[EF] Loose Threads (1/2019 - 2/2019)

[Judas D'arc]

Summary: The Emerald Fist commence their search for the captive Renthar, unaware that rescuing him requires them to unravel of a series of interconnected mysteries that involve some familiar names and faces.

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1/10/2019:

At Emerald Town, the Emerald Empress organized a meeting. Among other topics, they discussed the fate of Renthar, who had been captured by the Technocrats one month prior, on the night the group celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of their original disbanding. Although most of the Fist despised the strange-eyed sorcerer, they agreed to honor their alliance with him and attempt a rescue.

With the acquiescence of Renthar's apprentice, Jolicia, the group decided to request help from the elder gypsy Miriam. She tried to divine the sorcerer's location, but she was only able to learn that he was surrounded by a sea of rocks and under repeated interrogation about information that his captors sought.

1/20/2019:

Next, the Fist turned to the gypsy Aila. Similar to Miriam, Aila's scrying efforts were met with obstructions, but she discovered that Renthar was being held in a small, confined space, and experienced deep suffering.

1/21/2019:

After encountering him a few times in and around the City of Britain, the Emerald Fist invited Edgar Craigen, a former knight of the Order of the Silver Serpent who had recently returned to the kingdom after years spent in Delucia, to join their ranks. He accepted the offer, becoming their first new member in months.

1/27/2019:

Finally, the Fist arranged for both Aila and Miriam to combine their gifts to search for Renthar. Together, they were able to learn that Renthar was somewhere on their world, questioned by a man called Stavros. They also experienced a three-part vision relating to freeing the sorcerer from his predicament:

1) A man in dark and purple who rode alone and carried a war hammer, he had a sensation of hatred and horses about him;
2) A woman, both alive and dead at once, who struggled with deception;
3) A simple phrase, fearfully spoken: "Mourn once, not twice, and gain understanding, eternally."

The two gypsies also "saw" that Ezekial and Piper of the Emerald Fist, as well as the mercenary Gauf Guthvigoff, were all involved somehow in untangling this matter.

Based on this, the group was able to identify the first of the three visions as relating to Tyler, a former member of the Emerald Fist, and the second of the three visions as relating to Schrodinger, a thief who was both alive and dead at the same time. Not coincidentally, both of these individuals were recently broken out of the Yew prison by the Technocrats. On the other hand, the meaning of the third of the three visions remained a mystery.

1/30/2019:

Next, the Fist and their allies decided to question Schrodinger. She was currently a guest of Ezekial, who was trying to cure her of her strange condition that caused the simultaneous existence of both her living-self and her corpse.

The thief could not identify the strange phrase from the vision, but she felt it was familiar. She also reiterated what she had previously told them about Tyler, they were both freed from the Yew Prison by Sister Niva of the Technocrats, but their interaction at the time was limited. However, she also revealed a new piece of information. Both Schrodinger and Tyler previously worked for a mysterious figure known as Montague, a middleman for those seeking various illegal services. This individual also had connections with the families of Old Magincia and Nujel'm. Unfortunately, she was unable to provide the group with any information regarding Montague's true identity or present whereabouts.

2/3/2019:

The Fist then sought out Erollisi Stower of the Riverwatch Rangers because Lady Alionna Arroway, her predecessor as head of the Stower family, was known to have dealings with Montague. In a search of family records, Erollisi discovered numerous payments from Arroway to this mysterious broker. These payments were over the course of decades, with the final one occurring approximately four years ago, with the notation: BB. The ranger also informed them that her debaucherous uncle Oswin, who might know more about their family matters, could be found in Nujel'm.

The group journeyed to Nujel'm and questioned Oswin at the Silver Bow tavern. He told them how 'Montague' was the assumed name of an individual that the Stowers used to hire their mercenaries. All of their dealings were through intermediaries, but Arroway and Montague had a falling out shortly before Alionna's death. Oswin was unsure of the cause, and he believed that Montague was no longer in business. However, he did recall that Cripple Crow, one of the middle-man's former agents, now headed a new band of mercenaries that operated out of the Counselor's Guild in Felucca Vesper.

In Felucca Vesper, the Fist encountered Cripple Crow and his men. When asked about Montague, he explained that their offers of work had dried up since he beat the Hairy Bastard at a game of Nim, and they needed practice. So he would only answer their questions if the group could beat his men in a fair fight. After the Fist defeated the mercenaries, their leader shared the following. For a dozen years, he was employed by Montague, who was actually a woman, but they only met a handful of times, and he was ignorant of her true name. Four years ago, she became angry with Alionna Arroway after the noblewoman's plans caused the deaths of the Bloody Blades, some of the broker's best agents. When she demanded compensation, Arroway retaliated by bribing Montague's top henchmen, including Cripple Crow, to betray their employer. She was then turned over to Arroway, who experimented upon her as part of some magical ritual that the Stowers were trying to perfect. Cripple Crow later learned from another former henchman of Montague's that their employer managed to survive this torment and still lived.

