Deco 8-
After shopping, the gang split up. Artemis, Kat, and Caelen walked to the castle in search for Lord Severin while Shadoe, Zane, and Vethra got a drink at Flights and Flights. They noticed Maximus carrying Julie through the streets, but Vethra was adamant that they avoid them. She didn’t want to sit through Maximus’s attempts to flirt with her again. Caelen and Kat reached the castle and spoke to a Sercian representative to get the lay of the land. He told them that Lord Severin was inside and that the King was expecting Lord Caelen. Back in the tavern the others drank and talked to the bartender. Caelen and Kat walked into a meeting of overlapping voices debating trade and war, including Koran and Lord Severin. After an awkward introduction and a little back and forth the king of Alaria pledged to join the fight. Afterward, Caelen stepped outside to talk to his father. Back in the bar, the gang is still drinking and yapping. Caelen and his father had a tough talk which ended with understanding more than forgiveness, but Lord Severin even asked Kat to keep an eye on Caelen, showing that he trusts Caelen’s judgement. Koran joined Caelen and Kat on their way back to the tavern. Everybody got drunk and Zane told everyone that his son is in a coma and Koran told everyone that Zane isn’t a child of Almani. They even got Caelen drunk and as they discussed lady Sirena, she walked in. Caelen told her all about how he kills people and likes it and she gave him a kiss on the forehead and used magic to sober him up as she left. He quickly wiped off the mark of her affection.
Deco 9-
The next morning Koran, Lady Sirena, King Amadeus, and Ex Umbra met to discuss the assault. They decided to amass the troops of Alaria and Sercia outside of Oakheart in a camp they called “The Gathering”. Koran suggested that if they take control of Newhaven and lure troops out of Dark Forge, the Whitespire forces could launch a secondary surprise attack from the old bandit outpost that has now become Camp Spire, They all agreed to this and the prince of Alaria led the forces with Lady Sirena to take Newhaven while Ex Umbra went with Koran to launch the second attack on Dark Forge.
Deco 13-
Shadoe was stunned during the travel from Camp Spire to Dark Forge as she tuned into her blood hawk. She saw cultists in the valley path between Highstone and the mountains. The cultists shot down her hawk before she had time to react and it is unclear what happened to Blaid and Aroe. Shadoe knew there was nothing she could do for them right now and chose to focus on the mission at hand. Zane recalled that Wilfric Vanahiem (the defector) told him that the lava flow would need to be shut off from the control room before any artillery was used on the outer ramparts.
Deco 22-
The Whitespire soldiers, including Koran, fought to keep the attention of Dark Forge while Ex Umbra scaled the west wall and infiltrated the central building. They cleared every room on the lower floor and found schematics for something called a Gyro-Stalker and a key which opened a large reinforced door. Before opening the door they entered a room where they heard screams. Zane noted that Wilfric had said this is where the runes were put on the collars. When they burst in they found a cultist standing beside a man he was torturing. They swiftly killed the cultist and questioned the tortured man. He was the one who put the runes on the collars. Throughout years of torture he had placed runes upon over 700 collars. He didn’t have much of a choice, but Caelen saw him as a coward. How could he damn the lives of hundreds of people just to save himself? Caelen tied him down and performed his ritual kill, finally feeling relief. Now, after clearing all the other rooms on the lower floor, they entered through the large door using the key and came face to face with the mechanized monstrosity.
