This time - almost died.
Strange cave - connecting the fey realm to Dunscaith, it does.
With enemies defeated, the anchor we shattered.
For our lives, we ran.
Success - we achieved.
(A tiny fire from Corynn, I received...)
>:)

Viola, the drow - wary & keen senses she has. With distrustful intrigue, she views me.
Mushroom child with smaller mushroom child, too quickly he speaks. Likes to hide, he does.
Elf man - boundaries, he's unaware of. For now, avoid violence & exercise restraint.
Cipher... confusing, they are.
These dangers we face - these shadows - stay vigilant, I must. Protect Corynn, I will continue.

Common is a vast language, I find.
New job we may have - 30 gold????
Heebie jeebies?????????

Exploring glyphs w/ Greeble & Druid Lady: whispering laughter... Found a fae named Nixelieth: Knowledge Trickster aka Shithead. Success keeping group safe. Other members in group - researched next move for fixing contract.
On a late night, we are visited by Valethar

Enter the fae wild "Breythalen" and I gave one of my largest, oldest feathers - weathered & heavy w/ the weight of 7 years of my worries.
We discovered upon arrival that there are many options to choose for moving forward: a shadowy figure, a series of giggles, a cobblestone path, or to stay still and let Breythalen come to us. (Or use viola's thingy for finding stuff)

Obtained scarf investment - the free action "Obscure" and the illusory obscurement properties. Note - "Obridiah won't like you giving away what's his."

*Gone for this session*

The "Mask You Wear" -> The Muse of Unspoken Sorrows; a challenge to obtain information or advantage without speaking. Leruvian - the host of the Mistwood Masquerade; Masquerade Phases:

• Phase 1 - People you notice in a group dance (A knight, a couple ladies, a couple bachelors);
  - The Knight's memories recall an ancient elven woman saying,
  "Leruvian's mask isn't a mask anymore - May not be a person anymore - fully succumbed to the embodiment of that role; Is there another way to free them?"
  - A young lady's memories recall attending a "beauty salon", hearing,
  "The host's smile is painting because they forgot how to make one on their own."

• Phase 2 - Erelan: The dance - and his "reflection", he has been observing for a long time; the gilded thorn is to shield himself so no-one can get to close, for he knows to much; never out of sight, but never risen too high to where he truly belongs.

  • "There are two queens in the mirror lake, but they both think they are alone."

  • "I saw Inira re-light a candle that already went out. What truth did she bring back?"

  • The nobles view you now as an omen (leaving stardust trail), now un-prompted will approach you with fears or secrets or riddles

  • "Masks don't just hide the truth, they re-write it - keep yours for too long and you'll forget what's underneath."

BONUS EFFECTS - Mask You Wear

• Erynn - Now leaves a faint trail of stardust where they step — nobles view them as an omen and may approach unprompted with strange riddles or fears.

• Corynn - A Fey creature within 10 feet of Corynn who fails a Will save reveals a secret as their mask briefly cracks, echoing the mask’s thorns.

-> The Hunt:

• Picking up rumors - "There's a room in the masquerade where time spills backwards, but no one remembers where it is..."

• More rumors - "It’s not just about the land, you know. The Spiral binds more than soil — it wrings the memory from every stone and stream. The Masquerade would feed on it... like roots drawing from a buried corpse."

-> The Crescendo Fields:

• Full of musicians and artists looking for the "perfect tune" or "perfect creation". Erynn is swarmed by them & pressured to inspire these people.

• Viola notices a dark elf composer who went missing from her homeland, where he has lost his identity to the masquerade

• Rumor - “The Spiral is fed by names. But if you collect too many, the grove starts using yours.”

-> The Court of the Host:

• (Shared w/ Corynn): "They say Bernard’s bones aren't just a relic — they’re a vessel. Etch a strong enough memory into a bone, and it becomes a seed of magic. Enough seeds and the Masquerade could bloom forever."

-> Leaving the Courts:

• Viola hands you a trinket made from her old mask:
  Granted by Root Magic - You gain a circumstance bonus to a saving throw against a spell or haunt.

• The Final Act:
  "The Play" - Lady What's-her-face of the wicks narrates the party's escape as we diverge into a dungeon crawler minigame.
  We find a cool room + another cool room, then a small claustrophobic hallway with 2 annoyingly massive crabs.
  

