In a Mirror, Dimly

Overview
The third story arc of the Mortal Fools campaign. Preceded by Entr'acte.

In the ruins of a royal family's once-home, the three remaining adventurers traverse history and find that their futures are entwined with one woman's past. At last, they've found Christiana.

PCs

 * Quill
 * Bahlron
 * Ashiok
 * Baelor

NPCs

 * Christiana
 * Sei Zed
 * Nezznar (The Black Spider)
 * Dixie
 * Twill
 * The Kügler Gang
 * Nathan Kügler
 * Carol Kügler
 * Mike Kügler
 * Garth Kügler
 * Oakley Kügler
 * Richard Kügler
 * Captain Arelle Stevison
 * Prince Reynald
 * Duma Alexi
 * Doppelgängers
 * The Count
 * Edith
 * Pudge
 * Samantha
 * Roiwehl (the owlbear)
 * Copenhagen (Erwin's cat)
 * The Gatekeeper
 * The Time Elemental (the Stag)
 * Admiral Neville Creedy
 * Harold
 * Paula
 * Grobnak
 * Lady Cordon

Locations

 * Ruins of Ramor
 * Paradise Cave
 * Creopatrian
 * The Trackless SeaTrackless Sea Map.jpg
 * The Feral Lady
 * Sandstrafe Isle
 * The Obsidian Cathedral
 * Mt. Terrier
 * The Little Brothers
 * Crabclaw Isles
 * The Brimstone
 * Arches
 * Creedy's Hideout
 * The Feywild
 * Shadowfell
 * Mosswood Forest
 * Miranda
 * Three-Course Inn
 * Arojam
 * Castle Ballroom
 * The Roost

1: Christiana
[The party enters the mirror and find themselves in a dark cave]

[Christiana runs around the corner, followed by a baby owlbear]

[The baby owlbear retreats, and two adult owlbears round the corner to face down the group]

[Christiana hides behind a stone column as the party attacks the two owlbears]

[Quill hits an owlbear with an anti-grav arrow]

[Quill kills one of the owlbears]

[Quill is almost crushed by a falling owlbear]

[Baelor and Ashiok are badly beat up by one of the owlbears]

[Bahlron eventually kills the second owlbear]

[Christiana introduces herself, and says that she chased the baby owlbear into the cave, but then it ran back to its parents, and that's why she was in trouble. She also says that she lives with her grandmother, who gave her a shard of a mirror, and said that "help would come" if she ever needed it.]

[Christiana and the rest of the party find the owlbear nest at the back of the cave]

[Quill leashes the baby owlbear]

[Bahlron and Quill each take an owlbear egg]

[While exploring the rest of the cave, the party finds the remains of an old criminal hideout. A campsite is setup in a passage behind a waterfall. The criminals clearly met a violent end at the hands of the owlbears that, until now, made Paradise Cave their home. Hidden among the stash of treasure, the party finds an acorn in a decorated wooden box.]

[Ashiok kicks the acorn across the cave floor]

[Quill dives after the acorn, catching it as they both dive into the pool beneath the waterfall. A blast of green light shoots from the acorn, and Quill emerges from the water holding a baby oak spriggan]

[Christiana thinks the spriggan is adorable]

[Christiana is talking to the party, when she says that she doesn't need their help anymore, and the party is whisked back to the circular room beneath the ruins of Ramor.]

[The Mirror of Aescheles shifts once again, and they hear the voice of a teenage girl calling hoarsely for help.]

2: The Kügler Gang
[The party stepped through the mirror, and found themselves in an abandoned mineshaft. They stood at the bottom of a caged chute for rocks and rubble. Christiana and Sei Zed, the now fully-grown oak sprigan, were locked in neighboring chutes.]

[They broke free, then opened Christiana’s door, letting her out. She told them that she and Sei Zed got themselves captured on purpose, in order to find something.]

[Quill tried to murder Sei Zed while Christiana was retrieving her gear from another room]

[Ashiok cast calm emotions on everyone to keep Quill and Sei Zed from attacking each other]

[Christiana led the group back through the mines. Ashiok picks up several small barrels of blasting jelly]

[Climbing the precarious staircase & Bahlron nearly falling through the stairs]

[The group comes across Nathan Kügler, who is practicing his lute skills]

[Ashiok distracts Nathan by playing his flute, allowing the group to sneak past. Nathan is hesitant about letting Ashiok through, thinking that Ashiok might have a magic item that could be valuable. Ashiok uses misty step to teleport down the hallway.]

