Beans and Pearls
After a peaceful journey away from the Temple of Aiados, our heroes arrived back on Plint Island. They docked around mid morning and had plenty of time to tie up some loose ends before the Festival of Light that evening. Edwyn was told all about the festival upon arriving on the island. He remembered it had something to do with lights.
The trio decided it was best if they made their way straight to Bertle Greensleeve and deliver the great news that his cargo from the wrecked ship, the Sea Wasp, had been recovered! His son though, was not able to make the journey home. Edwyn was forced to kill him due to Danny being a crazy lightning zombie.
The conversation with Bertle went about as well as can be expected. Edwyn has always been overly…truthful. He doesn’t understand deceit even for the benefit of others. He therefore delivered the news with all the grace and tact of a Bugbear. The conversation got a little heated and the heroes were only paid in beans. Three different colored beans in fact, instead of the gold they had been promised. Storm, the gold hungry dwarven barbarian, did not take this well. She seemed to blame Edwyn for some reason.
The next part of the morning was spent in the company of the Reeve of Plint Island, Iryelle. Edwyn was never comfortable about them. “They”, of course, referring to the twin sisters who constantly held hands and spoke in unison. A terrifying sight.
It was imperative to tell Iryelle about the temple and the calming of Aiados. She was thrilled to hear the storms had been quelled and offered the group a gift. She handed Storm a pearl the size of a soft ball. Her eyes went wide and Edwyn swore he saw a little drool. Iryelle insisted though that the true value of this pearl could not be measured in coin. Storm handed the small sphere to Fennen and Iryelle’s face(s) shifted to what seemed like, disappointment? They both looked at Ed and thought maybe he should try holding it.
When Edwyn took the globe he felt it pulse. It was also incredibly warm — not hot or oppressive like the tropical weather on this island. It was warm like a blanket and steaming soup on a winter’s day back in the capitol. It was all he could remember of his mother.
He could also feel the pearl beat in rhythm with his own heart.
The faces of Iryelle smiled. “Ah” they said. “Only a true heart can feel the Tear of Malora. Use this for your friends Edwyn. Heal them and cure them when they need it, but be warned. The power of the Tear is not an endless well. It must recharge every dawn. Use it too much and it will go dry and barren.”
Halfway through this speech Edwyn got freaked out by the twins again and tuned them out but he got the idea of it. Heal Fennen and Storm, but not too much.
Iryelle was also able to tell Fennen a little about the beans he was carrying. She knew they were magic in nature, and that they each stood for something. The pink bean was “toads”, the blue bean was “wine” and the pink bean was “Treant.” No one knew what to make of that so the group said their goodbyes and left the Great Hall.
Unicorns and Lamps
The party had 6 or 7 hours to kill before nightfall and the Festival of Lights so they decided to check up on something for their orcish friend who ran the blacksmith. Edwyn can never remember his name.
What they did know is that he was being ostracized on the island for his (frankly ridiculous) claims that he saw a unicorn on a nearby smaller island. Storm thought it would be nice to go and at least make sure their wasn’t one. Edwyn felt that for someone so obsessed with decapitating things, she was overly excited about the prospect of seeing a unicorn.
When they arrived at the docks to catch a ride to the island they noticed that Lorali’s boat was in the harbor, but its captain was nowhere to be found. It didn’t take long to find her first mate, Amara, though. Amara told them that Lorali had left soon after their arrival back on the island. She received some word about her father and was off on someone else’s boat.
Apparently her father was a famous cartographer who had disappeared over 10 years ago. Tobias Barnette was his name. His symbol was a golden boar, which decorated every map he drew. That information felt important for some reason but Ed couldn’t recall why. It was off to the unicorn!
Fennen was able to secure a rundown fishing boat to get the heroes over to the island where the blacksmith claimed he saw a unicorn. There was a small hill with a clearing in the trees at the base. Once in the trees there was an unnatural fog and almost no light got through even though it was mid afternoon.
The group was able to successfully sneak up to the clearing without spooking what definitely looked like a unicorn…from a distance. When they got closer they realized the gruesome truth. This was a horse in a far gone state of un-death. “A zombie horse,” Ed named it. It had a bright silver sword sticking right out the middle of it’s forehead.
The creature did not seam hostile so naturally Edwyn approached. He felt sorry for the beast. A stunned Storm and Fennen were shocked to see that the creature did not attack, even as Edwyn reached for the hilt of the sword.
With one huge heave Edwyn pulled the sword from the “horse’s” head. The poor thing immediately crumbled to ash. Edwyn was left holding a long sword that was far superior to anything he had ever seen. His father’s armory didn’t even have weaponry of this caliber — for the soldiers at least.
Iryelle would later tell Edwyn that the sword once belonged to a knight whose memorial statue still stood on the island. His name was Elhonna. He tried to sacrifice his steed with dire consequences. Edwyn was too distracted by the twins to catch the rest of the story but it was clear whatever this knight tried to do didn’t work out.
When the party arrived back on the docks it was just in time for the Festival of Lights. They were told that the pink lamps were for those who wished to appeal to the gods, which Edwyn heard. There were also blue lamps and yellow lamps which represented other things. Edwyn purchased a pink lamp. He lit the lamp and let it off into the night, praying to the gods that they would watch over his friends. He didn’t notice what Fennen or Storm did but was content knowing that in that moment, he had probably saved their lives again.
-End
Your Turn, Dad 