Adventure Summaries Sessions 35 to 37

The adventurers leave Sellasos and travel to Urla with Sir Makarios, Selentos and Arion. Theresa goes out on her own late at night.

At breakfast, Theresa's face is bruised. She pleads with Zeno for healing, telling him that "There's a price one must pay sometimes, and it hurt." Zeno is concerned, and while healing Theresa, asks her what she means. Theresa initially claims she fell out of bed, then admits that the price she paid was for arcane power.

Theresa shows off her new ability to alter her appearance, transforming to look like Hermione, only taller. Hermione: "I don't like it". Theresa: "Why don't you like it? I suffered for this!" Hermione: "You were taller than I am." In response, Luxian uses an arcane spell to turn into an even taller Hermione than Theresa did.

Concerned for Jack, Roberta asks Theresa not to turn into an unfamiliar beautiful woman. Unconcerned, Theresa immediately does so, to no effect on Jack's dejected mood. Theresa encourages Luxian to also impersonate a beautiful woman, which he hasn't done before, but Luxian's transformation also has no effect on Jack.

Sir Makarios farewells the adventurers after breakfast, and promises to hasten after them to Tion as soon as he has settled his affairs in Urla. As they travel, Luxian informs the others that Master Federigo has warned him to be on high alert for the final week of their journey of a thousand leagues, and dispatched both Espin and Farrukh to meet them halfway along their route. Theresa uses her new ability to impersonate Luxian as they travel in the hope that it confuses any would-be assailants, and resumes sharing the same bedroom as Luxian and Hermione for the same reason.

Jack's mood finally improves in the morning, and he regains his usual self-confidence.

At the end of their day's journey, the adventurers come across a cockatrice among the chickens scratching about on the village street. Theresa drives the cockatrice away through the World of Spirits before it can petrify Luxian with its breath or its gaze.

The adventurers cross the river that separates Emphidor and Analika on a ferry. Theresa uses magic to make Luxian float slightly above the deck, just in case the boat starts to sink.

The adventurers stay the night in a village where the roof of the church is decorated with statues from the golden age of Emphidor. During the night, they are attacked by four of the statues, which attempt to abduct Luxian from the room where he is staying with Hermione and Theresa. After dealing with emergency, Zeno asks if anyone is hurt. Theresa casts her gaze over him in his underlinen before replying, "No, no, you're fine," and Zeno is discomforted by Theresa's complement.

Having been endangered on two consecutive evenings by strange creatures, the adventurers readily agree with Roberta's suggestion that they should seek the protection of holy ground and stay in churches from now on. Zeno talks Amaryllos out of attempting to repair the broken statues, in case they turn on them again once they have been made whole.

The adventurers meet up with Espin and Farrukh in a small village around lunchtime. The apprentices haven't been waiting long, but Espin is still impatient at the delay. For some reason, Espin is particularly displeased with Jack.

As they travel, Theresa explains to Espin and Farrukh her strategy of impersonating Luxian to confuse assailants, and they assist by also using their arcane sorcery to change their appearances while passing through villages.

That evening, the adventurers stay the night in the village church. Roberta asks Jack while Espin doesn't like him, but Jack can only guess that perhaps his curse made him fall in love with someone that Espin liked.

Outside the church, the wind is howling, but the trees are not moving. Theresa decides not to step out for a little while, like she usually does at night, and instead stays inside all night with everyone else. They all steadfastly ignore the strong winds outside that seem to rage all night.

In the morning, the villagers are discomforted to find a dead cow in the field beside the church, exsanguinated after having all four of its lower legs ripped off in the night by some powerful creature. All four legs are missing: the adventurers do not linger, and quickly go on their way.

At Farruhk's suggestion, the adventurers do not continue to Tion along the main road, and instead detour to take a longer and more rugged route that passes through wooded hills to the north.

