Lira in "Enemy Mine"

Lira and the rest follow the trail of blood Nighith left in his path as they try to recover the Godslayer sword.

The Road

 * Main Article: The Road 

Since the attack on Mermaid's Rock had ended in the early morning, the group slept from dawn to dusk.

When they climbed down from the monolith later that day, they found the villagers reconstructing their homes. Rob and Marley stayed to wait for Minos and help with repairs.

Nong-Poi also remained to tend to the wounds of their allied githzerai. Impressed by his technique and skill, she told the group that she wished to study under the older monk. Briefly, the adventurers said their farewells and parted ways.

Lira and the others took the road through the Amber Forest toward Auhros' capital, Ibameran. As they traveled, Azula noticed the tracks of another party on foot, likely made by Nighith and the githzerai.

The group veered off the road, following the footprints with Azula in the lead. However, the ground gave way abruptly and the cleric fell into a spike trap.

Lira leaned cautiously over the edge and saw that Azula was pinned by the impaling spikes. The ranger tied a rope to a nearby tree and climbed down after her.

She managed to free Azula, but could not climb out with her across her shoulder. Instead, Nicolas and Auren heaved on the rope and pulled the two of them out. The group then retreated back to the road.

After some hours of walking, the adventurers came upon the Left Turn Tavern, an establishment at the road's first intersection. Next to the stables just outside it, a group of Auhros guards were playing cards.

The group entered the crowded tavern and squeezed to the only empty table. Lira sat and tried to ignore the loud, drunken patron telling a story at the next table over.

Noticing that the barkeeper was a dwarf, Lira coaxed Azula toward him, despite the cleric disliking conversation. She eventually agreed and went to question him, but the barkeeper claimed not to know a "Hans" or if anyone had passed through with a dead body.

Meanwhile, Lira observed the crowd and realized that it was mostly made up of commoners with axes, presumably loggers. Four men by the door were noticeably different however, since they were well-dressed and splattered with mud.

The ranger approached and asked with friendly concern whether they had had any trouble. The youngest of the strangers, who later introduced himself as Fernan, claimed that everything was fine.

Lira managed to convince him that she was only curious, and offered to buy him a drink in exchange for the story. Fernan consented and invited her to sit with them.

The man admitted that they were foreign merchants, whose ship had come to shore north of the road. Seven of them had walked south, but had bumped into a group of monks somewhere in the forest. The monks had attacked them and they four had fled, abandoning their spices and other companions.

With a shudder, Fernan recalled that one of those attacking them had been using a strange, slender sword. Lira realized immediately that the merchants had met with Nighith.

The ranger offered her and her comrades' help in retrieving Fernan's goods, but was interrupted by a sudden commotion by the door.

A new group crowded into the room, their dusty clothes and pickaxes marking them as miners. Their leader confronted the loud drunk and demanded the money he owed him. The logger claimed ignorance, and he and his friends stood from their seats.

Sensing the impending fight, Nicolas tried to calm them down, but was ignored. The leader of the miners slammed the logger's face into the table and a bar fight ensued.

Auren tried to cast Calm Emotions, but those who stopped in confusion were quickly dragged back into the fray by the ones unaffected. Also not willing to fight, Nicolas grappled with the nearest logger and restrained him.

After seeing Nicolas get punched by the one he had just been trying to help, Lira joined the fight. A stool was thrown across the room at her, but the ranger managed to block and it shattered against her arms. She retaliated with her own stool and knocked the miner unconscious.

Azula observed that the logger honestly did not know about the money he supposedly owed the miner. The cleric struck out with both spiritual and physical hammer to knock a pair of miners out.

At Azula's prompting, the group focused on the miners and eventually defeated all but two of them. The survivors fled out the door, just as the Auhros guards from the stables came in.

Lira irritably told them to do their jobs, but they only goaded the fight to continue. At this point, the barkeeper managed to yell over them for everyone to get out.

Lira grabbed Fernan by the arm and pulled him outside. As the crowd dispersed around them, the merchant directed the group to where he had last seen Nighith.

The adventurers headed into the forest and searched for clues. They came across splatters of blood, as well as splintered pieces of a cart. They eventually found the cart itself, which was broken and dangling from a tree several feet off the ground.

Lira climbed up to the cart and noticed a cloak caught on a nearby branch. She recognized the cloth they had last seen wrapped around the Godslayer, and slung Marley's Cloak of Hiding around her shoulders.

The ranger pushed the cart free so the others could help investigate it. After listening briefly for whether the crash had attracted any attention, she jumped back to ground level.

The group searched the cart and found the shrouded body of Hans' son. Azula also examined its walls and noticed scratches from dragon claws, revealing that the cart had been thrown into the tree.

Unwilling to leave the corpse of Hans' son behind, the adventurers fashioned a sled from pieces of the cart. Nicolas pulled it behind them as they walked on and collected the sacks of spices that Fernan's group had dropped.

As they spread out to search, Lira noticed Auren freeze beside a small clearing. Cautious, she sneaked around him and hid behind a tree at the opposite edge. From there, she saw the scattered, bloody pieces of Hans' body.

