10/24/26

A kobold approached us to hire our group rather than having an actual client. Apparently the others had already been involved with something similar previously but now fighting something called War. We went to the location we were to protect or at least intervene from the incoming threat.

After minor discussion, others scouted out to find where the army was coming from. I stayed back to go over my spells to confirm which ones would be proper to use for handling an army.

The siege on the Syndicate months prior still weighs on my mind. But we're all stronger than back then.

I set up a fortress as well as symbol, using my own expenses and components to do so. I had a fair bit or preparation to do. Giving an Abjuration wizard time to prepare is a dangerous combination.

Perhaps I can convince Thrax to allow me to ward the Syndicate in the event of future issues.

We planned to lock Yashir in a Wall of Force with the horseman that we assumed was War and the rest of us handled its minions. A variety of flaming skulls, skeletons, death knights, and wasps. It was a hard fought battle but we succeeded in the end.

Learnable Creatures: Flaming Skeleton

This month was wrought with strangeness in all honesty. We pursued Lady Vesperleaf, Vincel enacted our agreement to compete with each other for a full month, and everyone grows stronger by the day.

It certainly has been a trip despite the business I find myself in.

-Salviron Lisel

9/18/2026

Arlis let us know that the Emerald Enclave was fighting off some force from a hamlet. We hurriedly headed out to assist.

Quickly heading out, we arrived at the hamlet, seeing the higher up figures in the Emerald Enclave. We spoke with them briefly, learning more of the rogue archdruid as was mentioned prior. He's destroying everything that can be called technological expansion. He's been controlling the animals to become more sympathetic to his cause and attack the enemies. The archdruid is Warden's brother, Dominic. They want us to bring him back alive preferably. Dominic defected, not seeing eye-to-eye on how the curent Emerald Enclave is being handled.

Dominic is up in the mountains and would like us to stop him, bringing him back alive.

As we traveled up the mountainside, I found various glyphs set up, blocking our path forward. After brief discussion, we all were able to fly and teleport out, me viper climbing on the side of the cliff instead. Then we came to a field of abominable yetis and winter wolves.

Of which I have researched extensively.

It was a bit of a touch-and-go situation but we managed to take them all out. We took a brief rest as Wuyon'e prayed and immediately continued forwards. A battle was ahead of us on a frozen lake where the council of the Emerald Enclave was fighting animated trees. We bypassed them as they looked to be succeeding and continued up the mountain.

We met with Dominic, who tried to speak with us in regards to joining his side but his idealology is not something I support. They've attacked far too many innocents to warrant us being on his side, and he has no empathy towards those that are simply trying to survive in this life instead of going after the ones that are the actual cause of this all. So we engaged in combat.

He fought with more yetis and wolves by his side but I captured him with Bigby's Hand and made him unable to act as he pleased. We proceeded to knock him out together and the Enclave leaders came up and rewarded us for capturing Dominic.

9/17/2026

Another request from Leadale was received, something about a mine. Great.

Once again we boarded a ship with the same captain as last time, Captain Delhany. However when we got to about halfway there, we experienced strange turbulence that fully rocked the ship. I stayed below deck in the room assigned to me. We eventually arrived to the island once again, meeting with a contact that directed us to the same manor as before where we spoke with Lord Leland again.

Shev struggled with the stairs again.

Lord Leland led us inside to give us breakfast again and Bri asked why the islanders are not able to go outside during the day. It seems the people of the island burn up into skeletons in the sun. They have reflections however so they are likely not vampires, especially since they properly eat still. He gave us a rundown about the mine, miners going missing and strange noises happening so he wants us to confirm it is safe for the islanders and his people. He provided us devices that can be used to breath in airless environments to assist as we explored the mine.

We headed to the mine next and a few workers were talking at the front of it. They warned us to not have open flames, which is common sense considering there's an unknown gas. After a small bit of preparing, we headed down into the mine.

After walking down for a bit, we spotted shadowy snake-like creatures. I'm...not entirely sure what exactly happened. I think Shev started speaking telepathically. But then their attention was drawn to me for some reason and they lunged forward to attack. They attempted to swallow Shev but Yashir and Bri were able to stop it from burrowing beneath the ground with him. When they were defeated, they dispersed into the shadows--the likely culprits of the missing minors.