[The rest of the group comes to an intersection, where they can make out several members of the Kügler gang working in a large cylindrical chamber. The gang is wiring blasting jelly to the ceiling of the chamber, and several members are making small talk.]

[Quill sneaks behind Nathan, knocks him out, then uses the Cap of Many Faces to impersonate Nathan, and he walks to meet the rest of the gang.]

[Bahlron, Ashiok, Christiana, and Sei Zed travel away from the Küglers.]

[Carol Kügler’s harness breaks, but she is saved by her brother, Richard.]

[The Küglers detonate the blasting jelly, and ceiling collapses, revealing that the chamber was directly beneath a bank vault. Treasure spills across the floor, and the Küglers begin scooping up as much as they can as the bank alarms begin to sound.]

3: Escape from Creopatrian
Christiana told Ashiok and Bahlron that she needed something that Oakley has: a ring shaped like a scroll. Following the sound of the detonation, Christiana took off down the hallway, toward the Kügler gang. Sei Zed followed.

Ashiok decided to continue exploring the mines, while Bahlron chased after Christiana. Heading further in, Ashiok snuck around another member of the Küglers, who was muttering about being late. Ashiok sent a warning through the Lover's Journal to Bahlron. Continuing to explore, he found the quarters where the Küglers had set up shop, and he started pillaging their belongings. Hidden among the stash, he found several small jars of blasting jelly, some sugar cookies, a block of ice that would never melt, and a small bottle filled with black liquid, through which he could see the stars.

In the chamber beneath the vault, the Küglers began to scoop up handfuls of treasure. Quill, still disguised as Nathan Kügler, made his way to the top of the pile, where he had a good vantage point on everyone in the room. Then, Christiana charged in, followed shortly by Bahlron. Oakley was initially dismissive of the teenage girl, but Christiana gave her little time before attacking.

As combat erupted, Bahlron, Christiana, and Sei Zed split apart, taking on the various opponents. Christiana dueled Oakley. Bahlron dodged (sometimes successfully) volleys of fire breath and acid spit from the Dragonborn enemies. Sei Zed let loose swarms of wasps that encircled Carol, and he took deadly swipes against Richard. Quill took shots from atop the pile of treasure, exclaiming his inaccuracy as he targeted the Küglers.

All the while, the alarms above grew more urgent, and they overheard the sounds of law enforcement trying to get into the vault. At the last moment, the sixth Kügler found his way to the room, and was ensnared by Quill before being attacked by a swarm of wasps.

Eventually, the party incapacitated or killed all of the Küglers present. Christiana searched Oakley's unconscious body, and pocketed the Ring of Spell Storing. The police emerged into the vault above, and began shouting "there's the girl!" while pointing at Christiana. Seeing that it was time to leave, the group ran down the hallway in time to meet Ashiok returning from his plundering. Upon leaving the Küglers' quarters, Ashiok had explored the tunnels, and found the secret entrance the Küglers had been using to get in and out: an abandoned storefront.

The party raced to the exit, and found themselves finally with a clear view of Creopatrian. The city clung to the side of a cliff, its buildings either carved into the cliff face itself or constructed on wooden platforms attached to the cliff-side. A large ravine split the town in half, and could only be traversed via a pulley-operated gondola. Below, a desert spread before them, mesas rising from the dusty surface nearby.

They heard commotion from above, and saw officers with crossbows take aim.

Ashiok summoned Baelor back into her gem, and told everyone to jump. They all did, and Ashiok used his Cloak of Grace to cast Feather Fall on all five of them. They floated gently to the ground, where a wagon and two horses awaited (apparently the Küglers' getaway vehicle). Christiana and Sei Zed whipped the horses into gear, and the party took off across the desert.

As they rode, Christiana remarked that she wouldn't be able to return to Creopatrian anymore. She clutched the ring she had stolen from Oakley, then placed it on her hand.

