DE Notes

[Darren]

Okay, maybe I figured it out. This is our communal notebook for anything that happens that we think is important and need to save. Maybe the best way to do it is each person just has one post in here that they edit and add to as things come up. That way we don't end up with a huge thread full of posts that you have to scroll through just to find that one note you took three months ago. Work for everyone?

[Darren]

Kal's notes

There was a letter from Alvek to someone talking about their plans. Reminder: ask Alvek about the woman he was writing to.


"The Mirrors were used for testing, with the intent to bring some of Malov's 'associates' into our world to assist with his plans. He could not conjure most of them bodily—devil-conjury is a difficult thing—but he could allow them to take possession of mortal bodies. The tests that failed produced the...wraiths upstairs. They are bound in some way to the Mirrors. If you destroy any of the Mirrors, then those wraiths will be set free. They are a friend to no one."

People to remember:
Amal - Deneith Blademark (?) - left with the fey
Mist - Warforged hired by Ralsor to guard Thunderhead (recruited by the party)
Ralsor - Captain of the Thunderhead
Fherina - Gnome reporter (?) - currently onboard the Thunderhead
Pellorien - Former party member - currently possessed by Malov and staying on the Thunderhead
Centaur in Whisper Woods - " "If you return to the Whisper Woods again and venture this far in, do not assume that all my people's tribes will be friendly to you. Should you chance upon any of my kin, speak my name to them—Cylleran—and it may stay their arrows long enough for parley.""
Lamara d'Medani - Inquisitive who questioned us upon returning to Fairhaven. Turned out to be a traitor who was working for Malov.
Lord Dassek - captain (?) from Fairhaven. "Captured" us after fight aboard the Thunderhead (after the destruction of the Silver Phoenix). Appears to be related to the Queen.
Prince Aurad - Prince of Aundair. Helps the Queen rule in Fairhaven. Has promised us the help of Aundair in our investigation.
Castellan Adele - Works for Prince Aurad. All messages regarding the investigation should be sent to her or the Prince.


From the eladrin sent by the fey Emissary:
"It is some of Alvek's blood. The Emissary bids you bring this to the most learned herbalist you can find. An antivenom can be fashioned, using a sample of blood from one of Malov's own kinsman. Tell whoever you find to 'remember the amaranth theory.'" She shrugs and hands over the vial to whoever accepts it, happy to be rid of the vile. "With the resultant solution, you may be able to dislodge Malov's spirit from an infected host. Should that prove at all useful."

[Marcy]

Charis's Notes

What the Lady of the Fey wanted:

"But as it seems, the Lady will accept your word that you will not emerge from this crude house again until you have brought with you the three terms of her offer: (1) Vengeance upon the scourge of Halvern's Glen...would that I could join you in the fun....(2) Eftith released, and (3) Alvek ir'Turian, alive."

[Joe]

Streko's Notes

The second floor is filled with negative energy. Are those the mirrors that were spoken of earlier?

[Ken]

Belarin's notes

Joe: The mirrors are the stones, which have extraplanar properties, and the "living" negative energy is the nasty byproduct of some folks' encounters with them. To quote from Alvek's note to Korla: Those subjects who resist the Mirror and who are slain outright can be transformed into spirits not unlike those who inhabit Mabar. Malov has sequestered them, for the time being, on the second floor of the house, trapped within a cocoon of negative energy. So long as the Mirror is safe, the shadows will remain there, impotent and under our control. Even if the house burns. We need to cover the stones -- permanently -- but destroying them would be bad.

Likewise, we don't need to worry about the "Old Man" mentioned in Alvek's note. He was the black-spittle drooling man that Charis, Goran, and Belarin killed at the end of our fight with the big red ooze and fire-spitting demon flies.

[Jeff]

DM's Counter-Notes

Just to avoid misinformation, in case wording/interpretation is the cause...

Mar 5, 2009 10:26:23 GMT -4 Ken said:

Likewise, we don't need to worry about the Old Man mentioned in Alvek's note. He was the black-spittle drooling man that Charis, Goran, and Belarin killed at the end of our fight with the big red ooze and fire-spitting demon flies.

This is where you first encountered the drooling man, but once you got a better look at him, realized he wasn't really so old. He was just altered somehow. He may, in fact, not be the "Old Man" at all. In fact, the two men you fought out in the grass by the Pillar of Shadow were a lot like this guy; with a few inhuman features. These men seemed to be peasant-types, altered by, oh, say, some sort of contact with planar devices.

And Marcy, Charis may have seen this "Old Man" before. From what little she could tell, he was a bit different.

[Darren]

Just to be clear, I think we should keep this thread for notes, but discussion that arises as a result of someone's notes should probably occur in the Q&A thread for a particular chapter. That'll help keep things clean so we can easily find the information.

[Ken]

Interlude notes:

• The Wood Mistress seems extremely interested in the dragonmarks of our party, e.g., when/how they first appeared, which may have something to do with what the Emissary later says about the Dark Echelon (below).
  
  
• The Wood Mistress also mentions the Draconic Prophecy (with its rumored link to dragonmarks). Further, she implies that Belarin's presence here was not coincidental, and that more powerful fey were involved.
  