Our exploration continued and the gas intensified the more we went downwards. Yashir found a diary of sorts that explained as they expanded the mine downwards they hit a gas pocket and intended to close the mine off due to deaths. It labeled the ore we found as greymatter. Yashir came to the conclusion that the mine was actually some kind of creature's skull and the shadowy snakes we fought were brain worms...

We continued down further, finding a large cavernous space that looked like a lair that had a lot more of the rocks piled up. There were many pools of the strange, pink goo that emitted the gas and we found strange tadpole eggs inside. We removed them and killed a vast majority, taking some for ourselves. There were bones of what we assumed to be the missing miners, likely being used as food for the eggs so that they can grow.

Then we headed back up, completing the exploration and telling Lord Leland what we learned.

9/16/2026

A letter was given to us from someone named Deryan Kaya, requesting our discretion and for us to be on our best behavior to not gain the ire of the Sultana.

We met with Deryan and followed her to her lab and she let us know about some constructs that are going a bit haywire. There's shield guardians causing issues as well. It seems Deryan built some of the constructs and they just aren't acting right. There is a collossal statue, nimblewrights arresting people they shouldn't and the shield guardians are over protecting. She didn't want us to destroy the constructs but wanted us to recover them so she can figure out what was going on before the Three Day Festival that is scheduled to occur.

Deciding to stop the colossal statue first, we traveled through the city. Snap decided to hide and I sent Geribald to investigate as well. There was an elemental man that was hammering at the colossal and he spotted Snap to give a wave. We headed back to the group and Cyrus advised that the statue may just be being made for the festival since elementals visit for the festival. He was attempting to impress people with the statue and called himself Pulvi. The statue was just for the festivities and to impress Prince Sadir and they would let Pulvi back in to Olympus Dag. If the might of the dao can show off their defensive capabilities, then the Sultana would not have to keep her oath against the djinni. We convinced Pulvi to go visit Deryan so that we can gauge if there was a relation to what he was creating versus the issues that have been occuring.

The statue itself was made entirely of stone and rock and rather than usual constructs that involve electrical components, the rock itself would be enchanted with the magic of the Planes. It was decided to do nothing with the statue for the time being since mechanical constructs are much different than constructs enchanted with magic of the planes.

We continued our journey, heading to the location that the shield guardians were overprotecting. We engaged in combat with them and knocked them out, gnomes having amulets that I recalled were able to control the guardians. Cyrus spoke with a woman that had watched named Haala el-Salahuddin--he seemed familiar with her and they kept mentioning something called the Muzad. She told us about a crime family called the Night Wisps and it seems the gnomes that were controlling the guardians despite being unconscious. Tealight was able to use the amulets to control the guardians so we could return them to Deryan. As soon as Tealight commanded them to awaken and move, one became hostile but it was easy to knock out again.

Since they were acting strangely, we went back to Deryan's lab to deliver the guardians and also check on Pulvi. When we arrived, Pulvi was unconscious on the ground and being tied up by Deryan's assistant. He tried to flirt with her and she did not like that....

There was no mention that we told him about a potential romance between inventors.

After dropping off the guardians, we went to the final location of people being wrongly arrested. When we arrived, we saw various constructs, some on horses, others with multiple arms. Some of the City Watch was around, Zeraphi, flying on carpets. The constructs were violent in their arrests so we engaged them in combat. The Zeraphi worked to rescue the citizens, while we defeated the constructs. Only one citizen lost their life and the Zarahi cleaned things up, aiming to deliver the constructs to Deryan themselves as we told them that some group was attempting to sabotage the festival.

Deryan let us know that she has a fair bit of research and investigating to do to try and figure out what is happening.

Learnable Creature(s): Dao, Djinni, Shield Guardian

9/15/2026

We received notification to head to an island as a test. We boarded a ship and were transported to the island, meeting with a man that knew who we were and seemed to be in charge--in a way. Although the island was a bit weird. We left the mainland as night fell but the island itself was alight and busy. Surx was in a different form, I'm uncertain if I've ever seen it before. We wandered through and were led to a large manor.