Once they stopped for the night, Christiana had a conversation with Bahlron. She told him about her life since her grandmother had died: how she'd had to steal food and money to get by. Christiana asked Bahlron what to do when there were hard decisions to make. He told her that it wasn't possible to make good choices all the time, but that she should do what seemed right in the moment. Comforted, Christiana turned the conversation to the topic of the mirror shard. She wondered why they hadn't vanished yet, even though she didn't need them anymore.

But as soon as the words left her lips, Bahlron, Ashiok, and Quill found themselves back in the circular room in the ruins of Ramor. The mirror faded once more, revealing a clear blue sky, the sound of waves, and the deck of a ship.

Stepping through the mirror, they faced a Christiana in her early twenties, confident and eager for the adventure that the party's arrival signaled. A pirate now, Christiana introduced them to her ship, and to her boyfriend. As Christiana pulled a dark elf into an embrace, Bahlron, Quill, and Ashiok recognized the young face of Nezznar, the Black Spider.

4: The Feral Lady
Christiana told Ashiok and Bahlron to set up shop in the forecastle of her ship, the Feral Lady. While Nezznar took them below deck, Christiana led Quill to the lowest part of the ship, where a cell had been setup with a map and some spare materials. Christiana began explaining her situation to Quill, but then cast sleep on him. The spell failed to take effect, and Quill tried to grapple with Christiana. She overtook him, however, and managed to lock him in the cell, demanding to know why he tried to kill Sei Zed. Quill told her the truth. They remained in a standoff, and made an uneasy truce. Both threatened to kill the other if they stepped out of line. Eventually, Christiana let Quill out, and they made their way to the captain's quarters, where they met Nezznar and the rest of the party.

Bahlron and Ashiok had tried to frighten Nezznar with Baelor, and eventually settled into their quarters. Ashiok told Nezznar that they had business in the future, and explained that they kept walking into a magic mirror. Nezznar assumed Ashiok was describing some sort of curse on all of them. Then, Sei Zed had come to summon Bahlron and Ashiok.

In the captain's quarters, Christiana laid out their predicament: the Feral Lady had cut through a storm to lose a rival ship of pirates. During the storm, Christiana lost several of her men, and the ship was left in a sorry state. The reason for the chase: both ships were after the same treasure: Admiral Neville Creedy's horde of stolen treasure.

Creedy used to be an admiral, until he lost his sanity and his fleet in a deadly storm. In the years that followed, he put his compromised moral code and expert naval skills to use; he robbed and raided ships in the Trackless Sea. His hideaway was never found, but he left clues on several islands nearby that he could follow back on days when he was less lucid.

The first clue, Christiana said, was on Sandstrafe Isle, the last civilized port in these waters. She had obtained a coin of Creedy's in a "high stakes antiques auction," which held a map of the island, and a body of water somewhere in the middle of it. The coin also bore Creedy's signet.

The Feral Lady skirted Sandstrafe Isle, and was anchored on its western coast, away from prying eyes. Christiana and Nezznar disguised themselves as gentlefolk, and everyone headed into town to gather supplies.

Along the way, Nezznar spoke with Ashiok about his upbringing as a noble dark-elf. He felt his future was uncertain until he ran away, and met Christiana. Then, Nezznar discovered the thrill of adventure, and of obtaining power. He saw how many terrible and awesome things were in the great unknown, and wanted to reach for them. As long as his thirst for adventure matched Christiana's, he imagined they'd stay together.

Meanwhile, Christiana pulled Bahlron aside. She asked if he believed in gods, or, more importantly, fate. Bahlron said that he did, in a way. He didn't think there was a puppet-master controlling everything, nor did he believe everything was pre-destined. It was somewhere in between. Christiana seemed discontent with that answer, and said that she didn't want anything controlling her destiny except herself. She determined to find any strings that pulled her, and cut them. Bahlron told her that he didn't think you should fight these things, but Christiana said they had to try.

In town, Christiana and Nezznar left to buy supplies for the ship. Quill, Bahlron, and Ashiok were called over by a friendly orc named Grobnak. Grobnak ran a makeshift magic items stand in the town square. He unveiled 17 magic sticks, including an invisible stick, a liquid stick, a stick that would never fall over, a stick that was really a rock disguised as a stick, etc. Shinanigans ensued, during which Quill, Ashiok, and Bahlron each acquired magical sticks (and one rock). Bahlron was the only one who could tell that his rock was a stick.

