Oh, Right. The Sword. The Sword to Bless the Glasserunes, the Sword Chosen Especially to Kill the Vampires, the Glasserune Sword.

As the group (minus Belladonna) reconvenes, they realize they have an hour until the designated time to meet James for the cemetery. Nira exclaims, "I feel like we just don't have any leads!" Carindrina explains that she took a shot and talked to Lady Caltain based on the initials LC on a note from James' room. She was able to get a chapter from a very very old book with some helpful notes by Lady Caltain. It spoke about how the Glasserunes came to power and why there was a curse, there was an engagement gone wrong and Lady Caltain said she didn't see anything linking the missing kids to the curse..



Venus told them she found Eleanor's diary and possibly the name and home of the last person to see Eleanor before she disappeared, her name was Hannah. Midna said that Hannah was mentioned in Eva's diary as well, so that would be a good lead to follow.



Adalia had been thinking about the story from Carindrina, and recognized a name: Blethela, this was the vampire they met in the cemetery. They read the chapter together, more closely. Quickly summarized that a son of the Glasserune family was engaged to a daughter of the Stoneblood family, the rulers of Balvonier a long time ago, and a family with vampiric roots. The betrayed the family, killing everyone except the daughter, Blethela who escaped, and her mother used the last of her magic to curse the Glasserune family to turn into vampires. The Glasserunes had worshipped Domsaul, the god of the sun, but he turned his back on the family as they had lied to him about the Stonebloods being evil, and also had betrayed the Stonebloods. The family struggled with the vampires until they turned to Liguaquide and Shinze, they offered to help if the family promised to never betray anyone again, and bless each family member with the sword the two gods forged together.

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Realizing they hadn't actually blessed anyone with the sword when they returned it and it disappeared, the quickly went to the mausoleum so they could attempt to find a way to get the sword back before James showed up to bury his father.

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Venus and Midna started in the first chamber, there wasan empty stone coffin, but luckily it looked like there had not been a body in the casket yet, so hopefully Hanburn's body hasn't been placed here yet, and he isn't risen from the dead as a vampire.

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Further in, Venus found a statue of a beautiful elven woman. She recognized that it was the way that traditional way for people of the Liguaquide faith to be buried, they are transformed into water and frozen into a sculpture. This must be James' mother.

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Nira went to the area where the sword was placed into the chest. There are no triggers or buttons, but there was clearly a watermark on the stones where the opening was previously, very strong magical currents were present, strongly related to Shinze and Liguaquide.

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Carindrina uses her dungeoneering expertise to look for any mechanisms that would explain how the sword disappeared. Unfortunately, there were not any physical structures that were in play. This must have been a pocket dimension and magically operated.

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Adalia tried to read the watermarkings, but was at a loss.

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Furus found a small section that was set up for James when he dies.

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Time was counting down, they had less than 30 minutes until James would arrive ready to perform the ceremony.

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Carindrina went to inspect the smaller altars for the other gods, but noticed that K'rah K'halle did not have an alter, but all of the other old gods did. This was interesting as the temple where they fought the goblins was a fire temple, which connects both to the crypts and the Stoneblood Manor. She explained that those who are good aligned may be able to pray to these gods and make a showing of faith near the light/fire for Shinze and the water for Liguaquide to retrieve the sword.

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Adalia decided to work for requesting aid from Liguaquide and Carindrina worked with the light for Shinze. Nira asked Midna if she would want to attempted and she laughed a little, "I'm a dusk elf. No light for me."

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Adalia had Furus give her a bottle of the holy water he had collected earlier, and poured it over the stones. Nothing happened.



Carindrina sat in front of the fire and meditated. The fire started to glow bright white, but it sputtered and faded back to a normal fire. She requested help from some of the other group members. Midna leant near the fire, attempting to help, but a spark leapt out and singed her, so she backed up.