For an additional fifty thousand gold pieces, Cripple Crow agreed to arrange a meeting between the Fist and this other former henchman and stated he would soon be in contact.

2/4/2019:

In response to Jolicia's request for his aid in locating her kidnapped lover, Morgaelin visited Emerald Town. The former sorcerer of Pagan had no means of tracking the missing Renthar, but he did ask a favor. He needed help in traveling to the home of the thaumaturgist Mythran in the ethereal void. Morgaelin believed Mythran's library might hold the means of enabling him to return to his native world.

The Fist agreed and escorted him to Mythran's floating home. There, Morgaelin told them the reason for his original exile, something he had previously only shared with the Meer Kosha of Lakeshire. Once a member of the Sorcerer’s Enclave in Daemon’s Crag of Pagan, he discovered a terrible secret: Lord Pyros and his fellow Titans were actually servants of an unnamed, far more powerful being. When he reported this to the Master Sorcerer, Morgaelin was banished from the order and sentenced to the Bowels of Lithos to silence him from spreading this information to others. Despite Britannia's recent defeat of the Titans, Morgaelin wanted to warn the Fist that their master might still threaten the Fist's shard-world.

[Judas D'arc]

2/9/2019:

While awaiting Cripple Crow's response, the Fist decided to search for their former member Tyler, who was last spotted in the Lost Lands after the Technocrats freed him from the Yew Prison. Edgar Craigen of the Fist suggested they first travel to Delucia, where the contacts he accumulated during his years there might facilitate their quest.

At Delucia's Barley Inn, a sociable innkeeper and old friend of Edgar's recognized the group's description of Tyler. He described three separate occasions when their quarry visited the town. The first was a couple of months ago; he passed through Delucia with a number of individuals in dark robes. They entered through the city's eastern gate and departed through the northern gate. Tyler returned a few weeks later and remained for nearly a month. Mostly, he kept to himself, before joining a merchant caravan that transported ore and gems to Papua. His final visit was a week later, Tyler spent the night at the inn and then left through the tunnels to Britannia.

After fruitlessly searching the Delucia tunnels, the Fist journeyed to Papua. There, they encountered Ir-Vin, self-styled Lord of the Swamp and master Frog-Hunter. After regaling the group with his derivative origin story, Ir-Vin mentioned that he and Tyler were recently part of a small crowd gathered near the bank to listen to a fellow preaching politics. Though illiterate, the Swamp Lord kept the text that the speaker handed out to his audience. Upon examining this book, the Fist identified it as the socialist propaganda of Ine, the former rabble-rousing Governor of Trinsic.

Following this trail, their next destination was the Trinsic shelter, where they found Tyler among the poor, destitute, and militant. Apparently, their fugitive former member had been recruited to socialism in Papua by Todd, Ine's child protege. While the Fist confronted Tyler and negotiated with Governor Gordon Sullivan, a fight erupted between Fargus, one of Ine's most devoted followers, and the Posse, a Yew-based group that was also visiting the Shelter that evening. When Todd attempted to interfere, he was accidentally (and brutally) killed by Eban McFarlin, one of the Posse. In exchange for ensuring that the Posse immediately departed Trinsic, Governor Sullivan agreed to hand Tyler over to the Fist, who secured him at Ezekial's home.

2/14/2019:

Soon, Cripple Crow visited Emerald Town and informed the Fist that his former colleague has agreed to discuss Montague with them. Now a monk, he called himself Brother Fishbourne, and resided at the Felucca Empath Abbey.

When the group met with the monk, he explained it was the guilt of betraying his former employer that led him to virtue, and after learning that she had survived Arroway's experiments, Brother Fishbourne tracked her down to accept whatever punishment she deemed appropriate. But he discovered she was now a disfigured, traumatized creature, more beast than woman, and he instead dedicated himself to her care.

After they promised not to harm her, the monk led them to a small structure on the outskirts of Felucca Yew. The sign on the building read, "Mourn once, not twice, and gain understanding, eternally," and Piper realized that the name 'Montague' was an acronym for this mysterious phrase from Aila and Miriam's joint vision.

Due to the efforts of the Stower family to test their Hollowing upon her, Montague had been permanently transformed. Reptilian scales covered most of her torso, except for occasional patches of exposed muscle and bone. She had no hair, but her head and face were covered in a layer of animal fur. Her fingers were slender talons, and her legs resembled those of goats, with large, cloven hooves. Only her eyes, sad and light and brown, remotely resembled what she once was.