The adventurers then got some dinner, and found a potions expert, who told Ashiok that his vial of black, starry liquid was "a little space." When poured out, it created a portal into space that small objects could be discarded into; however, if it was poured in two different locations, it would open in different locations in space. In the end, even the potion-master was unable to tell that the Rock of Being Stick was actually a rock. Bahlron was alone in his wisdom.

5: The Mermaid and the Octopus
[Camping on the beach]

[Trek into the forest: Christiana tells Nezznar that they can rely on Twill in case the party isn’t trustworthy]

[Finding the spring with the mermaid]

[Ashiok drains part of the spring]

[Bahlron finds the valve at the bottom of the spring]

[Ashiok and Christiana find an octopus]

[Quill pulls a card from the Deck of Many 'ings and gets the Card of Many Stings. The card transforms into a swarm of bees, and Quill flees into the spring]

[Ashiok shrinks to 1/10 the size in order to explore the deepest part of the spring]

[Bahlron ties open the gate, and the gang swims to the air pocket with Creedy’s 1st clues]

[The gang gets everybody and the stuff back together]

[Twill is revealed]

[As they depart, Christiana spots Captain Arelle Stevison’s pirate ship rounding the cove]

[They escape]

[Christiana and Bahlron practice some magic]

[Ashiok sets up a new home for his octopus, and figures out that he will not un-shrink anytime soon]

[They arrive at the Obsidian Cathedral, where they find 3 statues, and try for a long time to solve the puzzle, including a section where Ashiok makes out with one of the statues]

6: The Crystaline Cathedral
[After trying to solve the puzzle of the statues for a while longer, the adventurers decide to use some of the blasting jelly to blow open the wall behind one of the statues]

[They discover a secret room constructed inside the Obsidian Cathedral. The room is hexagonal, grown from a smokey, quartz-like crystal. The center of the room bears a pedestal that they can turn when Creedy’s medallion is placed in a circular mold. Turning the pedestal rotates the entire room, along with all its neighboring rooms.]

[The party makes their way room-by-room through the maze of crystal rooms. In one antechamber, Quill finds a shrunken head that breathes loudly. It’s jaw hangs with some slack, the twine binding it loose. He uses the head to scare Bahlron.]

[At the end of the maze, the group finds a large crystal chamber with several thrones around its boundaries. A constellation similar to the one from Sandstrafe Isle is carved into the floor of the room. One of the thrones has a poem clue etched into it as well.]

[The party makes their way back through the puzzle and back to the Feral Lady]

[They determine from the poem that they need to search Mt. Terrier for the next clue in their search for Creedy’s treasure, and set sail]

[Christiana chats with Ashiok, asking him to tell her a story]

[Ashiok recounts how Baelor was created, the attachment the two of them have, and how he came to leave his people]

[Christiana tells him that misfits should stick together, and that he shouldn't feel the need to rise to anyone else's expectations]

7: Heating Up
[The party arrives at Mt. Terrier and row ashore. They climb the volcano, and find that its caldera is a giant hot spring with two small islands in the middle. They find a way to get across the boiling water by levitating a rowboat using one of Quill's antigravity arrows.]

[After searching the island in the center of Terrier Spring, they come across a statue which requires one of them to "confess" something in thieves cant. Christiana is the only one who knows thieves cant, and she says something to the statue that none of the party members understand. A door opens in the rocks, revealing a staircase that descends underground.]

[At the bottom of the staircase, the party finds themselves in a large chamber. There is a giant statue of an old man from the torso up. The man is holding a bowl overhead that is overflowing with lava. In the center of the room is a lever and a series of gutters leading from the statue to two large, empty basins carved into the floor. Hanging above the statue and the pool of lava, is a key.]

[The gang discovers that if they pull the lever, the lava is redirected into the basins, revealing access to a locked door within the statue's torso.]

[Bahlron and Nezznar scale the statue. They devise a plan, and barely pull it off: Bahlron teleports to the key hanging from a metal chain. Nezznar freezes the chain with magic until it is brittle enough that Bahlron can break it. Then, as he falls, Bahlron teleports back to safety, just as he is about to plummet into the lava. The two climb back down and unlock the door to the third clue chamber.]

