CoO - Summaries

[Daos]

Chapter One:
Crane's Angels

We open in the nation of Salt Whale, in the garden of Si'ahl. It's one of the many coffee festivals the garden holds throughout the year, so the place is bustling. Three young women, complete strangers to each other, are in the garden for different reasons. They have no idea their destinies will soon intertwine. They are Kalinda Raisa, a dark elf monk who works at a local restaurant but has the day off; April Showers, a human paladin searching for a wanted criminal last seen in the area; and Penelope “Poppy” Roquet, who is searching for answers to solve a mystery from her past.

April heads into the nearby inn, the Orca's Tail, and speaks with the half-orc innkeeper about the dwarf she is looking for. As it turns out, the innkeeper recognizes him, claiming he just checked out twenty minutes prior. April quickly leaves and decides to head to the Siren's Song and check there.

Meanwhile, Poppy and Kalinda both enter The Siren's Song, a popular coffee franchise, and get in line. While a pair of unruly customers harass the dragonborn barista, Kalinda meets a halfling woman named Starbuck who is hyped up on way too much caffeine. April comes in and asks Kalinda if she's seen a bad dwarf with a red beard and a poison oak tattoo, but she has not. Poppy reacts to that question, as it turns out that is who she is searching for, as well, but for different reasons. She looks around the room to see if anyone else noticed, and spots a drow woman eavesdropping on their conversation. At this point, it's Poppy's turn in line so she makes an order. Meanwhile, Starbuck waxes on the wonder of coffee and its amazing powers, and offers a cup to Kalinda, who does find it seems to bolster her stamina more than normal.

April abruptly leaves, as does the drow who was eavesdropping. Poppy goes after the latter. April heads for the harbor and speaks with the harbormaster, who agrees to have his men keep an eye out for the dwarf she is looking for if he tries to charter a boat. She then heads for the eastern garden gate. There, she spots a child crying. A garden guard, an osprey aarakocra, arrives and offers to help. The child is missing his mother, but doesn't know where she is or where he lives. The guard tries to pick the child up, but he clings to April and screams. So instead, he takes to the air to search for the boy's mother. The boy asks her if she's a knight, and if she rides a dinosaur. As they talk, the guard returns with the boy's mother, and she thanks April for finding him. April asks the guard spread the word and keep an eye out for her quarry at any of the gates, and he agrees. She then heads back to the market to search.

Poppy follows the drow into an alley, but she levitates up to the roof of a building. The building in question is a shop called The Sailor's Way, with a residence on the second floor. Poppy goes inside the shop, learning it's some kind of supply store.

Kalinda offers sympathy to the barista, Acebar, so he gives her a free drink. She sits down by two elderly women who gossip about Crane and how he doesn't hold a candle to his predecessors. They also mention the Vengeful Mother cult, which leaves Kalinda disquieted. She departs and hears music, so goes to check it out. She finds a half-orc musician playing to a small crowd, including her two roommates, Mist and Rain. After the song is over, Kalinda approaches the musician and tells him his music is 'interesting' and claims she didn't understand the lyrics. The half-orc says the lyrics don't matter, but Kalinda insists they do. He gets frustrated, more concerned with how the music made people feel, not what the lyrics mean. She learns the half-orc is named Gurt, and he asks if she has any artistic abilities. She shows off some of her fighting stances, and he offers to let her be a backup dancer once he gets his band going. Kalinda wishes him luck then heads for the Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs restaurant.

April heads for The Sailor's Way and questions the shopkeep about the dwarf she is searching for. Poppy sees her and slips into the back to avoid her, and to snoop around. April learns from the shopkeep that her quarry was there last night, buying traveling supplies. She quickly leaves. Meanwhile, Poppy peeks at the shopkeep's ledger, and slips back into the showroom just before he notices her missing. She asks for a deck of cards or perhaps something to help her act. The shopkeep has a pair of paper fans from the Celestial Empire to the south, and the two begin to haggle.

April hears yelling and sees an altercation between two women. One is cloaked with her face hidden. The other grabs her, calling her a thief. But the cloaked woman doesn't understand the idea of paying for food. April immediately tackles the cloaked woman to the ground, which causes her to start to panic. Storm clouds begin appearing overhead, and April can feel herself about to be hit by lightning so gets of the woman, but demands to know why she doesn't know about paying for food. The woman says she is from an island off the coast and there they do not have money, but rather use trade. Also, food is free. April offers to pay for the meal.

At this point, there is a commotion as a giant raven flies over the garden. Everyone looks up and gasps in surprise and confusion. The raven then explodes into hundreds of regular sized ravens which dive down on the people, pecking and clawing at them. People begin panicking and running for shelter. A guard comes running up, chased by the ravens, yelling that Ravenites were raiding the garden from the docks. All three women start heading that direction to help.

They find Ravenite raiders setting fire to buildings, kidnapping folk and looting valuables. One such group is under attack when Gurt appears and challenges them. The three women join up with him to fight. He uses his music to inspire the party and to blast the raiders with sound waves. After they win, Gurt stays behind to help the people get to safety, but warns the party he heard the Supervisor was at the docks and would likely need help.