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Furus began playing to inspire the group and lend his music to help request aid from the gods. Adalia used hydraulic push to soak the square, gaining confidence for her performance. Nira felt the love of her family and prayed to Shinze like she hadn't done in a long time. Furus gets so into inspiring the group, he swings his violin and slams it to the ground like a rockstar, as everyone pauses in shock, the gods must have enjoyed the spectacle. The fire surges into a spiral of white hot flame and a glowing sword begins to form. The chest appears in front of Adalia, and she is able to open the lid. The holy waters glisten and sink deep, deep, deep, fading into darkness. She can see what she believes is the sword, resting in its crystal sheath. She gently reaches to grab the sword, whispering a prayer to the spirit of the waves. Carindrina reaches out to grab the fire sword. As they both grab the hilts, they disappear from their grasp. The chest is gone, the water is gone that was created, and the fire returns to normal.

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The group begins to panic, thinking they have lost the sword a second time, but their panic is cut short as they hear footsteps. Quickly two male voices become distinct, so the group rounds the corner to see James and Blitherby, with Hanburn's body in a small cart.

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James greets them, thanking them for agreeing to perform the ceremony, telling them Blitherby has the scroll explaining the ceremony, then signs deeply. It is clear that he is fighting back tears and he gently lifts his father's body into the casket. Blitherby quietly hands the scroll to Adalia. It lists a small saying, one for the Shinze preiest and one for the Liguaquide priest, then has a picture of the sword moving in a strange pattern.

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Adalia looks closely at the scroll, wondering how to break the news to James that they no longer have the sword. She realizes that it doesn't say that they need the sword initially. They must say "We call upon the blessings of the cool waters and call upon the blessings of the bright light, we lay this man to eternal rest", then the sword is used. The group whispers to themselves, Carindrina thinks that the gods are very upset with Blitherby, or someone in the family. Nira reminds her that he is just a servant, but then acknowledges he could be more than that. Furus takes a look at the scroll and tells Adalia that sometimes important parts of religious ceremonies will have items that divinely appear when needed, so it is possible the sword will appear when the time is right since it seems they got approval from the gods to access the sword.

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James turns to Furus, telling him that he would be honored if Furus would donate a song to his father's memory. He asks that if anyone else feels comfortable donating something to this ceremony, that they please do so now, and he would be so touched if they would help send him to rest. Galia lays a small feyblossom flower and a piece of a jade tree in his hands. Carindrina kneels down, placing her sword over her chest in the dwarven sign for respect for the dead. Venus and Midna stood respectfully in the back. Nira leans down to Carindrina and quietly agrees that she thinks "the butler did it".

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Adalia begins the ceremony, "We ask for the blessings of the cooling waters."

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Nira continues, " We ask for the blessings from the divine light."

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The sword appears, flaming and glowing as it hovers over Hanburn. It lets of a shower of sparks that turn to holy water and sprinkles over him. The sight is mesmerizing, and with Furus's haunting song, the group is transfixed. With no warning, the sword plunges into Hanburn's heart and bursts into flames, then disappears. The whole group is in shock. Looking to James and Blitherby for some guidance on what they witnessed, it is clear by how shaken James looks that he had no idea what would happen. Blitherby is in the corner, trying to maintain a calm demeanor, but clearly ruffled.

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James shakily gets to his feet and stumbles over his words, "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't know that would happen. I was too young when my mother died--" Adalia cuts him off, trying to console him, assuring him that the group is not upset. That is must have been very disturbing for him, as it was very unnerving for the group and they didn't really know Hanburn. Nira takes the opportunity to interrogate Blitherby, asking if he kew, had he seen the lady's funeral? He told her that no, he had to watch James as he was too young to go. Blitherby asks Adalia for the scroll back, she turns to Carindrina and Nira, asking with her facial expression whether or not she should give it back to him, as no one trusts him. Carindrina attempts to sense Blitherby's motive. He does seem truly shaken, actively upset by what happened, and like he just wants to protect James by keeping it together.