[Bahlron holds the level down while the rest of the party retrieves Creedy's next clue. While the level is activated, the basins fill, and begin to overflow with lava. The party has just enough time to escape the clue chamber before the room floods, and everyone returns to the surface.]

[When they arrive back on the beach, a tribe of fish folk emerge from the forest, chasing them away. The party escapes the island, and sets sail once more on the Feral Lady. They set course for the Crabclaw Isles.]

8: Something in the Water
[Ashiok asks Christiana to stop somewhere to see if they can find a way to un-shrink him]

[Bahlron explores the ship, finding the kitchen, some explosives, and eventually Dixie. They chat about time travel and goldfish.]

[Twill gives Quill a McGyvered spyglass]

[Ashiok and Christiana go ashore on one of the Little Brothers, an island used as a stash for wizard pirates]

[Ashiok and Christiana find a strange circle of petrified trees and glowing plants that shrink back into the ground when touched]

[Ashiok finds a trapdoor leading to an old potions store]

[Ashiok takes the remaining three potions]

[Ashiok and Bahlron get drunk that night, and Ashiok decides to drink all three potions he got from the island. He feels an intense burning sensation through his veins, then receives a full-body tattoo of a complicated mathematical formula, and finally feels a strange feeling of dread sweep over him.]

[Bahlron passes out with a bucket on his head.]

[Quill is in the crow’s nest when a sea serpent ensnares the Feral Lady]

[The crew assumes battle stations]

[Quill is badly wounded from a bite of the sea serpent]

[Bahlron magically assaults the serpent, starting a ghostly fire on its mid-section]

[Dixie lands a shot with one of the ballistae]

[Quill tries to jump from the crow’s nest onto the serpent’s back, but slips and breaks his leg]

[The serpent constricts the ship until it is near breaking in half. It destroys one of the ballistae, and batters the crew with its tail]

[Ashiok becomes a 2D shadow, and misty-steps into the crow’s nest]

[Ashiok throws a small barrel of blasting jelly into the ghostly flames, causing an explosion that rips the serpent in half, throws Bahlron overboard, and sets the sails on fire]

[The serpent’s body disappears into the ocean, destroying another ballista in the process]

[Baelor saves Bahlron, Nezznar puts out the fires, Ashiok hides below deck, Quill tends to his broken leg, Christiana repairs the ship, and Dixie mourns her ballistae]

[The ship arrives at the Crabclaw Isles]

[Below deck, Bahlron stumbles across a notebook that had been tossed free during the attack. He hears the sound of someone writing, as if from one of the Lovers’ Journals, and reads, “How’s the weather?” on the first page that has not been torn out.]

[The party goes ashore]

9: Laced Drinks and Hijinks
[Adventurers spend all day walking across the wrong island]

[Quill confronts Christiana about notebook Bahlron found]

[Ashiok loses his daggers over the edge of a cliff, then jumps into the water after them]

[Ashiok gets drunk and offers Quill and Bahlron drinks that he’s poisoned with one of the potions; Bahlron drinks it]

[Bahlron figures out immediately what he drank, and accuses Ashiok]

[Quill ties up Ashiok. Baelor attacks Quill]

[Bahlron and Quill lead Baelor belowdeck, trying to lure her into the cell]

[Quill ensnares Baelor, then Ashiok swaps places with her]

[Ashiok, Bahlron, and Quill draw multiple cards from the Deck of Many ‘ings. The compounding effects leave them in various states of whimsy]

[Christiana, Dixie, and Sei Zed believe that Ashiok is a king]

[Christiana, Dixie, Bahlron, and Quill go ashore]

10: Reflected Motion
[Party goes ashore on the Eastern island]

[Ashiok stays on the Feral Lady and has a conversation with Sei Zed about how he reproduces. Sei Zed mentions that he would like a soul to consume as repayment for generating a spriggan seed. Ashiok asks Nezznar if he knows how to sever souls, but Nezznar says that he has never dug into that sort of dark magic. Nezznar seems to consider the topic, however.]

[Dixie tells Quill that she thinks Bahlron is in love with her, and asks advice on letting him down gently]

[Bahlron gives Christiana a use of Misty Step, which she stores in her ring of spell storing]

[Dixie, Bahlron, Quill, and Christiana find a carving on the far cliffs of the Crabclaw Isles. The drawing matches a symbol on the edge of the cliff they are standing on to form Creedy's signet. Farther down, they see an outcropping that they can drop to by belaying down some vines.]