The party moves on, and they come across another five raiders setting fire to shops. The mysterious cloaked woman April assaulted earlier shows up and summons some rain to help put out the fires. Her hood is pulled back to reveal she is a water genasi. Using the rain to power her, she forms weapons from the water and tendrils to entwine the raiders. The party jumps in to help. After defeating them, the genasi stays behind to help put out some fires while the party rushes on to the docks.

They run into more trouble on the way, though, and find a pair of raven swarms attacking some citizens. They were being fought off by Starbuck, who was splashing hot coffee at them. However, they also spotted that dwarf fugitive that coincidentally both Poppy and April were searching for. He slipped into an alley to escape. Oddly, though, it was Kalinda who chose to pursue him, leaving the others to fight the ravens. However, she returns a few moments later, empty-handed, much to April's and Poppy's chagrin.

Starbuck heals them and gives them a healing potion (actually another coffee) and stays behind to help the locals while the party presses on to the docks. Kalinda admits she let the dwarf go, because he seemed to know who she was and it surprised her. April was largely upset about it.

When they arrived at the harbor, they found a large force of garden guards protecting a warehouse from Ravenites. One of the guards shouted that they must protect the supervisor at all costs and to let no one enter. The party goes to help, and are confronted by three raiders. However, the same aarakocra that April met earlier swoops in, grabbing one of the raiders and tossing him into the sea. He then joins them to help fight, but a shaman appears.

Working with the guard, named Blitz, the party makes short work of the three. By this point, the Ravenites are in full retreat, loading up their canoes with treasure and prisoners and taking off. The warehouse door opens and Supervisor Crane, along with his personal guard, emerge. He thanks the party for helping, and asks them to return to the palace with him for a proper reward, and perhaps an opportunity.

Once back in the palace, the party is given 120 pink coral shards in payment, which they divide evenly among the three of them. Crane then makes his proposal. He points out the many threats Salt Whale is facing, including the Ravenites, and he feels the best course of action is to rebuild the empire of Cascadia. Otherwise, all of the Elonnori nations will fall one by one to their many enemies. He offers to make the three of them his secret agents, tasked with spearheading the necessary missions (off the books, mostly) to complete this agenda. April is reluctant at first, as she is still focused on finding her quarry. But Poppy talks her into it, pointing out having the Supervisor's resources will make that easy. So all three women agree.

Crane is pleased, and he takes them to meet his council. They consist of Dusksun, the aasimar gardener of Amatil and Crane's Second-Hand, which put him in charge of all military and war operations; Pike, the half-elf gardener of Regna and Crane's Spymaster, putting him in charge of all matters of intelligence and subterfuge; Olivia the rather young mountain dwarf who is Head Druid at Evar Grove and his High Druid, meaning she is in charge of all matters religious and is a representative of the church; Marine the gardener of Sumrae, a goldfinch aarakocra who is also the Steward, putting him in charge of all things financial; and finally, Saltyxandra Freewaters, who is not only Crane's Chancellor (and thus in charge of all things diplomatic) but also his niece.

The problem was each council member had a different idea of what they should do and none agreed with the others. Dusksun wanted to pour everything into their military and invade and conquer Noisy Waters and Rain Mountain, adding them to their own power. Pike wanted to assassinate the lady of Tall Pines, absorbing her territory. Marine wanted to bolster their coffers, through new trade routes or finding new resources to exploit. Olivia wanted to start a crusade on the Ravenites and basically hand the reins of the country to the church. And Saltyx felt the most important thing was to get the Supervisor married so he could produce an heir before he dies.

The party asked questions, trying to learn more about the situation. Eventually, each of the party sided with one of the council, creating a three-way tie. Kalinda favored Saltyx's plan, Poppy favored Pike's plan and April favored Olivia's plan. So Crane decided to try and combine the three and focus on that. He also learned that neither April or Poppy actually live in Si'ahl, to his surprise, so he offered them guest rooms at the palace, but only Poppy took him up on it.

April confronted Kalinda about letting the dwarf go. Kalinda told them what happened. She thought he was a Ravenite, but he somehow knew her name and seemed scared of her, so she let him go. April and Poppy wonder how he could know her name. April considered him a mere thief and murderer, but Poppy claimed he's part of some wider organization. Kalinda had no idea who he is or how he knew her. Kalinda offered to show the party where she last saw him, so the three head back to the alley. However, there were no leads there.

April suggested Kalinda was a part of the criminal organization and simply forgot. Or maybe she was associated with them somehow. Kalinda found that laughable. The only people she knew were her boss and her coworkers. April then suggested that one of them were part of the criminal organization. Kalinda told April she was pretty terrible at detective work. Poppy intervened and suggested the three of them meet at the restaurant that evening, and Kalinda could introduce them to her coworkers.