  
• Everyone received a magic item or had an existing one enhanced. Only Belarin's came with a stated catch: He must use his dagger to assassinate the unnamed warlock who wields the dagger's twin. Again, there's an implication that his new quest and the party's existing mission may overlap at some point.
  
  
• Amal is present at the gathering, ready to rejoin us once this meeting has ended, yet the Wood Mistress seems oddly sad about his impending departure. She will instead keep Goran in her company and try to rid him of the corrupting presence inside him.
  
  
• The Emissary of the Queen of Dusk gives us much information about Malov. As we already knew from exploring Shadowcrest Manor, Malov's spirit fled his body during his execution and ended up in Shavarath, plane of demons. He has discovered a way to forcibly take over the bodies of others; however, the possession is very taxing to the host - the result of "a contagion, borne of Shavarath" that prepares the body for possession, and the body eventually burns out. Nevertheless, the Emissary says that Malov is mortal.
  
  
• Killing the host body while Malov is possessing it won't help us. Malov's spirit will simply leave and look for a new host body that has been prepared by the Shavarath "contagion."
  
  
• Malov and his semi-reluctant ally and relative, Alvek, screwed up by capturing Lady Eftith, a messenger of the Queen of Dusk, for their experiments. Without this act, the higher ranks of the fey might not have gotten involved.
  
  
• It's clear that the Emissary and some of the other fey plan to use torture or similar, arcane means to extract every last bit of useful information out of the captured Alvek. Whatever information they gain will not be of immediate use to us, though, and it's clear that they won't let him leave until the Queen of Dusk herself is satisfied with the results.
  
  
• The Emissary goes into greater detail about the Dark Echelon, a group of like-minded evil types that Malov headed up. Although the Dark Echelon has long been disbanded, the Emissary says that Malov wants to reform it. As part of his grander plan, Malov intends to capture and use dragonmarked members of every house (Streko's sister being one such victim). At this point, though, Streko's sister does not appear to be in immediate danger -- or at least that's what the Emissary believes.
  
  
• The Emissary lets us know that if we focus merely on foiling Malov's apparent intent to level Fairhaven, we risk being overwhelmed by the much bigger threat posed by the re-formation of the Dark Echelon. With Malov's new abilities and the backing of Shavarath behind them, the Dark Echelon could threaten our whole world and possibly the planes beyond. That's what has drawn the concern of the powers that be in Thelanis.
  
  
• That said, though, the Emissary doesn't appear to be in a hurry to tell everything he knows right now.

  May 24, 2009 9:01:09 GMT -4 Jeff said:

  "But that is not something we will speak about today," the grig goes on. "It is enough for you now to understand that we have an interest in seeing Malov's plans aborted.'

  The fey, in general, don't like to be rushed.
  
  
• The Emissary does refer to exorcists as a possible way to help contain Malov, and Charis -- who seems increasingly concerned about her own near-possession inside Stonecrest -- says that if she can get word to her brother in Flamekeep (in the land of Thrane), we may be able to speak with exorcists of the Silver Flame.
  
  
• The Emissary says that he will speak with the Queen of Dusk to see what support we might receive from the fey, but for now, with our few numbers, we have to concentrate our attention on one place at a time.
  
  
• We considered several destination choices: 1) Fairhaven, where Malov will reportedly strike (assuming that's not a feint by the Dark Echelon); 2) Flamekeep, to contact Charis' brother (although we may be able to accomplish what we need by sending a message); or 3) a forest in Karrnath, in which resides a very dangerous-sounding female who can steer us toward the Dark Echelon.
  
  
• However, after the Wood Mistress did a mind-meld on Charis and called forth detailed memories from the minutes before Charis' capture, we learned of another player: Kreelo, the changeling crimelord of the Dark Daggers, a criminal group in Fairhaven. The Dark Daggers had or have been working with Malov ... and with the woman who apparently tried to possess Charis back in Shadowcrest just now.
  
  
• We decide to head to Fairhaven and draw Kreelo to us. The Emissary says he'll try to send us details of whatever the fey learn from Alvek's interrogation. Belarin suggests a rendeavous behind the University of Wynarn. The next question is how to get to Fairhaven! It looks like Ralsor's ship may have crashed. We'll investigate as soon as we leave the fey gathering.

[Ken]

Prince Aurad has given each of us a magical ring which, when the hand is swept upward, trails a silver-blue light that reshapes itself into the royal crest of Aundair before disappearing. This will enable us to avoid any entanglements with the Watch during our investigation. But it shouldn't be abused.

The lovely eladrin agent of the fey has told us that, as a result of the fey's interrogation of Alvek ir'Turien, they've learned that Malov intends to open some sort of planar connection between Fairhaven and Shavarath. This would be a Bad Thing:
"It is a rift that Malov wishes to open to the realm of Shavarath, the Battleground...this you know, perhaps?" The eladrin shrugs, but there is for the first time a sliver of real concern in her eyes. "Not a true portal between planes, allowing free passage between them, but a tear significant enough to allow the properites of one to spill into the other. Malov's new allies, these devils you have crossed blades with in one form or another...they have chosen a place in this city, capitalizing on its history. Alvek said it would be...

"A place where reason has turned to madness
Fire into spirits
And faith into murder"

The eladrin smiles, but it's a helpless sort of smile. It fades and she shakes her head. "It is up to you to find such a place in this city."