While returning to Autumn, our party was given a vision in the form of a shared dream. We were shown Concord – City of Spires – and a woman dressed in purple. Both were consumed in flames. It was evident that this dream was a result of the secret woven upon us, and the next step in defeating the Dark Riders would take us to Concord to find this woman. There was something in her possession that was giving them power.
From her time working as a bodyguard for the Kinicket family Gnaomi recognized the woman from the dream as Lady Malatyne – a noble living in Concord who is well known for throwing extravagant parties.
We made a short stop in Autumn on our way to Concord. Blue came to me late that night to ask a favour. They wanted me to “look into” the curse placed on them by the Archmage. I’m not convinced that lifting the curse is in the best interest of, well, anyone but Blue. However I can sympathize with their situation, and the curse itself is interesting in an academic sense. I’ve agreed to look over their current findings; perhaps learning more about the curse and its nature will give me a better perspective.
Blue, Gnaomi, and I visited the Kinicket Villa in Concord, hoping to secure entry to an upcoming party being thrown by Lady Malatyne. The kids (Jimothy and Pipatha) were excited to see Gnaomi, though Pipatha tried to pretend otherwise. The butler, Üg, was not particularly impressed with us, but eventually we were able to speak with the Kinickets. The Kinickets were able to provide us with two invites to the party, largely for “old time’s sake” and to let Gnaomi spend some more time with the kids.
While Blue tracked down a tailor, I reached out to Lestin Dumal, looking to obtain the final invitation. True to his nature, he was very suspicious of our intent, and only agreed on the condition that he would be keeping a very close eye on our activities.
The tailor Blue sourced – Zazoon – supplied me with an acceptable outfit. A bit ostentatious for my liking, but practical enough. Gnaomi wore essentially what they always do, but somehow Zazoon made it look on purpose. I should have known it was only a matter of time before Blue was going to start wearing clothes that literally glow.
At the party, the three of us split up to see what information we could gather. Lady Malatyne picked me out of the crowd and ushered both me and Lestin off to have a private chat, and it quickly became clear that I would not have a choice in the matter.
Once alone, she demanded to know what the three of us were doing at the party. I tried to explain about the dream and the Dark Riders, and while she was ostensibly angered by the three of us snooping around without her permission, she seemed more concerned with making a show of refusing us than with truly hindering our task. She even went as far as to drop oblique hints about where we could find the object we were looking for.
After summoning Blue and Gnaomi with her crystal butlers, she “fought” with us in what I can only assume was a token show of resistance. I’m certain that we would not have been able to best her if she hadn’t wanted us to, on account of her being a damn Purple Dragon (note to self: look into that).
Once Lady Malatyne “fled” we were free to explore the sub-basement of her manor, which descended much further down than I would have expected. At the bottom of a chimney-like structure we found a storage room with a large glass egg containing a Phoenix. Mechanical constructs securing the egg seemed to be drawing power from it, and we determined that this was the object we had come to find.
We disabled the mechanisms, which allowed the Phoenix to escape. Enraged by its imprisonment, we obliged to cool it down a bit, lest it take out its anger on the partygoers above. Once it blew off a sufficient amount of steam, it escaped upwards through the chimney, in more of a mind to roost than rampage.