Session 17 Player Notes — Pay the Fee and Walk Free

These are the players’ own session notes, preserved from the party’s game document. They capture the table’s perspective — what the players saw, did, and said.

Key Events

• The party finds a mysterious iridescent egg near Hydra Lake and takes it to care for
• A black dragon attacked the Tower of Light while we were away; casualties including a pregnant woman (revived)
• The city is named Ilithium; we try to sell wheat but refuse to pay tariffs
• Lyra attempts to assassinate Jesse Milspear, gets captured, and is imprisoned by Reeny
• Lyra makes a pact with Kelemvor, becomes his champion, kills Reeny and Jesse Milspear
• The party begins relocating the castle to the Sunset Mountains; frantic escape from Highpoint

Session Notes

The Egg and the Dragon Attack

We are leaving the Hydra Lake and find a nest with an egg. It has an iridescent shimmer to it of green and white, with rainbows. It looks like it has pockmarks. It feels reptilian. Arawn looks in the mirror. It seems like it has been there a little while. He can see the tracks of woodland critters that have been around, caring for it and keeping it warm. Arawn asks the woodland creatures about it. They don’t know who it belongs to, but they have been looking after it for the last few months. We take the egg to care for it and see what it hatches into.

Over the last few weeks the water quality of the lake has been improving, but it still isn’t clear and beautiful. There was an event that happened in our tower after we arrived from Lake Hydra. As we saw the tower, we saw a battle scene in the village area of the tower. There are dead bodies, acid splashed in long lines across the village, and destruction. Danny explains that when we left a black dragon flew in and started attacking us. We look to Arawn. Kaladin shrugs. “There is a price to being so stylish.”

Seawell is in bad shape. People are injured. The healers work to help the community. Kyle hit it pretty badly. He is in the tower in the front lobby area. We see the body of a pregnant woman, with a dead baby half birthed. She is dead. There are some coins over her eyes. He tells of a huge black dragon who attacked the village, then flew north.

Reviving the Mother and Child

Arawn and Alora Amathur cast Revivify on the mother and child. We work together to pull up these souls out of the void. As Alora Amathur is pulling the mother back towards the earth she gets an odd feeling. It’s as though something is clawing at her. They successfully pull the mother and child back. The baby starts to cry, and the mother looks at her son with joy. Alora Amathur asks her how she feels. “I feel empty. I don’t know what happened. Where am I?” The boys tell her she died. Alora Amathur tries to persuade her that everything is okay. She faints. Kaial picks up the baby. He will prepare a room for the mother and child. He sighs. “Another thing to look after.”

Arawn shrugs. “By the way. Here is an egg.”

Another sigh. “Guts, blueberry pancakes please.”

Guts was a little distracted after battling the dragon. He does a sub-par job on the pancakes.

Serril casts Divination on the city to see if he can predict any attacks on the city and dedicates his spell to Viridian. Serril has been asked by him to help him revive his religion. He aims to calm angry people and prevent war. As he casts this spell a little owl pops into existence on his shoulder. It’s a holy symbol familiar.

Ilithium and the Wheat Trade

We fill some of our bags of holding with gold and wheat. We name our city Ilithium. Ilithium wheat is going for a premium. No gluten. No bloating. No hangover from the beer. We try to sell our wheat at the market. There is a tariff which we refuse to pay.

Serril preaches to the populace. A man tells him that since the queen’s decree about magic, people have been disappearing off of the streets.

Lyra’s Assassination Attempt

Lyra tries to kill Jesse Milspear and gets caught.

We transfer the castle to the Sunset Mountains.

Lyra Imprisoned — Pact with Kelemvor

Lyra finds herself back in the cell where she was last kept with MooMoo. She is at the bottom of a bottle-shaped cell. She has been stripped of her equipment, and has been blindfolded. She attempts to climb, and can detect that 30 feet up is where the walls begin to curve inwards. She shimmies up to the top of the cell but fails to escape.

Reeny arrives. She calls her Lyra Shadowthorn. The Shadowthorns were responsible for kidnapping an elf and keeping him in a mine. Part of the Unseelie Court from the Fey World.

“I don’t remember much of my childhood.”

“You’ve been conspiring to overthrow me for weeks!”

“That’s Reaghl. He’s all about killing everyone.”

“To be fair. He is really cool.” Reeny throws down a box with things Jesse had spoken about. The arcane tower is blipping people out of existence and she doesn’t know how it’s happening. Lyra gets the sense that she isn’t telling her the whole truth. Reeny closes the lid to the cell and leaves her there.

Lyra calls upon Kelemvor.

“You’ve come for communion young child. What is it that you’re seeking.”

“We’ve met before. Do you remember? I saved you.”

