Our adventurers had discovered the town of Frost Flower. A quaint little German-esc town nestled in the hills. Devi and Flow went to town early and spent a good part of the day in the bath houses that were built over hot springs on the far side of town. After a luxurious soak (During which Bubbles stole many pairs of underwear) they returned to town to get lunch at the local bar.
Ra’Cheep and Pibble took the “kids” and KreeO’kree into town and bought paints from a very old Elf named Roya. Roya had left behind his elven allegiances and settled far from their lands. He had also developed a certain why of inscribing powerful spells into cards or scrolls, some of his magics, he claimed, had not ever been seen by most elves. He had gained some amount of fear and respect from the few who had attempted to make him return. Roya offered to protect Pibble from any elf that sought to retrieve Pibble without Pibble’s consent. Pibble gratefully agreed and received a few magical gifts, and a hefty discount on paints. One of the gifts was a beautifully carved rune of communication, should Pibble need assistance in the future.
After the kids and Cre’Okree went home Pibble and Ra’Cheep showed up at the tavern for lunch about the same time as Devi and Flow. They bought some lunch but were instantly attracted to a group of young people playing a curious boardgame… on a grid… with minis… and arguing over the minutia of rules. It was an absolute joy to buy up a rule booklet and nearly all of the spare minis from these young adults, Ra’Cheep even got a set of black dice with sparkles!
An interesting group began to cause a commotion just outside the tavern. A loud group of gnomes led by the self-proclaimed Famous Samuel Snickerdoodle, an Investigator of some renown. They claimed to have proven that elephants used to walk this earth and had done battle along-side an ancient God. As Ra’Cheep redirected their interests to investigating the arrival of a new God, Flow began a conversation with a truly ancient water-genasi who had mastered a technique to connect to the flow of water and fate. This Genasi opened Flow’s mind to some of the possibilities ahead and had offered to be available for her aid in the future.
The night ended in celebration and relaxation. Most of the party chose not to drink. Ra’Cheep drank only one beer and was hopelessly drunk. The Gnomes told a scary story, followed by Ra’Cheep, then by Devi. Everyone had a fun night and finally returned to the boat to sleep.
The next morning Phineus was greatly deturbed to find out that gnomes were so close. It came out that his father had tried to overthrow the government in Frell some time ago. Phineous was no longer welcome among his people.
Later that day Devi noticed that there were strange spirits in the water, all rushing upstream. They seemed to be converging somewhere up ahead. Devi was very concerned and didn’t want to go wherever they were going, but everyone was committed to their course. Devi spent some time brooding up in her perch wondering what to do.
The next morning both Peep’Cheep and Ro’Ro had been kidnapped and taken to the river’s cold floor. Ra’Cheep franticly urged everyone in the water to save them but hesitated before diving into water himself. Devi, Flow, and Pibble fought and army of undead, a massive skeletal snake and a tricky rogue named Horatio who had become the water God Idyia’s new favorite follower. They overcame and struck down Horatio and the skeletal monster. Idyia appeared unimpressed with the display and demanded that Devi kneel if she were to remain in Idyia’s service. Devi with the help of her friends stood up to Idyia and said she would not bow. Idyia collected all of her remaining dead (and Devi’s given powers) and disappeared from the area. With a God spurned, a pair of children saved, and an old nemesis killed and looted beneath the water’s surface, everyone returned to the boat.
Devi was once again fully and only human. Her many ducks gathered around her and celebrated the disappearance of Bubbles and the end of servitude to a being as cruel as Idyia.
SUDDENLY an adult elf landed on the deck of the ship and stepped toward Pibble…
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