- We regroup in the Wizards’ Tower in Luskan - Cedric has a small amount of scaring on his chest after having been cured of Vecna’s infection - We return to the nearby tavern - There are a number of headless bodies on the ground - they all appear to be changelings - Jarlaxle and Corvath - appearing visibly injured and exhausted - stand amongst the pile of corpses, while Valethar sits at the bar - Valethar reveals that the version of her we previously met in the tavern was, in fact, a changeling - Valethar mentions to Jarlaxle that the changeling disguised as him attempted to seduce Jarlaxle - Valethar tells us a new guest arrived at the docks - Squeeb enters the tavern with his crew of ducks - Squeeb announces himself as the fifth of the Pirate Captains - which Jarlaxle agrees to - Corvath, Jarlaxle, Valethar, Graxen and Squeeb all make a blood pact as pirate kings of Luskan - Graxen asks about the tunnel of undead. Both Jarlaxle and Corvath mention that the undead simply disappeared. The tunnel is now empty, with no signs of where the undead went - Ellette asks about the Anorak Desert - wishing to track the blue dragon there. - Jarlaxle mentions a crew of people claiming to be dragon hunters - calling themselves the Knights of the Wyrm - This group have boasted of taking out several dragons - They tattoo themselves every time they kill a dragon - Jarlaxle believes this group are currently in Mirabar - and offers to contact them with an urging to meet us in Alexandria - Jarlaxle believes all in Luskan is currently under control - seeing us off as we make our way back to Alexandria - Before leaving, Valethar slides a group of tankards towards us - offering us mead for a job well done. - She gives Kyo a freshly caught fish - The party decides to stay for the night, drinking in the tavern while Ellette flirts with Valethar - Ellette spends the night with Valethar - The following morning, we set off to make our way back to Alexandria - On the journey home, we share stories about our pasts - Cedric expresses a desire to learn more than one song - as he currently knows only “Hot to Gnome” - He also wishes to complete in the International Slop Eating contest - Cedric was imprisoned in an oubliette for a crime he didn’t do - killing a commander. - Steve wishes to forget all memories involving Lyra - still hurt by the time when Lyra transformed into her parents - She still feels deep seated rage towards Lyra for this - Astryx speaks of a love for Summer - as she can clearly see the sky at night. She also likes Winter because of the Solstice - The Winter Solstice is her favourite - Astryx reveals her star sign to be the Dragon of Dawn, tied to renewal and the changing of cycles - She speaks of gathering with her druids’ circle to celebrate the Winter Solstice - The druids are vegetarian - Her favourite animal to transform into is a giant vulture - If she got stuck in a wildshape forever, she’d choose to be an owl - Graxen speaks of his wish to watch Vastian grow up, he fears that the dangers of an adventuring lifestyle may deny him the opportunity - Kyo hopes in a year we have put a stop to the machinations of Vecna - and believes in then years we may be teaching younger adventurers - Ellette expresses a concern with the growing numbers of cult members spreading throughout Faerun - Ellette is invested in the creation of specially shaped wine glasses - Dagna is a glass blower who specialises in these - Graxen believes Steve has changed the most - as she has become extremely competent during his time away raising Vastian and now has good ideas. He believes Ellette gives him the most to think about as she challenges his Barovian beliefs and he respects her for this - Cedric believes Ellette and Kyo have both changed the most - Ellette because she used to dislike him and Kyo because he hasn’t recently killed him. Steve has given him the most to think about because he claims he cannot understand how someone who’s completely brain dead can sometimes have good ideas - Ellette believes Kyo has changed the most - she believes he has become more aggressive and enjoys torture, which is unlike his mannerisms when he first joined the group. She believes Cedric has given her the most to think about as she can’t believe how many times one man can die in twenty four hours - Kyo believes that Graxen has changed the most - as his ties to Team Dumbfuck have lessened since he became a father. Kyo believes Steve has given him the most to think about - as she’s been through a lot but presses on regardless - Steve believes that Graxen has changed the most - having previously defined himself by the negativity in his past, but he now seems more in tune with the positive things in his life. She says Cedric has given her the most to think about as his comment on her being brain dead has made her reevaluate their relationship. - Astryx believes Cedric has changed the most, as he seems to particularly wish to remain alive lately. She believes Graxen has given her the most to think about as she has heard much about the crimes of his past but has gotten to know him as a family man with a young son - Graxen recalls the time he and Steve were deceived by Nanny Nora - both he and Steve are still quite bitter about this - Ellette is bitter about a man who claims she does not support the library in Alexandria - Ellette believes the best drink is the Tipsy Daisy - a drink from the Faewild. The fairies collect flowers from the back of Guilfiligs. These are mixed in a single drink, each one being its own individual colour with differing effects - The strongest drink is Bailsif. This is served in crystal vases made by the Satyrs. This is only drank on special occasions - such as the event of an execution - Graxen recalls a memory from his childhood when he was trapped in a sunken ship with the ghost of a dead child. This scarred him deeply, leading to a fear of ghosts. The child grasped at his left wrist - he believes this was a forewarning that he was going to lose his left arm - Astryx thinks the group are all unique individuals who would not work as a team on paper - but have come together to function well - She recalls the members of her Druid’s grove are now all dead or missing - Kyo recalls having a dream - the memory upsetting him. He had hoped to have a mate and