The crisp Duscar air filled the party’s lungs as they emerged into the abandoned cellar. Finally able to relax for a moment, they gathered their composure before following Soren up and out into the moonlit night. Endrin quickly identified their immediate surroundings to be the town of Alfield as the party stepped out from the charred remains of a house above the cellar, one of many victims of a recent gnoll attack. Some eager for a stiff drink and all needing rest, the gnome led the party to the Candleglow Inn.
Triple J’s grey skin and striking white hair stirred unrest within the innkeeper, who snuck out to fetch the local guards while Conan began guzzling ale. Endrin snuck upstairs to his room while Triple J waited with great impatience for the innkeeper to return. Suddenly Triple J felt a gauntleted hand firmly grasp his shoulder. The hand’s owner introduced themself as Watchmaster Bryce before immediately requesting Triple J depart from Alfield. Triple J’s complexion was the matter in question as it matched that of the Kryn Dynasty’s Drow soldiers who had recently laid waste to the fields outside Felderwin. Conan’s fury and outrage rivaled that of his slender counterpart, the two preparing to exchange blows with the guards, when Soren stepped in and firmly persuaded the guards to stand down.
The tension in the air did not disappear along with the guards and Triple J and Soren each pounded a drink before heading to their respective rooms upstairs, leaving Conan to drown in his cups. Soren woke Endrin who’d just laid down to rest on the floor and bade him take the other bed. The two attempted to further the budding bond formed in the dark tunnels as Endrin fought off drowsiness, exhaustion eventually claiming the inquisitive gnome. Feeling confident under the lullaby of Endrin’s snoring, Soren finally unequipped their armor and slunk into bed. Though Endrin’s body was unmoving, his mind raced with visions of another place, the dream as vivid as a memory.
Up first, Endrin prodded Soren who awoke with a start, brushing platinum blonde hair from their face. They roused Conan, still drunk from the night prior, and Triple J from his beauty sleep. While eating breakfast, curtesy of the Watchmaster, Triple J noticed an all too familiar humming bird perch upon his shoulder. In immediate joy Triple J rushes toward a mysterious figure in the corner of the inn, his old friend and mentor, Shakaste.
The whole group eventually crept in to the conversation between the two friends. Shakaste imparted news of the escalating war between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty. He also told the party about the many injustices he felt were taking place under the surface of the Empire. Shakaste suggested that Triple J seek a meeting with the Cobalt Soul, a group of monks and archivists in the Empire, hoping that an alliance between the Grinners and the Soul could be brokered. Too tired for anymore idle chat the elderly figure shooed the party off so that he may finish his breakfast in peace.
The party deliberated on their next move, Endrin inhaling sausage and bacon all the while, before setting out into the crisp morning. They exchanged goods with some local merchants and tried to make good on a potential reward for their recently acquired information on cultist activity. Following more racially charged tension, Bryce eventually obliged, paying the party a small sum despite the failed attempt to show Bryce the now closed portal in the cellar.
With their business in Alfield concluded, the party acquired a horse and cart from the local stable and set forth into the Marrow Valley for Zadash.
