The Aftermath
- Balthazar disappears, leaving us with the message to meet us in his home when we’re ready
- Ozwin is still crying on the ground, and the random teenager is also there
- Kaya tells Ozwin that we need to ask him for a few favors
- She wants him to focus on the Capital so we can “focus on other things”
- She asks him to find out who’s still alive (kids, animals, etc.), round them up, and gather all information that he can
- Oz promises to find every able-bodied person and survivor so that they can have some semblance of the Clover Kingdom again
- Oz says he wants a drink, and Kaya says we can get one after we check on Foo
- Quén sends a message to Foo via sending stone
- Quén: Foo, are you still there?
- Foo: I’ll set the table
- Cordelia uses a charge on Foo’s Key, using the door in the Barracks to go to Foo Bar
- This entire time, Cordelia has NOT addressed Julian or looked his way.
- Julian slowly walks towards the stone door, following Cordelia
- Quén says that they have things to do, and that they’ll join the rest of the party later. They walk past Julian (before he walks into the door) and goes outside.
- Cal BOOKS it into the stone door towards Foo Bar
- Kaya follows Cordelia
- This entire time, Cordelia has NOT addressed Julian or looked his way.
Entering Foo Bar
- It is empty.
- Foo sits, alone, at the party’s usual table. There are 6 plates set out in front of him.
- Cordelia enters the bar, rounding the corner and walking straight to her room
- As she passes the table, Foo looks at her and asks: “Well, did you win?”
- Cordelia pauses, musters as much of a smile as she can, and tells him “Yeah.”
- Cal and Kaya walk inside, passing by Julian who’s walking SLOWLY
- Foo is happy to see them!! He waves and says hey :D
- Cal walks RIGHT past him and goes behind the bar, grabbing the biggest bottle of alcohol he can find
- Foo is like “man he’s drinking. but it sounds like you guys won!!”
- KAYA STARTS CRYING :(((
- SHE TELLS HIM SHE’LL BE BACK IN A MINUTE AND GOES UPSTAIRS 😭😭😭
- Cal drinks straight from the bottle, and Foo sits on the customer side of the bar
- Cal sets out two glasses, fills them both to the brim, and chugs them both
- Foo reaches down and pulls out his own ale, asking Cal if the party won.
- Cal replies by saying that there will be no talking tonight, only drinking.
- Foo tries to ask what happens, but Cal doesn’t respond and just continues to drink.
- Julian FINALLY enters. He slowly walks over to the end of the bar, sitting as far away as possible from Cal and Foo
- Foo’s like ??? and Cal’s like “no talking, more drinking”
Quén Time
Quén buries the dead
- They’re outside the Capital, in the rain, approaching the battlefield
- They see Julian’s arm and V’s head
- Julian’s arm goes into their bag, and they carry around V’s head — they gently close his eyes, which are still open
- They spend 2 hours collecting OSIRIS’s parts - being unable to find ANY remnants of V’s body beyond his head - and bury OSIRIS’s parts in the ruins where we fought him. They leave an unmarked stone as the marker for his grave
- Early-on into this process, they message Oz, telling him that they will bury V soon and to meet them outside the gates of the Capital.
- Oz tells Quén that V wanted to be cremated
- They deliver the head to Oz — which, by this point, has been covered by one of Quén’s old shirts.
- Oz suggests that he can cremate V’s head and return to Quén with the ashes, but they say that they want to be present for the full process.
- Oz counters, saying that he wants the entire party to be present. Quén says that they will speak to the rest of the party in-person, and leave for Foo bar.
Quén arrives at Foo Bar
- Quén arrives at the bar, sitting next to Foo.
- They fill Foo in on the sparse details of what happened (V is dead, mostly everyone in the Capital has been teleported to Solmara, OSIRIS was defeated, and we are set to travel to Solmara)
- There’s some talk about Julian (Izzie is filling this in after the fact). Quén is still very bitter, telling Foo that Julian made a stupid deal. Foo is more sympathetic, saying that Julian made a deal to protect the people he loves. Quén tells him that he basically killed everyone, slams their drink, and walks upstairs.
Kaya Time
Kaya seeks out Cordelia
- She spends 2 hours crying, and when she’s able to gather herself, she goes and knocks on Cordelia’s door
- She asks to speak with Cordelia, but receives no response. She asks if she can come in, but hears no response — only shuffling, as if someone is doing something beyond the door
- Kaya lets herself in as the door is unlocked. She sees Cordelia’s belongings strewn about, and Cordelia herself stuffing things - mostly books - into a bag haphazardly
- She asks what Cordelia’s doing. “Preparing”.
