As the last session began, it was late afternoon on the 16th day of the 1st Trigon of Elok’s Influence. The Stargazer has just departed Tionchar Winery on its way to the City of Alagon to meet with High Commander Dragana Skyshield of the Vanguard. The party was determined to understand if the Dooms had infiltrated the Vanguard. If they had, all may be lost in the fight against them.
After settling in on the ship and sharing a few drinks with Captain Merfiz Wigglewander in his Foggy Dreams tavern, the party headed off to bed, knowing they had a busy time ahead of them in the City of Alagon.
Shortly after the last of the party fell asleep, they all awoke in “the dream.” The party stood in front of an enormous rift 100′ or more rose high in the desert sky. Far inside the rift, they could hear roars and screeches that chilled them to the bone. Around them stood heavily armed warriors who appeared to be Vanguard. A monstrous roar from inside the rift shook the very ground around them as demonic-looking beasts burst forth from the rift. The beasts immediately attacked, but this time, the party did not wake up.
The ten-foot-tall demons attacked with enormous pincers and cast spells that left members of the party stunned and confused. The party fought back as hard as they could, but it quickly became clear that this was not a battle they would likely win. One of the demons attacked Lafferty, and shortly after, a second joined it. Lafferty was quickly grappled by the two and, despite a valiant effort, was quickly killed by the demons. As the last of Laffery’s life left his body, the party snapped awake in their beds onboard the Stargazer, sweat from the battle and the desert heat still dripping from them.
The next morning at breakfast, Captain Merfiz informed the party that the Stargazer had encountered a strange shimmering light that had surrounded the ship during the night. The light stayed for a short time, then slowly faded away. It did not seem to affect the skyship, so the crew had not been concerned. The party searched the ship for anything related to the light. As Lafferty and Douglan moved toward the front of the ship, small static charges emanated from Lafferty into the objects around him, then stopped a split second later. A phenomenon he could not reproduce again.
The Stargazer reached the City of Alagon late in the afternoon and docked in the northern section. Captain Barlor informed the party that he would need some time to arrange a meeting with High Commander Dargana Skyshield. The party decided to take advantage of this time to visit The Infinite Archives. The largest library in all of Emathan.
At the library, Landis was able to contact Zerelda Lunaridge, an acolyte of the Keepers of Knowledge that he had met during his last visit there. Zerelda brought the party to a special area of the library where tomes about magic are kept. This area had thousands of books, which the party spent many hours searching through. After four hours of searching and reading, the party found a book titled “For the Love of Magic” by Emonar Humblecut. The book chronicled Emonar’s search for magic items throughout Emathan, including several items he could not get to for various reasons. Lafferty refused to stop reading the book, and the party decided to stay at the library for the night. Between Lafferty and Landis, the two managed to take notes on eight possible items of interest before morning.
In the morning, the party left the library and headed to Penumbra College so that Nightingale could check in as requested. The party met with Thrush, who invited them to his office to talk. Thrush asked the party to travel to the Sea of Sand to look for Whalespell Wren, who had recently gone missing. In exchange for finding out what had happened to Wren, Thrush promised that when asked, Penumbra College would assist the party in any way they could. The party agreed and returned to the Stargazer to meet with Captain Barlor.
Once back at the skyship, the captain was waiting. He had arranged the meeting with the high commander, and the party left immediately. Travelling to Fangnor Citadel, the home of the Vanguard in the City of Alagon, the party was taken to the meeting with High Commander Dragana. The party explained what had occurred with Commander Ranier and asked her if she would submit to Douglan’s Zone of Truth. She agreed without hesitation and proved true to the Vanguard. The high commander told the party she did her best to ensure that all the Vanguard’s leadership was true to the cause. She had her suspicions about Commander Ranier but could not find the evidence she needed to confront him. Dragana acknowledged that the party was deeply involved in the fight against the Dooms. Something that she knew put them in great peril. She made the party honorary Vanguard captains so that they could call upon the Vanguard as needed in that fight. With that, the party departed the citadel and headed back to the Stargazer.