Poppy returned to where she last saw the water genasi druid. She wasn't there anymore, but she got directions to the big stone troll in the art district, where a passerby had seen her before. There's a whole tent community there of various homeless folk, and Poppy found the woman among them. She learned her name was Mizzle. Mizzle seemed a bit jumpy and closed off, but Poppy invited her to lunch and she agreed; so the two went to the Local Tide restaurant for some seafood. Mizzle claimed to be from a small island off the coast. She said she had visions of a terrible tidal wave crashing down on all of Cascadia. She came here to try and stop whatever this upcoming disaster is, but was lost in the decadence of the garden. Poppy promised to get her a meeting with the supervisor so he can do something about this vision. She was appreciative, but surprised as nobody else has listened to her or wanted anything to do with her. Poppy then headed to the restaurant to meet with the others.

Kalinda returned home to check on her roommates. They were alive, but sporting minor injuries. Mist believed that the whole thing was set up by the Riverdom, although Kalinda tried to assure her otherwise. Kalinda questioned them on if they had seen the red haired dwarf, but they had not. So she went downstairs and ran into April. After speaking to her briefly, she went to speak to her boss, Selene. She told her she was working for the supervisor now and would need some time off. Selene agreed, then Kalinda asked her to meet with her companions.

April returned to where she last saw the half-orc bard, Gurt. She thanked him for his spell of heroism. He claimed he was working on a new song about the attack. April claimed to also be a musician, although more of a writer than an actual player, and said Gurt's music reminded her of Green River Valley's music. This upset Gurt, who felt this meant he was being derivative instead of original. April insisted all music was, by nature, derivative. She admitted she was sent here to track a killer. Gurt said he'd keep an eye out for him. April then went to the restaurant to meet with the others.

All three of them reunited, then met with Selene. They asked her about the dwarf, but she didn't know anything about him. April asked her why the dwarf would know Kalinda, but Selene barely knew her herself, as Selene only hired her a few months ago. The three decided to sit down to a meal and get to know each other better. They learned that Poppy was raised by a weird druid, that April talked to squirrels and Kalinda hoped to open her own restaurant some day. Their meal was comped by Selene, who was hoping they would say good things about the restaurant to the Supervisor and other highborn. The three women then split up. Kalinda retired for the night. April went and spoke with the aarakocra guard she met earlier, who she learned was named Blitz. She then also retired.

Poppy went out to the beach and watched a couple of kids play for a bit, then returned to the palace where she met with Olivia in her office. She asked her about the cult that Mizzle was a part of. She learned they were a heresy called the Kamyllist Movement, and believed that Elonna was the spirit of the ocean, not the earth itself. They were driven off to the west, disappearing into the ocean years ago. Poppy also worried that she may have upset Olivia by not siding with her during the meeting. But Olivia recognized politics as politics and assured her that nobody takes such things personally. She also remarked that Pike was the newest member, having only joined the council a year ago, and was desperate to prove himself, but nobody took him very seriously.

Poppy then went to visit Crane in his own office. She asked him to give a room to the homeless Mizzle, but Crane was reluctant to take in a heretic, as that would upset the church. He also seemed rather skeptical of her prophecy. Poppy also expressed concern with making enemies of the council by siding with Pike. But Crane pointed out the whole reason he wanted the three of them to voice an opinion was because they were not beholden to the trappings of politics--that they could speak for the commonfolk freely without worrying about elections, alliances or political gain. She also asked if Crane trusted Pike. Crane assured her he trusted all of his council members.

Poppy then went to visit Pike in his office. She told him about her encounter with the drow woman and asked him to investigate her connection to the murderer that April is chasing, the dwarf with the tattoo. Pike questioned her on her interest in the investigation and pressed her for more details as she claimed the dwarf was part of a criminal organization. He didn't seem to believe that her motives were purely altruistic, but he agreed to look into it. Poppy then retired for the night.

[Daos]

Chapter Two:
First Mission

A week has passed and it is now Magmapour 11th. Kalinda spent the week working at the restaurant and managed to make a fair amount of shards that way, thanks to her boss marketing on Kalinda's newfound ties to the supervisor. April spent the week studying and meditating at the local grove, and made a friend in the woman, Vaporie, who runs it. Poppy, meanwhile, spent the week partying to celebrate her 20th birthday. She, too, wound up making a friend, a homeless woman named Watta.

The trio met up at the council chambers, walking in to the middle of what sounded like a distressing meeting. They are quickly filled in. Their mission is to travel to the coastal garden of Long Beach in Twin Pines. They have three objectives. First, they must head to the local orphanage and adopt a baby for Crane's heir. Saltyx gives them 25 pink shards for this, to Marine's chagrin. Second, they must look into the disappearance of one of Pike's operatives who has gone missing in that area. Third, they must find the leader of the Keepers of the Green, who was last seen there and convince her to align with them for the holy war against the Ravenites. Unfortunately, that last one has something of a time limit. They just recently learned that the Trailwalker nation of Clearwater has declared war on the Riverdom. It's likely the Riverdom has dispatched their own emissary to recruit the Keepers of the Green, as a result. Thus, the party must get there first.