Shev was being...whatever he is at time. I don't even know anymore.

Walking up the manor steps, we met with Leland Armstrong Leadale the 4th (Ted Lasso), who hired us. We were led through the manor and Surx connected us all telepathically which I think will be the greatest mistake considering Shev is here. Surx and Shev have a strange kink thing going on where Surx calls him master.

I learned far too many things about the Syndicate people here than necessary.

But then we were led to a dining room and given breakfast. I didn't eat anything as per usual but its still strange to me that time is different here. It appears I will need to get an orb of time. Lord Leland did let us know there is a stroke of bad luck impacting the town and he wants to see what the Syndicate can do. He sent us to investgate a shipwreck that has a nasty infestation on it. Some guards were sent out that way but came back without success. They were attacked by strange tentacle creatures and arrows like coral needles were shot at the guards.

We prepared ourselves and headed out to the shipwreck where Surx saw a bunch of tentacle creatures and then compared them to Shev. Can they stop revealing strange kink things.

We engaged in combat with the creatures and it's unfortunate but the spellcaster creatures seemed to have summoned the fighter ones. After making sure everything is clear, we confirmed all the missing items and headed back to the manorhouse to return them to Lord Leland. He gave us our payment and a gift of paint pigments.

9/11/2026

Captain Ilyra Venn sent us a missive requesting our assistance with the Lords' Alliance. We were asked to head to Neverwinter to conclude a moment with something called the Aegis Core, useful for teleportation. She wasn't comfortable sharing more information in the missive. This was a later-hand follow up to a contract we had around a month ago.

Meeting with her at the Syndicate, she recapped what our last job for her entailed and confirmed a prisoner informed them of a man part of the Many-Starred Cloaks. There was an infection spreading in the space that Aderyn Kest was experimenting on with the Aegis Core and we are being asked to recover the Core. We can recover Vest as well but it is not required.

We used a mechanical wonder--a gyrocopter, to fly to the tower location. We left it behind and started exploring the dilapidated tower. As per usual, I put up my detect magic and could feel the spatial distortion in the air. As we continued moving into the tower, there was some kind of repetition of that spatial magic that was coming upon us. Sylk had the idea that it was the Aegis Core, which is possible, but I'm uncertain if that's exactly what it was.

We continued exploring, finding a locked door blocking our path. Luckily no one is of the "destroy the door" type and we went through another gate to walk through a cave. Walking through, we spotted a large, pulsing sphere with metal rings surrounding it as they spun about. A man that looked to be wearing a mask was there and Bri confirmed his identity as Aderyn Kest. She antagonized him a bit and then we engaged in combat.

We defeated Aderyn and for a moment, it was as if bugs and insects of all kinds began crawling out of its body and from behind its mask. Then as if with a blink, Aderyn was back in his normal form, unconscious. We moved around to dispel the spatial magic around the area. As we were finishing up, the Many-Starred Cloaks appeared with Captain Ilyra and started taking a look through all things Aderyn did. They also gave us a fair bit of rewards.

August 2026

This month was fairly slow. I was busy much of the time but Dorris, a tabaxi wizard, took initiative to gather other wizards and we shared spells within our spellbooks. I was a bit surprised to see they haven't taken care to protect their spellbooks from people with...less than kind actions. It's nice to see a wealth of knowledge to magic.

Cyrus had asked me to assist in casting magic on a kobold named Rokka. We learned something interesting about her and after keeping the memory from her when I broke the barrier that blocked her mind, discovered her soul had been split in two by a dragon. Errokkaeden was their name. And she was cut off from Rokka and changed into a kobold as a...jest of sorts. An interesting tale honestly. Thought soul magic is not something I studied and I do not know much about it past the higher tiered magic of Soul Cage.

I've been researching more often. I've a lot of creatures to learn about.

I've a familiar now as well. He manifested originally as a lizard. I've called him Geribald.

And everyday I'm further and further surprised at the lack of knowledge many have about dragonchess.

-Salviron Lisel

Character Break

I joined a new place called the Glassfang Syndicate this month. Its very different than the Rashemi. I think I like it. I guess. I learned cards. We killed a bunch of goblins.

