hear thunder rolling in. Lightning strikes in the room and the Lightning Demon Lord Salazar appears. He examines the axe and looks at the runes and recites some incantation. He mentions that he is under an infernal contract. The mayor compllains and Salazar responds, “remember Baron, the monkey’s paw curls”. The mayor pleads for mercy. The Baron’s contract says that the demon lord would “fix things” for the Baron in return for certain artifacts being available including the axe. The demon lord fulfills his part of the bargain and shunts the city to a point of the beginning of the age of Discovery. The time when the city was at its most prosperous and well off time. The City reverts in time to that period. Alexander’s Inn disappears, the town shrinks like a bad dream in slow motion. The tower itself begins to dematerize and shrink beneath us, as the tower did not exist at that time period. The tower collapses slowly to a town square of old. People all over the town are confused and warforged begin disappearing. Salazar smiles and disappears with a wink.
I vow to capture this moment in a ballad entitled “The Contract of Baron Wells”
We see father Joseph in the throng of confused townfolk. He mentioned that there are well springs of magic that have been opened. In older times, a similar occurrence as this time was called the cataclysm. The wells are potent sources of magic and that all signs are that we are at the beginning of a cataclysm. Do we know what opened the magic? Joseph says that only someone of great power of old could do this such as Urgan or Jennifer. What do we need to do to close them? How do we close these wells of magic? Joseph says that we need to learn how to close the wells from the wells of magic themselves.
He mentions the island of Haunidal has one of these wells. There arew no known maps to this place. The cataclysm is known to form from natural storms that are created under unnatural circumstances. I mentioned that this sounds like the destruction of the outer isles of the celestial isles where Makani’s folk originated from.
I also talk about returning to the Fey and taking care of the Alliance of Stars for the council of the tree. Father Joseph mentioned that the Alliance of Stars is based in Bentrios and is a small adventure party. I sent out a question to my underground network to gather anything and any information on this group in Bentrios.
We thank the father and head to the nearest tavern for the night. I – as normal – busk for the innkeeper.
