Lark's Landing, Episode 33

Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.

You can find the previous episode here.


8th-9th of Waxing Fall, 0AL

In the morning, the group once again head straight over to Gilligan to further explore Balasar's lost memories, still missing Dugg from their number. They enter the dark interior of the dragonborn's locked memories, and Stor requests that they continue on the memory path where he saw his adoptive parents. No one argues with the idea.

They go through the memory of Balsar asking after traitors in a roadside inn, then the one where Stor is witnessed parting from his parents at a crossroads, and Balasar follows the parents. Before they go on to the next memory, Balasar pulls Stor aside and reminds him that, whatever happens in there, whatever happened in the past, it wasn't him. Not really him. They brace themselves and go through.

They see Balasar continuing to follow Stor's parents, but unable to risk getting near to them because they stay in groups of people, and they seem to befriend another couple. In the evening, they enter an inn along with that couple. Balasar waits outside while evening falls. His patience pays off when he sees Stor's parents leaving the inn - but he quickly notices that these two individuals appear to be wearing disguises - they aren't his real targets, but he silently congratulates his quarry on their clever attempt to distract him. He waits for nightfall, going from room to room until he finds Stor's parents sleeping. He efficiently kills them as they sleep, then ransacks the room and mutilates the bodies to make it look less like a professional hit. The memory fades....

Balasar apologies, and the others try to offer condolences and emotional support to Stor, who has shut down as he processes not only the confirmation that his parents are dead, but that he just experienced killing his own parents from the perspective of their murderer.

After a brief break, he is ready to go on - even though Balasar has assured him that he doesn't have to continue on. Stor insists that he's ready, so they move forward. They head for the next memory they're pretty sure is open to them, first going through the memory of Balasar exiting a building with his compatriot, discussing their orders to wipe out an entire bloodline - one which they can hunt down with the aid of research done by a cult and an eyeball in a jar. Emerging from this memory that they've seen before, Extang is certain he recognizes the eye as the one he's missing.

They move on into the connected memory, where they witness Balasar speaking with a very old man about his son. The man is saying that his son always assumed his powers came from his mother, as she has some magical prowess, but that it actually comes from his side of the family. Balasar thanks him and leaves, rejoining a small entourage. He then gives the order to burn down the house. There is some argument that is started to be raised about who the man's wife is, but Balasar says it doesn't matter - their orders are to wipe out the bloodline, and until they hear otherwise, that's what they're going to do. The memory fades as the house goes up in flames.

Realization slowly dawns on T'Zaric that this was his childhood home that just burned, and the man inside - though significantly older than when he'd last seen him - was his father. The half-elf turns and storms off. The others chase after him, catching him just before he leaves Balasar's mind. He gives them enough information to indicate that Balasar had killed his father, but can't be convinced to stay. He returns to the real world, and the others follow - awakening just in time to see him turn invisible as he's storming off.

The others talk for a bit, but Balasar soon notices that Stor is still surly. He tells the others to stay behind, and takes Stor off into the jungle alone. Fiaeorri silently follows, while Extang heads home to unsuccessfully search Balasar's possessions for his missing eye.

Out in the jungle, Balasar tells Stor to punch him to get it out of the system - he knows that he deserves it, and wants his friend to feel better. Stor obliges, cracking him such a wallop that it sends him spinning to the ground - it's loud enough that it attracts the attention of T'Zaric, who was rage-picking random plants in the vague hopes that they were poisonous. Balasar gets up, spitting a tooth, and asks Stor if he's feeling better. The goblin replies that he still has a lot to process.

T'Zaric bursts from the bushes and storms up to Stor, demanding to know if that was really enough for him - if he wants more revenge. Stor says he's better than that, and T'Zaric vanishes back out into the woods.

Startled by T'Zarics sudden appearance, Balasar guesses that they still aren't alone. He calls out to Fiaeorri, guessing that their sneaky friend is somewhere nearby. After a moment she comes out of hiding with a cheeky grin. Balasar tells her it's time, and he heads off with her - leaving Stor to head home and work out his feelings.