-Talyndra

A request came from the Lords' Alliance, letting us know she needs our assistance in escorting a supply caravan to Neverwinter. The cargo is needed to supply and foritfy the city's defenses. Several attacks along the High Road has caused issues and a scouting troop that has gone missing. We are set to gather intel about things but the priority is the caravan.

We met with Captain Ilyra Venn and she gave us the run down. There have been large footprints of what seems like trolls that have been around the road. I know some things of trolls but more than likely these won't be trolls I know of. If they are though, that's much more lucky. (Bri apparently has a thing against Neverwinter). She arranged our transport to the caravan and we set off.

Arriving at the caravan found us meeting Sargeant and being informed a bit more of what we're escorting. After...strange conversation where Surx revealed he has no idea how babies are made and Shev seems to have been possessed by something that insists on calling himself a human.

I've no idea how we even managed this job.

On the road, we came across a cabin to the side of the road, a pristine outpost without anything seeming out of place. We entered the outpost to investigate and the scouting troup out here was sent to investigate this section of the road. We found a journal entry that indicated they went north to inspect in that direction. I read over the entry multiple times and the last bit of message was darker than the rest. The marked pathings also seemed to not go where they needed to, in a strange way. I made note of it before we headed back out.

It began to storm a bit and one of the cargo wagons nearly fell off a cliffside and we had to work together to pull it back right. It was a bit of a process but we managed to bring it back to where it needed to be and we continued forward on the road.

Eventually, we came to a stop as a wagon...of sorts...was dismantled in the middle of the road. Bri took a look at it but something reached out and tripped her and when she was on the ground, trolls appeared. Some were normal trolls that I learned of while others are trolls I'm unfamiliar. One had rotting skin and seemed to spew necrotic pus when standing too close to it. Another had poisonous postules that burst with each hit to its body and we had to catch them all on fire in order to stop their regenerative abilities. Another troll, unlike any other, appeared as well, just a spirit though. Rather than fire or acid, it seemed force or psychic was needed to stop its own regeneration. We were able to take them out after a struggle as Nathan (Surx) became stunned still by its bite.

When they were all defeated, we searched the area and found a corpse wearing a Lords' Alliance scouting uniform. It seems this is where the scouting troupe headed out this way and were ambushed by the trolls. They had acted strangely, preferring to focus on the wagon rather than attacking. We took a look over the scout and found his badge that was stretched out without having it be broken. The stamped insignia no longer aligned.

We arrived to Neverwinter, delivering the caravan there and speaking with the contact there. We told her about what we found and there was a Field Report that was missing and the badge seemed to be needed as well.

Learned Creatures that Applied: Troll

A request was recieved to head to the Meeting Room for a debriefing of the job we were asked on. A kobold of the Syndicate let us know that we were being sent to the Northlander Isles. The kobold had a spell scroll, I believe, that teleported us to a ship in the middle of the ocean. The ship itself looked to be more like a mercantile ship but was made for mercenaries instead.

There was a captain aboard, an air genasi with cloudlike vitiligo. And a goat...I will never understand some things. There was a man looking over a map so I determined the best way to go about things was to figure out exactly where we were and where we were going. I ended up speaking with First Mate Cirrus and he let us know that we were headed to the Northlander Lagoons but there were various dangers ahead. I helped map out our course, having become more used to reading maps compared to what the Syndicate has in its library.

We assisted in commanding the ship and spotted an enemy pirate ship in the distance. We steered and avoided various hazards and managed to get the ship close enough in order to board it. Things were touch and go for a moment but after working together and Mimsy holding focus on a Hypnotic Pattern, we removed all enemies aboard, searching for further loot inside and around the ship.

Heading back to the other ship, we spoke with Captain Aurora and she gave us another contract for the Syndicate before we were teleported back.

Learnable Creatures: Bandit Captain, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Kraken Priest, Cultist Fanatic, Water Elemental Myrmidon, Naiad

This month has been a busy one. I actually can't even begin to describe it. For someone to attack a bunch of mercenaries with an army that we managed to fight off is absolutely absurd. I do not think I will ever be able to accurately describe how frustrating the entire process was. Attempting to make sure people stay alive and we don't lose positioning was the worst thing I've ever had to do currently at the Syndicate.

