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Jeanbec
In 22,007, in the midst of the Wars of Water, Jeanbec and the Claws of the Clowder occupy the Overman Manor, finding the lord dead in his basement, however, later they find one of their own Pawline, torn to shreds. Jeanbec seeks help from his peers, the blue paladins, and finds a paladin called Morgar, who hands over three paladins for the task, Ta'Fe, Sovral, and Mevi. The three investigate the bodies, finding that the lord had died from asphyxiation, and nearby was an infernal rune. Sovral casts speak with dead on the Overman, who sends the paladins to see what his 'small' 'redish' attacker had done. The horse was torn to shreds, and after Ta'Fe spoke to a second horse, she learned that it was the Overman himself who apparently was somehow able to tear the horse apart with his bare hands. The party also found signs of something having fallen from the sky around the time of the Overmans death. This was cooberated by Mevi speaking with the garden plants. also, despite a letter stating that the gardeners had not been to the manor in weeks, a foreign looking plant was newly potted, and fed from an unusually large mass of bonemeal. Sovral then used his zone of truth to interrogate each of the Claws of the Clowder members in the manor, but all appeared honest in their ignorance, including the Maharajah, Sweetsong. When the group returned to the basement and the bodies, Sovral went into the furnace to investigate, and Ta'Fe cast detect evil. Suddenly Jeanbec began fighting with his left hand that was trying to burn Sovral alive. After it failed, his possessed hand, the same one that possessed the Overman, cut off Jeanbec's other arm and detached itself, growing large and attacking the paladins. The paladins were able to sever all the fingers, and cast it back to hell, but Jonbec was without hands. Morgar arrived promising Jon and his Lady mimron that he would provide magic prosthetics, similar ot the ones he himself wore. However, Pawline's death, being eaten alive by sweetsong, bones used for his poison plants, was left a mystery, as Sweetsong commanding Jeanbec to abandon the Way of Blue for the fuss they had caused, leaving Jonbec without faith.
Leilia
Leilia works with the Kithrak of Lost Is'rath, Reuga Jin, to summon the githyanki Kithrak Sarths from the astral sea, and their legendary gargantuan chromatic mounts, and the githyanki, through old rivalries, form an alliance and intent to fight The Unborn God in the Umbral Cage, the skeleton of the god that it spawned from, resting over the tear. The Kithrak Sarths, are Gesh Royand of Godanaath, rider of the black dragon Movilax. Af Itatha of V'rith, rider of the red dragon Kalibur. Islo Ekru, the prodigy Gish with no God-Isle, leader of the warbands of Yaraikto, rider of White Anketor. However there were two surprise guests, first, the Githzerai Yan Kicrou, rider of the blue dragon Liltrezzar. He did not receive a warm welcome, but was tolerated under the circumstances. The second, was Yoko Nox, resurrected from the hand donated by Setep Mewtril. She had extensive knowledge of their foe, and was to lead to the way through The Unborns God's corrupted desolation. And Leilia Brassburg was called upon to be her rider, and use her musical synchronising outland magic to aid the alliance, and hold back the dark. The party stop in Lost Is'rath where Leilia and Nox discuss forgiveness and seeing things to the end. Gesh shares some swift words before resting. Af and Reuga discuss the alarming rise of Islo Ekru, and what happens after all this. Islo and Yan discuss their differences and views on ascension. After resting, they fly fot the umbral cage, with fire, ice, acid, lightning, and poison breaths they barrage the Atropal, it's starlight apparitions and moonfire guardians. Af rains down weaves of fire at a legendary scale, but the psionics of Yan finally cause the creature to break apart for good. The peace is held enough for the githyanki who swiftly leave, though Af acknowledges Islo as a Kithrak first. Then, Nox and Leila wish eachother the best. Leilia heads home with new songs to write, and Nox pushes on to uncover a light that lingers in the darkness of her lost grove. She promises to put everything to rest, and departs too.