“I’ve seen you before. I’ve given you my blessing.”

“And I wish to continue your deeds.”

“What deeds would you continue for me?”

“Last time we spoke you were struggling. You spoke of the buildup of souls and that there were certain souls that needed guidance.”

“Transport to the other side, yes.”

“I call on you now because I have a favour to ask. If I collect souls for you in the mortal realm, I want to be your champion. I want to be the shadows. I want to be everything that is hidden in the darkness at night so that I can enact your will.”

“Young Lyra Shadowthorn. This shall be granted. Where does your moral compass lie?” The void is circling down and now the face of Kelemvor is right against her face.

She responds: “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. I will be your law.”

“So when those who are unjust offer resistance, you will become my law.” He exhales and dissolves into her. She gasps, feeling as though she is suffocating and fainting. She awakens in the cell with a blade beside her. She reaches into the shadows, and feels herself in the walls of the cell. She steps above the cell and sees Reeny walking away. She throws the blade at Reeny. The blade hits resistance then blasts through the shield, stabbing her and half decapitating her.

Clifton’s Stand

Clifton the Righteous appears. He asks Lyra: “Why?”

“She was going to kill me.”

He turns and draws his sword, standing between Lyra and the other paladins. “Tell Alora Amathur that what she is doing is amazing. Run.”

Lyra steps through the shadows as Clifton battles the other paladins. She finds her possessions in a chest. She sees Reeny falling dead to the ground. The paladins try to revive her, but they fail. Her soul seems to be sucked into the blade, screaming, before she fades into darkness.

Lyra Reunites with the Party

Lyra receives a message from Serril. “Hellooo.” She hides in the shadows and sees the group walking past MooMoo’s. She disguises herself as a red headed human female with freckles, hunched over and confident.

“Psst. So. Some things have happened. I would recommend that we make our way back home and I’ll tell you about my adventure.” She looks a little stressed. Serril walks over and gives her a hug. Lyra is not happy with this. Gerard Prime and Kazros are waving us over. “The city is ready to move. We’re on a timeline. Let’s go.”

Alora Amathur notices a tense energy about the city. Our bracelets have stopped working. Lyra realises that Reeny was spying on us with the bracelets.

Guts grunts. “What have you done? Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

We hear a little boy’s voice: “Lyra Milspear!!!!” A group of paladins fly off on their pegasuses. We understand that Clifton is dead, and we need to go and revive him.

Lyra grabs Alora Amathur’s hand and tries to pull her through the shadows. It feels as though it’s possible, but very difficult.

Split Party — Team Clifton and Team Move the City

• Team Clifton — Arawn, Lyra, Alora Amathur
• Team Move the City — Guts, Kaladin, Lux, Serril
• Kyle remains in the city of light with Baby Guts

Serril casts Freedom of Movement onto Lux and Alora Amathur.

Team Clifton head off.

Prime Gerard: “What happened? What’s the rush. We have thirty minutes.” The city is preparing to move. They bump into High Priest Barnett.

“Oh Alora Amathur isn’t with you. I was hoping to speak to her today.”

“She had business,” says Serril.

“Oh, is she in trouble?”

“She went to source a buyer for the wheat,” ad libs Kaladin. They ponder trading holy wine for Ilithium beer.

Team Clifton — Tailed by Paladins

Team Clifton is being tailed by three paladins. We split up, Lyra separating from the group with the aim of meeting them back at the tower.

Team City — Desperate Departure

Lux requests that Prime Gerald teleports them to the machine. We double the pace and people are at a run.

“Is there something you want to say? Is there a reason you can’t tell us?” Lux relays that he believes Lyra tried to kill Reeny’s fiance and escaped from jail. Gerald tells the team to get the anchors down and to hurry the process, cutting the departure time down from 20 minutes to 2 minutes.

The paladins in the sky cast a sunlight spell. They continue to track Lyra.

Lux is in the driver’s seat, twisting dials and preparing to fly the city. Serril casts Death Ward on himself and Lux. Prime Gerald says the anchors are 30% done. The entire room starts to go ethereal. Lux sees a bridge that goes out from the castle across the sea. Lux is drawing the bridge to him. We start to feel the city draw through space. Some of the outer limits are being torn away.

Lyra’s Ascent — Hunting Jesse

Lyra heads up the wall towards Jesse Milspear. She puts on her cloak and tries to climb up the wall. It’s not working how it normally would. She starts walking up the wall using the shadows and one of the paladins casts Daylight. Lyra feels herself get popped out of the shadow, but latches on to the wall and dashes to the top of the wall and attempts to hide in the shadows.

Alora Amathur casts Control Water to create a distraction with the water fountain so that she and Arawn can sneak through unseen. We come up the magical lift and see Jesse on top of the wall. He is looking at a book with a tree with lines coming out of it. He is looking frustrated. He is about 20 feet away.