-> "The Play" Cont'd - Dungeon crawl wrap-up:

• Lots of skellies, discovered how fun/cool/easy it is to long jump lol

• Escaped and the crew gets their first cool set item

-> Back to the world of Teavor

• The Nightmare: A long, gangly figure with wide glassy eyes peeking through a broken mask. Singing like a breeze through dead dry reeds, it skitters sideways and unnaturally in odd, unnatural but deliberate movements

-> Was absent; Erynn spent her time recuperating in mostly the bar

-> Heard about a nearby hollow/village that was hit by the Wickerborn on several occasions (not common - usually only hit once by this creature); through the investigation process, the group finds a talisman which is handed to Erynn for safekeeping (-- made of loose black feathers, Shiny Silver piece, and some lacing from boots)

• Hired caravan to travel 1ish day out to the village (Grethlyn Hollow)

• Faced and destroyed the Wickerborn: Revealing a painful truth can do damage to it

  • Corynn: "I no longer trust my sister."

  • Erynn: "I am an unwanted orphan."

  • Viola: "I crippled myself in an arcane duel with my brother."

-> Research days learning about the Hollowborn.

• Miserably failed stealthing around the ruins for clues. Scared away the shadows. Will be back next time.

-> Research challenge: Part 2

• Semi failed, semi successful rolls this day

• Greeble crossed partial hollow-kin in the tavern during end-of-day meetup

• Ruins:

  • Ancient duskreach ritual - "grief" ritual to create/unleash the hollowkin | discovered via info Erynn gathered from the ruins & viola's information from the library

  • Erynn returns from the ruins feeling disturbed - things looking wrong, uncanny; had to interact w/ the odd reflections of broken mirrors - watched her reflection focus into an image that was reflected the wrong way; in a glace she looked back to it and her reflection was entirely gone.

• Everyone's "word":

-> Fighting the Hollow Kin at the river

• Funny moment - Nate voice acting some old feller who tells us where the river is

• We all have sad moment remembering traumatic/sad moments of our pasts to summon the hollow kin

  • Couldn't read it but Corynn wrote something in some odd language, obviously something to do with me because he immediately did what he always does when he's avoiding uncomfortable conversation/interaction thats clearly about said person

• The bell steps:

  • 1 - Wedding chimes (union)

  • 2 - Funeral chimes (loss)

  • 3 - no response (release)

Forgot to take notes :)

Forgot to take notes :)

Forgot to take notes :)

The gist of it:

• Shadow place, moving to a "safehouse" of those guys

• Sneak into safe house (Viola dug through trash.. investigator things)

• Went to dungeon/basement, found Ryo (not an elf actually, is wolf-kitsune thingy)

• Killed bad guys, rescued Ryo, hooray

Forgot to take notes :)
(Ryo do cool things)

Spent 1 day to prepare infiltration into spooky place - we have 4 edge points for this encounter

• Navigate city to building w/o patrol noticing you

• Enter building w/o notice

• Investigate surroundings while successfully navigating challenges

Flashback for Viola:

[My Char - Feona Care’zhon: dark elf bard]
-- Mid-70s (looks/acts mid-20s), sassy
-- Motivations: Feona does not want to (cannot) give away her position as a spy, but she wants to help Cela understand that this group she’s with is hurting her. Feona wants to save Cela, to fix her, maybe kiss her, and she knows that Cela is unhappy here.

"She left this sect of the circle 20 years ago to do work with the Ud’breah sect. She is secretly a spy for King Dushind, who had heard rumors about a rebel cell of arcanists."

-- Scenario: They have been mildly flirting while Cela has been reintroducing her to Master Cassio Illiago’s sect of the Circle. Feona knows most of the members of the Circle and the servants in this sect and has been trying to get information on them and from them.

"I really need to learn to write in this damn thing when actually important shit happens..." - Erynn
-- Luncheon caused significantly more anxiety than predicted. Struggled to maintain presence or awareness.

-- Ulrik(?) & Dimitry: "she's ready now considering how the lunch went" ulrik not attending the wedding now? paid for services (is it this fake canvyss lady?) ulrik needs to tie up loose ends here and that's why he's not going to be at the wedding? Dimitry said something like "Master ulrik, the circle thanks you."