- Lyra is now trapped in a spectral form, having been disintegrated by a possessed Ellette - Lyra is now inside the Pumpking's body, with a displeased patron - Lyra's patron has given her 200 days to resolve this - Steve mentions that the group had to save Erin's cow (Karrut) - She seems to be unimpressed with the cow - She speaks with the cow, using Speak With Animals - The cow is extremely sarcastic and rude to Steve. It proves unhelpful about the kidnapping ordeal - During the conversation, Steve notices that grass is growing on the cow's head and its udders seem to be growing strawberries - Erin approaches Steve - impressed that she can talk with the cow - Graxen uses Dark Pyschometry - seeing flashes of an amulet when he touches Lyra's pumpkin head - Steve pulls the amulet out of the pumpkin body, causing it to collapse in a rotten heap - Ellette sends Rasp to find a squirrel. Steve puts the amulet around the squirrel's neck, placing Lyra's essence inside it - Rasp drags half a dead bandit out of the woods - Rasp then takes the medallion from the squirrel, causing its body to melt into mush as it hands the trinket back to Steve - Steve puts the medallion on a gross doll created by Erin - placing Lyra into the body of a stick figure made of leaves, dirt and twigs. - Erin tells Graxen that she saw the meep dig a hole in the garden and bury itself in the ground a number of days previously - Ellette confronts Nissa about this, but she seems nonplussed - Ellete notices the meep, buried up to its neck in the ground. As she approaches, it disappears below the dirt. - The meep embeds itself in Fergal's rib cage, furrowing inside and staying there - As Ellette attempts to grab the meep, it bites at her hand, she narrowly avoids losing a finger - Enraged as we all attempt to restrain it, the meep tears off towards the keep - before returning cradled in Nissa's arms - The meep starts to point at Lyra, it appears to want the stick doll body she's currently inhabiting. - The meep approaches Lyra, seeming to be intrigued by the amulet - It approaches Karrut - before being confronted by Erin. It appears to show hatred towards her - The meep hurls a handful of poop at Steve - The group decides to visit Quincy in Alexandria - for suggestions on how to handle Lyra's situation. - On the way into town, we notice a few hooded travellers along the road. - They claim to be priests on the way to Alexandria. - They speak of ill omens within Alexandria - Steve mentions blood priests - which causes the travellers to mention Ba'al - Fergal notices a small triangle with a skull on their vestments, the symbol of Myrkul - They wish to pass funeral rites onto those who have recently died in Alexandria - They claim to have been travelling for quite some time - with their closest church being about a month's travel by foot - Ellette mentions the priest of Myrkul encountered by the party in Luskan - The priest in Luskan was wearing white robes with red accents, while the group we are currently talking to are dressed in black - They refer to the one in Luskan as a pretender - They seem deeply incredulous about the Luskan priest's claim that he brought both Lyra and Fergal back from death - One of them believes the Luskan priest was some manner of rogue Myrkulite who is practicing necromancy - They refer to Lyra and Fergal as unnatural - They do not believe Myrkul would do such a thing - despite having the power - as death is seen as the natural conclusion to life - They join us in our cart for the remainder of the trek into Alexandria - They go on to say a soul should be restored to its rightful path - before asking who might manipulate this path and why - They ask about Mirabar - mentioning a calamity that struck the mining town - There were apparently very few survivors. A great force attacked and annihilated the settlement overnight - The travellers who told them of this mentioned that the attack was led by an entity with multiple arms flying through the air and a massive black dragon. - There is indeed a black cloud in the near distance in the direction of Mirabar. The Myrkulites refer to this as another ill omen - The area apparently has a thick miasma of lost souls surrounding it - They have heard whispers of Zargathax - Ellette mentions the gaseous calamity that attacked Menzobaranzen, theorising it may have been involved in the attack on Mirabar - Ellette mentions the book of vile darkness - causing the Myrkulite to take pause. He does not believe that anyone has ever come across more then one of the books at once. Ellette confirms that Zargathax has two. - He mentions the original writer of the books being a forbidden name - Ellette mentions the eye that Zargathax also has. - This causes the Myrkulite to refer to The God Lich - and the ancient artifacts associated with him. He names this man as Vecna. - The colossal dark dragon was seen flying away from Mirabar. - They speak of nothing good coming from anyone who assembles that much evil into one body - He says he can smell the regret on Graxen's soul - He gives his title as "Bone Talker" - claiming they do not often share this with outsiders as it can cause fear amongst those who do not understand the teachings of Myrkul - The Bone Talker asks who Fergal worships. He is cagey in response, before admitting that it is Umberlee - He contrasts their faith, claiming those who worship Umberlee speak to her in fear, while those who worship Myrkul attempt to ease the fear that death causes - The Bone Talker asks how Ellette knows of the followers of Myrkul. She speaks of having met a Myrkulite before. - She mentions a village that was attacked, she witnessed a Myrkulite performing their rituals in the aftermath of the attack. She was with a friend at the time - Brymmar - The Bone Talker is unfamiliar with Ellette's particular sub-race of Elf. When she identifies herself as Eldarin, he connects this to a older race he has heard of - The Bone Talker mentions that the Myrkulites have not been able to gain entry into the Faewild - He gives us advice as he leaves - suggesting we should avoid Mirabar - The Bone Keeper gives us all a single silver coin etched with a skull. He says it will protect us in our travels. The coin is extremely coin to the touch - Graxen speaks with the Bone Talker before as they depart - learning that the man can sense something distant "reaching" for him. - We arrive in Alexandria - and make our way to the Lucky Gryphon to meet with Quincy - Graxen has forgotten to bring the doublet he rented from Quincy - Quincy is troubled by the dark magic that now keeps Lyra in this plane - Steve and Graxen are made to wash the dishes in the back room to pay off the late fee on the doublet - Ellette then asks Quincy about ethically sourcing a body for Lyra - Quincy suggests using a talented smith to create a Warforged body for Lyra - He mentions Crunk - a deceased Warforged, whose remains he now offers to house Lyra's soul - At this point he asks what else we have tried with the amulet. He notes how removing the medallion destroys the body formally hosting Lyra - He warns of the expense of a Warfoged body - 5,000 GP. As an alternative, he offers the pieces of Crunk for 2,000 GP. - Ellete slides the amulet into a slot inside the skull of Cronk. Lyra gains sentience in the disembodied Warforged head - Quincy offers the body free of charge in exchange for completing a task for him. He mentions a town suffering a spate of disappearances. - The mention of Mirabar causes him to detail the utter destruction that claimed the area - including all of the precious metals and resources. - There does not appear to have been a motive for the attack according to Quincy. The place was just utterly ransacked - Steve mentions how Zargathax took most of the bodies after ransacking her village. Leaving them behind in Mirabar strikes her as odd - Fergal asks if Quincy can detect if the party is being overseen by a Scrying Eye. Quincy is unable to provide such a service - Ellette requests the service of someone who can detect something within a soul - she is troubled by the nature of the magic that brought both Fergal and Lyra back to life. Her concern seems to be that it may be linked to Zargathax's necromancy. - She mentions the white robes and red embroidery. Quincy takes this to sound like someone playing dress up as a cult leader - Quincy suggests a collection of intelligent people - who would likely be located in Waterdeep. Ellette is reluctant to head there, having history in the city - Quincy dresses the Warforged body for Lyra, using a wig and fake horns to make it look crudely as she did when she was a Tiefling - He continues to suggest that Waterdeep is our best option to discover more information regarding the magic that keeps Lyra and Fergal alive - He then mentions Greyhollow - a small town on the way to Neverwinter that has been seen a large number of missing people - We will be travelling to Waterdeep - via Neverwinter, while stopping at Greyhollow on the way to the latter. - This journey will take 16 days in total, requiring 24 rations each - taking a wide berth of Luskan. - Quincy can sell us rations for 5 SP per serving - Ellette then wishes to stop in to check on the Guildhall. - We see Big Guy rebuilding the framework of the building with a number of Dwarves - Big Guy appears pleased with the progress of the building efforts - but requests a dart board along with other necessary furnishings - He says he hasn't yet thought of a name for the guild but then comes up with Dragon