Session 23-04-2019

Escape from Sharra and the Trials of Judgement (23-04-2019)
The Company filled the awaiting two carts with their belongings and the liberated children before running for the city gates. Out of the tower burst a swarm of ghosts, that the company assumed was out to hunt the escaped prisoners. Jables and Tatters bravely stayed behind to distract some of the ghost and with the use of their wits, the pursuing ghosts turned away.

With Mazeen's woodland guidance, the company was able to clear the southern Reaching Woods surrounding Sharra in a single day.

During the day of traveling through the woods, the following happened: At the edge of the forest, the Company made camp for the night. Shifts were arranged for keeping lookout in pairs. The following happened during Diranas and Mazeen's first watch: The rest of the night went without incident.
 * Phes discovered that we were being tailed by a faerie dragon. After some quick interrogation of the dragon, he found that the dragon was the familiar of Tallion, who was ensuring that we keep our end of the bargain of leaving Sharra.
 * Didi attempted to Identify one of the liberated children, as their strange behaviour was causing some unease and concern among the Company. To stop the child from resisting, Diranas gave it his dagger, Marriage. The Identify yielded no information.
 * Diranas tried to get Marriage back from the child. He tried bribing with more knives, which were taken by other children. He tried to poison the child with Yuan-Tea, but it seemed unfazed by it. Diranas then gave up.
 * Didi discovered that the priests of Lathander's constant chanting was the same phrase being repeated over and over.
 * Phes ran to a nearby bush and voided his bowels loudly.
 * Phes tried to convince Mazeen and Diranas to come take a look at the bush.
 * Mazeen noticed that the liberated children were missing and discovered that the real Phes was still fast asleep, while Diranas went to inspect the poo bush.
 * The fake Phes disappeared along with the liberated children. The Company found scattered children's tracks leading into the forest, but the tracks were turning into more bestial shapes.
 * The company breathed a sigh of relief, as the prospect of parenthood was mercifully fixed. The Company agreed that the liberated children weren't really children after all, and more likely some form of shapeshifters.
 * Diranas mourned for all of 3 seconds, the loss of Marriage.

The next morning however had a number of incidents..: The Company finally made it to Scornubel (a.k.a. 'Score-noodle') and settled down at the inn. Late in the evening, Mal appeared and summoned his old acquaintance which turned out to be an ancient living spell. The living spell went by the name of Judgement and agreed to offer work and assistance to the Company if each member could pass his Test of Character. The Company agreed to take the test, which involved each member being tested individually.
 * Mal appeared out of nowhere. Tatters asked Mal to grant him an audience with The Raven Queen. Mal said he would look into that.
 * The Company asked Mal for work. He told them he knew an old acquaintance and asked us to meet him at the inn in the nearby town later that day.
 * Diranas and Didi sat down in a cart to read in the Slimy Book. Diranas started bleeding from the nose, eyes, and ears, while Didi was more or less unscathed. Jables slapped the book from Diranas's hands and Diranas went catatonic for a while.
 * Didi recovered the Slimy Book and decided to start reading again. This time she was overcome with a sudden urge to eat hair and proceeded to make a meal of Diranas's hair. She then pinned Jables down and started eating his hair as well. With some help from a spell cast by Tatters, Didi was made to think that long flowing hair was growing from Diranas's hands, so she spent the next few minutes chewing air.
 * Mazeen called down a moonbeam in an attempt to destroy the Slimy Book. However it merely bounced out of the moonbeam. Diranas made a deal for the Slimy Book, allowing Mazeen to incinerate a book on demons in return for the Slimy Book. Diranas made a promise to only ever read the Slimy Book under supervision from now on.
 * Didi offered to aid Diranas in his personal quest in exchange for learning of his past. Diranas agreed and officially made Didi his lab assistant.
 * Sharif regained consciousness and he and Mazeen had a family moment. Very little information could be gleaned from Sharif, as he was still exhausted from the near-endless torture he had endured. The company quizzed him on his relationship with Eldorai, but again little information was gleaned from this.

Judgement's incorporeal flames harmlessly surrounded the company as he transported them all to the tests.

The Angry Mansion
The Company first found themselves in a lavish, beautiful mansion. Two young children ran by the company, whom Tatters knew as his younger siblings. A servant girl walked by and after some questions, it was discovered that she saw Tatters as he was when he was still 11 years old. The Company went into a large room and spoke briefly with Tatter's grandfather about Baal and the Priestess of Baal from Sharra, which he did not seem to know anything about. Tatters was then loudly and angrily summoned by his elvish father to his study. His father accused Tatters of having stolen an important book. Tatters said that he had sold it, or rather that his former self would soon sell it.

Tatters promised his furious father to recover the book before his past self sells it and make sure to make up for it. Then everything went black.

The Weeping Streets
The Company found themselves in an alley in the city of Baldur's Gate. It was raining and what appeared to be four teenagers were bullying a young Phes. Present-day Phes drew his sword and chased away the teenagers. He quizzed the young Phes on why they were attacking him and young Phes revealed half a loaf of bread, which he had presumably stolen. He told him that no amount of bread would satiate the hunger that the young orphan felt in his belly.

Phes advised his younger self to get better at stealing, to channel his rage and stand up for himself, to get better and stronger so that some day he will not need to squabble over the city's scraps, and that eventually things will get better, with Talos's aid. Phes then gifted his younger self with his thieves' tools and instructed him as to their use. Then everything went black.

The Dry Desert
The Company appeared in a hot, dry desert. Nearby was a very young Mazeen with his father by their campsite. The company approached the pair and after some introductions they were invited to join for supper by Mazeen's mother. During the small but delicious feast, young Mazeen went missing. Mazeen's mother went out to look for him. Screams were suddenly heard and as the company rushed to investigate, they found young Mazeen clutching his mother's body. His mother had sacrificed herself to save young Mazeen from a desert creature.

Didi comforted the young Mazeen, and was given some wise words about the way of life and sacrifice by his older self - a valuable life lesson indeed. Then everything went black.

The Burning Library
The Company appeared in a library on fire. A woman could be heard crying out for Diranas to save her. Diranas ran to the door from behind which the cries were coming from. The door was blocked by burning debris, but Diranas cleared the debris by casting scorching rays on the debris and then charged through the door. Behind the door he found the smouldering bodies of his former wife and young son. Tatters and Mazeen covered the bodies with some cloth as Diranas's expression went mute, without expression or signs of any emotion. He muttered some words to himself, overheard only by Didi, and turned around to walk away. His wife and young son, still smouldering, appeared before him and blamed him: "What have you done!?".

Diranas replied: "It is not what I have done, but what I will do" before he shot scorching rays through them both, to the shock of the Company. Then everything went black.