Lucion
In 22,004 Lucion Duskdew recruits his wife Chigi, his adoptive brother in law Merut Jogan, and his associate Sharma Domas to infiltrate the Manor House, where intelligence suggests The Hoard of the Dragon Queen is being kept. They are all living in poverty in Fools Crossroads and wish to escape. It's Chigis first time doing misdeeds, she is usually an arcane tinker and a violinist, who plays along with Lucion's piano. She is that a dedicated and loving mother to their unnamed adoptive child. The mission starts well, with the local fence Gretin providing transport, while Lucion smuggles the party in a bag of holding, as he attends a private performance. Using mage hand and unseen servant the office is searched from within the bag until they find the key they need and sneak down the next layer. There, Merut Jogan uses his nimble acrobatic talents to sneak them deeper down. However, on the bottom floor, they find the vault door requires additional keys, so decide to search the area for keys, or consolation loot. Instead they find three dragon wyrmlings that tear them apart. Chigi uses a sending stone to tell Lucion upstairs that she is sorry and it all went wrong. Lucion drops all cover and rushes downstairs past the guards. He picks up Merut Jogan's dropped scimitars and fights his way to Chigi, locking him in the security room with the bodies. She is already dead, he gets the teleportation circle scroll she was supposed to use to escape out, and begins to cast it, realising only too late, that Merut Jogan was still breathing. Later, Merut Neramore would choose his own name from those scimitars, and Lucion's promise to Chigi that ne'ermore would they live in poverty. In 22,022, Lucion returns to the old house and finds the worn down piano, he is dying. However while weeping at the piano, Chigi comes to him and begins to play Violin, and he finds the strength to play piano, and they perform their duet together.
Mable
On a dark and stormy, summer night, in Forlonde, 22,014, Mable mourns the loss of her first born on the frontlines of the Flameguard Uprising, which has reached a new stage, of flameguard advances being counteracted by night assaults and underground attacks thanks to dwarvish darkvision. She finds a bar to ease her pain and finds herself joined by Landark the nycaloth who is very eager to do business with this sorry soul, however mable is not at all interested and instead just orders a drink to Landarks confusion. Seemingly out of nowhere, Z'ratar the flumph floats through a hole in the ceiling and orders some black olives which she dips her tentacles through, Mable tries to join in with her toes. As a hail storm of amber begins to pour down, Voz'Voz Vargale enters, checking in on Mable, and seeing how Mable is calm, accepts the situation. Ri'Fe joins shortly after, looking for orders from the regional supervisor, Mable, who instructs her to order a drink. Landark keeps trying to get the others to make a deal with him, and peaks Ri'Fe's interests, as she appears to have something she desperately wants, but ultimately Landark is relegated to the role of barman. Mable was most adamant; "Shut your fucking face Landark", she said, as she begun to resume doing the griddy, accompanied by the glass blowing of a very drunk and sunken flumph. Sounds of crashing nearby follow the amber rain, more things falling from space, star spawn grues that begin attacking the bar, which the party then barricade. Z'ratar then reveals she is there to help the mortals with this far realm incursion. When the others look to Mable for orders, she says that abberations attack the wits of their victims, so they must drink more, so they have no wits to offer. Shortly after the next round however, a yellow robed, masked, avatar comes floating into the ceiling, the party destroy his form as he mutters about Yellow Tides, and searching for someone. Whatever these heralds came from, floating in wildspace above Dorun, came looking for someone touched with far realm energies, known to the avatar. But, by its last mutterings, it appears, they arrived early, perhaps years before the man would arrive in Forlonde, so the avatar and the grue disappear, promising to look into another possible location instead, the astral sea. The party spend the rest of the night in the bar before separating. Mable would see Landark a few more times, even manipulating him into not killing Mable, Nifeemos, and Jennifer, when they were captured. And in 22,024, while awaiting the final battle with Sweetsong, she remembers that first encounter with Vyizm Wvimas, and drinks.
Flea
Flea continues to work for the Gaunts for now, on 6th Spring 22,022, earning money for the Niburg family he was a part of many lifetimes ago, however he is mourning his daughter Calli, who left him a couple months ago upon finding out their family lineage. He has been unable to trace her. Palma Nobilis in Uild mourns her estrangement from her own family so tries sends secret aid the Gaunts, that they might reclaim the capital. She sends them The Hoard of the Dragon Queen. However, it is stolen by Abi'Shai (Scaled Devils) who attack the newly occupies ruins beyond the veiled lands. Flea, Glowe Streaug, Hjeff Maldame, and Shabry Kollore are on guard at the time, on a pass through The Veiled Hills. They turn away suspected hags, welcome refugees, and Lady Flintfire. Hjeff Maldame finds one takes interest with one of the refuges, Hansel, and her bardic focus/cat, Mr Binks, approves too. They begin inquiries at the arrival of Flameguard diplomats just as the Abi'Shai arrive wanting to pass the gate. They carry the hoard between them in bags of holding, and when the guards cause two of them to break, the Abi'Shai panic and decide to send it somewhere they can later retrieve it, the astral plane. So they place the bags in one another and the treasure is sucked away. After the Abi'Shai are finishing being dispatched with, the guards realise the Flameguard diplomats have gone invisible and snuck past the gates. Calls are coming in alao that due to the chaos the Abi'Shai caused, the Gaunts are culling their guards for suspected traitors. So, this guard post run away to let the heat die down. Most head for Rei Majoris, but along the journey they split up. Flea runs into the advancing Flameguard armies headed to do battle with the Gaunts (who are now without there last hope) and Flea is forced into the mists around Westwood.