A darkly veiled man was crouching over the shredded corpse and, without turning, he silkily commented that Auren was still terrible at hiding. Realizing that the two knew each other, Lira guessed that this man was Auren's and Firroth's master, the Alchemist.

The Alchemist lamented Hans' fate, musing that the fisherman had only wanted him to bring his son back to life. As the other spoke, Auren subtly called Azula over using the Rings of Whisper that the two clerics held.

Nicolas and Azula came to stand beside Auren, and the Alchemist smoothly greeted them by name. However, he also wondered aloud where their ranger was and guessed that she was hiding nearby.

Wondering crossly how the man knew who they were, Lira stealthily approached him from behind. She drew her shortsword and lunged out of the forest shadows, startling even Azula who had been facing her.

Lira held her blade to the Alchemist's throat and demanded to know what he wanted, but he slipped out of her cautious grip. The ranger only begrudgingly held her counterattack at Auren's warning.

Facing them again from a safe distance, the Alchemist conjured a floating Godslayer between his hands and asked them whether it was what they were looking for. Lira tried to disarm him, but found too late that the sword was only an illusion.

The Alchemist chuckled and asked them whether they preferred retrieving the Godslayer or taking revenge on Nighith. Remembering her two beast companions, Lira immediately answered the latter.

The man then offered them a deal, saying that if they could fetch something for him, he would bring Nighith to them. Lira asked if he would help them kill the dragon as well, and the Alchemist said he would consider it.

The Alchemist then conjured an image of a shining gem, which he called the Jewel of Soliton. The treasure, he told them, was currently owned by an elven ambassador living in Ibameran.

Though Lira suspiciously asked whether there would be some punishment if they failed to retrieve the jewel, the man claimed there would not be any. After some discussion among themselves, the adventurers agreed to the deal. Lira and the Alchemist shook on it, and the ranger shivered slightly at the man's frigid touch.

The Alchemist told them to meet him outside Ibameran in a week's time, then vanished without a trace.

As they prepared to leave, Azula reverently wrapped up the pieces of Hans' body and placed them next to his son. They went back to the Left Turn Tavern and found Fernan, who happily gave them a bag of gold for the return of his spices.

In addition, they asked for the merchant's help in returning the two bodies to Mermaid's Rock and he readily agreed.

To Hell

 * Main Article: To Hell

After settling their business with Fernan, the adventurers traveled toward Ibameran. They eventually made camp halfway between the Left Turn Tavern and the capital. Lira left the sleeping group and entered the Amber Forest alone, returning with the sunrise with a leopard at her side.

The next morning, Marley came up the road from Mermaid's Rock, evidently heartbroken from Nong-Poi's departure (as well as from discovering her biological gender). The rogue reported that he and Rob had still not seen any sign of Minos.



After a few hours of walking, the group reached the gates of Ibameran, observing the high walls and portcullis crowned with guards and a large dragon statue.

The adventurers reported that they had been attacked by a dragon, but the guards only told them to bring the message to the Purple Helm guards. After a few minutes of Azula asking about the statue and Marley asking why the helms were purple, the guards exasperatedly told them to just enter.

The group passed through several streets, before reaching a crowded market at the center of the city. Though they questioned a few jewelers, none had heard of the Jewel of Soliton.

As Marley filled his pockets with unattended coin purses, Azula asked one of the marketgoers for directions to the elven embassy. They were led to a nearby mansion, which served as both embassy and residence to its ambassador, Tavrian.

They told the pair of guards at the gate about Nighith, but the two refused them entrance, since it was not solely an elven issue. Instead, Auren lied about finding the bodies of three elves in a temple, and they were allowed in.

The group readily surrendered their weapons to the guards in the courtyard. However, when Lira approached with Sentry, her leopard companion, the guards stopped them both. They told the ranger to leave him in the stables, but she objected, pointing out that the beast was already making the horses nervous.

Instead, the guards directed her to a chain and shackle at the opposite wall. This angered Lira, but Marley calmed her down and offered to tie the leopard for her. He arranged the chains to look secure, despite actually being unlocked.

The adventurers entered the mansion and found Tavrian in the ballroom dancing with a young woman. They were immediately drawn to a choker worn by the lady, which was decorated with a shining red jewel.

Tavrian noticed them and excused himself from the elven woman, who went upstairs and left them to their business. The ambassador reprimanded them, saying that he was neglecting his wife Fahalil for them, and that it was not yet his consultation hours.

The group haphazardly wove a story of elven deaths, and of a dragon disguising itself as an elf and marring the race's reputation. Tavrian eventually agreed that the situation was serious and was an issue for the king.

The ambassador asked them to give their details to his guards, and he would have them summoned later. The group attempted to ask if they could stay in the embassy, but Tavrian objected to them sleeping in his home.

They managed to convince the ambassador that they had been robbed on the road. However, he only gave the adventurers some gold and sent them out anyway.

Wondering if there was a way to the second floor from the outside, Lira signaled her companion as she exited. Sentry broke free from his chain as if in panic, and scrambled up the wall of the mansion. He tried to push open a few of the windows, but all were sealed.

