If you’re joining us this Saturday it might be helpful to have some context. After all, our Gentlefolk have come a long way since the start of their journey.
Welcome wanderers to the world of Vagari. In this world there are cities with unspeakable names, gods whose powers are passed down to them from their predecessors, and mysterious entities bearing white masks who work in plain sight to weave the threads of fate - for better, or for worse.
There are many adventurers across Vagari, most having their adventures almost simultaneously. But for this band of Gentlefolk we travel back in time by about 5 years from the main stories.
For the continuation of our tale this year, we pick up one year after an intense airship battle with a mysterious and murderous changeling simulacrum known as Pent. After releasing his wizard prisoner Teo Castrovel, our patchwork band of heroes Sid, Yvette, Maybe, Bells, Solara, Sprig, and Lyra, seemed to be out of the woods and onto more calm solo adventures.
The Gentlefolk party present day from top left to bottom right - Lyra, Sid, Bliss, Sprig, Solara, Yvette, Bells, Maybe. Art by @mello-ette
We opened our season with a summer festival in the City of Sea and Sky on Toernsele (torn sail) Islet - a place many of our hero’s have now come to call home. A tense reunion is had between Bells, Sprig, Lyra, Yvette and Yvette’s partner Sid. Sid has a new friend in tow, an Aasimar Wizard who goes by Kinde - and she doesn’t make the best first impression.
Above - Kinde the Aasimar Wizard. Art by @mello-ette
With emotions already simmering, things really begin to blow up when the city is, well, literally blown up by an adversary who our hero’s believe they met before on an airship not too long ago. It turns out they’re *somewhat* correct, as we’re introduced to Phennil- a changeling simulacrum like Pent, but with his own unique sparkling and murderous personality.
Above - Phennil (pronounced: Fennel) the BBEG. Art by kabukikid on Instagram
A lot of damage is done to the city. Loved ones are lost in the chaos of the fire and in attempt to protect citizens, including beloved partner to Lyra, Helath. Sprig makes the desperate sacrifice of offering her true fey name to Phennil to spare the life of her lover Bawra. Bells, being protective of their twin, tearfully departs from the group into the feywild to try to undo Sprig’s mistake.
With the help of local crime boss the Ivory Queen, the remaining group leaves the city and heads for Malwrend Mine - believing they may find answers to Phennil’s identity/ originator, answers to missing party child Maybe’s whereabouts, and wanting vengeance for the damage done to the city. We make a brief stop on an island where asking questions could literally kill you. And Sprig accidentally gets a shop keep decapitated.
At the mine itself we battled off shadowy necrotic creatures, find a portal to the Shadowfell and discover the final resting place of Sid’s god before he ascended into godhood and took on the mantle of Kelemvor. It’s also revealed that Kinde isn’t from this dimension, she’s from the same one as Teo Castrovel and she claims to need his help to get home. But she has to be careful about how much detail she reveals and avoid running into this dimension’s version of herself.
Finding not much else in the way of information, being rejoined by a spectral version of Bells, and realizing Kinde’s girlfriend is en route to the now dangerous City of Sea and Sky - the group heads back to Toernsele Islet and makes their way to the new meetup point of Slurry Falls - a popular tourist spot for Muckboarding. Along the way, Sprig loses some of her magic from trying to contact Maybe one too many times. It’s confirmed that Maybe is under Phennil’s watch at this point.
Our hero’s allow themselves maybe 20 minutes of levity before it all goes horribly wrong. Kinde and her girlfriend become petrified and start sinking into the mud while draconic entities start attacking from the depths of Avernus at the behest of Tiamat, trying to clear a portal for their tyrannical queen. At the battle’s conclusion Kinde’s real identity is revealed as Bliss - a young monk the group met last year. Only as she said before at the mine, she’s from a different dimension. She explains that some of what she told the group is true, but she’s here to retrieve her father, Teo Castrovel. She also blames herself for Tiamat’s attempt to take over this material plane, as they have a history where she accepted magic from the Dragon Queen in while traveling through Avernus.
From Kinde to Bliss. Art by @mello-ette
After this chaos, our group realizes another simulacrum like Pent and Phennil has been watching this group and recording information about us - Pnuema. Most of the party is in immediate defense mode, ready to kill her and flee, but Yvette is able to learn about Pnuema’s origins and determine she’s not a threat for now. Pnuema is one of 60+ simulacrum tasked with watching over the world of Vagari, and possibly other realms. Pent and Phennil are particular outliers who are known for their murderous streaks, yet no one does anything about them.
Meanwhile, Bells efforts to have Sprig’s name changed and free her from Phennils control are being heavily blocked by Phennil himself, using Maybe in tow to quote Sprig out of context and say she ended the life of a fey court representative’s daughter. Realizing they can’t do this alone, Bells flees to the material plane for help from their friends, and we join her in the feywild at a place called the Warren, to participate in Phennils cruel game. Contracts are rewritten, old and new friends meet, and Feywild rules are learned.
We left off at the start of this game, and Phennil summoned forth some additional participants: Maybe, Solara, Bawra Chiv, and a very young Helath reborn and accompanied by an elderly man.
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