July 7, The One with the Trash Monster and the Professor

The party was ambushed in the Caserma District of Pelnaad by three genasi warriors - a dextrous female causticsoul named Deska, a male plaguesoul warrior of the wild and a loosely-clothed male icesoul of giant proportions and terrifying speed. The warriors assaulted the party, and told the party that they only wanted Baiden for his past crimes. When Vensil entered the fray, the warriors identified him as a Gray Academy wizard and began to target him as well.

During the engagement, the plaguesoul genasi hit Baiden with a bag of powder, leaving him with a glowing, pulsing rune that he could not escape. Over time, the shadows in the area and the trash littering the street began to increase, until an Oppidan Wraith appeared in the party's midst. The foul behemoth of darkness and refuse was nigh unstoppable, its dark energies limiting the ability of the party to regain their breath, leaving both Valandra and Baiden near death.

When our brave heroes finally bested the wraith, they began to look for help. They found it in a pair of Iron Attendants who brought the party back to a waiting room where they were interrogated, and the Attendants made it clear they would be keeping their eye on Baiden.

When the Attendants let the party go, it was morning, so the party, exhausted, made their way back to the Institute Caraterri and to the lab of Faelmane Bowertop. There, she and her assistants attempted to remove the fey curse from Anvar. Though the ritual they invoked was strong, they were unable to both remove the curse within the scope of the limitation that they keep Anvar alive.

After the curse-removal ritual failed, the Valandra and Talon interrogated one of Faelmane's assistants, a Fezik Starmantle of the Westmote Starmantles. Valandra and Talon heard Fezik mention the name Vance's, and they grilled him until he divulged the method for gaining entrance to the gambling parlor. In doing so, the found out that Celedur, the fourth husband of Lady Inyela Ironblossom, owed one hundred gold farthings to a loan shark named Pleiades. Pleiades is (rumor has it) a hulking warforged who had his head sculpted into that of a bull. One hundred gold farthings isn't enough to cause someone to disappear, though, so something is clearly afoot.

At Valandra's insistence, Baiden and Idilai made it clear to Faelmane that in addition to Anvar's curse, they had sought our her guidance and knowledge with regards to what might appear to be an invasion from the Feywild. Faelmane said that the Witenagemot had lost contact with many nations in the Feywild recently, and has assumed that it was the doing of Corleth, the Archfey Lord of Midnight, whose dominion includes the area where Pelnaad appears in the Feywild. She promised to send help to Wolfridge Crossing, and sent a message to Mayor Creen, and informed the party that the key to Anvar's troubles might be found in either Darmagon or the Astral Sovereign.

June 30, The One with the Flamepanthers and the Arrival in Pelnaad

(With thanks to Jon) After retrieving the gnomish band’s promised bow and chainmail from the trees above, the group moved on toward Pelnaad. When dangerous thunderstorms struck, our heroes decided to take shelter in a nearby cave. Over a campfire, each member recounted their experiences the past few weeks with one another, and shared food, drink, and shelter. Woken by growls outside one mouth of the cave, the party was assaulted by flamepanthers. As the band of adventurers defended themselves against the two prong ambush, they realized that these beasts hail from the northern mountainous reaches near Darmagon. Idilai and Anvar thought it odd that they had traveled so far from the mountain regions they called home. The battle was a hard-earned victory, however, as Baiden nearly succumbed to an overpowering gout of flame, that spurted out much akin to blood or phlegm.

Valanvar in tow, the group made its way through the nearby marshes en route to the fantastic fey city of Pelnaad. Baiden, Anvar, and Valandra stayed at the rowdy Happy Dragonborn Inn the first night in the capital, while Idilai led Talon and Vensil to the more tepid Three Bookshelves. At dusk, Idilai took the wizard and solemn deva to the rooftops in Pelnaad as they observed the districts of Aeglise and Caserma warp in from the Feywild. In the morning, they would reunite inside the Happy Dragonborn, where Anvar, Baiden, and Valandra would be sobering up. However, a unique adventuring opportunity came across the group’s lap in the form of a frail elf and her half-giant manservant. Lady Inyela Ironblossom, a former witan (councilmember) of Pelnaad and sister to Randon Summersong, needed help finding her husband.

Apparently, Inyela's fourth husband Celedur has gone missing, and she was seeking adventurers to find him and return the fool to safety. Since the merry band would be milling about the various districts of Pelnaad, they agreed to keep an eye out. Of note were two locations in Eastmote where Celedur was known to spend plenty of time: Vance’s and The Weeping Falconer Inn. Despite Talon’s objections, they agreed to keep a watchful eye and report to the frail elf at her estate in Caserma.

Led by Anvar, the dwarf who had never been to Pelnaad before, the party eventually made it to the rumored location of Vance’s. However, they were greeted with sharp eyes beyond an iron door with a peephole asking for “the password.” Despite his best attempts at bribery and compliment, Baiden could not deter the guard from his duty to disallow those without the proper phrasing into Vance’s. Despite nearly being tempted by a pack of sly children just outside Vance's to follow them down the street for more information. Baiden suggested stopping in at The Weeping Falconer to see if they could find anything about Celedur or a password to Vance’s.

Inside The Weeping Falconer, the group made its way through the crowded pub to what seemed to be the head of the establishment, a buxom elven woman named Bizelle Petalwing, who informed our intrepid heroes of the Falconer's one rule: "Keep your hands off the ladies!" As Idilai and Talon scanned the crowd for onlookers, Baiden was able to extract as much information as he could surrounding the disappearance of Celedur (who was described as a gambler, a john, and a braggart. Exiting the Falconer, Idilai pointed out the approach of dusk and an opportune time to seek out Faelmane Bowertop (fah-EL-mah-nay) at the Institute Caraterri in the district of Caserma.

Unfortunately for the group, it was into the wee hours of the night and the university seemed to have shut down. Despite this, they were able to bribe the guards outside the faculty housing to gain access. Rushing up to Faelmane’s room in the middle of the night, they knocked on her door and were greeting with a kind face and inviting nature. Faelmane invited the party in, put on some tea, and prodded as to the meaning of the adventurers’ late visit. The party pointed out the odd curse that had been ailing Anvar, and Faelmane investigated with excitement. It was decided that, in the morning, we were all to reconvene at Professor Bowertop’s laboratory, and Anvar would be subject to a full analysis of his curse. Both apologetic and appreciative, the group bid Faelmane adieu and set off to sleep for the evening.

However, just outside the university, whilst crossing one of the city's many canals, Baiden and his mates ran into a group of, apparent, familiar faces. Three genasi - a plaguesoul, a causticsoul and an icesoul - accosted the group and informed Baiden that he had failed them "for the last time."