The guards yelled reprimands at her, but Lira only scolded them back, saying that her leopard hated being tied.

The group left and found an inn to settle into and have lunch. In the crowded tavern, Marley searched for fellow thieves to question. With Nicolas' help, he found a suspicious man sitting alone.

The rogue approached, and the stranger asked them if they were hunters looking for work. Marley nodded, and the man admitted that he was a Purple Helm tracking black market merchants.

He told them to travel to a nearby warehouse, and exchange a bag for an item being sold there. The group agreed and Marley took a pouch and half their payment from the guard.

They entered the suspicious warehouse, and found three cloaked thugs standing under a balcony. The leader told them that only the one with the payment should step forward, and Marley consented. Lira tried to send Sentry through the shadows to guard him, but the thug commanded her to keep her cat away.

Suddenly curious of what the payment was, Marley opened the pouch and discovered it full of diamonds. The rogue just managed to resist taking one of the jewels for himself, and instead showed them to the leader.

He then told the thug to show him the goods too, and the leader opened a crate. Inside, the group could see some form of metal skull.

As they exchanged the pouch and crate, Marley asked the leader if he sold sleep poison, which he would be able to use on Tavrian's wife. The leader irritably told him to go through the usual method of arranging an exchange.

Marley managed to convince the leader that he had only recently been hired, thus he did not know the procedure. The thug told him to find Aran at the Quadrato, then he and the other two slipped away.

Once they were alone, Lira sent her leopard up to the balcony, and was satisfied to find no ambush there. Azula also examined the skull they had just bought, and found that it was coated in dangerous abjuration magic.

They returned to the Purple Helm, who thanked them and gave them the other half of their payment.

The group decided to report Nighith to the Purple Helm headquarters, as the gate guards had suggested. However, when they reached the building, they found it empty. A bookkeeper there said that all the soldiers had gone to the games at the Quadrato.

Realizing that the city usually emptied during the games, the group ran back to the elven embassy. They were disappointed to see the guards still on duty, and tried without success to cajole them to come to the games.

The adventurers traveled to the Quadrato, and found a large crowd watching a gladiatorial match. A doorkeeper asked them for five gold each as entrance, but since the price seemed too steep, they claimed that they wanted to join the fights.

The keeper directed them around the back of the building to meet Aran. After passing a short hallway, they found a man watching the fights through a private window. He appraised each of them in turn, but was only satisfied with Nicolas.

Aran admitted that he had only one vacant slot anyway, since the wife of one of his fighters had recently given birth. The manager told them that if Nicolas fought for him, he would get a hundred gold on a loss or three hundred gold on a win.

Though he said that no magic was allowed within the ring, Aran winked and admitted that no one would check for magic already cast on the paladin when he entered.

Aran said Nicolas' fight was in two days, thus he suggested that they watch the on-going games. The group pointed out that the five gold entrance fee was too expensive, but the manager only told them that they were being swindled, since it was only five copper.

The group returned to the keeper, who asked again for gold. When they insisted that it was only five copper, he realized that Aran had told them and consented to five copper each.

Unsatisfied, Lira threatened him with a shortsword and said that it would be five copper for all five of them. The keeper quailed and agreed.

The group joined the large crowd and watched the game, with Lira betting on the obvious fan favorite and coming out with two gold in winnings.

Remembering the sleep poison, Marley returned to Aran after the games. The rogue confronted him with Thieves Cant, and was told to meet a contact in the market an hour before sunrise.

The group slept at the inn and reached the market at dawn. Marley spoke with the black market dealer, who agreed to sell him carrion crawler poison. However, since it was expensive, the rogue managed to convince him to exchange it for a job.

The dealer told Marley to return in a few days, and he would arrange work for him. If the rogue succeeded, he would get the poison for free.

The group continued to shop through the market, looking for a jeweler who could copy the necklace of Tavrian's wife. After bribing a legitimate jeweler, they were directed to a counterfeiter.

Though the counterfeiter offered an expensive recreation, the group insisted instead on cheap metal and glass. The man agreed, though the group would still need Nicolas' winnings from his fight to pay for it.

The morning of Nicolas' match, the two clerics piled protective and strengthening spells on the paladin. Lira also threw in a protection from poison, in case his opponent tried anything underhanded.

The paladin readied his lance and entered the ring, much to the displeasure of the crowd.

Due to their skill, armor and protective spells, Nicolas and his dragonborn opponent lasted through several exchanges. Despite staggering from a final, desperate acid breath, Nicolas managed to knock his foe out.

Aran, pleased with his winnings, paid Nicolas the promised gold as well as a large bonus.

Since they had a few more days before the ball, the adventurers separated. Auren contacted his former master to question his intentions, and Azula read up on the Jewel of Soliton enough to discover that it was an arcane focus. Meanwhile, Lira sought the highborn elven nobility for information on Tavrian.

After Marley had lent her some noble attire, Lira sat in an elven coffee house to listen. Around her, nobles spoke of the king's ball, where it was rumored an engagement would be announced. The king's sister, a young princess, would allegedly be wed to an elderly representative of the Mage Republic in order to secure an alliance.