After a long day, the adventurers arrive at a village shortly after dark. The village children think Amaryllos is deformed because his hands have thumbs on the inside like a human's hands, and not on the outside like Bishana, the old kattar who lives in a small cottage in the woods outside the village. Luxian immediately recalls Farrukh's accounts of powerful arcane beings from Batubatan that looked like a kattar but had such hands, and the "Luxians" quietly discuss what it may mean while the group proceeds to the village church.

The priest is happy for them to stay in the church the night, and has only good things to say about Bishana, who initially was too frail and unwell to come to church but has started attending church services in recent months. Zeno is concerned that he can't sense the sanctity of holy ground, and asks the priest about the relic under the altar. The priest assures Zeno that the skull of Saint Agneizia is in its rightful place, but is persuaded to open the altar so they can view the skull in its reliquary, which seems very new and lacks the aura of divine sanctity Zeno expects of a saintly relic.

Zeno prays to the True God to protect the priest from arcane influences, and the priest is shaken by the sudden return of disturbing memories. He directs them to a grave, less than a year old, at the edge of the village graveyard where the relic is buried. Zeno takes the lead on digging up the grave and exposing the coffin. Within, they find the decayed remains of a villager with the skull of a long-dead saint where their head should be. The priest replaces the relic with the new skull from under the altar, and has the adventurers rebury the coffin.

On their return to the church, the priest restores the relic to its rightful place beneath the altar, resanctifying the church. The priest's wife emerges from the kitchen to check if everyone is ready to eat the stew she has been preparing in the kitchen, making the priest shudder at the memory of boiling something else in the same pot. Rather than impose on their hosts, Theresa prepares an alternate dinner for the adventurers.

While they eat, the adventurers question the priest more about Bishana, but the priest doesn't see any connection between the kind-hearted elderly kattar and whatever arcane force influenced him to remove the skull of Saint Agneizia from his church. Instead, he ascribes it to the trickery of some elf or other fey creature with malice in its heart.

The priest invites the adventurers to stay for the church service, but they make their apologies as they have a long journey ahead of them that day. Their route through the woods takes them near the turn-off to Bishana's cottage, and they detour to investigate and learn more about her. They find an old cottage made of stone, with a bare yard in front containing a well in the centre, and a large boulder beside the door. Luxian recognises the boulder as an elemental spirit, and quickly talks to it in the language of rocks before the strange black gloop rising out of the well gets too close to the adventurers. The boulder is polite to Luxian, and agrees to let him go into the cottage with Theresa while the others wait outside.

Inside, Luxian and Theresa meet Bishana, who has been baking gingerbread in preparation for having guests. Luxian is suitably deferential to the old woman, who is clearly more than she seems, and willing to negotiate. Bishana agrees not to harm the villagers in exchange for Luxian and Theresa keeping her presence a secret from everyone except their masters. Theresa asks Bishana if their friend Farrukh can also meet her, and Bishana is so pleased by Farrukh's worshipful deference that she grants his request to see her true form. Theresa and Bishana exchange baking recipes before the adventurers depart.

The adventurers continue on their way towards Tion. In the afternoon, they find their way blocked by a group of seven armoured knights wearing tattered tabards, mostly of crusaders but in one case of Sir Zeno's knightly order. Most are wearing full plate, and armed either with swords or with crossbows, but one appears to be wearing armour made of stone. With a gesture, the stone knight raises up a wall of earth and stone in a horseshoe shape that separates Luxian, "Luxian" (Theresa), Hermione and Zeno from the others, and the other knights launch their attack.

The adventurers fight back, discovering that the suits of armour are empty, and seem to contain only warm desert breezes. Jack climbs the wall for a vantage-point from which to shoot at the archers, but finds himself on the losing end of the exchange as he is outnumbered three to one. Zeno presses past the other knights to attack the stone knight with his enchanted spear, breaking him into pieces. Without the stone knight, the wall beneath Jack collapses, and he is knocked unconscious by the result fall to the ground.

The adventurers defeat the remaining knights, then revive Jack. They continue on after Zeno takes the tabards of the knights in the hopes that they may help in identifying who the knights were.

