Visions of Fire and Ruin

After spending a night roughing it right outside the walls of Fort Arlo, the party was reticent to leave. They made sure the outside people had plenty of food and water and managed to convince the fort leader to let them in now that they didn’t need immediate medical aid or food. Before they left they asked if there was any message they could take to King’s Crest for them. They wanted to ask for reinforcements and more supplies to keep the soldiers healthy. The party agreed to send the message to the city, to the Regent if they could. They departed, heading back to King’s Crest with a bulk of gems in their possession. 

The night before, Aleera had consulted the deck of cards that Esmeralda had given her before passing on. The consultation had resulted in a flurry of visions that left her reeling. The visions began with a view of King’s Crest, sleepy in the dark night. Then a barrage of meteors came crashing down to the earth. The meteors exploded on the city and left behind devastation and ruin. When she woke up the next morning she let them know what she saw as they traveled the road back. 

The silent partner they had had in Hepolita stayed with them on their way back but didn’t speak much. On their way along the road Kariss looked at Malachi in passing as she scouted the land and saw that Milo was clinging to his back. She stopped everyone and told the group. She asked about where he had come from and he just shrugged. The Hand of Destiny continued on with their newly found friends still on Malachi’s back. 

After travelling for a few more hours they arrived back at King’s Crest. After delivering the gems to Anastasia, they headed to the Government District to speak to the Regent. They arrived at the somber building, but instead of meeting with Regent Phillip they were directed to a Magistrate Styx. The Magistrate greeted the party with a warm smile and gave Kaladrax a tight hug. Introductions were made and they found out that Kaladrax’s family had close ties to the Magistrate and they had been friends for a long time. He was also a mentor to Kaladrax, encouraging him to follow his talent for arcane magic. 

Aleera told him of the visions she had had and explained that there was an imminent attack or disaster that was going to hit the city soon. She also let him know about the Old God’s being awoken and coming to the prime material plane. She handed him a letter detailing all her visions and information they had gathered. He thanked her and vowed to deliver the letter to the Regent. He stuffed the letter into his breast pocket and asked if there was anything else they needed. They made sure to let him know about Fort Arlo needing reinforcements and supplies. Not having any more present problems to report, they thanked him and left. 

They came out and took notice of the wonderful decorations set up all over. They remembered that the Grand Guild Games Festival was going on this week. The week of festivities was close to ending as the party had been gone for a few days. The party quickly headed to the main festival grounds to get a little playing in before having to compete for the title of best guild on the island. They found some card games, a few strength games and plenty of prizes to win. 

Malachi started things off by joining an arm wrestling game and beating out most of the players before falling to a lady dwarf. The others wandered around buying various delectable foods and enjoying the atmosphere. Aleera cleared off a section of road and began performing her dances and songs, earning herself a good amount of silver. Malachi tried his hand at the axe throwing game and brought Hepolita along with him, trying to make her feel like more a part of the team. She had been a good ally when we were fighting the earth elementals and she didn’t have anywhere to go. 

In order to finalize their entrance to the Grand Guild Games, the party had to design a flag for themselves. This was to represent them on the fields of competition. They took a moment to decide what they would come up with. In the end they went with Aleera’s design of a dark purple background and a hand in the center to represent their name, The Hand of Destiny. The party spent the rest of the evening having a great time relaxing before their competition. 

They went to bed that night full of festival foods and dreams of victory tomorrow at the competition. Aleera was the only one who had trouble falling asleep, she was worried about the visions. She was afraid she would dream again of the Old Gods in all their terrifying glory and of the fire that awaited the party in their future. She didn’t know when it would happen only that it was coming and that they might not be able to do anything to help.