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Nira sizes up the exits, knowing that there is only one real door to exit into the graveyard and tells Adalia to move the two leopards to block the exit so they can keep their two main suspects and interrogate them about the girls. Adalia whispers that they just watched their father and devoted employer get stabbed through the heart with a flaming sword, so maybe now is a little soon to be aggressive with them. Carindrina is on the outskirts of this conversation and makes the decision to go distract James. Adalia agrees to distract Blitherby.

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Sidling up to Blitherby, Adalia asks, "Can I ask you some academic questions about the ceremony?" He peers down at her and says she doesn't seem academic. Unphased by his rudeness, she continues, "I wouldn't call myself academic normally, but water is kinda my jam." He sneers, "I didn't know half-elves had jams."

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Nira gets Furus's attention and asks him to whisper message to the group, he tells her to ask Galia as he doesn't know the spell. She flags Galia down and

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Carindrina quietly goes up to James and tells him she is sorry for his loss, and Lady Caltain was able to give her a chapter, telling him she hopes it leads to closure for him. He thanks her and quickly pockets it, saying he hopes it leads to answers for the missing girls.

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Getting nowhere with Blitherby, Adalia calls Midna over, hoping that a dusk elf will be received better than a half-elf by someone with such prejudice against half-elf. Midna is a bit unsure of where to start, but asks him how the scroll and ceremony came to be. He tells her that the Glasserune family has been strictly religious for centuries, ensuring balance and "the proper order of things" by following the codes of their gods strictly. He says he doesn't believe in the vampires, but it is important to bless them so they can return to their gods. Adalia asks if the Gods weren't here before, and he waffles, saying that the Gods are everywhere, but the Glasserunes brought them to prominent worship in Tricreche and removed the influence of the "lesser" gods. Adalia nods along and looks to see if Carindrina and James are still speaking, seeing that they are still engaged, she and Midna try to keep Blitherby occupied. She asks why the Glasserunes decided to focus on light and water over other gods.



He says that Shinze is the premier diety, he came first and is the most important, but that Liguaquide is needed to temper his wrath and justice. She notices that he has the yellow braided rope of Shinze tucked in his pocket, but the braids seem off. The material or something is off, but it is mostly obscured by his pocket. Galia looks a bit closer, and her eyes widen and she starts shaking her head, looking very upset, and tries to signal to Adalia that everyone needs to quit and run. Adalia picks up on the cue, seeing Carindrina is done with James as well, quickly hands the scroll back and tells him thanks, but they need to go. Blitherby takes the scroll and goes to James, putting and arm around his shoulder, leading him out of the crypts. James hangs his head but turns around and mouths the word "Brothel" to Carindrina. She only catches the B and a T, that it is two syllables, and after telling the group, though it takes her a second, Adalia goes "brothel?" and they all have an Aha! moment.

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Now that James and Blitherby are gone, Galia nearly bursts out with "Did you see his beads?!? They were black, not yellow. That is wrong. It made me think of the weird Shinze symbol we saw under the castle." Adalia asks what the significance of the black beads would be, but Galia says she doesn't know, they have traveled a lot but she has never seen black beads. Furus thinks about this, as he has travelled a lot, too. This is definitely wrong, but living in the North, he knows that there are a lot of splinter groups that have broken off the old churches, so it may be a splinter group. Nira explains that her family worshipped Shinze and there would never be black on anything holy for a true Shinze worshipper. Carindrina speculates that if Blitherby is involved in corrupting the temples under the manor, he may be upsetting the Gods James is trying to respect. The group agrees James seems to be devout, but Nira wonders how the vampires fit into this. Adalia suggests maybe the vampires are out for revenge, and Nira agrees, but is confused as to why Blitherby wasn't as affected by the sword being returned if he worked with the vampires.



