In the middle of an ambush within alligator-infested waters, a Swamp Hag named Niajja appears and calls off her “pets”. She allows the adventurers to live and even strikes a deal with them: to retrieve whatever magical item is whispering from New Haven, and in return she will provide protection from Tasset forces looking to cause trouble with the settlement. Niajja will not permit them to leave the Wetlands until this task is done. Given little in options, they agree.
Upon returning to New Haven, Cedric Truemalt alerts them to a letter he recently received from the mayor. While travelling through the city of Marbordo to the capital he heard a terrible rumor: that the Black Cypress gang was somehow in the city and, what’s worse, have been kidnapping Convalli exiles. The adventurers agree to investigate the rumors and, if true, to free the captives.
In the past, Alcia had heard in her mind whispers coming from the Mayor’s Office. With a persuasive smile, Cedric agrees to let them enter and look around. While searching for a key to a locked closet, Allen and Caelum stumble across old papers titled the “Ventus Manuscripts”. They speak of a time well over 500 years ago of a massive army commanded by a Dark Omen named Tenebris, and Ventus forces that stopped him.
Unlocking the closet, Alcia discovers the source of the whispers: a Gaia staff. Upon holding it, in place of her own reflection in a mirror she sees another Gaia, and fellow Convalli, named Eva. Her memory is foggy, but she recalls trying to correct some imbalance before an event happened that trapped her in her own staff. Not wanting to give the staff to Niajja, but wanting to leave for Marbordo, Eva proposes she can help them accomplish this, but they must first get closer to the eastern borders of the Wetlands.
February 12, 2023
(17th of Summermoot, 492cr)
Players: Benjamin, Brent, Vienna