Balasar and Fiaeorri head out to Balasar's shrine to Epesta and lay plans for Balasar to fake a suicide. The hardest part will be acquiring a body, but Fiaeorri assures him that she can acquire one. She heads off into the settlement, locates a male blue dragonborn, lures him out into the jungle, and kills him. She then takes the body to Balasar, who immediately notices that the corpse is extremely fresh and sees through Fiaeorri's lies that she just found the body. He freaks out a little, but regains control of himself - realizing that the man is already dead, there's nothing he can do about it, and that this will help with his goal to disappear. He still isn't happy about it, though.

The body is hidden in the jungle, and they continue with their preparation. However, they are slowed by their need of a boat, as all the boats are out fishing. They do finally manage to procure one, and are laying their final plans at the shrine when they're interrupted by Extang - who has become suspicious of Balasar's absence all day. He convinces Balasar that they need to continue the journey through his mind, and they head for Gilligan, planning on taking one last trip with just the two of them.

T'Zaric, who stealthily had followed Extang to the shrine, waits behind - having seen Fiaeorri vanish into the woods. He can't find her, however, so he throws an illusory image of three leaves - her goddess's symbol - into the air. She comes out and he talks to her about possibly changing Balasar's staged death into an actual one. Fiaeorri doesn't agree to help him, but says she won't stand in his way. However, she's uncertain of what choice she should make in this situation, so she follows after Balasar and Extang, thinking to get some insight from Extang's cards. T'Zaric stays far off in the jungle, but follows along.

Balasar and Extang arrive at Gilligan's construction site to be met by a puffy-eyed Stor, who is out looking for the companions who haven't been home all day. He also agrees to go into Balasar's head, but Gilligan says it's too late and tells them to come back tomorrow, after getting some rest. Balasar, unwilling to wait to leave, heads back to the hidden body and boat - asking Fiaeorri, who is just arriving, to meet him there. Stor and T'Zaric follow behind, both being so sneaky that they aren't even aware of each other.

Fiaeorri asks Extang if his cards can answer a question for her - but she doesn't want him to know the question, so she whispers it to the deck of cards, asking about if it's right to kill the dragonborn. The answer she gets is that, for her, it's all just business. Satisfied, she heads off to meet Balasar, but Extang is sticking to her side. She distracts him just long enough to sneak off into the jungle.

Extang, figuring that Balasar's shrine to Epesta is the only thing in the jungle in that direction, heads for that. He arrives to find Balasar's new sword leaning against the shrine, a faint blue glow coming from it. Panicking, believing that leaving the precious sword behind means Balasar is intending to kill himself. He takes the sword, and - guessing Balasar will want to be close to his goddess of the sea - ties it to his back as he runs down the path to the beach.

He arrives to see, further down the beach, two individuals pushing a boat out into the water. He figures that can't be Balasar, as he would be doing whatever he's doing alone, so he continues to scan the area - unaware that Stor and T'Zaric are also watching from the jungle.

Down the beach, Fiaeorri sees Balasar off in he boat, which he begins rowing out to sea, angling towards the settlement. As he goes, he strips his gear and puts it onto the dead dragonborn in the boat with him. He slips his fake suicide note into the bag of holding, trusting that his friends will find it. As he nears the settlement, still a hundred feet out from the shore, he magically amplifies his voice and begins singing a funereal song.

With that as the last clue he needs, Extang shouts "No!" and casts a spell on himself, allowing him to fly out to the boat. As he gets near, Balasar, not wanting the interruption, cancels out the spell, sending Extang plummeting into the water. Extang re-casts the spell on himself, but stays under the water, closely following the boat.