- Kaya asks if she and Cordelia can talk. Cordelia says yes, but doesn’t turn to look at her
- As Kaya goes to sit on Cordelia’s bed, she sees her
- Kaya asks if Cordelia wants anything to do with Julian anymore, because she isn’t sure if the rest of the party will be okay continuing to have him with us.
- Kaya says that she’s okay with using Julian as a meatshield - because that’s about the worth that he has to her now - but he was once Cordelia’s, and she wants her input.
- Cordelia very suddenly drops her bag. She tells Kaya that Julian made his own choice, that she didn’t need his protection (she held her own during that last battle), and that she doesn’t care what happens to him or ANYONE else anymore. She will simply do what needs to be done.
- Kaya nods, stands up, and walks towards the door. Before she fully leaves, she simply goes “Good.”
Kaya speaks to Foo
- As Kaya walks downstairs, she catches Julian walking into the kitchen, following Foo. She ignores him and sits in front of Cal, asking him to pour her a drink.
- Cal does the same thing, filling two cups and chugging them both. In response, Kaya grabs the bottle Cal set down and finishes it as best she can (it’s the neverending bottle)
- Foo walks out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron.
- Kaya asks Foo what Julian’s doing (prepping/putting him to hard labor)
- Kaya approves of this!!
- Foo says that V entrusted him with our place of residence!
- With Cal’s generous donation a few weeks ago, Foo was able to set up the walls around Hillford (wood carved into spikes)
- Foo was able to put the bar together using schematics V gave him, and admits that he’s glad he was able to “before the world ended”
- Foo lets Kaya know that everyone in Hillford is still around!!
- Foo drops that THE ENTIRETY OF HILLFORD IS BEING PREPPED FOR INTERPLANAR TRAVEL???
- He says that he still needs to get the walls set up downstairs
- FOO’S BEEN TO SOLMARA BEFORE???
- HE HAS A RAMEN RECIPE FROM SOLMARA
- FOO’S BEEN PREPPING “THIS PLACE” SO THAT - WHEN WE’RE IN SOLMARA - WE’LL HAVE A HOME :((((
- I LOVE THIS MAN SM 🥺😭💥💥💥
- There’s talk about us potentially wanting Julian dead — Kaya is one of the few people in the party that doesn’t fully hate him
- Foo asks Kaya if she knows how much Julian remembers. She doesn’t.
- FOO TELLS KAYA THAT ONE DAY SHE WILL FIND OUT THAT THERE IS A REASON WHY HE’S DOING EVERYTHING
Kaya fetches Quén
- Cordelia walks downstairs, and begins calculating the coordinates for Balthazar’s house
- She walks through. She tosses the key through the open door before it closes behind her.
- Kaya grabs the key and tells Cal to get his things together so they can leave.
- Kaya walks upstairs to fetch Quén
- As she approaches, she hears sobbing — the kind of weeping that gets you dry heaving on your hands and knees.
- There are pillows and towels shoved under the crack of the door to
- Kaya knocks on the door
- SUMMARY OF WHAT HAPPENS:
- Kaya reassures Quén that she and the party loves them, and that even though they have to leave for Balthazar’s soon — they can take as much time as they need to prepare and recover
- Quén gives Kaya a very tight hug, and tells her that as much as they want to fall apart, the stakes are too high and they simply can’t afford that right now.
Cordelia goes to see Balthazar
- Cordelia walks in and sees a LaZBoy (chair)
- Balthazar isn’t in Cordelia’s line of sight, but she hears an “oh!” as BALTHAZAR IS NAKED :(
- HE WRAPS HIS ROBE AROUND HIM and tells Cordelia that he expected it to take us much longer to get ready
- Cordelia tells Balthazar that she needs him to teach her — he tells her that she’s not ready
- She takes a DEEP breath. She asks him why.
- Balthazar asks her “why” in response. Is it to prepare for the next battle? Is it to defeat the gods, as she has said to the wind? He tells her that if she tries to fight the gods now, she will die.
- THERE’S SOME BACK AND FORTH. BUT BALTHAZAR AGREES TO TEACH HER!!!!!!
- He says that he will teach her what he knows later, but he will teach her what she NEEDS now
- Balthazar pauses, telling Cordelia to “give it a second”.
- As he says that, Kaya, Cal, and Quén enter
- Cal beelines it to Balthazar’s chair and takes a seat 💀
- Balthazar says he will ask us each one question. If we answer correctly, we will be allowed to stay.