kittens, but the possibility was taken from him when the Mossvale died - Graxen would like to be remembered for bringing hope to Barovia - Cedric would like to be remembered as “The Slop Master” - Ellette would like to leave the world a better place - Kyo would like to be remembered for subduing Vecna - Steve would like to be remembered for the aid she has provided the goblins - Astryx would like to be remembered for improving the star maps - Back at Alexandria, Steve returns home to show Big Guy that she has returned to her Gnome form - Big Guy is overjoyed and immediately asks for sex - Steve tasks Cedric with teaching “Hot to Gnome” to five Goblins in exchange for a small amount of gold - The goblins she picks are Jigs, Drickle, Flitch and Boggin - Cedric suggests finding potions that grant resistance to Lightning, which should aid in the battle against the blue dragon - Ellette uses Demiplane to create a room to store food and water - which can be accessed during our downtime in the desert - Graxen and Steve find a book about the Anorak Desert. Most of the pages are damaged and burned but there is a sliver of information to be gleaned from its pages - “Desert, but not lifeless. Scorching hot by day, chill at night, but only dunes and hard plain in the south, where the Bedine swing their swords at you and play "I'm fiercer" with any intruder. Cold rock to the north, and more life than you'd think for a land so parched, with old, fell magic beneath your boots and the stony spires of ruins covered and then laid bare by the sands when storms howl, like old teeth sticking up from a buried jawbone.” - Graxen also finds mention of The Great Desert, The Great Sand Sea and the Land of Lost Dreams - but the book is too damaged to discover anything further about these places - Another book contains information on blue dragons - “Blue dragons were physically distinguished by the single large horn protruding from their heads and also by their ears, which were rather large and frilled. The neck was short and broad. The tail was thick and flat. They smelled like electricity or sand. A dragon egg could be identified as belonging to a blue by the web of thin blue lines seen when held in front of an intense white light“ - “They were also extremely adept at burrowing in sand, and often lie in wait just below the surface of the desert for prey. When they were so burrowed, their large horns could easily be mistaken for pointed desert rocks“ - Astryx spends two days learning the spell “Control Weather” - Quintin offers Ellette an alchemy jug that always pours water. She purchases it for 20GP. - Kyo meets with Isolde to enquire about any history of blue dragons in the Anorak Desert. - Isolde has a single piece of written information about the blue dragon currently residing in the desert. She gives this to Kyo - “The first recorded appearance of Iymrith occurred in the Year of Bright Fangs, 570 DR, when she destroyed a Bedine camp. Soon after, she challenged an old dragon in the High Moor but was defeated. Iymrith crashed into some Netherese ruins in the Forgotten Forest. During her recuperation Iymrith somehow gained some powerful magical abilities beyond most blue dragons. The most convincing theory was that she had become the servant of an archmage who'd magically altered her body. Together, Iymrith and a skeletal figure raided villages and caravans in the Delimbiyr Vale and the Sword Coast” - Cedric buys a pair of binoculars - Kyo tasks Zoltan with fashioning a decently sized lightning rod - A band of mercenaries enter the city - numbering roughly twenty - Cedric approaches, speaking briefly with a person who seems to believe he is a fan - The group enter the Lucky Gryphon - beginning to drink - They claim Sordia Vignti’s table, drinking boisterously - Ellette approaches, kicking the chair out from under the man sitting in her place - The man crashes to the ground - causing his group to laugh. - The man seems to take this in good faith, caring little for Ellette’s reprimanding regarding the use of Sordia Vignti’s table - The man begins to engrave the group’s name into the table. Ellette draws her sword - causing the group to all draw their own. - Bob intervenes - Cedric mentions dragons - which seems to perks the group’s interest - Kyo uses Divine Smite on the person speaking with Ellette - The man is thrown across the table, smashing into the nearby wall - He dissuades his group from attacking - realising we are the people he was sent to find - He claims they were sent to aid us in slaying a dragon - He lists a pink and brown dragon as varieties previously hunted and killed by his mercenaries - He also mentions two adult greens and an adult red - He then recalls a big white dragon they killed in the Spine of the World. Ellette is deeply angered the more felled dragons he mentions - Cedric casts Zone of Truth, pressing the leader about their encounter with the White Dragon. He reaffirms that this dragon attacked them first - There is a blue Dragonborn with the group - The leader admits that the group will not kill a gold dragon - as he believes they are a pure of good - The man identifies himself as Geralf - The Knights of the Wyrm will be ready to leave the following morning - and agree to allow us to accompany them. They ask for either 10,000GP upfront or a percentage of the dragon’s horde upon its death - Having told the story of the pink dragon transforming a halfling member of the group into a sheep, Steve and Cedric torment Des (the halfling) using Minor Illusions and Illusionary Instrument to make him hear sheep - Ellette approaches Fizzle, asking for two of his potions - He gives her a clear liquid and a black one - Fizzle asks for five desert flowers in exchange for the potions - Ellette brings these potions to Graxen and Geralf - She gives the clear one to Graxen and the black one to Geralf - They both drink the potions together. - Graxen’s potion causes his hair and beard to become misty - like fog - Geralf’s skin blackens, becoming a tar-like substance. He melts into a puddle of black goo - Des attacks Cedric in response, firing a slingshot at him - The Knights of Wrym all draw their weapons, tensions rising as Cedric aims a bow at Des - Cedric attempts to sneakily take a sample of the goo - he does so without the Knights noticing -