A small fiery bead arcs out of the jungle towards the boat, detonating into a massive fireball when it arrives, charring Balasar and even doing a bit of damage to the submerged Extang. The commotion is starting to draw people to the beach, and Balasar decides its time to take his leave. He calls forth a blast of lightning as he jumps out of the boat, but he isn't expecting Extang to grab him as soon as he hits the water. The blast splinters the sides of the boat and knock him unconscious. Injured and concerned for his friend, but more concerned about the fireball from the jungle, Extang takes Balasar in tow and dives under the water, swimming further out to sea.

Stor, seeing the blasts that hit the boat and his friend, begins blowing his whistle and takes off into the air, flying at remarkable speed all the way to what remains of the boat. There he sees a very charred dragonborn corpse wearing Balasar's gear. He lifts his friend and begins carrying him back to the shore, but then he sees T'Zaric rush out of the jungle and onto the beach, sending another fireball arcing into the ocean. Stor follows with his eyes and sees two dragonborn figures who have just surfaced. He watches as Extang revives Balasar with a healing potion just before this new fireball detonates on them. They both fall limp in the water.

Outraged at this betrayal, Stor drops the body he's carrying into the ocean and flies straight at T'Zaric, pulling on the elemental energies around him to whip out at him with water, hoping to trip him up. T'Zaric nimbly dodges the brunt of the hit and runs off into the crowds on the beach, turning invisible. Stor shouts "Murderer!" after him, but he's no one can see him.

Concerned for his friends out at sea, Stor reverses direction and flies out to them. Both look like they're on death's doorstep. He makes the decision to save Extang, and manages to bring him into a stable condition - however, in that moment, the last breath escapes from Balasar's lips.

The shredded clouds of Balasar's brief thunderhead drift away from the crescent moon, allowing a beam of light to fall upon Balasar's body. The light appears more yellow and sunlighty than moonlight normally does. Stor believes he sees something that looks like the essence of his dead friend rise up into the light.

Balasar alone hears a voice telling him that his torment is at an end - and that, while much of his life he went hand-in-hand with great suffering, he was not the cause; his soul is innocent.

Stor watches as the incoherent shape he believes to be his friend's soul reshapes into the long, sleek, blue-grey form of a dolphin and shoots off into the ocean. The clouds continue to drift and the beam of light fades.

Stor gathers up unconscious Extaing and Balasar's body and drags them back to shore, where he informs the curious onlookers that Balasar was murdered by someone with a personal grudge - when he admits it was T'Zaric, Hargrom says he will arrange for the militia to try to track him down. Stor takes Extang home so he can recover, then returns to help some sailors bury Balasar's body at his shrine.

Meanwhile, Fiaeorri, who watched everything occur, swims out to where Stor dropped the other body and retrieves it. She gathers all of Balasar's belongings - taking the money and a few choice items for herself - and quietly buries the body in the jungle before returning home with everything. Once Stor has returned and Extang woken up, they read Balasar's farewell note that he hadn't intended to be as permanent as it seems. They decide that anything else can wait until the morning and they go to sleep.

The next day, as they begin their discussions, Stor surprises the other two by saying that he needs a break. He's the sole remaining member of the original 3rd Watch; everyone keeps on leaving. And now he knows his parents are dead as well - killed by one of his closest friends. He needs a long time to figure some things out.

He's just preparing to leave when a knock comes at the door, accompanied by someone shouting his name. Surprised and curious, he opens the door to find a militia member supporting Sira - a half-elven sorcerer friend of Extang's who was running a game at the last festival. Only, he looks much different now. He's ragged and scuffed, with a badly broken arm, and his features are subtly different. In fact, from a certain angle, he looks like Varis, Stor's adoptive father!

"Stor!" he says, "Your mother's in trouble and needs your help!"

Overwhelmed and nearly delirious, Stor rushes out the door, only to have his father ask if he's bringing the rest of the 3rd Watch along to help - as Varis is in no condition to go along to help. Stor returns to his friends to ask if they'll accompany him.


And that's where this game session comes to an end. Find out what happens in six weeks (the game is taking a short break) with Episode 34.