[The group completes the floating gem/split maze puzzle]

[Christiana finds the last clues]

[Dixie tells Bahlron that she's not interested, while the two snack on some jerky and BBQ sauce]

[Ashiok commandeers the Feral Lady to go in search of a knife that can sever souls from living creatures. Half-way to the Arches, however, his kingly illusion dissipates, and he is left stranded in the ocean with only Baelor to help him]

[The landing party returns to the ship and begins assembling Creedy's disparate clues. They discover that their final destination is the Arches.]

11: Brimstone
[Bahlron, Quill, and Christiana figure out which island in the Arches they need to search]

[Upon leaving the captain’s quarters, the players and crew find Captain Arelle Stevison on the deck of the ship. He stands above a pile of barrels of blasting jelly and gunpowder, and he holds a torch. Arelle’s ship, the Brimstone waits nose-to-nose with the Feral Lady.]

[Quill draws his bow, but Twill hops onto Quill’s back and holds a knife to his throat]

[Arelle convinces Christiana to hand over Creedy’s medallion and tell him where Creedy’s stash is located.]

[Arelle uses Blink to escape, but drops the torch]

[Quill fires two arrows, pinning the torch to a barrel of blasting jelly]

[Twill slits Quill’s throat, then darts away]

[Christiana rushes forward, but is stopped and thrown overboard by Sei Zed]

[Bahlron heals Quill’s throat before he dies. The two of them try to jump overboard, but—]

[The blasting jelly ignites. The Feral Lady is torn apart from within, a massive explosion enveloping the ship. Bahlron and Quill are caught in the explosion, and lose consciousness. Sei Zed does not escape the explosion.]

[Ashiok is drifting on the ocean when he sees the Brimstone approaching]

[Ashiok is pulled aboard, but is able to escape when Arelle tries to capture him]

[Ashiok hides at the ship’s rudder, and drifts behind it on its way to the Arches]

[Bahlron wakes up in chains. He is badly injured, but alive. He is locked in a room aboard the Brimstone with Nezznar and Dixie.]

[Arelle bursts into the room, and announces that he’s taking Dixie and Bahlron ashore to solve any puzzles and trip and boobytraps in Creedy’s hideout. Bahlron and Dixie reluctantly follow]

[The Brimstone reaches the Arches, and the island where Creedy’s hideout is located.]

[Ashiok sees Bahlron and Dixie rowed ashore with Arelle]

[Ashiok teleports up to the window of Arelle’s quarters and begins sneaking through the ship]

[Christiana wakes up Quill. The two of them are also chained up in the brig. They come to terms, putting their bad blood behind them, and determine to trust one another.]

[Christiana burns her way out of their chains, but can’t get the door open]

[Ashiok discovered the two of them in the brig, and manages to pick the lock]

[Bahlron, Dixie, Arelle, and several of Arelle’s crew members find a clue in luminous rocks along the underside of the arch. The clue leads them to the entrance of Creedy’s hideout.]

[Bahlron and Dixie lead the way, descending into the island. They find themselves in a large chamber defined by two sets of stairs leading up to the opposite walls of the chamber. In the center of the room, a strange cylinder stands in the center of a platform of catwalks.]

[Bahlron uses Creedy’s medallion to turn the cylinder’s casing, and a shrill scream of pain emits from it. At the same time, two beams of light emerge from the glass lenses unveiled by the casing. They open portals at the top of each set of stairs.]

[Bahlron and Dixie investigate the portals. Bahlron’s looks less dangerous than Dixie’s, so Arelle takes his crew and prisoners through it. They find themselves in the Feywild, on an island similar in structure to the one they landed on. Instead of a stone archway, they stand on the bridge between two massive trees. Inside the trees, they see rooms filled with enchanted treasure.]

[Ashiok, Quill, and Christiana find Nezznar and free him. Quill breaks Nezznar’s wand when he’s not looking. They gear up for a fight.]