The party gathered up Gurt and Starbuck and then headed south onto the Fey Eye. Gurt told them of a settlement, a small coral growing garden, not too far from Si'ahl that they should be able to reach by nightfall. As they walked, they talked. Poppy asked Starbuck whether she had any interests beside coffee. Starbuck answered she did, but every topic she brought up (history, agriculture) was actually about coffee. She also told Poppy about the legendary ambrosia coffee bean, a mystical bean that could brew a cup of coffee so powerful it could perform miracles. She had no idea where it was but was certain it was real and that it was her destiny to find it.

Meanwhile, April started arguing with Gurt about music again, criticizing him for trying to be original. He didn't take kindly to that, especially from someone who wasn't a musician herself, and picked up the pace to get away from her. Kalinda tried to keep up with him, asking him how he got into music. He explained music ran in his family. Poppy started questioning him, too, and he started to feel interrogated all of the sudden.

That evening, the party arrived in Faerie Way, a small garden of maybe 100 people. It had a square known as the Commons where all of the shops and the inn were found. The party made a beeline for the inn, where the cantankerous old innkeeper grumbled about young people and their 'wild hair and crazy tattoos.' Kalinda pressed him on the tattoo remark and he revealed that the tattooed dwarf they were seeking had come by a week ago. The innkeeper didn't think much of him, but said Krest, the barista, and Porate, the local shopkeep, talked to him.

Kalinda headed to the shop and from Porate learned their quarry bought a week's worth of supplies and rations. Meanwhile, April and Poppy spoke to Krest. He remembered the dwarf's name was Tren and that he had just escaped Si'ahl's recent Ravenite raid. He said he was heading south to meet someone, but couldn't remember any details more than that. He did remember meeting a woman with the same tattoo, but it was on her face, but that was years ago, possibly even a decade.

The party reconvened and shared their intel. April was keen to follow the tattooed dwarf southward, but Kalinda and Poppy reminded her their mission was to head west, not south. The party decided to retire to their rooms. However, Kalinda only rented two of them, and each room only had two beds. They argued about who would get which room, and which room would get Gurt, the only male of the group. Gurt decided to just rent his own room, since they were pretty cheap anyway (only 5 blue shards) to solve the issue. April was mortified, because she feared the innkeeper would judge not for not renting the proper number of rooms in the first place.

The next morning as they prepared to set out, the innkeeper grumbled that they had better not left a big mess in their rooms like the tattooed dwarf did. April wanted to see this mess, but the dwarf wouldn't allow them in unless they paid for it. Kalinda offered to have the party clean the mess up, so he agreed. While cleaning the room, Kalinda found a note hidden under one of the beds. But it was not written in any language the party recognized. The innkeeper mentioned Krest was pretty knowledgeable about such things, so the party showed him the note.

Unfortunately, Krest had no idea what language it was. But he did know of an old witch, a hermit, that lived on the outskirts of the settlement, in a tower. Supposedly he was from a far away land far to the east. So it was possible he might recognize the language. But he was said to wield dark powers and enslaved the minds of young women to do his bidding, before sacrificing them to an evil god. So Krest suggested the party avoid him at all costs.

April was nervous and Kalinda thought it a waste of time, but Poppy convinced them to follow up on the lead. So the group headed for the hermit's tower. They found it in the woods just outside of the settlement. The area felt strange, and somehow polluted but it looked normal. When they reached the tower, a weird looking structure made of stone instead of wood or coral, April tried knocking. But there was no response.

Concerned, Poppy picked the lock, which was fairly easy to do. Likewise, there were no traps, wards or defenses of any kind. She and Kalinda stepped into to a dark room, while April lingered outside with the others. Exploring a bit, the two found a strange device that seemed to magically keep food cold and fresh. As they were poking around, the lights came on and someone descended the stairs, demanding to know who they are and what they are doing in his home.

The party apologized and April mentioned they were searching for a criminal and needed help deciphering a note from him. The hermit concluded they are law enforcement, and despite having a bit of disdain for that profession took the note and started translating it. It's not a language, it turned out, but a cipher. The hermit noted it's a fairly simple one. He asked if the criminal they were hunting for was part of an organization, but the party remained tight-lipped about it.

The hermit translated the rest of the note and revealed it read as followed: “The mission in Si'ahl was a success, although I nearly died in the process. Until the heat dies down, I'd strongly recommend all of us avoid it. I'm returning to Twinrivers for immediate extraction. Recommend all members who find this do likewise; our pursuers won't think to look for us there.”

The party wasn't sure what to make of this talk of 'extraction' or 'missions.' They thanked the hermit and Poppy asked why he looked so worn out and run down. He basically said he didn't take care of himself, because nobody cared about him anyway. Not wanting to unpack all of that, Poppy asked where he came from. He told them a tale of a faraway land, thousands of miles away, where dark magicks were employed to separate the soul from the body, creating 'zombis,' those without agency or free will. He sought to flee the place, so slowly walked westward for months until arriving here.