That evening, the adventurers once again spend the night in a church.

The adventurers set out for Tion, hoping to arrive before evening. Mid-morning, Luxian takes the step that completes his journey of a Thousand Leagues, activating the magic power of the Thousand League Boots. The genie Asu immediately reveals his presence, lifting Luxian up high above the others in a whirlwind, and prepares to recover the boots on behalf of his master's lord.

Asu does not seem motivated to complete his mission immediately or purposefully, instead toying with the adversaries who seek to block his way while answering their questions. Asu explains that "My master's lord wished for me to seize the enchanted boots before they were delivered to your master, and his wish is my command". When asked, Asu identifies his master as the sorcerer Malik el-Djinn, and his master's lord as Samir, the former sultan of Opalar. Asu also mentions that Samir made the wish after various other servants of Malik had failed to acquire the boots, and observes that Samir could simply have wished for his own pair of boots if he had thought of doing that. Theresa starts talking up Asu's "efforts" to capture Luxian in case Malik and Samir are watching using magic.

Enlarged by Luxian's spell, Zeno succeeds in pulling Luxian out of the whirlwind, making them both fall to the ground. Luxian immediately uses the Thousand League Boots to try and take himself and everyone else except for Asu and Paketos to the villa where Master Federigo is staying in the decaying outer suburbs of Tion, but steps too far through the World of Spirits and takes them instead to an island somewhere at the eastern end ot the Azure Coast. Luxian tries again after Farrukh makes an illusory vision of the layout of the villa's partially ruined peristylium, oriented for the direction they are facing, and succeeds in stepping back through the World of Spirits to the villa where Federigo is waiting with his apprentice Imilia, Zeno's uncle Phocas, Roberta's brother Piero, and Zoilos Donev, a centaur and the steward of the villa.

Federigo is delighted at their arrival and the successful delivery of the Thousand League Boots. He dispatches Zoilos to go and fetch Paketos while the adventurers enjoy a celebratory lunch. Roberta and Piero argue during lunch about Jack, and Roberta insists he'll be a different man after his curse is lifted. During lunch, Federigo sends a servant to fetch Armand of Fere, who has a letter from Wesley for Hermione that he was tasked by the Baroness Orlamond to deliver to her personally. After she reads Wesley's letter, Armand asks Hermione if she would like him to take a letter for Wesley back with him. Hermione initially disparages the offer, but agrees to take it up after a short discussion around the table with the others.

After lunch, the adventurers give Federigo the treasures they acquired while on his service. Federigo immediately returns the money and jewellery to them, and Theresa keeps Corwyn's silver bracelet after checking that nobody else wants it. Federigo also grants Zeno the plate armour awarded to him by Baron Dekanos.

Federigo reviews the arcane magic items the group has collected, and show the most interest in the Lantern of Shadows and the Casket of the Sea. In the end, Federigo decides to keep the Lantern of Shadows for himself, and gifts the other items to the adventurers, to distribute among themselves as they wish. Theresa encourages Hermione to claim the Casket of the Sea so she can use it to flood the Goblin king's castle when she rescue her father.

Federigo moves on to giving the adventurers their rewards. Luxian is told to study hard to prepare for the examination to become a journeyman of the Tirynian Circle tomorrow. Hermione's reward is an arcane torc that strengthens her connection with Fierce, while Amaryllos is given Nostro's Boots so he can walk through the World of Spirits. Federigo tells Theresa he is satisifed she has fulfilled the conditions of her second task and she should report that to her master by that evening, and also thanks Zeno for his service.