As Lira listened, she noticed Fernan sitting at a corner table. She joined him and, after he briefly struggled to remember her name, the merchant greeted her as well.

The two spoke about the ball and when Lira asked if he had been invited, Fernan nodded. In exchange for hiring her and the rest of her group as his entourage, the merchant asked for a favor.

He said that the adventurers would need to sneak away from the party and find a young girl at a designated meeting place. If they could bring her to meet him outside the palace, Fernan would reward them.

Lira asked whether the girl was coming of her own free will, and the merchant assured her she would. Despite seeing a suspicious darkness to the merchant's eyes, the ranger agreed. Fernan then suggested that she and the others secure appropriate clothes.

After she had shared the information with her comrades, Lira, Auren and Marley returned to the market.

Lira knocked into the tent of a cloth merchant, allowing Marley to steal several bolts of cloth. However, for the stall with tailored clothing, the shopkeeper seemed particularly taken to the handsome rogue.

As Marley distracted him, Lira and Auren successfully slipped into the back room. They tried to sneak out with their arms full of clothing, but they were seen. The two ran into the alleyways, with Marley giving chase and valiantly claiming that he would catch the thieves.

The group then returned to the inn to take stock of their disguises and prepare for the king's ball.

Paved

 * Main Article: Paved

As an adept at disguises, Marley volunteered to spend the night sewing. He finished a dress by the next morning, before realizing he had matched its size to himself. Since she was the tallest of the females, Lira consented to wearing it and thanked him.

Leaving Nicolas asleep, the group separated into pairs. Marley and Auren followed up with the rogue's black market contact, while Lira and Azula spoke with the jewelry counterfeiter. Since they were short on funds, both pairs accepted odd jobs in exchange for the paralyzing poison and the replica choker.

The former two agreed to act as payment collectors for the Unseen, Ibameran's thieves guild. They met their first target at the gate of his home, and attempted to tell him that they were there to collect, but the man immediately began to retreat. Marley hastily lied and claimed that they meant collect garbage.

The man nodded and brought out his bags of waste. As Auren took the garbage, Marley pickpocketed their target's key for the gate. The two waited for the man to disappear into the house before sneaking through the gate, intending to steal the man's payment instead.

From the front hall, they noticed the man sitting and reading in an adjacent room. Across from him stood a large foot locker.

Unwilling to harm the man, Marley sneaked to the locker and found a small box of jewelry. However, the man heard him and immediately stood up, alarmed. From the door, Auren cast Mirror Image and he and his three duplicates surrounded the target.

Using the distraction, Marley ran out the door and was followed seconds later by Auren. As soon as the cleric left though, the man noticed his open locker and ran to the door, loudly accusing them as thieves.

In an attempt to silence him nonlethally, Marley broke the tip from an arrow and shot the man in the head. However, he did not realize that the projectile was still sharp. The man fell heavily, horrifying the peaceful rogue.

The two sprinted back and pulled the man back into the house. Auren healed the man's wound, finding that the arrow had luckily not pierced through his skull. They returned the unconscious target to his chair and placed the book on his lap.

After emptying the house of a few more valuables, the rogue and cleric left.

Meanwhile, Lira and Azula learned about the counterfeiter's younger brother Bran, who had disappeared three days prior. The boy was the troublemaker of the family, a user of the illegal hallucinogen Sundrop. However, three days was the longest he had ever been missing.

The two traveled to Bran's apartment in Horse Alley, a cramped street on the edge of Ibameran's poor district. They were blocked momentarily by the landlady, but convinced her to let them look around by promising to help her retrieve the three months of rent Bran owed her.

Sentry led the way up the ladder-like stairs, scattering panicked residents before him. However, when the three reached Bran's room, the leopard, ranger and cleric could barely fit in it together. Looking around, they saw that the cramped space only held a mattress, plate and cup.

After searching the corners and floorboards, Lira found an empty pouch with traces of white powder. By the door, Azula found a receipt for a pawnshop that had given Bran one thousand five hundred gold in exchange for a jewel.

The two traveled to the pawn shop and met its dwarven storekeeper. However, when they showed him the receipt, two stocky humans approached them suddenly from behind. Belatedly, Azula realized aloud that the debt-mired Bran had probably pawned off a false gem.

The storekeeper told them that Bran owed his boss four hundred gold, but the two managed to convince him that they were just trying to collect money from the boy as well. Satisfied, the dwarf instructed the two thugs to lead Lira and Azula to his boss, Calo.

A halfling at a ceramics shop greeted them at their approach. After leaving one of the thugs to watch his shop, Calo led them all to a nearby alleyway.

There, the boss admitted that he had sent Unseen assassins to the poor district to find Bran. Wondering why such harsh measures were needed, as well as remembering Bran's addiction, Lira bluntly asked the boss about Sundrop.

Calo suddenly panicked, drawing a dagger and signaling his thug to grab Lira from behind. She struggled but could not escape, thus she directed Sentry to lunge and bite the boss' sword hand.