Unfortunately, Montague's behavior was very simplistically, almost child-like, and her responses to most questions were limited, despite the obvious rapport she shared with Callisto. Both Schrodinger and Tyler did elicit specific responses; the former caused the creature to speak of a pretty statue, and the latter caused her to apologize profusely. When they were done speaking, Fishbourne told the Fist they could visit again, as long as they upheld their agreement not to harm Montague.

2/18/2019:

When asked about the pretty statue, Schrodinger explained that one of the two jobs she previously mentioned performing for Montague was the theft of a prototype Queen Dawn statuette crafted in honor of the monarch's murder. There were numerous replicas of this item available throughout Sosaria, and so Faeryl fetched the one that she owned.

The Fist then returned to Montague with the replica statuette, and this seemed to please her. However, at the mention of Tyler's name, she again became irrationally afraid and apologetic. It was not until Piper shared her own experiences dealing with magical transformation, as hinted by the gypsies' vision, that Montague was able to confront her cowardice about her freakish nature. She then confessed the following about Tyler.

More than fifteen years prior, Montague was contacted by Alionna Arroway’s brother, Stower, to give Tyler mercenary work so he could be molded into a potential weapon against the Fist. The first job was arranged to go poorly, and Tyler blamed himself when the children he attempted to rescue from slavery were all killed in a fire set by another of Stower's agents. After this, it was a simple matter to turn the hatred he felt against the Fist, but his now-brutal nature caused him to accidentally murder a book-dealer named Phearcy, which led to his arrest by his former comrades and subsequent imprisonment in Yew. Montague and Stower abandoned Tyler to prison, allowing his self-loathing to utterly consume him.

Despite this horrific admission, the group ultimately decided to leave Montague, as her present suffering was more than enough of a punishment. Edgar also suggested that they continue looking for a way to restore her back to normal.

[Judas D'arc]

2/18/2019:

After hearing Montague's confession, the Fist confronted Tyler with the truth about how Montague and Stower caused the fire that killed the enslaved children he was trying to rescue, in order to corrupt him. But due to his anger, the ex-Fist member was still hesitant to cooperate. It was not until the mercenary Gauf shared his own experiences and failings, as hinted by gyspies' joint vision, that Tyler faced his own self-hated and finally agreed to answer their questions.

According to Tyler, it was Sister Niva's fanaticism about something called the Techno-Prophecy that caused him to part ways with the Technocrats and return to Delucia, though he was present for Renthar's imprisonment. After retrieving the box that cursed Schrodinger, Niva realized it was the true source of the thief's current predicament, as it was charged with something Tyler referred to as "gambling magic." The Technocrats then linked this power to the captive sorcerer, using it to alter reality so that the chance of his rescue was reduced to zero. While Renthar was presently held beneath the maze of the Wisp Dungeon in Ilshenar, he could never be found as long as this spell was in effect. The only way to negate this probability field was to reset the box's magic through additional contact with Schrodinger. Tyler also overheard the Technocrats discuss moving the box to a cave somewhere in a savage facet populated by giant lizards, intelligent ants, and savages. But he assumed this was a joke, since he had never heard of such a place.

Following this explanation, the Fist agreed to allow Gauf to take custody of Tyler and return him to the Yew Prison, so he could collect the 250,000 gold reward previously posted for his capture.

2/19/2019:

Next, the Fist retrieved the box that cursed Schrodinger from inside the Great Volcano of Eodon. A lone Technocrat guarded the artifact, but he was dispatched after forcing the group to pursue him through unstable flows of lava.

But when they returned the box to Schrodinger, the thief refused to cooperate or touch it again. She argued she was a good person, who only ever stole because she lover her husband and wanted to make enough gold for their life together. It was not until Ezekial discussed his own experiences with self-deception and the truth, as hinted by the gypsies' vision, that Schrodinger was able to confront the falsehoods she told herself and agreed to help.

Upon coming into contact with the box, both the live Schrodinger and Her Corpse were sucked inside. Unfortunately, the odds proved to be against her, and only Her Corpse emerged from it. However, with the artifact recharged, it also meant that the probability field preventing the rescue of Renthar had now been nullified.

Following this, the Fist allowed Gauf to take custody of Schrodinger's body and return her to the Yew Prison to collect the 100,000 gold reward previously posted for her capture, and Chanticleer took possession of the cursed box.

2/19/2019:

The Fist and their allies then traveled to Wisp Dungeon of Ilshenar. Beneath the fourth floor maze, they finally found the missing Renthar. Though unguarded, he was comatose, his left eye and ear missing, a piece of metal fused to his face, and a powerless communication crystal attached to his gorget. With Jolicia's consent, the group brought the wounded sorcerer back to Emerald Town for recuperation, and then they disposed of the communication crystal.