Carindrina tells the group that James said he was worried he could be upsetting the Gods and the Fey, but didn't specify how he would have upset the Fey. Nira says that his lover may be Fey, and asks Midna what she thinks. She didn't get a good enough look to tell whether she was fey. Midna says they could ask the fey. Nira says they should not talk to the fey unless they really need to because it could be dangerous to deal with them. Midna says she has a fey friend she can talk to, and Adalia asks Galia to talk to the court. Galia says she can talk to the court, but may get better information from her cousins or the dryads.

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The group decides that it has been an exhausting day, so they walk back to Iron Key House, ready to rest and regroup in the morning. As they approach the house, it is dark, but the newcomers to the city notice a small house in the garden that they didn't see the first day. It is about the size of a dog house and looks almost like a miniature version of Iron Key House. Nira leads the group up to the house. The air feels very different when they near the house, almost as if they pass through a wall of magic to an area void of the wardings that are present around the house. She knocks on the door and a small man with big gold, honey-colored eyes opens the door and sweetly says "Hello! How are you?" She tells him her name is Nira and she is residing in the manor. He tells her his name is Buttons. Furus walks up and tells the group, "Oh, this must be the house brownie."

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As they look into the house, there is a lot of very plush squishy furniture and he beams up happily, asking if they need anything for the house. Nira tells him that she doesn't really know anything about his kind, and asks what he can do. He says that he can do pretty much anything as long as they don't use the bad word. Venus asks him what the bad word is and he squeaks "No! Don't say it!!!" Everyone is confused so Galia pulls the group back and explains that you can't say "Thank you." to a brownie, it is really offensive to their culture. They must do things of their own free will in order to be conisdered good, if they are thanked it seems like they are only doing it to be rewarded. So it is expected that you treat them fairly and give them gifts. If you offend them, they may become maliciously compliant and take requests very literally or find a loophole to be destructive. Almost every house in Balvonier has one. Some attach themselves to houses, some attach themselves to families.

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Adalia reaches into her pack and gives Buttons a honeycomb, he says "Thank you!!", shoves it in his mouth and quickly retreats behind the door. Seeing Carindrina wave to him through the window and waves back. Galia tells the group that Belladonna hates her and she thinks it is because she lives with the fey, so asks if the group can not tell Belladonna about the brownie so she doesn't get offended and leave. Carindrina says she won't take choices away from anyone, so she won't agree to not tell her. Galia suggests the group only tell her if she brings it up since she is trying to not force people to like her and agree with her. The group agrees and Venus walks to the door, the mark on her hand glows, the doorknob spins and the door opens. The smells of an amazing, rich feast waft through the door and they run in to eat.

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Carindrina goes back and offers Buttons a cracker. He lifts the window and grabs it, quickly saying "Thank you!!" and shutting the window. Carindrina goes inside and joins the group for dinner. The two leopards lay down near the fire and a plate of mutton appears for them to eat as well. The group relaxes a little after an exhauting day and begins to make plans for the next day.

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Adalia says they should hunt down Blitherby, and Nira agrees, but says they sould check on James in the brothel first, and make sure he is safe. Galia asks what the plan is, what questions will they ask Blitherby? Nira says the time for asking is over, we need to beat it out of him, and the group agrees. Furus says he is really slippery and will get out of questions if they aren't super specific, and Galia agrees, wondering if there is someone else who would have some sort of control over Blitherby. Carindrina suggests asking James if he thinks that Blitherby is not what he seems, and trying to make an alliance that way. Adalia says she thinks that Blitherby is involved in the cult, the notes in the temple were very strange, and she wants to follow up on the religion. Furus looks at the burned note that Carindrina had and recognizes the crest of the Tanglewoods, who were the family that Blitherby wrote to on the letter they stole. Midna says this is all important, and we should check the inn for a return letter, but we shouldn't forget about the children.

