The Forty-Seventh Session

The Sentinels awoke, made breakfast and coffee, and prepared to go to Sinaitre. Hanolin gave them instructions for how to find the Crystal Athenaeum once in the city, giving them a map. He would transport them to the sigil in the Amethyst Tower, one of the four Rose Towers of the Order of the Grand Pegasus within the city. He then asked that Aoth remain with him to aid in preparations. Aoth accepted, as the mission would be one of stealth, and he knew that wasn't his strong suit. Hanolin warned the rest of the group that the capitol would be heavily manned, and the sigil there would likely be guarded to prevent intruders, so expect a fight immediately. The rest of the group made their way to the teleportation sigil, and went through.

Arriving, they immediately sprung on the soldiers in the room, with Yief charging in and stunning the captain, and Halrek immediately following by blinking and beheading the stunned captain. Shag unleashed a barrage of spells on the warlock, while Yief killed one soldier with a flurry of blows, and another with a single power strike to the face, crushing it to the point of being concave. Halrek killed another soldier, while Shag advanced on the warlock, slashing across the thighs to bring him to his knees, stabbing Devious into his chest, then beheading with Good Vibes.

Shag then used a bardic ability to learn about the warlock, learning his name, vocal tonality, and relevant memories, transforming into him. Halrek then transformed into the captain, taking his armor. They shackled Yief, and began walking him out of the tower. Making their way through the city via Hanolin's directions, passing a group of Lyrians being escorted by soldiers, they eventually made it to the Crystal Athenaeum, a 4 story library with beautiful stonework and a stained glass dome ceiling.

Entering the library, they convinced the soldiers and warlocks inside that Yief was an intruder who had secrets to powerful evocation magic, who they would use to decipher information in the library before killing. With about an hour of searching the seemingly endless bookshelves, they found a section on forbidden magics. Finally coming across the Sercë Nólemë, a tome on Blood Magic, they found what they needed just as Shag's disguise spell wore off. Yief grabbed a copy of "Stews, Soups, Brews, and Poisons, and How to Tell Them Apart," and Shag teleported them all back to Myth Novra.

An anxious Hanolin was relieved upon their return, and they all went to the common area to study the tome. They raided the bar, now unoccupied due to the soldiers all having shipped out. Halrek made "Death Brew," a combination of all the cheap ales, and bits of the finer wines and meads they had. Reading the tome, they learned about blood being a more raw vessel of arcane energy than the usual mental paths of the body, and therefore a more potent way to cast. They also learned the rituals that create Blood Stones, using the iron in the blood to form crystals while hyper-condensing it, and that these greatly increased the arcane potency past that of unrefined blood, but took large amounts of blood to create that are often lethal.

With the newfound knowledge of how to create them, how to enchant them, and how the connection of the enchantment to the stone affects the cast spell once activated, they developed a plan to use the blood of cows that would be slaughtered for food as a base for the ritual, and use soldiers on the battlefield as the remaining fuel. They would cast the teleportation spell on it, marking soldiers on the battlefield they identified as the most dangerous, and send the stone out on a boat into deep water, activate the stone, and sink the ship. Hanolin thought it was crazy enough to work, but still felt uneasy about the use of such magic. Though he initially suggested it and understood the justifiable end, Yief also began to feel uneasy after learning the details of it.

To lighten the mood of the night, Shag challenged a now very drunk Halrek to a disguise-off. Yief set up a catwalk on the bar using a few tables, and volunteered to judge, taking some swigs of Halrek's Death Brew. Halrek went first, turning into an edgy Aoth, picking up a mundane hammer and swinging it around, then tossing some oil into a lantern, pretending to cast Spiritual Weapon. He then said "here's a drink, I cast greater restoration on it though so it won't get you drunk, we need to stay clear-headed!" eliciting a lot of laughter from Yief and Pryym, who was transformed into Yief, acting as a co-judge. Shag went second, asking for a curtain, to which Halrek removed his cloak for the first time ever, putting it up, and showing just how many weapons he actually had in the process. Shag emerged from the cloak draped in black, mocking Halrek's creepiness and edginess, opening his small cloak to reveal a large number of butter knives on the inside. Pryym was torn, Yief continued laughing his ass off. By now, a few council members were smoking widestem leaf and laughing at the show as well. Halrek then turned into Shag, convinced him to borrow his uke, and began somehow actually playing Hey Soul Sister on it, seemingly having learned by watching Shag all this time. Shag now felt backed into a corner, and transformed into Treg, doing a little dance and relying on the fact that he was a new fan favorite. Pryym, now in the form of Shag dressed as Halrek, commented on how she "preferred his older material," though he was entertaining enough that they enjoyed his performance nonetheless. Halrek then transformed into Treg, prompting a now very drunk Yief to ask him how he felt about Shag's interpretation. Halrek then transformed into Yief, causing Yief to drunkenly be very confused, before falling asleep. They pranked him, blinking him out to one of the tree fort watchtowers.

As the night calmed down, Lorilla approached Shag, asking if he felt he could open up, saying it may be their last chance to do so. He expressed how he felt about Xochic, and that he felt like he was only doing everything he was doing because he didn't know what else to do. She told him that picking fighting a war isn't a normal choice to make if you don't know what to do, and that he's had plenty of opportunities to turn and run or pick anything else. He must be fighting for a reason. Realizing this, Shag admitted he was an awesome person in his usual cocky-but-lovable way.

Pryym approached Halrek, also asking how he was doing and if he'd thought of who he wanted to be. Halrek started breaking down in how he didn't feel he had anything to who he was. Pryym said that while their life with their tribe was peaceful, it was still, and she's discovered a motion to life ever since that she wants to fight to protect. Halrek began to consider that cause, and Pryym told him that she'd be happy if he found something worth fighting for, so should he fall, he may just have something worth getting back up over instead of accepting his fate. She also told him that she had faith in him, and made him realize that everyone there did, something he never considered. She hugged him in more than a greeting manner, something he hadn't experienced in some time, and left him to think.

They eventually all went to bed, still early as they began drinking in the early afternoon. Yief was awoken by Samblar, hungover, and confused as to his location. He found a wheel of brie that Shag and Halrek had left him and began eating it. Samblar then said it was nearly dawn, and he would have to eat on the way to the war room, as the invasion at the shores had begun. Lorilla woke Shag, Pryym woke Halrek, and Sarra woke Aoth and Vissella. Yief caught up with them once he re-entered the fortress, and they realized exactly how empty the halls seemed with all the guards and soldiers gone. It seemed so much bigger and quieter. They got to the war room just as the last of the council went through the teleportation sigil. Melarra was there, waiting for them, just saying "It's time." Cormir entered, donning his armor, commenting that he wouldn't be sitting this out, and went through. Melarra had a look of both strength and acceptance as she stepped through, leaving the Sentinels alone in the room. Shag went to do a backwards T-pose fall into the sigil, but was still tired, and hit his head on the wall, causing him to tumble in. Vissella laughed, looked at the rest of them, and went in. Aoth, Yief, and Halrek all looked at each other, nodded, and went in.