The thug demanded that she tell her cat to release Calo, but she refused until the halfling disarmed himself. After several seconds of useless tension and yelling, Azula intervened by casting Suggestion on the thug. The man, greatly confused, released Lira.

Azula took away the halfling's dagger, at which Lira gestured for Sentry to also yield. As the cleric calmed down the situation, Calo revealed himself to be Bran's supplier of Sundrop.

Curious, Lira bought a pound, though only as a potential tool for luring back Bran. She knew that using the drug would cause steep necrotic damage, despite its strength and dexterity benefits.

On their way back to the inn, Lira and Azula were surprised to come across Marley and Auren, who were heading toward Horse Alley. Marley revealed that he was collecting money for the Unseen from someone who lived there, thus the adventurers went together.

They tracked down the target's wife, but she revealed that her husband had left on an expedition three days ago. A foreign elf had passed through the district, hiring laborers for an excavation outside the city. Lira and Azula realized that Bran had probably gone with them.

The adventurers left Ibameran, heading towards the excavation site and discovering it to be an ancient graveyard. They entered the conspicuously excavated tunnel that eventually led them to underground ruins. As a knowledge cleric, Azula identified it to be the King's Tomb, which housed several sarcophagi.

They explored the ruins, but had only opened one of the stone-sealed tombs when they heard shuffling from down the corridor. As they turned a corner, the group was assaulted by several zombies.

Lira immediately sent a Hail of Thorns into the zombies' midst. Seconds later, the group easily cut down the last of them.

They examined the bodies and found them to be wearing laborer's clothes. Marley identified which of them was his target, after noticing one wearing a locket with an image of his wife. Azula found Bran as well, since she knew that Sundrop caused necrosis at the edges of any user's fingers.

Auren cast Speak with Dead on Marley's target, and the group discovered from his ghost that the workers had been digging in many graveyards searching for something. In this particular site, they had found it, thus the elf who had hired them had killed them all. After the ghost mentioned the elf's slender sword, the group immediately recognized Nighith.

The group traveled deeper, and heard more shuffling from a sealed tomb. After they had pushed the stone slab inward, they discovered three frightened men. The three thanked them profusely and revealed themselves to be the Unseen thieves hired to look for Bran.

Leaving the thieves to escape, the group entered the largest room in the ruins. There they found a gigantic statue of a man holding a pendulum. Below the chain, twelve candles were set out along the floor in a circle.

As Lira ventured deeper into the room, she noticed uneasily that the statue's head was turning to follow her. Seconds later, the candles flared to life, and Marley approached the circle to find a riddle written within it.

After several minutes of discussion, the group successfully matched the names to each of the clock's hours. Lira moved the pendulum, watching each candle flame flash in turn, until the brightest one lit was the ninth. As she released the chain, the statue moved aside to reveal a door.

The group entered and found a tomb covered in ancient writing. At the center stood a partially open sarcophagus.

As Marley leaned in, he saw a skeleton with its arms crossed over its chest. Each of its hands was positioned to hold a rod-like object. Its right hand held a golden scepter, but the other was empty.

After reminding the rogue that Nighith had purposefully left the scepter behind, Marley reluctantly resisted the urge to steal it. The group turned back toward the door just in time to see the flash of a lantern spill in through it.

All of them flinched back, but were only surprised to see a familiar figure enter: Cassana.

With Good

 * Main Article: With Good

Though she was also surprised to see the adventurers, Cassana greeted them all as she entered the room closely followed by Ashvell. As a rival for Cassana's hand, Marley was momentarily devastated to see them together.

Noticing this, Azula asked bluntly whether the two of them were dating. However, Cassana only said that Ashvell was like a brother to her, much to the rogue's delight.

When the wizard asked what they were doing in the King's Tomb, Lira answered that they had been searching for two men. Upon finding them though, they had been forced to kill them. At Cassana's shocked expression, Azula quickly clarified that the men had been turned into zombies.

Cassana told them that, in turn, she and Ashvell had been following clues written in her father's journal. From it, she had learned more about the Godslayer, including that it had been used to kill an elf named Eon.

Eon had been a tyrannical ruler of Windcoast centuries ago; a self-proclaimed god and husband to the Fey Queen Maeve. Remembering her attunement ritual with Maeve's bow, Lira realized that she had witnessed Eon's death.

Cassana showed the group some of the journal's encoded pages, and they recognized the marks as those used on the walls of the tomb. After examining the walls, Cassana said that she would be able translate them, but she would need a week. The group thanked her and exited the ruins, leaving the two in the light of their lantern.

The group returned to the market to retrieve the promised choker and poison. Marley handed over the stolen jewels to pay off the Unseen, while Lira and Azula lied that they had found the counterfeiter's brother already dead, offering condolences.

The group returned to the inn to sleep, with Lira, Sentry and Azula sharing a room and the men sharing another.

Early the next day, the innkeeper was heard banging on the door to the men's room. He told them that a Purple Helm was downstairs looking for them, thus the men followed him irritably and left the women asleep.