- KAYA
- Balthazar asks her if she knows the name of the type of earth magic she does. She does not (“Perfect, we’ll start there”)
- He tells her that she’s “a special case, unfortunately”.
- “If the time comes, are you willing to sacrifice your friends for your people?”
- Kaya responds by saying that her friends ARE her people.
- Balthazar counters her by asking if she’s going to sacrifice the people of Eldoria for her friends. And that there IS a right answer
- Kaya ends by saying that - when the time comes - she hopes she will be strong enough to save both. RIGHT ANSWER!!!
- Balthazar tells her that if he is to teach her
- QUÉN
- Quén is snappy and angry, questioning Balthazar before he can question them — they ask why he wasn’t around to save V
- When his answer doesn’t satisfy them they nearly storm out
- They’re stopped in their tracks when Balthazar asks if they want more information (on a topic Izzie cannot remember). They begrudgingly stay behind, claiming that more knowledge likely won’t help them change their fate, but it might help the rest of the party. (TL;DR: they stay behind for the party’s sake)
- BALTHAZAR DROPS THAT QUÉN IS NOW A MINOR GOD??????
- Quén is snappy and angry, questioning Balthazar before he can question them — they ask why he wasn’t around to save V
- CAL
- Balthazar turns to Cal. “Why the fuck are you here.”
- Cal has been on the solo path for so long because he’s realized that the more he’s with people, the more they’re likely to die. Balthazar asks why Cal is staying with us instead of dealing with the “thorne” in his side
- Cal counters by asking who the fuck is Balthazar to him. Balthazar says that he’s nothing to Cal, but he CAN help him.
- Cal responds that he’s here to drink. He drinks from his flask, and reaches the bottom of the bottle (the magic only works as long as he’s in the bar).
- When Cal finishes the drink, Balthazar asks him why he’s here again. In response, Cal says he’s going to look for a second drink and LEAVES
- Balthazar turns to Cal. “Why the fuck are you here.”
- KAYA
- Balthazar tells us that he’s willing to teach us, but if we want Cal to get his fair share for the week that we are here, we should talk to him.
- Balthazar says he’s hungry
- Quén asks him if he knows how to cook. Balthazar’s like yes???
- Balthazar’s kitchen is behind a door. He cooks for us!
DOWNTIME STARTS
What we learn from Balthazar
- During the week that we spend at Balthazar’s, we learn a little more about ourselves
- Cal has a heart-to-heart with Kaya, and decides to stay. He refuses to talk directly to Balthazar, however.
- Quén learns - through Balthazar - how to control their new dinivity!
- Cal gains a new understanding of his pact blade, and all the powers it comes with
- Kaya gains a new understanding of her earth abilities, and begins to grasp her newfound fire abilities!!!
- Cordelia becomes aware that she is missing two cards.
- She learns how to choose a card from her deck once per short rest
- We learn that Balthazar has been speaking to Loki, and that she will join us later in the week.
- Julian returns to us near the end of the week
- There’s a bandage around his stump left arm, which allows him to cast Mage Hand
- He can no longer cast his fire-based Lathander spells
- Quén receives a message from Ozwin, saying that he’s rounded up the survivors left in the Capital. There are 15 people left
- As Cordelia is meditating on a rock outside of Balthazar’s house, Balthazar approaches her and tells her that they need to talk. (Julian is chopping wood nearby. He’s also shirtless ← This is for Lily btw)
- He tells her that it is time for us to go to Spade
- He will join us! With a ship of all the people Ozwin has found. He won’t be joining us on Solmara though
- This is because he doesn’t want The Father to kill us if he encounters us on the way to Solmara
- We will leave in the morning!
- When Cordelia is ready for him to teach her more, he will ask her HIMSELF for her to return!!!
- “When the time comes, make the right decision.”
- He refuses to elaborate further.
- Balthazar says something about packing Cordelia’s bags, and she’s like wtf don’t touch my shit or underwear??
- HE MUTTERS UNDER HIS BREATH “FUCKING APPRENTICE”
- Balthazar gathers us in his living room
- He tells us that he has taught us everything he can - for now - but we will be going to Spade soon. He warns us to make our final preparations.
- Cordelia has been very quiet in the past week, and hasn’t spoke much to the party. Most of her time has been spent speaking to Balthazar or meditating. She is currently reading a book by herself.
- Quén has been keeping themself busy in the past week. Every waking moment has been spent doing something, because if they stop then the grief will catch up to them. They are currently cooking food for our journey.
- Cal is sitting in the same room as Cordelia, ALSO reading a book. It’s in a language she doesn’t know.