[Nezznar tells Christiana that they should take control of the Brimstone and leave Arelle, Dixie, and Bahlron behind. Christiana is disturbed by the suggestion, and determines not to leave anyone behind]

[Ashiok creeps to the upper deck and pours his bottle of space fluid into the ocean directly beneath the Brimstone. Beneath the water, dust begins to swirl.]

[Arelle commands Bahlron to pick up some treasure, and they hear a loud moan from the portal back to the Material plane.]

[Dixie and Bahlron inspect the treasure and ready themselves to make an escape attempt]

[Dixie runs free, equipping a gilded glaive from the treasure]

[Bahlron gulps down a red potion that he found amid the treasure. He belches, and a small puff of flame emerges from his mouth.]

[A sound like chains clinking echoes from the portal to the Material plane]

[Bahlron turns to the pirates, and begins to breath fire]

12: Lantern Light
[Bahlron and Dixie fight the pirates]

[Quill, Ashiok, Christiana, and Nezznar escape the Brimstone]

[An inter-planar fight breaks out between the pirates, the adventurers, and a zombified Admiral Creedy]

[Arelle Stevison falls from the platform and is stabbed to death by Ashiok, who retrieves the heartwood of Sei Zed, who perished in the explosion of the Feral Lady]

[Christiana breaks the lantern holding the gateways open. Dixie is lost to the Feywilds. Creedy’s spirit is trapped in Shadowfell. Christiana retrieves Spellbreaker.]

[Nezznar has set up one of the row boats to get everyone away safe. Christiana is still upset with him]

[Christiana tells Bahlron that she’s looking for a change of pace in her life. After losing most of her crew and her ship, she wants a less destructive lifestyle.]

[Christiana sends the group back to Ramor, where Bahlron’s owlbear egg hatches.]

13: The Three-Course Inn
[Meeting fiance and Duma]

[Riding through the forest/feeding the baby owlbear]

[Finding the Three-Course Inn]

[Meeting the innkeepers and guests]

[guests are murdered]

[investigating the crime scene]

[Ashiok finds a secret passage, and is trapped there]

14: A Midnight Snack
[Innkeepers revealed as dopplegangers]

[Furniture is all mimics]

[Battle]

[Quill blows up half the Three-Course Inn with blasting jelly]

[Fighting, fighting, fighting in the rain]

[Ashiok gets bit, then “adopts” a baby mimic]

[Escaping as the inn explodes]

15: Miranda
[Heroes meet Castor the weapon-smith wolf]

[Castor helps craft a warhammer for Bahlron and a bow for Quill]

[Ashiok pulled aside and told that his tattoos are a formula to a new type of armor made of liquid metal]

[Everyone plays with their new weapons. Ashiok almost dies.]

[Christiana has Castor perform a mysterious task]

16: Her Royal Highness
[Christiana tells Bahlron that her family line is heir to the throne of Arojam]

[Christiana gets married, becoming the queen]

[At the reception, Bahlron and Christiana dance, and Bahlron is hesitant to discuss what he knows of the future]

[Bahlron and Quill dance with Lady Cordon, a snobbish noblewoman who is Reynald’s aunt and who believes Christiana is street trash that ascended to royalty because of Reynald’s poor taste.]

[Tensions rise between the party, Christiana, and the guests]

[Guests begin to approach the party, and their eyes are glowing red. One of them tells Ashiok that “He remembers you. And your friends.”]

[The guests start to swarm the group as Bahlron and Ashiok try to run]

[One by one, the adventurers are knocked out by zombified guests casting sleep from some unknown origin]

[The doors are locked magically]

[As Bahlron, the last one standing, falls asleep, Nathan Kuegler reveals himself; he is controlling the crowd with a strange red amulet that has implanted itself in his chest. He declares that “it’s time for a feast”]

17: Cutthroat Kitchen
[The group wakes up to the announcement of tonight’s “entertainment.” Instead of killing all of Christiana’s friends and loved ones quickly, he will make them compete for their lives. The first contest: a cooking show.]

[Round One: Appetizers. Bahlron cooks bbq wings, spilling them all over an audience member in the process. Quill creates a soup (?). Ashiok makes ice cream. Duma creates a terrible salad.]

[The party realizes that if they don’t play along, Nathan will have audience members kill themselves.]

[Christiana signals to Bahlron that she has a plan]

[Duma gets last place, and he is forced to kill himself.]