In the tavern below, Marley and Auren sat with the guard, while Nicolas stood nearby. The Purple Helm asked the two where their elven friend was, and admitted that he knew what they had done at the market. At this, Marley immediately remembered the cloth and clothing they had stolen for the palace ball.

However, the guard continued and said that if they did him a favor, he would tear up his report. Nicolas, unsettled after learning about the theft, went to wake the women. Lira and Azula joined the table in time to hear the Purple Helm's request.

The guard told them that he had left his clothing in a nearby manor, and that they needed to steal it before anyone saw it. Amused by the implications, the group agreed. Though they asked what his clothes looked like, the guard only said that they would know when they saw them.

The group traveled to the given address, and found themselves before a manor in the middle district. All was quiet, but they could see that one upper story window was open.

As a thief, Marley immediately volunteered to scout inside. Lira instructed Sentry to keep an eye on the rogue, and the two adeptly climbed in.

The two found themselves in a bedroom with a closet and a neatly-made bed. Sentry sniffed at one of two nearby doors, and could hear splashing water within the presumed bathroom. Marley checked the closet and under the bed, but only found feminine clothing.

They exited the other door into a hallway, finding that it led to two opposite doorways and a staircase winding downward. The first opposite door led to nothing but a dusty bedroom, but the second was locked.

Sentry stood guard within sight of the bathroom while the rogue picked the lock. As he did, a lightning trap triggered, cracking loudly, though Marley managed to dodge. Sentry trotted over to help investigate the newly-opened room, but it was empty except the faint scent of flowers.

Seconds later, both heard a door opening and they quickly hid in the trapped room. Through the closed door, a voice teasingly asked where her visitor was, which Marley quietly reported to the others using the Rings of Whisper.

Sentry exited and tried to return to the bedroom as a decoy, but found it locked. He scratched at it, but the voice within only admitted that she knew Marley was in her house. She claimed that they had met before, and invited the whole group to come up.

Marley relayed this to the others through the rings, though they awkwardly refused. The rogue shrugged and entered the bedroom alone, with Sentry lurking behind his knees.

On the far side of the room, the two found a slender figure standing with her back to them, her long hair and bathrobe slightly damp. The figure turned to reveal the owner of the clothing shop they had stolen from, a man who had previously flirted with Marley.

Interested in women as he was, Marley recoiled, trying to make an excuse and fumbling with the door. The owner only scolded him calmly for his theft, admitting that he had hired the Purple Helm to lure the group to his house.

The owner allowed Marley to go free as long as the entire group owed him a favor in exchange. The rogue hastily agreed, giving up on the door and instead diving headfirst out the window. Sentry enthusiastically followed and both landed lightly on the grass.

After the group returned to the inn, they met a tiefling sorceress named Lenirith. A professional blackmailer and manipulator, she admitted that she had heard of Marley's skill and wished to apprentice under him. Marley happily agreed, and the group welcomed her in.

Since it was already the night before the ball, Lira helped Marley finish sewing the clothes they would need.

The rogue cleverly also sewed a single glove for each of them, so they could safely handle the carrion crawler poison, which was contact activated.

The next morning, the group woke to discover that a carnival had been set up for the lower classes, to reflect the ball of the upper class that night. They wandered the many booths and friendly competitions, with Nicolas winning an exhibition gladiator match and Lira taking the most expensive prize from an archery booth, an ornate warmask.

After asking around for interesting things at the carnival, the group heard about a fortuneteller. They walked to the ornate tent, and found a female orc standing in front of the flap. She told them that the entrance fee was ten gold each, but they objected to the high price.

Marley tried dropping ten silvers instead of gold into the collection box, but the guard caught him. Lira went around the back of the tent and pulled up an edge slightly. Sentry slipped in, but almost immediately knocked something over.

At the scream of a woman inside, the ranger quickly called her companion back out. Lira borrowed Marley's Cloak of Hiding, wrapping it around the leopard and slinging it casually over her shoulder. She retreated with her bundle, dodging the incoming Purple Helms.

As dusk fell, the group returned to the inn and found Fernan waiting for them with an ornate carriage he had rented. They went to their rooms to dress before rejoining the merchant, with Lira taking a moment to drag the hesitant outlander Azula into the high-class transport.

Along the way, Fernan told them to search the library for the woman they needed to fetch.

The group dismounted at the palace gate and joined the line entering the ball. Though she had also disguised him with silks and a jeweled leash, the guard on duty still stopped Sentry. Lira and Marley (the latter more successfully) managed to convince him that the leopard was harmless, thus they all passed inside.

Catching sight of Tavrian and Fahalil nearby, the group decided to steal a server's uniform. Marley, Lenirith and Auren followed a pair to the kitchen and attempted to hide under a table among the cooks. However, the space was cramped and only the tiefling managed to escape notice.

As Marley and Auren made a distraction by acting drunk, Lenirith sneaked to a closet at the back of the room and stole a server's uniform.

After regrouping, the adventurers realized that all the servers were either human or elven. Since Auren had already been seen by other servers, Lira volunteered. Marley handed her the paralyzing poison, which she assumed she would apply to a drinking glass.