Kaya speaks to Julian
- Julian is still outside cutting wood.
- Kaya goes outside to talk to Julian!
- He’s cutting wood with his new hand, still shirtless (⇐ for Lily)
- Kaya approaches, standing a little ways away until Julian notices. She tells him that they need to talk. (Julian says that he would love to)
- Julian walks to a nearby bench/fireplace. He tries to light it with magic, and then remembers his predicament and lights a match instead.
- Julian asks if Kaya is there to berate him. She is not! Instead, she wants to know what HE knows
- Julian visibly relaxes at this.
- Kaya says that we’re basically stuck with him, so we need to be able to work together.
- During our first fight with OSIRIS, he was teleported somewhere, but he doesn’t know where. He has no memory of the contract he made with the Father, either.
- He doesn’t recognize Quén, and has used context clues to piece together that the changeling that hates him was once Camille.
- “Why… do you hate me. Why does everyone hate me?”
- Kaya says that she won’t apologizes for hitting Julian, but she admits that her anger was misguided.
- She tells him that he fucked up, but also we ALL fuck up. She admits that it won’t do us any good to linger on Julian’s fuckup if he can’t even remember the details.
- She tells him that he needs to work his ASS off to gain everyone’s trust again, but he won’t have to do it alone.
- Julian tells Kaya that he’s no longer a paladin of Lathander’s of his own choice
- He’s taken an oath to get revenge
- “My people are gone, my friends hate me. My- Cordelia hates me. I swear I will get revenge for everyone. I swear I will get revenge for you, for everyone, but more importantly, myself. Because of that fucking bastard modifying my own memory so that I would make a pact in the first place… I’ll get revenge.”
- “Then we will do that together. We all lost so many people. So… I’m sorry that hatred and anger and sadness was directed at you. It’s not fair, but -”
- Julian says that he probably did something terrible, so everyone’s anger is probably well-placed
- JULIAN SAYS THAT HE STILL DOESN’T KNOW WHERE VALLEN IS!!!
- He knows he’s probably gone, but he can’t take over Vallen’s spot. The rest of the party was best friends with Vallen while Julian sat in the background.
- As much as we probably don’t want him here, he needs us to get revenge.
- Kaya tells him that we need to fill in the gaps that Vallen left behind — at least until he comes back. And we will need Julian’s help to fill Vallen’s shoes.
- Julian says that he just wants Cordelia to be happy :(
- Julian asks about Spade. Kaya says it’ll be cold (Julian says he’ll put a shirt on)
- JULIAN FOUND A TANK TOP IN HIS STUFF. HE THINKS IT MIGHT BE KAYA’S?? IT SAYS JUICY ON THE BACK 💀💀💀
- HE SAYS HE’D GIVE IT BACK BUT IT FITS HIM PRETTY WELL NOW 💀😭
- Kaya tells him that he can keep it, but probably not to wear it in the cold.
- Julian tells Kaya that he will pack his things.
- Kaya tells him to talk to Cordelia
- He doesn’t think that’s a good idea — Kaya tells him to give it time. Julian admits that we’ll be on a boat anyways, so there will probably be time.
Departing for Spade
Balthazar prepares us
- Balthazar tells us that we won’t be trekking through the mountains — he won’t do that to us
- He tells us that there is a town further north that he can probably get us close to (if he teleports us). However, he doesn’t recommend that we interact with the locals.
- Balthazar warns us that the books we read from - saying that the people in Spade are barbarians - are wrong. They are in fact, civilized, but they’re also changelings who are under the control of the Father
- The locals will not speak back if we try to talk to them.
- These are also his notes. Balthazar doesn’t know what the current situation is.
- Balthazar mentions that the people in Spades’ diets have adapted to the harsh climate (where nothing is allowed to grow)
- Balthazar tells us that we will be joined by able-bodied people - from both Clover AND Diamond - on the ship. They are volunteers who were asked to go, not ordered.
- He warns us that there will be animosity
- Balthazar wonders where Loki is — they were supposed to join us, but they will probably join us later in Spade
- Quén messages Loki, asking them where they are. THE FUCKING FORGOT 💀
- Balthazar says that he will meet us later on the shore.
- SIDE NOTE: Quén’s ears - previously slightly pointed, in the same way that a half-elf’s are - are now fully pointed and closer to their head, just like Vallen’s :( 🥺🥺😭😭😭
- BALTHAZAR TELEPORTS US TO SPADE
In Spade
- We find ourselves in a barn. The wind outside is WINDY!!!