Poppy was disgusted by such a practice. But the hermit assured her that they were in no danger from his people, as they were thousands of miles away. There were far more concerning dangers closer by. April surmised he meant the Ravenites, but he also meant the Trailwalkers and Celestians, as well. He claimed they would all invade, claiming the Elonnori lands piece by piece, until they were gone. He lamented that loss, but also said it didn't matter, as the world was falling apart anyway. Slightly put off by his rather bleak disposition, Poppy suggested they continue on their quest, so the party left. As they headed back into Faerie Way, Starbuck wondered if the old hermit was as evil as Krest claimed. Gurt speculated he was just lonely and depressed; and that was probably the first conversation he'd had in years.

The party bought some supplies and then continued their trek southward to the Garden of Destiny, Bar'eyllis. It's a large port garden, like Si'ahl, although much smaller in size and population. Currently, there was a farmer's market going on in the garden square specially for pipeweed. The party decided to check it out.

As Poppy listened in on various conversations, trying to learn anything useful, April and Kalinda haggled with a merchant while Gurt and Starbuck browsed around. Suddenly, a cloaked woman climbed up onto a small cart and started yelling about punishment and decadence. She cast a spell, causing a tree and two shrubs to spring to life, attacking. She ran away as the party joined in to stop the carnage, with the merchants and other customers fleeing to safety.

The party easily dispatched the plants, but found the woman who awakened them was long gone. The party speculated she must have been a Vengeful Mother cultist, a splinter sect of Elonnari that believe civilization is evil and must be dismantled. The garden guard arrived shortly after and thanked and debriefed them, before sending them on their way and going off to secure the area and search for the cultist. The party found a pamphlet left behind by the cultist, then returned to the inn.

A few days later, while they were on the road, they came across a merchant caravan full of fish, heading to Rainalia and coming from Long Beach. A bronze dragonborn spoke with them about rumors on the road. The party told him about the Ravenite raid on Si'ahl and the cultist attack in Bar'eyllis. The merchant commented that Long Beach has been hit by so many raids, there's barely anything left there. He also told them of rumors, that the Trailwalkers and Chrysalists were warring far to the east, and that the chieftainess of Salmon Falls was said to be building an army.

Before they could continue, three black bears emerged from the woods, smelling the fish. The merchants fled in panic, while the party tried to hold the bears off. They successfully drove the bears off, then continued their journey.

Two days later, Magmapour 17th, they reached Long Beach and found it's practically in shambles. Stepping into the inn, they learned that the garden was raided every couple of months, and has been for the past two years. Most of the garden guard were dead or deserted. The people were in poor spirits, understandably so.

While Kalinda and Poppy negotiated for rooms, the latter offering to perform in lieu of payment, April recognized one of the patrons as a member of her old grove--a young male acolyte named Terani. He revealed that he was sent by Druid Olivia to aid them on their task, and April readily invited him into the group. After introductions were made, the party decided that they would get some rest then split up the next day. Kalinda and Gurt would go to the orphanage, April and Terani would seek out the Keepers and Poppy and Starbuck would investigate the missing agent.

The party retired to their rooms but discovered that despite paying normal rates, the rooms were quite subpar.

The following morning, Magmapour 18th, they set off with an agreement to meet back at the inn when they were done.

Kalinda and Gurt headed to the orphanage, having received directions from the innkeeper, Torm. They found a group of children playing outside, who seemed excited at the idea of prospective parents visiting. Inside, Kalinda and Gurt spoke with the recepionist, an aasimar woman. Kalinda claimed they were there on behalf of the Supervisor and wanted to adopt a baby girl. As it turned out, there was a baby girl, maybe a month or two old, that had no surviving family (they had died in a Ravenite raid). Kalinda felt that transporting a baby would be too difficult. Not sure what she wanted from her, the aasimar woman shrugged and suggested she just rent a boat back then? Kalinda then asked to see the baby. The woman escorted the pair to the nursery. The baby had no name, at least not one anyone knew about. The fee to adopt was 25 pink shards. Kalinda agreed to fill out the paperwork now, but would not pick up the infant until later.

April and Terani learned from the innkeeper, Torm, that the Keepers were camped north of the garden, but they would send in groups to get food and drink, so some might be at the local Siren's Song. So the pair headed there. They do indeed find Captain Dzalarhons Dwamish there, a Coyotist woman with a fairly stern countenance. April and Terani make their case, asking the Keepers of the Green to help the Salt Whale army war with the Ravenites. Dwamish was skeptical, though, especially of the idea that Supervisor Crane would be in charge of this crusade, considering he was not terribly pious. April agreed and suggested they put the supervisor of Rose Valley in charge, instead. Dwamish was open to the idea, and also suggested that if Crane would invade Rain Mountain and overthrow their ex-communicated leader (meaning Salt Whale would receive nothing in return, as Rain Mountain would remain independent), she'd consider that, as well. Considering their mission a success, the pair decided to go hang out at the docks and enjoy the ocean view for a bit. Once there, they spotted Poppy and Starbuck talking to an old dwarf. They waited until they are finished, and discussed their faith and the nature of marriage.

