WitW - Session 21
The Wizard disappeared with two Arch Fey hearts in his possession - Autumn and Winter.
Tharun was helped by Jeatz. Almyre was returned to her body (along with quite a bit of favor) and instinctively ran to her brother, Amir who was emaciated. When he came to, it seems to have forgotten their interaction in Tradeburg.
Lady Eirlys, rife with pain, goes on to tell what all she knew of the Wizard now filled with hatred for him. This Wizard is truly called Ariazel. He is a powerful wizard who can astrally project himself as a real physical presence into the Wild, even moving items between the two.
He spun a tale for Eirlys saying if she had all 4 hearts, she could rival Exurbia's power. They had the Autumn court heart. The Spring Court heart was in full swing, and the plan for the Summer court involved kidnapping Amir.
They were given a scroll of knock by Thrain to explore the Wizards house he used as a base of operations. Amir was surprised Alura was quick to ally herself with their rivals in the winter court. Amir was proud Alura was following her convictions. Horace also pointed out the fact that a powerful fey could exist apart from their heart, but Lady Eirlys's connection to her heart was completely severed.
Glacius continued to crash around in the distance, but had stopped by the time the party was ready to investigate the Wizards house. She left the Winter Court in utter ruins. Few structures remained intact. The party reluctantly decided to take a short rest (at the cost of Vixen Moonshimmer and Steve the Goblin's life).
Inside the house, they found a few things: Another Arcane Gash, an amulet of health and one of cold resistance, 1 thousand favor, 8 potions of greater healing. Perhaps most interestingly Almyre walked over to Ariazel's experimentation corners. A cage with golden hair in it, an altar with smashed arcane crystals. Lastly, a soft sandy pile forms itself into a Dwarf who mindlessly assaulted the party. When killed he returned to sand. They later found this Dwarf to be Muck Deepmantle (Sean's one-shot character), a guard of the Winter Court. In the same chest, there are Amir's undergarments.
When they dumped the sand into the Arcane Gash, the Weave Warden appeared before them. The party was angry their DoorDash Order was incorrect. They warned that the Magic is rapidly seeping out of the Wild, and before long the Magic would fade in more obvious ways.
The Weave Warden said Ariazel's Gash's served as umbilical cords for his astral projection. He could be weakened if they closed the gate nearby. The Weave Warden's time was up.
The party made their way to the docs seeing the survivors. Glacius appeared in the bay once more scaring the denizens of the court, but offered a return trip to Frostfell on her back. On this trip Jeatz picked up from Tharun that with the winter Court functionally dismantled
They were given a room to sleep with a hot bath and a hot meal. They spent time getting ready. Almyre and Amir shared a sweet moment, but Amir shared a memory that their father had experimented with creating and army of sand people, but the magic required would be too great, but it's not out of the question the Wizard could have cracked it. Creating sentient beings from sand.
The party spelled out their adventure so far to the Sentinel of the Barren Cloak - Dreven, a powerful Orc Woman. She offered her teleportation device to the party for the next morning. The teleporter can only go one way with more than one person.
That evening, Jeatz communed with Magnus and returned his heart to him, fearing the Wizard might steal Magnus' heart. His fingers tingled with magic and the heart disappeared.