But enough about that nonsense. I've learned and researched many more creatures. Perhaps I'll be able to learn about most that we may come across. Fenris has the idea to write a book of it but I wouldn't feel right about writing a book without checking my sources. I will need to focus my skillset towards it more so I have less issue finding what I need.

Though I've found a steady stream of people interested in chess for whatever reason.

There was a small druid woman named Kaelen that some knew. She needed us to act as her bodyguards to enter a prison where someone escaped. The prior warden was placed into her own prison for high treason. She was accused of having an affair with the High King of the Autumn Court. She was called Lady Vesperleaf and basically created the prison and it was designed to hold one prisoner at a time. Kaelen called herself a gatekeeper. Each gate has a key to which it contains and the gatekeeper responsible. She held a staff that she identified as the key, a blue orb floating inside her staff. When she held the orb, a beam of silver light burst out and fluttered around the orb. I was able to pick out that it is some type of magic but its a mix of them all and the different schools that are coalescing together to create the effect.

We were teleported into the gate and needed to fan out to find some sort of signs in the magical. She let us know that Vesperleaf is a genius and that she had the main plan for all of these prisons. Casting magic is...strange in this place. It was as if I was forgetting the magic itself. Which isn't possible. Not for me anyways.

Spreading out, we started searching around the space. In the grass, I found a spotted fawn that was hiding in the bushes. I attempted to search around for a mother or tracks to see why this fawn was left behind and is alone. We all started searching and then it came to a point that Kaelen tried to bring back the portal we used to get here and a satyr appeared. Followed by multiple satyrs. And they stared at Mimsy, calling for Vesperleaf and that she was being summoned. We all started questioning what they were doing and they referred to all of us as Lady Vesperleaf, as if the other were not there. I cast a spell on myself but there was no Ethereal or invisible creatures making a mess of things but it caused the creatures to become hostile.

After a brief battle, we defeated them and they vanished like shadows. There's this strange residue on everything and it just makes things feel very...off. We headed out to the next area and arrived in a courtyard. Then we witnessed what seemed the High Lady and High Lord speaking to us as if we were Vesperleaf, explaining that she was being charged with high treason. Kaelen was confused, as this was not how Vesperleaf's sentencing was done. Out of the small river that came through the cracked courtyard, a golem appeared and we had to fight it off. Arlis went down and could have died but we managed to get him back up.

Kaelen then tasked us with finding Vesperleaf outside this prison. She summoned a creature that she called her Guardian and entrusted him with us to find Vesperleaf.

Learnable Creatures: Quickling, Iron Golem

Today our group was given instructions to head to Waterdeep, being given express permission for the Syndicate to pay for our teleportation there since we didn't have proper public access yet. After confirming transportation back home, we headed out into the market and made a plan or where to go.

We went to a tevern on the fancier side, the Singing Sword and after everyone ordered a significant amount of food, we spoke with a woman named Lady Gralhund, a noble of Loudwater. Bri scared her off, little tact in asking those questions. But after everyone engorged themselves, we headed out to a place Solia and Arlis knew of called the Yawning Portal.

There we met a goblin, whom Solia immediately insulted, that let us know of a teleportation circle in a crypt at the Road's End. After significant questioning, we headed to the city graveyard, where we met some guards before us but we managed to convince the guard that we were there to grieve a dead friend.

Then we headed down. Entering the crypt and walking down as we go. Arlis ended up stepping on a pressure plate of some kind and braziers lit up ahead of us on platforms and a strange ghast-like creature appeared, calling us to our deaths. Hordes of creatures appeared and they had the the most haunting screech that caused Arlis to be paralyzed in fear.

We managed to defeat the creatures and wandered down, where it went lower and lower. Getting the teleportation circle may be much harder than originally thought. We entered a room that had coffins surrounding all along the edges and the coffins just held heads inside them. A sun dial was in the middle of the room and when Arlis and Bri turned it there was a sound down the hall.

