Kindling the Flame
This week, in a historic turn of events, Prismatic Guild members escorted Keeper of the Silver Flame Jaela Daran along a pilgrimage to the Greatpine Oalian of the Eldeen Reaches. The pilgrimage was an attempt by the Keeper to ease tensions between the Church of the Silver Flame and the shifters of the Eldeen Reaches, which had been high since the Silver Crusade ended 124 years ago.
Upon meeting with the Keeper, the group of six Guild members set out with her from Flamekeep, traveling on foot as a symbol of the Keeper’s respect for the peoples of the Reaches, and her sorrow for the atrocities inflicted upon them in the past.
Despite Jaela’s hopes for her trip, the party’s first night – spent in Danthaven – was interrupted. In the dead of night, a squad of House Tarkanan assassins sprung a trap hidden within the inn’s floor and attacked the travelers. Their efforts focused on taking out the Guild members first, before attempting capture of the Keeper. As trained killers, they focused on the healers first - and with poisoned blades they struck down Kurotsuki (Watcher) and Arcturus Aster (A). Though their companions did their best to lure them back from the cold clutches of Dolurrh, the ritual by a member of House Jorasco was unsuccessful. Their bodies were taken back by Falcon Eye Katari d’Medani and Chronicle columnist Finadir Ysgrifenn to receive last rites in Thronehold.
After receiving reinforcements from the Guild in the form of Ja’kala, Quiero, Leximut, and Hereford, the group made their way into the woods of Aundair. After days of travel through the woods and countryside, a night’s rest was interrupted by a band of villagers carrying two sacks in which prisoners were held. Upon receiving permission from the Keeper, the group engaged in conversation with the villagers and their alderman, discovering that they intended to lynch the captives at the behest of a preacher. This preacher had been encouraging them to cleanse the “innate evil” from their town, which according to outdated teachings included the yuan-ti that they had bagged.
Although the Guild members managed to convince the alderman and his villagers of the foolishness of their actions, their efforts proved to be in vain - as the preacher showed himself to be not a follower of the Flame, but rather a necromancer. He slew the alderman, raising a small army of undead to try to dispatch the Guild members and aid in his escape. After slaying the necromancer, his skeletons collapsed and the party found that the prisoners and villagers had fled. Thus, there was no opportunity to hear their side of the story, or to see that they were brought properly to justice in accordance with the laws of Aundair. Quiero and Fern burned the necromancer’s corpse before the group rested for the night.
The pilgrimage neared its end as Jaela and her cohorts entered the Eldeen Reaches. The dangers of these dense woods promptly became apparent when a trio of hungry owlbears attacked! The heroes defended themselves capably from the aggressive predators. As they prepared to leave the scene of the melee, they learned that they were not alone. Four figures emerged from the woods, each a mixture of man and beast that was consistent with therianthropy. One, a raven-woman who went by Corvo, quickly pegged the group as followers of the Silver Flame. In the ensuing discussion, the rat-man and the wolf-man, Pado and Lobo, were relatively friendly while the tiger-woman, Resa, was comparatively hostile. All four made it clear how their lives and the lives of their ancestors had been negatively impacted by the Silver Crusade. The group from the Guild tried to explain their positive attitudes towards shifters, and further elaborated that the purpose of their visit was to seek penance for that unfortunate chapter in the Flame’s history. The quartet found this sufficiently persuasive to allow the group to pass; they also gratefully accepted the owlbear meat as a peace offering.
Finally, as the trees grew taller, Jalea approached the great awakened oak known as The Oalian. The Keeper, gathering strength from the reassurances of her companions, fell to the ground before the mighty tree and humbly begged for forgiveness, promising that she would remove the categories of “innate evil” and “unnatural evil” from the tenets of the Church. She also declared her desire to do penance for the cruel excesses of the Silver Crusade. Oalian responded by asking Jaela’s companions what punishment they would consider appropriate. Each stated in their own way that no vindictive punishment could adequately address past sins, and Fern suggested that the best form of penance would be Jaela’s advocacy of a new political accord among Thrane, Aundair, and the Eldeen Reaches. Oalian agreed that this was the best solution, and Jaela gratefully accepted the task set before her.