Poppy and Starbuck headed to the address that Pike had given them. While the latter kept watch, Poppy sneaked into the safehouse and breaks in. She found evidence of someone living there, but they clearly hadn't been around for a couple of weeks. She did find a message, though, saying to meet someone at Sand Island. She returned to Starbuck and the two started to search for a tavern called Sand Island. But Poppy learned it was an actual island, a mile off the shore, that the local avoided because it was cursed in some way. A dwarf named Loch mentioned a lad went down there a couple of weeks ago and hasn't been seen since. Apparently he went to see a woman there in secret. She appeared in town every now and again, always with a different man. Poppy found this intriguing, and promised to return later to rent a boat.

Afterward, Poppy took the others to the local Siren Song to get some drinks. Kalinda and Gurt, despite not knowing they were there, coincidentally headed there, as well, allowing the entire party to meet up again. Starbuck commented on how odd it was that the Siren's Song was in such good shape, when every other place they had seen was damaged from the raids. The others weren't sure what to make of that. Kalinda informed the others that she and Gurt had secured the baby, but suggested they rent a boat back to Si'ahl since it would be dangerous to walk back with a baby in hand. April was sparse on the details, but overall reported her own mission a success. Poppy didn't want to discuss her own mission until they were somewhere private, so the party finished their drinks and returned to their rooms at the inn.

Once there, Poppy filled them all in, so they decided to rent a pair of rowboats and row to Sand Island. Once they get there, they find an empty rowboat on the shore. They managed to pick up a trail and followed it to the middle of the island, where a beautiful flower filled area surrounded by trees was found. A man slept peacefully among the flowers.

The party was immediately suspicious. Terani noticed none of the plant life was native to the area. April sensed illusionary magic all around. But it was Poppy who first was able to break the illusion and see it for what it really was. A swamp full of skulls and bones, and the sleeping human was clearly dead and rotting. She also saw a cabin nearby, and led the party to it. They were rather noisy in approach, so Poppy decided to just knock on the door. There was no answer, but a beautiful human woman approached them from behind, asking them what they wanted.

April, however, could sense the illusionary magic surrounding her and bluntly called her out. The woman dismissed the illusions, revealing she was a green hag and attacked. The party engaged in a very difficult battle with her, just barely managing to beat her into a surrender by the skin of their teeth.

The party learned that the spy they are looking for, Jonah, was only killed out of bad luck. The hag defended herself in saying that she needed to eat. Poppy managed to retrieve a letter from him that had a couple of names on it that might be important to Pike.

With that taken care of, April wanted to slay the hag on the spot. But Poppy hoped to get some kind of boon from her. She convinced the hag that she would spare her life if she taught Poppy how to disguise her features, the way the hag can. She and Poppy went into her cabin alone to discuss the details, but Terani burst in after them, not trusting the hag. The others, however, waited outside.

Poppy tried to suss out the hag's true intentions by probing her with various questions. The hag explained how the ritual would work. She would bestow a piece of her essence into Poppy, which would allow her to call upon hag magic. She would only be able to do so for about an hour a day, but with practice, she could become better at it. Poppy finally agreed, so the hag whipped up a potion and gave it to the rogue. Poppy downed it entirely.

The green hag then gave a theatrical and rather unconvincing spiel about how she had turned over a new leaf, was now going to help the garden and serve Elonna. April and Kalinda did not believe her, but left her alive regardless. The group then departed back to Long Beach to pick up the baby and rent a boat back to Si'ahl.

After a ten day journey, they reported into the supervisor and his council. Saltyx is pleased with the child and names her Mara Freewaters. Crane formally adopts Mara as his daughter and heir. Further, Pike is pleased to get those names Jonah had found, as they were court members of Tall Pines' queen who might be willing to join the assassination plot, with a proper bribe made. Olivia was also pleased that they were given a chance to win the church's favor, although the rest of the council was less than happy about it. They were also suspicious of Terani joining the party, as they felt she was trying to weigh the scales in her favor.

Crane paid the party 75 pinks each, then they all sat down to discuss their next move. Once again, each of the council members had their own idea and refused to budge on it, leaving them in a five way tie.

Olivia wanted to invade Rain Mountain in the name of the church, disposing the discharged queen and earning the favor of the Keepers of the Green. Dusksun wanted to invade Noisy Waters and take their land, as before. Pike still wanted to assassinate the queen of Tall Pines, taking her land. Marine still wanted to build up the nation's coffers. Saltyx, however, had the most dangerous and ambitious plan. She suggested the party infiltrate Maplewood and kidnap Prince Hluuwee, son of King Tsaa Hamjuuwee. If he can be turned, and agreed to marry Crane, it would create a union between the Ravenites and Elonnori, not to mention allow young Mara to one day inherit both lands.

Terani came up with a variant of Saltyx's plan that involved smuggling the prince to Rain Mountain and making it look like they took him, then staging a fake rescue to endear him to Salt Whale. The party discussed their options, weighing in, but most seemed to favor the kidnapping plan. The party then departed to get in some long awaited rest.