Lira gave Sentry's leash to Azula and went to change. However, after she had returned with a tray of drinks, a trumpet sounded from the doors leading into the palace. As relative silence fell, a server called for everyone to enter the ballroom.

Seeing all other servers line up on one side, Lira hastily followed.

Most of the guests entering the ballroom were announced grandly, though the other adventurers managed to slip in. Without anyone to force her to join the party, Azula lingered behind with a few other guests.

Not wanting to miss anything, Lira coaxed Azula to complain to one of the servers beside her. At this, the server was convinced that Azula was an important dwarven dignitary, and that the herald had failed to announce her name.

Lira joined the server in apologizing profusely and offered to personally wait on Azula as recompense. With this disguise, the ranger escorted the indignant cleric into the ballroom.

As the guests settled into a crowd in the center of the ballroom, they turned to the pedestal raised at the end. There, the king was joined by his sister Zorabel, the princess to be wed to the Mage Republic minister. Though there had already been rumors, the king took the opportunity to announce the wedding formally, as well as snidely deride the kingdom of Zephyrus.

As the nobles began gathering to talk and dance, the group noticed Zorabel join the crowd to talk with Tavrian and his wife. Nicolas attempted to ask Fahalil for a dance, but she sneered and ignored him. The princess politely said that she would be happy to take Fahalil's place, and the paladin led her to the dance floor.

Afterwards, Nicolas asked Zorabel to show him the library, so he and the others would not get lost whenever they decided to fetch Fernan's target. She agreed, but said that they needed to hurry, since someone had reserved the room for later. After a few minutes of showing him the many volumes, she led the paladin back to the party.

Meanwhile, the group tried falteringly to separate Tavrian from his wife. Lenirith tried striking up a conversation with Fahalil, but she was shunned. Lira attempted to spill drinks on her, but missed and hit the floor instead.

Marley approached the couple and pointedly asked about the wife's choker, much to her suspicion. Fahalil revealed herself to be a magic user here, casting Detect Thoughts on him and discovering that he wanted her necklace. Hastily, the rogue retreated.

Knowing that Marley would need a distraction for a second attempt, Lira subtly signaled for Sentry to jump on Fahalil. However, she forgot that Azula was holding his leash, and the cleric was dragged noisily through the ballroom.

In the middle of the party-goers' yells of protest at the rampaging leopard, Marley managed to unclasp Fahalil's necklace. However, she felt it loosen and turned to retaliate.

As the wife began to cast, Lira lunged forward with her glove soaked in poison. Still acting like a concerned server, she brushed Fahalil's neck and pushed her aside, assuring her that she would escort the thief out. Fahalil faltered as the paralyzing poison took effect, and Marley ran for the door.

Marley pushed through the crowd with Tavrian close on his heels. When the ambassador grazed him with a rapier, the rogue pretended to stumble and dropped the fake choker; keeping the real one hidden in his clothes.

Marley escaped into the courtyard, donning his Cloak of Hiding and vanishing into the night.

As the fake necklace was returned to the recovering Fahalil, the other adventurers slipped away to the library. They found the princess there, and learned that she had a lover, Aragon. She and Aragon had been promised to each other as children, but when her brother had taken the throne, he had broken the alliance with the prosperous kingdom due to its weak military.

After describing Fernan to her, the group discovered that the prince had been using a false name.

As they looked around for an escape route, the group heard Tavrian coming up the stairs and calling for Zorabel. Lira hurried to intercept him just outside the library door.

Tavrian told her that he was looking for the princess, but Lira only claimed that she had gone further down the corridor. The ambassador opened the library door and saw Azula (the only one who had not bothered to hide) calmly reading a book. At this, he shrugged and moved on.

Silence fell after several minutes. The group opened a window and Azula cast Cat's Grace on each of them. As Zorabel hesitated at the open window, Lira unceremoniously pushed her out and followed. All of them landed unharmed and regrouped with Marley and Aragon.

Aragon thanked them as they piled into the carriage and returned to the inn. In gratitude, he gave the group a Bag of Holding before he and Zorabel rode off together. The adventurers entrusted the magic item to Azula and filled it with their collectively earned gold.

Tired from their long night, the group immediately went to bed. Yet again though, the next morning the men were woken by the innkeeper banging on their door.

Intentions

 * Main Article: Intentions

Marley irritably opened the bedroom door, and the innkeeper again told him that someone downstairs was looking for them. Nicolas led the way, but as Marley followed at back of the line, he felt a stab of pain in his side.

The rogue turned to see that the innkeeper's eyes had glazed over and he had drawn a sword. The three men quickly rallied to defend themselves.

Sentry, woken by the clatter of weapons, jumped down from Lira's bed and began scratching at the door of the women's room. Irritated and still sleepy, Azula threw a pillow at him.

When the leopard refused to stop, the cleric mumbled a yell across the room at Lira. Thinking that the beast just wanted to go out, Lira dragged herself out of bed and opened the door. Momentarily startled at the fight in the hallway, she quickly told Azula to get up and arm herself.

As the women charged in from behind, the group managed to surround the innkeeper. Seconds later though, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Nicolas turned in time to see Tavrian strike out with a rapier and declare that his wife's necklace was an arcane focus, thus it could be tracked.