We can feel the gravity of resistance and release as the city moves. Some of the walls start to shake and crumble.

Control Room Battle

The doors to the control room open and a paladin enters. He draws his sword and starts to attack the group.

The paladin rolls a Nat 1 on his hit, trips and falls over. He gets up, red faced and embarrassed. He casts Shield of Faith and hits Kaladin for 36 damage. Guts hits the paladin who deflects the blow — 20 missed.

Kaladin steps up, reaches out and touches the paladin, casting Inflict Wounds. Kaladin rolls 19 to touch — it fails.

Reaghl hits the paladin with all his might. Reaghl rolls 29 to hit and still fails. He swears, realising that only a Nat 20 will hit. He rolls for his hits and misses all his shots.

Guts takes a swing and hits — twice! 22 and 24 damage! He slices through the Shield of Faith with smug satisfaction. On the second strike the Shield of Faith shatters.

“Then it will be a fight to the death for my oath.”

“You’re fucked!” Guts yells.

Serril casts Cure Wounds at 3rd level on Kaladin. 10 points of healing.

Jesse Milspear’s End

The top of the dome of the castle is now starting to collapse and the front spire is falling off as we travel over the ocean. Jesse Milspear almost falls off the edge of the wall, but one of the guards grabs him.

Arawn and Lyra reach Clifton. Lyra sends up a prayer to Kelemvor. “A soul has been taken who is not ready yet and needs to be returned because he still has work to do.”

As we run towards Clifton’s lifeless body which has been ripped to shreds, he suddenly gasps and sits up. He sees Alora Amathur running towards him, who casts Preserve Life on Clifton. She restores 55 hit points. The knife in Lyra’s hand feels a tiny bit lighter. She knows that the soul of Reeny has been traded for Clifton.

Clifton — who is looking delightfully Henry Cavill in the Witcher grimy — whistles for his pegasus.

Lyra jumps from shadow to shadow in the courtyard outside. She travels along the back wall, slinking through the shadows towards Jesse. She grabs his hair, puts the dagger to his neck and whispers: “I think it’s your bedtime.”

The dagger breaks through the shield and plunges into his neck. He squeals and lets out a pathetic kid-without-a-family cry. She looks down at her blade and sees Jesse Milspear crying in terror as the blade consumes him.

The pegasus flies past with the others. We face three paladins in front of us as we fly off. Lyra looks down at the book Jesse was holding. Ink starts to appear on the page.

Items & Loot

• Mysterious iridescent egg — found near Hydra Lake (green and white shimmer, rainbow, pockmarked, reptilian)
• Kelemvor’s blade — Lyra (appeared after her pact; consumes souls)
• Jesse’s book — Lyra (tree with lines, ink appearing on the page)
• Hope — Serril’s owl holy symbol familiar (manifested from Divination spell to Viridian)

NPCs Encountered

• Reeny — Queen of Highpoint. Captured Lyra, called her “Lyra Shadowthorn.” Killed by Lyra’s Kelemvor blade. Soul consumed — could not be revived
• Kelemvor — God of the Dead. Made a pact with Lyra, granting her shadow powers and a soul-consuming blade
• Clifton the Righteous — Paladin who stood between Lyra and the other paladins, sacrificing himself. Killed, then revived by Kelemvor (soul of Reeny traded). “Henry Cavill in the Witcher grimy”
• Jesse Milspear — Young boy on the wall, looking at a mysterious book. Killed by Lyra. Soul consumed by the blade
• Kyle — Injured in the dragon attack on the tower, remains with Baby Guts
• Seawell — In bad shape after the dragon attack
• Prime Gerard / Gerald — Helps coordinate the city relocation
• Kazros — Helps coordinate departure
• High Priest Barnett — Wanted to speak with Alora Amathur
• Viridian — Serril’s deity, asked Serril to help revive his religion

Notable Quotes

“There is a price to being so stylish.” — Kaladin, on the dragon attacking while they were away

“Another thing to look after.” — Kaial, picking up the baby after reviving mother and child

“That’s Reaghl. He’s all about killing everyone.” / “To be fair. He is really cool.” — Lyra and Reeny, on Reaghl

“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. I will be your law.” — Lyra, to Kelemvor

“Tell Alora Amathur that what she is doing is amazing. Run.” — Clifton the Righteous, before his last stand

“What have you done? Let’s get the fuck out of here.” — Guts

“You’re fucked!” — Guts, to the paladin

“I think it’s your bedtime.” — Lyra, to Jesse Milspear

“She went to source a buyer for the wheat.” — Kaladin, covering for Alora Amathur