[Daos]

Chapter Three:
Princenappers!

Two months have passed, and it was now an unseasonably hot autumn. But much happened during that time. Queen Emerald of Tall Pines announced she was looking for a husband, which upset Pike who was worried she'll produce an heir before he can have her assassinated.

Queen Elemently of Azure Coasts declared holy war on Rain Mountain in an attempt to dethrone Queen Meera, in the church's name. Likewise, Queen Kascade of Rose Valley declared holy war on Smoke Mountain to do the same thing. Olivia was upset, as that was two opportunities to curry favor with the church and the Keepers of the Green stolen from her.

It was not just the Elonnori going to war, however. The Ravenites in Maplewood declared war against Stream Valley, a secret Elonnori nation in the mountains that formed from escaped refugees. While this was bad for them, it worked out well for the party. It meant the Ravenites would be distracted and their defenses redirected to the war effort, making infiltrating the island much easier.

Also, the war between Riverdom and Clearwater was still heating up, and an Elonnori druid was captured and imprisoned by the Clearwater forces.

During this time, the party kept busy, as well. Kalinda mostly worked at the restaurant, but didn't make too much money. She also spent some time hanging out with her roommates, where she met a forest gnome chef named Dewey that she made friends with. She also spent some time studying under a Maplewood refugee named Gustus, a lightfoot halfling who helped teach her a bit about the city where the prince lives and what defenses it has. She also trained further as a monk, unlocking mastery over the elements, particularly Air.

April spent the whole time working at the local grove, earning favor among the local druids. In fact, the elders gave her an important quest--to purify an abandoned grove in Maplewood from the Ravenites' evil corruption. She also focused on learning music.

Poppy spent the entire two months studying, of all things, under Gustus to learn Raven Call, the language of the Ravenites. She also spent some time training, focusing on her footwork and speed.

Terani spent a lot of time working at the Siren's Song, washing dishes and earned some good money there. He also studied under Gustus a bit, learning about Ravenite culture and fashion. And he spent some time at the local grove, but accidentally blasphemed at one point.

The party reconvened in the council chambers and were given their new mission. They were to infiltrate Maplewood, find Prince Hluuwee and return with him safely. A ship had been hired to take them there and hopefully return with them upon completion of the mission. Pike also asked them to acquire a dangerous plant that grows on the island called witchblood, if possible. Olivia further tasked them with finding as much intel as they can about the Ravenites while there. Saltyx also cautioned them to not be overly reckless. And if it appeared their mission could not be completed successfully, it was better for them to retreat and report than throw their lives away unnecessarily.

The party recruited Mizzle and Blitz for this mission, then headed for the docks to meet the ship. Blitz was surprised to learn they were heading to Maplewood; Mizzle didn't seem familiar with the name.

Upon reaching the docks, they found the Tideway and met with her captain, a half-sea elf named Pisces. After the ship sets sail, the party discussed some strategies on what to do once they arrive.

That evening, Kalinda and April sought out Blitz and learned that his family fled to Si'ahl from Maplewood when he was an egg. He'd never seen it, but considered it his ancestral homeland, so wasn't sure what to expect when they arrive. At the same time, Poppy spoke with Mizzle about her home island and what it was like there. She also wondered if Mizzle's ominous dreams could persuade the prince to cooperate. Finally, Terani spoke to Pisces about what to expect on the trip there. It turned out there was a sea cave the Tideway could dock in, allowing it to remain hidden from the Ravenites while the party was doing their mission.

At first, things go well. The party spotted a pod of dolphins, which the crew considered good luck. It rained often, but not too hard, which pleased Mizzle. However, just as they were nearing the shore, their luck turned for the worse, as a Ravenite scout ship approached. The party tried to come up with a plan. Kalinda wanted to pass themselves off as traders (although Pisces pointed out they had no cargo). April wanted to board and attack them, but Pisces was unsure they could take on that many. Poppy wanted to pretend to be slavers. Pisces, although uncomfortable with the idea, agreed it might work. There were stories of pirates who kidnapped Elonnori women to sell to the Ravenites. However, Poppy wanted to post as a slaver, not a slave, even though a female slaver would seem very suspicious to Ravenites.

The party's women disarmed and pretended to be tied up. The Ravenite ship docked with the Tideway and the captain and several escorts boarded the ship. The captain, an elven man, demanded to know what they were doing in Ravenite waters. Pisces claimed they were selling slaves. The elf took a liking to Kalinda and considered buying her himself, but Pisces claimed the slaves were earmarked for the king of Maplewood. Unable to help herself, Poppy spoke out of turn, claiming they were to be unharmed for the king. The Ravenite captain seemed to buy the story, having heard rumors that the king was in the market for concubines to provide him some new heirs and departed. Pisces quickly resumed course.

That evening, they reached the sea cave and docked inside. The party decided they would set out the next morning. The Tideway would wait for them a month, then assume they had been captured or killed and report back to Si'ahl. Pisces also loaned some sailor clothes to April and Terani to replace their Elonnori vestments, which stood out to Ravenites.