- It’s VERY decrepit. There’s hay all over the floor, and there are cracks in the walls
- The windows are frozen, foggy, and not maintained
- COLD
- We put on our winter clothes!
- The door is latched, but from the inside
- Kaya peeks her head outside, and sees a silhouette approaching us
- The party argues about what to do about it, but before we’re able to
- There’s a single knock, then silence.
- Quén peeks outside through the cracks, and sees a changeling wearing regular farmer’s clothes (short sleeves!)
- The farmer tells us that he’s not supposed to talk to us, but he’s also supposed to give us directions
- Quén says that we’re also not supposed to talk to him. The farmer responds by saying that we shouldn’t.
- Points in a northwestern direction
- We all roll for insight: Kaya, Cordelia, and Quén sense no ill will. Cal senses that he is terrified — he’s not sure of what though (us, Balthazar, or the Father?)
- Quén leaves an extra meal at the farmer’s feet, and walks in the direction that he points
- As we walk, we approach a small town. Lined up on either side of the main road are men, women, and children, all pointing in the same direction.
- Insight: we can tell that they are all terrified of us.
- According to the map, we are FAR NORTHEAST (on the world map, it’s the settlement in the top left, closest to the shore)
- We walk for several hours.
- Every time we come across people going about their business and doing chores/running errands, they stop what they’re doing and point.
- Cal picks up the pace, and the rest of the party follows suit
Arriving at the coast
- As we arrive at the coast, we see a sight that we’ve seen in visions before. Black sand, frozen water, and fog in the distance. A familiar figure floats above the water, hands clasped behind his back. It’s The Father.
- “Witness.”
- Upon hearing this, we put our hands to our sides. We cannot move.
- “Witness.”
- The Father teleports in front of us.
THE FATHER'S MONOLOGUE GOES HERE
- As we are released, Quén goes over and helps Cordelia up. She is exhausted.
- As this happens, a ship pulls around the corner from a hiding place. About five minutes later, it docks. Balthazar disembarks with Loki!
- Quén is PISSED at Balthazar, saying that he is late AGAIN. Balthazar says that he arrived on time.
- The ship is big enough to be a man o war
- Balthazar’s like ✌️🫥, rips a portal open in space-time, and teleports away
- We board the ship! Loki explains some stuff
LOKI'S LORE GOES HERE
- NICK BOTTOM SHOWS UP
- He doesn’t know Quén
- He’s also drunk as shit
- Quén addresses the crew,
- We hear another familiar voice! It’s Finnigan Seamus
- MY KINGGGG
- He can sail the ship for us!
- He doesn’t want to get caught up in the armada of changeling ships, so he says that we will set sail a little slower than the other ships
- He advises that we go downstairs in the hold and do nothing
- Quén asks if there’s ANYTHING they can do (cooking, cleaning, etc.), and the Captain is like “sure?”
- Cordelia’s like girl.. slow down. Quén responds by saying that if they sit or lay down, they will never be able to get back up. Cordelia acquiesces
- There’s a bar downstairs! FOO’S THERE!!
- Foo and Cal drink a bit (Izzie missed the details)
We sail into the unknown
- Four days pass. As we sail, the weather gets warmer.
- The fog - and all of Eldoria - fades away in the distance as we approach a very unfamiliar new world.
- In the middle of the fourth day, we see land. It’s an island, with a few ships at port.
- The captain comes down to the hold where we are. He tells us that we have some supplies, but we don’t have enough to travel for another four days. We will have to stop here to restock and meet the locals.
- Quén asks if we have the same currency as the people here. The captain says probably not, and we will have to use the bartering system.
- As we approach port, we realize that the island is actually pretty big! It’d probably take about a day to cross it (roughly the size of Diamond)
Arriving in port
- As we disembark, we see many types of people that we’ve never seen before. A man with a bird’s head and a bird’s wings (an aarakocra!!)
- A tiefling runs up to us — he has a crate in his hands
- He asks if he’s in the right place. Cal says yes, and the man hands him the crate. Quén tries to clear things up and tells him that we accidentally parked in the wrong place.
- The tiefling (Kade) asks where we’re from — Cal says Springfield
- Kade asks what the name of our ship is. Quén tells him that they’re calling it “The Eldoria”
- He’s like WOAHHH wtf?? 🤨 you can’t say that
- WHAT WE LEARN FROM KADE:
- Eldoria is a scary story that people tell their children. It is filled with savages and barbarians who have killed TONS of people, similar to the orc kingdoms
- In exchange for some guns, rations and a map of the world, Kade joins our crew! He wants to reach the Solmaran Capital for personal reasons.