[Quill taunts Nathan, saying that he knows who “really” killed Nathan’s family]

[Round Two: Entrees. Bahlron makes pasta. Quill cooks steak. Ashiok makes fish.]

[Ashiok uses the monocle to cause Nathan Kugler to fall down. During that moment, Christiana tests out magic and discovers that she can use it while Nathan is distracted. She communicates this to Bahlron.]

[Ashiok slips Baelor’s gem into the fish head]

[While the fish is being served, Ashiok summons Baelor and tackles Nathan. Nathan possesses Baelor and forces the guests in front of Ashiok to kill themselves as punishment. Meanwhile, Christiana frees herself of the bonds to the throne.]

[Bahlron’s dish comes in last, and Nathan prepares to kill him.]

[Chistiana bursts out with a blast of fire (magically avoiding hurting Bahlron. Bahlron plays dead, even shitting himself in the process. Nathan takes possession of Christiana.]

[Round Three: Dessert. Ashiok makes fruit salad. Quill makes dumplings(?).]

[Quill loses, but Ashiok begs Nathan to let trade Ashiok’s life for Quill’s. Nathan choses to make Quill kill Ashiok by shooting him with an arrow. Ashiok plays dead as well.]

[Quill regains control of his body and starts firing arrows at Nathan]

[Christiana gains control of herself just long enough to signal Bahlron]

[Bahlron and Ashiok get back up and start rushing Nathan]

[Quill strikes Nathan in the amulet, knocking it free. Everyone in the crowd comes back to themselves.]

[Ashiok and Nathan race to the amulet. Nathan reaches it first. He’s about to use it again when Christiana summons her blade through his torso. She ignites it, killing Nathan.]

[Ashiok puts on the amulet, and starts writhing on the ground, seeing visions of a strange place on unnatural beauty and Lovecrafian horror.]

[Bahlron pulls the amulet free of Ashiok, and Ashiok recovers. He draws images of the places he saw, and is determined to reach them someday.]

[Christiana deals with the political strife between Quill and Lady Cordon]

[Back in the royal quarters, Ashiok’s owlbear egg hatches, but he gives the owlbear to Christiana to care for, as he doesn’t think it will be safe where he intends to go.]

[Christiana says she’ll keep the Amulet of Limbo safe from anyone who would use it for harm, then she dismisses the party, who reappear in beneath Ramor.]

18: One Last Favor
[Christiana is transported to the Far Realm]

[The party is flung back to the present]

[The time stag arrives to take the group into the Far Realm, completing his end of an exchange]

[The party arrives in the Far Realm, and fights a nest of Flamingosaurs]

[Christiana, now old, arrives to save them with an illusion of a hydra]

19: The Swift and Churning River
[Christiana tells the party that time doesn't flow uniformly across the Far Realm]

[The party travels through a forest of tendrils, eventually arriving at a giant ziggurat]

[The party is hurled across the Far Realm, separated into three groups]

[Bahlron spends weeks traveling through a forest]

[Christiana and Quill fight off a creature that stalks them in their minds]

[Ashiok runs into Erwin's cat, Copenhagen, who teaches Ashiok how to travel swiftly across the Far Realm]

20: The Gate
[Ashiok uses his teleportation abilities to reunite the party]

[The party climbs a giant staircase. At the top, they find a disk-shaped platform, where the red star has been leading them]

[Portals open to the underside of the platform]

[The party meets the Gatekeeper, a beholder who thinks he is invisible and is determined to keep the Gate closed]

[The Gatekeeper traps Ashiok in his memory of his hometown]

[The party battles the Gatekeeper. The beholder dies]

[The party uses the Gatekeeper's eye to send themselves back to the Material Plane, after rigging the gate platform to explode moments after they leave]

[The party arrives in a destroyed temple on Firestorm Peak]

[The party travels back to Arojam, where they are reunited with Nidala and Jaz. They learn it has been 5 years since they vanished.]

[Bahlron gives Christiana 10 pages from the Lover's Journal]

[The party starts planning to go into business selling cake-pops]

[As they walk through the castle, Ashiok sees Copenhagen one last time]

Organizations

 * The Kügler Gang
 * Feral Lady 's Crew
 * Captain Arelle Stevison's Crew
 * The Royal Guards of Arojam