Sentry wove through the cramped hallway, charging back and forth between the two targets and clawing at them. Since he was still inexperienced, the leopard mostly missed, twice hitting a wall and once landing on Marley and knocking him over. Sentry was immediately contrite though, licking the rogue's face before springing off his chest.

Soon after the innkeeper collapsed under one of Sentry's swipes, Fahalil joined her husband. As she came up the stairs, she Misty Stepped to the far side of the group and hemmed them in.

Marley staggered from the wife's lightning strike and retreated. Thinking quickly, he fetched two blankets from his room and threw one each over the elven couple. Both were restrained long enough for a few extra strikes, but they soon escaped.

Lira dealt the final blow to Tavrian, but just resisted throwing him down the stairs at the others' protests. Instead, she knocked him out with the hilt of her shortsword and discarded him against a wall.

Fahalil gave a cry of outrage, thinking her husband dead, and Lira felt a powerful ball of lightning fly unsettling close to her head. The group tried to yell at Fahalil that they had not killed Tavrian, but she seemed blind to reason.

Clearly unsatisfied that Lira was still standing, Fahalil charged into the middle of the group. She hit the ranger with her lightning staff again, and Lira collapsed against a charred wall.

Here, Azula gave up on diplomacy and smashed Fahalil unconscious with her hammer. As quiet fell again, Marley claimed Tavrian's magical rapier, while Azula took Fahalil's Storm Staff.

Remorseful at hurting the innkeeper since he had only been enchanted, the group tucked him into one of their beds and left the payment for their rooms beside him.

Since they wanted to bring the two elves with them, the group stole wine barrels from the inn's kitchen. One was already empty, but they were forced to drain the other. They poured wine into all the glasses they could find, and dumped the rest onto the street. Azula quickly ran up and added the cost of the wine to the pile next to the sleeping innkeeper.

After padding the inside of the barrels with pillows, the adventurers pushed the bound and gagged elves into one each. As they exited into the early morning darkness, Nicolas rolled the barrel containing Tavrian while Marley followed suit with Fahalil's.

The group headed toward the nearest gate, largely ignored by the early risers. Partway through the city though, Marley decided to ask his black market contact for a quieter way out of Ibameran. Lira took over pushing Fahalil's barrel while the rogue ran off.

Marley easily found his contact, but faltered after hearing about the one thousand gold cost for each of them. After attempting to trade him Sundrop and other random items, the rogue was eventually forced to decline the offer. The dealer had let slip that the exit was through the river though, so the rogue hurried to inform the others.

Meanwhile, the group continued toward the gate, deciding to take more deserted alleyways. At one point, Tavrian's fist smashed through his barrel as he tried to escape, but Azula quickly stuffed him back in and cast Mending on the hole.

When the group reached a particularly narrow alley however, Tavrian managed to break the barrel lid instead of one of its sides. As the ambassador clawed his way out, Nicolas struggled to stop him, before finally knocking him out with a punch.

Distracted by Tavrian, Lira noticed too late that Fahalil had kicked free as well and had Misty Stepped away. Knowing he was faster, the ranger quickly called for Sentry to 'fetch'.

The leopard easily caught up to the fleeing elf but overshot his pounce, landing just beyond her. He shook himself and settled instead with blocking the far end of the alley.

Without her staff, Fahalil looked around for spell components and broke a shard of glass from a window. She summoned a shot of lightning through the group, once again knocking Lira out.

The group charged after her to subdue her again, but the elven woman struck out powerfully, enraged at her husband's supposed murderers.

After she had been healed by Auren, Lira stood to realize that the fighting had moved off a distance from her. Upset that she had been targeted and knocked out twice, the ranger abandoned non-lethal methods. She drew and shot an arrow into Fahalil's head, knocking her over amid the others. Azula reacted quickly though and cast Spare the Dying.

The group gave up on bringing the elves out of the city and returned the couple to their barrels. They left the containers standing side by side in the alley, each with a note to find their spouse in the adjacent barrel.

Marley rejoined the adventurers soon after to recount his escape plan. However, all of them quickly realized that (unlike Soliton) the gates of Ibameran were barely guarded.

As the group rested in the forest just outside the city, Auren re-entered alone to contact the Alchemist. Using a magic mirror at the local hideout, the Alchemist told Auren that the entire group needed to be brought there.

The Alchemist revealed that he had prepared a teleportation circle in the room upstairs. The circle was powered by the jewel that the group had stolen for him, and would take them all to the Mage Republic. There, they would be able to find a weapon that could kill Nighith.

Auren left the city again to tell the others, and the adventurers begrudgingly returned to the gates. Despite their supposedly daring escape, they were not accosted.

As they prepared to use the teleportation circle, the group managed to convince the hideout guard to tell Minos, Rob or Cassana where they had gone, if ever they came to the city.

The adventurers stood on the circle and Azula placed Fahalil's choker on a nearby pedestal. The cleric pressed in the jewel and, moments later, the group found themselves in an unfamiliar room, startling an elderly wizard out of his chair.