Alcain
In late 22,024, Yoko Nox returns to the Astral Grove and finds where Cailin stored Alcain's soul after he died. She pulls him out and explains his situation, it seems he is tethered to something far away in the astral sea, stopping him from moving on. Nox is honour bound to help Alcain, and put the grove to rest for good. So she recruits Islo Ekru, and Af Itatha, by promising each that she will not help their enemies, effectively promising to do nothing. This is important due to how vicious the conflict between the two has become. Both are desperate to be Adlishar Kithrak. They begin the journey, following the tether. Along the way, Alcains shares the story of how he grew up in a cult, that summoned a yellow avatar, Alcain attacked it, and escaped with his mother, but was haunted by visions of it for the rest of his lives. As he explains this, a yellow avatar appears and mutters in riddles. "The show must go on, and everyone has a part in the play, but the audience must watch, and in their seats, stay. Lest they unmask the stars, and their selves fade away, As they take up the role, of the yellow kings reign". Af Itatha slays it and the party move on, until they see a breach in reality, where the tether leads, it is surrounded by floating cultists with hollow, concave, cavernous faces. The dragons burn, freeze, and erode a path through for the riders. Inside is a desecrated figure wearing a yellow gown and a pallid mask. It is missing one of it's fiendish hands, which was cut off by Alcain as a child, and killed in the past by a Blue Paladin, Mevi. Alcain speaks with it, and though he understands little of their conversation, that seems to be the case too for this creature. Alcain has managed to breach this break in reality, and so the creature reaches out, hoping Alcain will wear the pallid mask, and keep warm the Yellow King's throne, but he refuses, as Islo encourages him, by removing her own facial coverings. The avatar does not experience time linearly, and from it's point of view, it moves entropically, back through Alcain's past looking for a moment of weakness to break him, going all the way back to Alcain's childhood, where it is mortally wounded by Alcain as he escapes with his mother. The party pay their respects to Alcain and bid him to rest well as he reunites with his family. Nox leaves for the material plane to find some new purpose, with a clean slate. Af seems quite taken by Islo once her mask is lifted and the two begin taking the steps to brokering a peace between the two, where both can rule. They hope they, like Alcain, are able to never falter and keep the peace, but only time will tell for sure.
Cailin
In 22,028, Cailin Maccalini has spent the last four years trying to master the astral weave, while her druid peers returned to the stars of the material plane. Two of those years have been with Nox. The two have grown very close and shared intimate moments, but the frustration of slow progress, and a lack of access to the astral sea has gotten in their way. Until one night, the two happen upon an astral rift, and Gesh Reyeund. He has been thrown from his steed while in battle with a rising Illith threat, Iyzwll, and chromatic energy is coalescing at the edge of the tear. Cailin encourages investigation while Nox is hesitant. They agree to help Reyeund get his mount back, but Cailin's motivation is experience, so that she might finally master the form of the astral dragon, achieve draconic ascension, and be able to say she conquered the weave and never gave up on her dream, just like her old friends. When Nox goes to get help from Af Itatha and Islo Ekru, she finds the two Adlishar Kithraki together as lovers and rulers, but without their dragons. They are all leaving. So, the group searches for answers by the tear, only to find the chromatic dragon paragons of the githyanki a part of a ritual that is reconstituting Tiamat's soul from being scattered across the astral sea, while this would close the tear, the threat Tiamat could pose led the githyanki to decide to intervene. The battle was over quickly and Cailin wanted to run, but Nox could not, so she banished Cailin back to the material plane. Cailin was devastated fearing she had lost everyone again, but her determination saw her to acheive her ascension and she broke back through into the astral and finished the fight. The residual chromatic energy poured into the dragons turning them into great drakes, who flew through the portal Cailin made, going to the material plane. Their last mortal thoughts were thanks, apologies, and pride to the Kithrak who they were paired with. The tear had been narrowed slightly, and Tiamat's soul had been removed from the astral sea, but the threat of Iyzwll remained, and without dragons it would be difficult to face, but the githyanki left together to continue the fight. Cailin and Nox return to the material plane and are done with the astral sea for good, looking now to the stars above and picking a home in the constellation leo. The two embrace as the great drakes twist across the sky.