When it comes to Jack, Federigo reminds him that he promised to do everything within his arcane power to remove the curse as his reward, then tells Jack that no arcane power can free him from his curse. Federigo reveals that Jack's curse is a consquence of the dying prayer of Bethany the nun, who was left broken-hearted by Jack's betrayal of his words of love and promise to marry, and before her passing implored the True God to make Jack aware of her pain and despair so that he could repent, change his ways, and become a better man. Federigo learned all this within a couple of days of their departure from Kaxos, but kept it a secret because he was not pleased at the lies Jack told him about who he was and where he had travelled. Federigo: "Perhaps next time you will not try to lie to a sorcerer, Giuseppe Ferraro!"

Jack is shocked to learn that Bethany died, while Roberta is stunned that Jack's curse can't be removed by Federigo. Theresa tries to persuade Federigo to free Jack from his other curse: she attempts to enlist Zeno's support, but the news that Jack made a nun die of a broken heart seems to have changed Zeno's feelings about Jack's worth. Theresa wins Federigo over by praising his mastery of sorcery, and Federigo agrees that it is within his power to remove the ghostly sword that hangs over Jack's head, or transfer it to someone else - saying the latter while looking at Zeno, who has Morian's spear. Phocas encourages Zeno to take up Jack's burden, but Zeno decides against taking on Jack's ill-made vow. Federigo tells them both to come to the impluvium at midnight, and to bring Morian's spear.

Zoilos returns with Paketos later that afternoon after finding him tethered in the field where they were attacked by Asu, snacking on hay left behind by Asu before he departed. Zeno talks privately with Federigo about his partial transformation into a dwarf, and Federigo generously agrees to free Zeno from that burden at midnight. Jack withdraws into his room to wrestle his with guilt and despair, while Roberta frets and starts planning what to do next.

In the evening, Theresa goes outside the villa to meet with her master by moonlight, walking among the ruins that dot the fields between the old Selentine walls and the much smaller modern walls of Tion. Ardreth praises Theresa for completing her second quest, and encourages her to spend some time away from Emphidor, as her former master Ninthalor has heard about her development from the Lord of the Aurochs and wants to return the now-broken clockworse horse and have her back in his service. Theresa returns to the villa, and encourages Luxian to study for tomorrow's exam.

At midnight, everyone assembles at the impluvium to see Federigo remove the ghostly sword and restore Zeno's height. Federigo has Zeno place Morian's spear in the pool, then strips naked in the moonlight and has Jack do the same. Federigo has Jack kneel in supplication, then calls on ancient powers by moonlight. The ghostly sword becomes visible over Jack's head, then dissipates into the moonlight. Morian's spear bursts into flame, making the water bubble and steam as it burns into ash, muddying the water.

Roberta wraps Jack in a blanket and leads him to one side while Federigo repeats the ritual with Zeno, who grows back to his normal height while kneeling in the moonlight. With the second ritual complete, everyone retires for the rest of the night.

In the morning, Amaryllos says his farewells, then sets off to find his other fellow fundamentalists and return together to the Monastery of Priene and confront the traditionalists. Before he goes, Theresa admonishes Amaryllos, "Remember, no matter how hungry you get, you shouldn't eat your shoes."

Roberta and Jack also say their farewells, as Roberta is returning home with Piero and is taking Jack with her to Navyn, where he plans to enter a monastery and contemplate his past misdeeds. They plan to return to Kaxos with Master Federigo and his apprentices later that morning. Jack distributes his money evenly among the others, including to Amaryllos before he leaves. Luxian, Theresa and Zeno give half of Jack's gift back to Roberta for safekeeping, while Amaryllos and Hermione keep all of his gift.

The other four discuss their future plans. Zeno is keen to keep his promise to travel north to the Crusades with Sir Makarios, even though Jack is no longer going there to find the Baron of Chaumont and fulfil his vow to the Baron's murdered sister-in-law and brother. Hermione is keen to travel south and rescue her father, but is persuaded that she needs to recruit more soldiers to overcome a Goblin king's army, and the Crusades are a good place to find brave soldiers in search of adventure. Theresa shares that she has been told by her master to continue to travel for the immediate future, and Luxian shares that Federigo has promised him two seasons for him to do what he wishes if he passes his journeyman exams.