Traveling down that way, we saw a mummified corpse that was moving around, a mummy. It could speak with us and Solia was able to convince it to return to sleep in its coffin. The corpse seemed to be from an ancient tomb and was moved here instead of being from here. There was a coffin that had its name on it, Ahkatument.

Further through the tomb, there was a dilapidated teleportation circle on the ground and it was unusable but we found a bunch of items inside.

Creatures to Learn: Ghast Gravecraller, Graveyard Revenant, Mummy, Mummy Lord, Flame Skull

• Me
• Biscuit
• Ivor & Agrate
• Jax
• Azrael

A request came through for us to rescue some nobility from a green dragon and their cult I believe. We were being sent to Phlan by the Five Factions, a city that has become the green dragon's, Vorgansharax, the Maimed Virulence, lair. He is on the older side of adult dragons, nearer to ancient. We are set to rescue a Madame Freona, Lord Sage, and Sir Jhessail Greycastle. Madame Freona has been putting together a resistance while Lord Sage is a leader of the scholar district, impounded in the Mantor's Library, and Sir Greycastle former commander of the Black Fist, although some members betrayed the organization and became Tears of Vriulence. We were to be teleported directly into Phlan and spells to teleport in the city do not work.

Before heading out, we prepared and determined what we were aiming to do first and foremost. We decided to try to avoid combat as much as possible. It seems Biscuit is...apprehensive about killing others.

We were teleported away and arrived in a stone room with a teleportation circle below us. It goes out as indication that teleportation outside the city is impossible. We started our infiltration quietly, sending Agrate ahead to scout out when we heard someone calling for help. I told them to ignore it. We weren't here to be heroes. We were here for a recovery mission.

The entire town was covered in bramble bushes that made navigation hard but we managed. Avoiding tricks and getting Madame Freona and Lord Sage. Sir Greycastle was another matter as she is an idiot that has a death wish. No wonder she was betrayed if all she can think about is revenge. That's a terrible quality for a commander to have so it's much more understandable why they changed sides after speaking to her.

And ANOTHER thing. There aren't even any protections on the Syndicate to keep out hostile enemies. Anybody in the world can more than likely walk right up to the Syndicate and just curse it and we wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Would Thrax even care if I tried to assist in making a plan. Would anyone care about having a proper plan developed when some have egos that are shoved so far up their own asses they can't listen to anyone except themselves.

I actually can't.

Well this will be a slight bit different than my usual notes. More of a complaint than anything. But it became abundantly clear that the Syndicate is woefully unprepared to take on a large forces that may attempt to attack. You'd think a place that contracts people as mercenaries would have a better security force than the mercenaries themselves but insert shrug here.

Upon further review of the situation, some key notes I was able to pinpoint.

• No organization. The kobolds knew where battle stations were on ballistas but otherwise they had no plan for retreat or reorganizing when they started dying.
• No command. There is no active chain of command. One may think that the higher ranked members would take charge and lead the mercenaries beneath them but there was no such thing.
• Confliction. Too many attempted to lead and guide our forces, only for the orders to contradict each other.

There's far too much that happens in varying orders and this situation resulted ion much confusion and frustration from multiple parties.

Me, Arlie, Mimsy, Shev, and Yashir

The Emerald Enclave requested our assistance at a wildlife rehabilitation reserve north of the Syndicate. We headed that way and met with the Emerald Enclave representative who let us know that we are going to be responsible for watching owlbear cubs and taking them to their scheduled playtime activites. They all like shiny things, food, and games. We have to essentially beat the lady there in order to get full pay. They are skittish around magic and weapons so this may make life much harder.

We headed out on the path and I have no idea how the representative that takes care of these critters mangages to do this with all of them near everyday. They're all a bit crazy honestly. Luckily Forsythe is absolutely nothing like them. But we did eventually get them to where they needed to go, arriving before the representative just in time.

This month for me has been spent in Loudwater for most of the time. It was quiet and full of earning coin and crafting in all honesty. I don't know much of what's happened at the Syndicate in all honesty. Loudwater was full of crazy things as per usual--a carnival included. I will not be going back to any carnivals if they're all like what we experienced. Oh right. Arlie's got a not-boyfriend. He doesn't call him that but it very well may end up that way. But good for him. Solia and Yashir got together and apparently Shev and Bri broke up.

