Session 13

The party, minus the now missing Aravo Zacksted, returned to Captain Keller and the Avalonian General. They informed them that the demon artifact was gone and that they Dragons should no longer have such motivation to assault the city. They were granted an audience with Yonatan and requested he use his powers to return Aravo to them. However, Yonatan told them it was him who had sent them to another plane. Aravo had been moments from activating the artifact and releasing an ancient evil into the plane that would have caused mass devastation. His stupidity was a danger to the entire world so he felt it would be best for Aravo to be kept away until after the demon invasion and the party had little choice but to agree.

Yonatan then volunteered the forces of Avalon for the battle. He instructed the General to prepare Avalon's army to go to the ground and fight in the upcoming war. The General promised the Avalonians would be ready come the war.

Thier business concluded, the party descended to the ground. To thier surprise, Paris had not been there to greet them and take them back to Auria. It appeared they would need to return by foot. On thier way they were set upon by an elf named Caden. He was axe-dancer who had a beef with Sam Fariman. They fought, but Caden had been unable to break Fariman's defense. After being knocked on his face, Caden explained he was a surviving member of the Fariman clan, a defender whom chance had spared of thier genocide. He had come to hunt Sam, whom he believed betrayed the clan when he became Dragon Speaker in training under Li'liok, who destroyed the clan. Sam told him he had the story wrong, and Caden agreed to travel with them long enough to hear the true story.

They bought some horses at a nearby stable and a carriage. Over the course of the trip to Auria, Caden was given Sam's story, about how he was expelled from the clan for his blood, was taken in by Li'liok, eventually was betrayed by him as well, and now is on a mission to save the world from an impending demon invasion. Caden decided that if there was a mission so important he should come along, and didn't give the party any choice in the matter.

As they neared Auria, the party encountered General Lancaster on the road. He was greviously wounded and drew his weapon when he saw the party. He told them that he was assaulted by Skarl Hrolfson, though the party could not understand how. They explained that Skarl was killed recently. Freyja Hrolfsdottir helped heal Lancaster's wounds, then insisted the party look into this mysterious appearance of her brother. They found him shortly, but it was not the same Skarl they knew. He was silent and assaulted the party, leaving them with no choice but to kill him. As he fell, several more men that looked just like Skarl appeared and attacked them. When the Skarls were all dead, the party saw that thier faces changed. In place of Skarl's face, there was just a blank slate of a face with no notable marks or hair.

When they finally arrived in Auria they learned that the Skarl clones were causing all kinds of problems to thier reputation. They stabled thier horses and left Fenris to thier guard. They found Hector standing over Paris in the Scioni headquarters. Paris was unconscious and nothing Hector could do could wake him. He explained that Paris was using his scrying ability to spy on a group of demon worshippers when his magic was noticed by a powerful demon. The demon used the link to get into Paris's head and try to get control of his mind. Paris put himself in a magical coma to protect those around him until he can regain control of his mind.

Without Paris's ability there was no way to identify further demon artifacts. However, Hector has bigger concerns. With Paris out of commission, Hector became the defacto leader Scioni, a job he was not nearly as fit for. He needed the party's help doing an important job Paris was working on: recruiting allies.