Heart - naming it after an encounter with a dragon who told him at the time that he had the "heart of a dragon". This is revealed to be how he can do magic - Fergal leaves the group briefly, wishing to visit the nearby shrine of Umberlee - wishing to find the Myrkulites on the way - Big Guy is upset that the process of transferring Lyra out of the doll destroyed it - believing we should find a replacement for Erin. - Questioning him further, Ellette learns he has been in the material plane for 20 Yuletides and the gem in his chest was a gift from another dragon - This was a dragon he believes to possibly be golden, who was capable of altering its form - He demonstrates draconic magic, firing a lightning bolt from his finger - He was told that the heart's existence depends on his morality. If he ever acts as a bad person, it may affect the function of the heart - He saw Nissa playing with the kids, and believes she seems more content then usual - Big Guy also visited the hells in his past - Meanwhile, Fergal speaks with the Myrkulites. He asks how they mend a strained relationship with a deity. - The Bone Talker mentions that some deities are more forgiving while others may level challenges against their devotees to regain their trust - He believes Umberlee may covet treasures given to her in rituals involving the ocean - she particularly enjoys gold and rare gems - The Bone Talker does not speak with Myrkul, claiming the deities do not communicate in such direct ways. He offers more obtuse signs and suggestions as being the work of the gods - Fergal mentions having been forsaken by Valkur. The Bone Talker suggests that he changes his perception of this event, believing Valkur may not take kindly to such a term. - He thinks Fergal perhaps did not correctly perceive the intentions of Valkur in that moment - He witnesses a calmness descend on those who deal with the Myrkulites - After this encounter, he approaches the shrine of Umberlee - He does not offer a prayer, instead burning incense. He pledges a golden coin, tossing it into the sea with Gust of Wind. - As he turns to leave, he notices that the water in the shrine has parted - he feels a faint hum in the crystal in his forehead. He takes this to be a form of acknowledgement - As we depart Alexandria, we notice the Myrkulites are blessing the outer walls of the city. - Steve gets a hand woven doll from an elderly woman - Lyra asks that Graxen touches the amulet to gain knowledge - We decide to ask Zoltan to open the Warforged skull - Zoltan is strangely sober but does not believe it is wise to open Lyra's skull and touch the amulet - He agrees to reassemble the Warforged for Lyra - Over the course of the day, he rebuilds the body - Lyra is relieved when her Warlock magic appears to work perfectly in this new body - Graxen asks him to continue his work on augments for the arm - Zoltan seems concerned about further attacks on the keep - having been scared sober by Nani Nora's incursion - Zoltan suggests that Graxen find a blood gem to power the wrist gauntlet, but warns that his arm's hunger may be worsened by the activation of the bracelet - He also believes he can begin work on Ellette's broken moonblade hilt by using a princess gem she found in Phandalin and a dragon scale she has from home. He noticed Wen in her room earlier, believing she took something from it - The gem appears to be hollow to his eyes. He explains that something within the gem is no longer there. It is a soul gem - capable of trapping the soul of a small creature. He believes it to be a small piece of a larger gem - He suggests that Ellette find other pieces of soul gems to expand upon the gem's ability. The more pieces she gathers, the larger the soul that can be captured - He is greatly impressed by the dragon scale, but Ellette will not say how it came into her possession. He deems it to be worthy of starting work on the new moonblade - He also needs an ancient Elven metal to forge the blade. Mithril may suffice. - He suggests finding these elements in the Faewild - He immediately begins work on the moonblade, using the dragon scale - Steve seeks out Erin to give her the new doll. She seems to appreciate it - She has noticed that Karrut no longer eats her good grass. Instead she has noticed that "weird milk" comes out of the cow's udders - making strawberry bushes. - Exceptionally large strawberries have grown on these bushes - Ellette seeks out Wen, confronting her about stealing from her room. - Wen took the dragon scale from Ellette's room, wishing to fashion it into a necklace for her - Wen speaks of trying to learn swordsmanship, but was too angry when holding the blade. - Darvin also wishes to learn how to use a sword. He called Wen's hands "silly" - provoking her to hit him