Apparently, the Syndicate is a telenova.

• Me
• Vincel
• Yashir
• Temoren
• Shev

We were taken by a portal to a ship deck of a ship called the Cutlass near a town called Thornwalk. Something about the Dark Harbor rising. We were told about a legendary serpent named Joturr that devoured ships and brought about storms so violent the Gods sunk a great city called Ithal. There's apparently a prophecy that says the sea will swallow the world one day and Joturr will return. There was a Pirate King named Uazi, leader of the Dark Tide, that ventured into the storm where Ithal used to be but Uazi returned changed. The storm that surrounds Ithal's remains is referred to as Joturr's Fury. Shev and Yashir have done some jobs for this space before.

So great on that end. I guess.

We were requested by Captain Aurora to meet with Thalia Moonshadow in a tavern called the Kelp and Kraken. Walking in to the tavern found us seeing a halfling man hunched over what looked to be an orrery and another woman, more stern looking, standing to the side. Erlan Fleetfoot is the halfling man that apparently brought the orrery here and the woman is Thalia Moonshadow. Temoren looked into the orrery and saw something, feeling something Abyssal related to it.

Erlan gave us a story of how he managed to get this orrery away from Uazi. The Dark Tide isn't human any longer, they've been transformed. Joturr seems to be talking to Uazi and promising riches but Uazi is drowning villages and killing people without reason. Erlan joined the Dark Tide with his sister in promise of riches but his sister was taken to join the Chorus. The Chorus is the transformation that the Dark Tide started going through. A thing of brine was poured down his sister's throat and that caused her transformation.

Now the Dark Tide is working on something else, something worse and Erlan stole the orrery because its the key. So the Dark Tide is on the way to take it back. The orrery that is here is ancient, living constellations. The constellations along it are near impossible to decipher with the modern stars that exist. Erlan is a cypher and his memories may be able to unlock the orrery's secrets and so its our job to keep him safe.

While discussing what they intend to do with the orrery, sea water started coming in and we started hearing attacks. We were to protect Erlan and get out of the town and out to sea. Thalia let us know that we can be led out to the Cutlass and get out, keeping them safe and getting away with the orrery. Thalia led us out and the entire town was in madness and crazed actions. Everything was steadily going under water, which tracks with what Erlan said in his story as well. But it was also dealing with a large storm that started up and is becoming a larger mess of things.

Thalia led us down a passage way and to a bridge made of bone. Out of nowhere, an assassin appeared and attacked Erlan and fish people appeared on the other side of the bone bridge and we engaged in combat. We defeated these creatures and and continued moving, coming across a family trapped in the middle of the acidic water. There were bottles in the water that were causing the acidic nature of it. Shev cast a telekinetic spell and lifted the family to safety and we were able to avoid the water by Shev lifting crates to form a bridge.

As we left the covered market space, we heard a loud voice in our heads and there was this sharp pain that pressed into my head. And then Erlan bent over in pain and the transformation started to overcome him. We worked together to help him fight it off and I may have made an error but I absorbed some of the magical transformation that was affecting him. That may be an issue for later but right now it doesn't matter.

We continued down to the docks to get Erlan to the Cutlass and Thalia let us know that the orrery needed to go to the lighthouse. We sent Yashir off to drop off Thalia and Erlan on the Cutlass and then head to the lighthouse with the orrery to resolve what we can. The rest of us took on the creatures attacking the docks and Vincel made a move towards a ship that had the transformed pirates herding villagers onto it. We engaged the other creatures and started fighting back but more kept coming.

It was wave after wave of creatures and luckily Yashir was able to distract the remaining creatures by activating the orrery in the lighthouse which basically let out a beam of light to draw attention and allow us to board the Cutlass and get away.

Learnable Creatures: Drowned Assassin, Sahuagin Warrior, Merfolk Wavebender, Sahuagin Wave Shaper, Frost Giant of Evil Water, Storm Crab, Aberrant Cultist, Sahuagin Blademaster, Skum