The team ventures beyond the city walls of Terlis, leaving behind the safety and restrictions of the Moratorium on Magic, to explore the Shantytown that lines the road to the north. What manner of creatures make their homes there, and what secrets are waiting to be discovered?
GM/DM Intro
It started as a simple dungeon run…
From out of that dungeon, a powerful artifact of chaos magic known as the Secret Keeper’s Amulet. With this item, our team is able to communicate directly with you, the watchers of the time stream, and receive your help - and hindrance.
The moment they got their hands on this amulet, their lives were forever changed. They were thrust into an epic quest by members of The Natural Order, an association of wizards who have been tracking the disappearance of The Wardens, Ain’s legendary, 100-foot tall protectors.
When our team found and freed one of these Wardens, their interaction with it created more questions than answers. Questions about Ain’s lost history, questions about secrets the Wardens still hold, locked inside their minds, questions about what could be capable of overpowering and imprisoning them. Questions they hoped could be answered - in part - by visiting the library of Nightstone Abbey in the grand city of Terlis. They set out to meet a man named Hermil Fesh, known to the Natural Order as The Scholar, who also happens to be the mentor of James Quillus. He intended to show them an important book, one of the few still in existence that dates back to before the War of Ideas to Ain’s Aureate Age.
But the moment Fesh unlocked it from safekeeping, he was attacked by thieves who managed to steal the tome and flee into the city, even as our team killed several of their number.
These events frustrated one of Nightstone’s administrators, Audric Lucern, who seems to be assisting in the enforcement of Terlis’ Moratorium on Magic, a new decree issued in response to numerous magic-related thefts like the one our team witnessed, and a murder executed by arcane means. Lucern confronted our team in the middle of Terlis and demanded the confiscation of Fahima’s magical baby phoenix, Meep. In response, Fahima told Meep to fly away, an act of defiance Lucern promised would not be forgotten.
The following day, the team decided to make an agenda. They ate a hearty breakfast, defeated a group of goblins to loot a special new saddle, which allows Lily to ride on Uggo’s back, and did some browsing at a specialty-shop. But their agenda was interrupted when Siv spotted one of the thieves that had gotten away… and the chase was on! Through the city streets and along the rooftops the team pursued the masked figure, eventually trapping it inside a building, using their magic and their intuition. But when Siv made his way inside to confront the rogue, he was gravely injured, and once again the thief slipped through their fingers.
As we ended last week, the team, helping a stabbed and sliced Siv Redthistle, blood running from his face, escaped a gathering crowd drawn to the commotion of the chase. They made their way through alleys and side streets, eventually coming to the northern entrance of Terlis. Setting their sights on the Shantytown along the north road, they exited the Terlis, and took their first steps outside the city walls, and beyond the reach of the Moratorium on Magic.