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Sleepiness hitting them hard, they set their glasses and silverware down. With a small rattling, the dishes vanish and a small plate with a piece of honeycomb and a small glass of iridescent liquid appear. Nira goes "That's not water." but decides to drink it. It tastes like the feyblossom jam, and if pink had a flavor, this would be it. The group savors dessert then heads to their rooms, everyone using the equipment provided to prepare their weapons and spells for the next day.

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Belladonna's Adventure:

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Belladonna spots a cloaked figure in the crowd with the symbol of the feyblossom chapter of rangers pinned over his heart. He waves a magical leaf quickly in the air, twirling it in his fingers, a clear signal for fellow rangers to come for help. With minimal explanation, she told Venus she would meet up with her later. Sneaking throug hte crowd she made her way to the ranger. He was infamiliar to her, but his pin was the pin of the Feyblossom Chapter and he had the airy, windswept look that seemed to hang onto rangers. He introduced himself as Declan Fennway, one of the leaders of the Feyblossom chapter in Balvonier. He explained he sent out a call for aid to other chapters nearby and her mentor told him that she was looking for a way to prove herself and her abilities as a ranger to lead a team. He explained thta a ranger family, the Abbots, had gone missing and they needed help finding them. They had moved into the town after the first child dissappeared at the Grimmur festival to try to investigate the disappearance. They hadn't gathered much information, and when another child was taken a few months later, they began pushing harder for answers.

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They usually checked in once a week. At their last check in 3 weeks ago, they said they were traveling to Spindledown to search for a lead on the cases. When they didn't send a note after the first week, the chapter wasn't worried, they assumed they were busy with their task, but as the second week came with no letters, they sent rangers out to find them with no success. It has now been 3 weeks since they disappeared.

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She asked what clues had they found and he said they hadn't found anything unusual. The house was tidy, it looked like they locked up for the day and didn't return. The house was locked and undisturbed, but now has fallen into disarray. He agreed to show her the house so she could try to find anything they had missed. They wound through the streets, and again Belladonna was struck by how the forest seemed to surround every street, often looking like the street would lead straight to the forest until you arrived at the end of the road and saw more roads connecting. The trees seemed to loom in over all the houses. Eventually they came to a large skinny house with a peaked green roof. She saw Venus standing in front of the house. Venus gave the gate a little shake, then turned and walked purposefully away. Belladonna called out to her, but she couldn't hear over the revelers and bustle of the festival.

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The garden was a disaster, it looked like much much more than three weeks had passed. The vines were thick and gnarled, the way to the front door almost obscured. The gate's latch was rusted to the fence, and the place pulsed with magic. Always a little more brave than cautious, Belladonna leaped over the fence, landing nimbly on the other side. When she did, a series of vines whipped out of the tangled bushes and began to squueze, constricting her body and pressing their sharp thorns into her arms and legs. Declan rushed to action, grabbing her by the arms and attempting to pull her back. The thorns ripped at her body, but luckily he was quite strong and Belladonna was very light, so he was able to wrench her free from the plants. As soon as she was out of their grasp, they slithered back into the bushes and were invisible among the leaves.

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She demanded to know what had just happened and he told her he had no idea. It didn't look like this when they first searched the house, and he wouldn't have sent in a jr ranger if he had known it would be that dangerous. He asked if she trusted her group to help get through the plants and into the house to find the rangers and she said she did. He offered to show her how to get to their tower and let her grab a few items from the armory to help with the mission. She agreed, and he led her into the forest. It seemed like they were heading towards the Wyrmwood Court and she was considering leaving, but they turned away and soon she say the Feyblossom Tower. It was beautiful, the pale feyblossom trees twiining together to make a shining tower with soft pink petals sprouting from braches that arched over tall windows. He took her inside and up to the armory. She selected a martial longbow, pale ash with silver tips and a bundle of incendiary arrows. Remembering Furus and his misadventures, she also took a minor healing potion befor thanking Declan and heading back to the town.

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It was very dark by the time she returned home, and no one else was awake, she tried to care for her weapons, but she was so tired she fell asleep and decided she would try again in the morning.