The following morning they prepared to set out and worked on their official story. They decided they would continue the ruse they used before, but instead claim they were selling concubines to the prince. Also, Poppy insisted this time on posing as a slaver, as well, because she could speak their language.

The party traveled northward, and came upon a totem pole. It contained four creatures, from bottom to top: Orca, Frog, Bear and finally Raven at the top. Kalinda recognized these were the four primary deities of the Ravenites. Mizzle commented that their beliefs weren't too different from the Elonnori, but Blitz disagreed.

Moving on, the party came across a hunter leading a group of teenage boys. He hailed Terani and spoke to him in Raven Call, but Poppy kept answering, which confused him. He wasn't accustomed to a woman speaking out of turn. She said the other women in the group were slaves being delivered to the prince, but the hunter noted they were all armed and carrying Cascadian weapons and armor, too (made of coral). Poppy claimed they were just cosmetic. The hunter didn't seem to buy this, and made an excuse for him and the boys to leave quickly. Not realizing they had just been made, the party let them go.

A short time later, they came upon a sign that had been set up. It warned of a witchblood field to the east. After remembering that Pike had asked for some, the party decided to check it out. It was only a couple of hours out of their way, but once they arrived they weren't sure how to extract the flowers without touching them or breathing in their pollen. As Terani and Kalinda worked on a plan, Poppy noticed some movement in the field.

A trio of creatures called Shinwacks emerged, little goblinlike beings wielding cudgels. They attacked the party, smacking them in the shins to prevent them from moving. There's a difficult battle, but in the end, the party prevails and takes out all three shinwacks. The party is unable to identify the creatures, but does discover they were collecting the witchblood (apparently to consume!), so they just took one of their satchels instead of risking harvesting the flowers themselves.

The party resumed their journey northward, until the sun began to set. Then they made camp in the hills, and the following morning (Vacuumvoid 13th), they continued onward. Later that day, they arrived in Suú. It was a strange place to their Elonnori eyes, as the buildings were not grown, but constructed from dead wood. The party saw a sign that warned of a nearby cursed grove and to avoid it; it also warned of possible Cascadian spies (apparently the hunter they met earlier reported them). The party hid their coral equipment and moved into the town cautiously.

The party decided to come up with a cover story. Terani and Blitz were sellswords, looking to join up in the war. Kalinda was Blitz's wife, Mizzle was Terani's wife, and Poppy and April were Terani's sisters. Blitz was amused at pretending to be Kalinda's husband, wondering what his hatchling and fiance would think. Kalinda was surprised Blitz was engaged and had a kid, but he pointed out nobody has ever asked.

They found what appeared to be an inn of some kind. Stepping inside, a sandpiper aarakocra spoke to them in Raven Call. Terani replied in Kanatan, and the two began conversing in that language. Afterward, Terani explained to the party that since they had no money, they would need to work in the kitchen that night to earn their keep. Apparently tomorrow was some kind of festival called a 'potlatch.' The Ravanites coming into town were given rooms upstairs, but the Kanatans were all crammed in the basement, on the floor. The party went down there and claimed a bit of space in the back.

After working for the whole night, they returned to the basement exhausted and quietly shared what they overheard (which wasn't much) with each other. After a rough night, they wake up the next morning to find the entire town in celebration for the potlatch. The party decided they would stay in town until the prince arrived, which wasn't for another week. For today, they headed to the cursed temple ti see if they could cleanse it. But first, they decided to gather some intel on it. They learned the grove was cursed a hundred years ago by the druids when the Ravenites invaded. Apparently the curse will kill anyone who goes there, even other Elonnori.

The party decided to head for the grove, which sat on a small island in the middle of the lake. There didn't appear to be any boats nearby, however. Searching around, Kalinda found an abandoned and somewhat decayed one, but still seaworthy. Blitz flew across while the others got into the boat, with Mizzle using her connection to the water to paddle them across. Once on the island, they found it was dark and cold. The trees were gnarled and twisted, and very little sunlight broke through the thick canopy.

Kalinda thought she saw a pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness, but then they vanished. Poppy called out and a whisper that seemed to come from nowhere responded. The whisper cursed Elonna for turning her backs on her children and swore revenge, urging the party to join them. The party moved onward to the grove, which had a dead tree in the center. An apparition appeared and possessed the corpse of an Elonnori paladin. It then summoned several corpses from the ground, some Elonnori, some Ravenite.

There is a pitched battle, but ultimately the party is able to defeat all of the corpses, then converge on the undead paladin. When it finally falls, it warns them that they cannot kill the dead, and some kind of spirit emerges from its broken body and flies into the tree at the heart of the grove. Although the undead were defeated, the area still felt cursed.

The party discussed their options and then tried to hold a ritual to attempt to cleanse the evil from the tree. However, ultimately it failed, killing the tree. Although this did end the curse, the sacred energy of the grove was gone. It would eventually regrow again, as an ordinary grove, however. With that, the party decided to return to town and get some rest. The festival had ended by then.