# Session 26 - Session Title **Played:** 12 November 2025 ### Morning after Springcrest As the first day after Springcrest dawns, [[Peaks Point]] is unusually quiet — hungover from the night before. Everyone wakes rested… except [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]], who jolts awake from trance, shaken by what she witnessed. [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] slips out alone into empty streets, checks herself to make sure she isn’t covered in black oil like in the vision, and tries to work out whether it was real or imagined. When [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] wakes and realises [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] is gone, she checks on [[Elena]] and [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] gearing up. Before leaving, [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] quietly slips an engraved amulet into Pipe’s belongings (he doesn’t notice, buried in his papers). [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] and [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] find [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] by the docks, bright pink hair visible as she stares out to sea. She says she didn’t sleep well, but she’s “ok”. ### Eli’s briefing and the route Back at the inn, the group share breakfast — eager to move on, but clearly tense about infiltrating [[Solland]]. Eli arrives, still half-cooked from the night before, and gives them logistics: - The journey will take 5–6 days. - [[Bokar's Hope|Bokar’s Hope]] (the inlet north of them, beyond [[Feygrove Forest]]) is mostly fjords. - They must keep up the cover story: they’re heading to [[Bokar's Hope|Bokar’s Hope]] to smuggle immigrants out. - At the end of [[Bokar's Hope|Bokar’s Hope]] is the fishing town of [[Harringdon]], and it’s a long journey from there to [[Errowshire]] — they should consider mounts and a wagon. - He suggests [[House Devell]] in [[Harringdon]] as a potentially useful merchant contact. - He’s laid out supplies for five days and has stolen a sea chart from a boat captain (handed to [[Pipe]]). - On the laboratories: he recalls Blesson is one of the labs north of the Godash Mountains, north of Asla’s Strait, near the Goldwood. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] considers speaking with immigrants from [[Solland]] — it’s been a long time since he was there, and the situation has changed. ### [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] questions Eli privately [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] catches Eli before he goes and asks about his “ability” and how he got it. Eli explains: - [[Lucius Neeve|Lucius]] likes experiments. - Eli was young, tempted by [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Aetherite|Aetherite]], got mixed with the wrong people, and became Lucius’s scrying buddy. - He can’t do it without [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Aetherite|Aetherite]] (same for [[Fink]]), but when Eli held [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Aetherite|Aetherite]] near [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] and the group, it glowed on its own — suggesting something “more” inside them. ### Final prep and shopping in [[Peaks Point]] They plan the day’s errands. - [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] wants a cloak and asks [[Elena]] for 5g back (she gives it). - [[Pipe]] says he needs a mirror and 50g. He’s deciphered two more rituals: one needs a thunderstorm, the other costs 50g. - [[Elena]] jokes [[Pipe]] could count cards and swindle it from street games; [[Pipe]] is offended. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] and [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] visit a shop called Stiches, Stiches, Stiches: - [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] buys a dark brown / near-black cloak to cover armour. - [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] buys thicker dark headscarves (including for [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]]). [[Pipe]] impersonates Eli at the post and receives a letter from his colleague at the University of Oxentrout. At the bookshop: - [[Elena]] asks for texts on nature and colonial organisms, and also checks for [[The Eternal Flame]] (Raphius’s request). - She’s directed to a tiny religion section and picks up [[The Eternal Flame]] and The Silent Voice. - [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] nervously asks for a book on interpreting dreams — the shopkeeper doesn’t have one. - [[Elena]] notices a lot of the shop’s stock is… trashy smut. [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] asks [[Pipe]] “how he sleeps.” [[Pipe]] misunderstands and explains his preferred posture and snoring before realising she means sleep vs trance. [[Pipe]] happily pays for the books. [[Pipe]] then goes to the bank and withdraws 500g — a final loan from his director to support his research project, Compendium Magnificum. [[Elena]] briefly returns to the bookshop to apologise for her earlier awkwardness and buys a romance novel: The Soldier and the Harlot (wrapped in brown paper). She grabs sweet pastries on the way back. Meanwhile by the docks: ![[The Misty Peaks Peaks Point Docks.jpeg|600]] - [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] struggles with fishing gear while [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] keeps watch for the man who gave her an evil eye the night before. - [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]], now that they have more gold, buys a covered lantern and extra candles. [[Pipe]] continues studying [[Vanthar's Sanctarium|Vanthar’s Sanctarium]] and deciphers yet another ritual… involving being alone with a live pig. [[Elena]] reads The Silent Voice, looking for how [[Nyxthys]] is portrayed. The themes strongly frame death as a journey — something to be understood and accepted rather than feared. ### Refugees from [[Solland]] and the “[[Hands of Nyxthys]]” accusations At midday, their skiff arrives, and refugees from [[Solland]] disembark — some coughing. [[Elena]] checks them for illness, but it seems like a common cold. Then a couple step off the boat, see Elena’s black armour and crescent-moon pendant with raven feathers, and explode with fury. They accuse The [[Hands of Nyxthys]] of atrocities in [[Solland]]: offering aid to the sick and dying, then kidnapping and betraying people. [[Elena]] is hit hard — this contradicts everything she was taught and everything she believes her order stands for. The sky darkens. A storm-like hush falls. Nyxthys’s voice booms overhead with raw fury: “TRAITORS!!!!” The storm withdraws. The crowd disperses, unnerved, leaving [[Elena]] standing there feeling utterly alone. [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] steps forward and takes Elena’s hand; [[Elena]] squeezes back too tightly. [[Elena]] insists these cannot be true [[Hands of Nyxthys]] — and that what they just heard was Nyxthys’s rage at betrayal. The party backs her; they’ve seen [[Elena]] heal and show mercy. They still have a few hours before departure, so they offer to speak with refugees for more details. [[Elena]] is now intensely motivated to investigate and stop these “false Hands”. [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] tells [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] about her dream/vision — the oily, winged figure and a spoken word — and believes it connects to earlier visions. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] offers to help [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] experiment with sleeping and dreaming (even if it’s mostly instinct). ### Final checks and setting sail [[Elena]] stays with [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] at the boat while others circulate. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] suggests the coughing could be tied to Solland’s oaths: when people get sick or break their oath, they often get nosebleeds, coughs, etc. [[Elena]] finds it odd, since the refugees only show a simple dry cough. [[Pipe]] lets his most recent summon — a water-loving newt creature — splash into the sea. It enjoys itself for a bit, and [[Pipe]] panics it won’t return… but it does. [[Elena]] assigns roles for running the vessel, everyone familiarises themselves with tasks, and they unmoor, push off, and set sail — leaving [[Peaks Point]] behind after an eventful stretch of weeks and heading into whatever fresh nightmare waits beyond the fjords. ## Additional Session Artwork ![[The Misty Peaks Peaks Point Dawn.jpeg|600]] ![[Sea Sloop Day.jpg|600]] ![[The Misty Peaks Peaks Point.jpeg|600]]