The Vengeful Notes 2026-06-13

Castle Malthrek Entry

• The party enters Castle Malthrek already disguised.
  • The Malthrek family members remain hidden under cover identities.
  • The group moves from the plain inner keep into the wider castle complex.
  • Lime and Justin stay behind in the kitchens so the whole party is not clustered together.
• The castle is visibly in mourning.
  • Black banners and Malthrek sigils fly at half-mast.
  • Staff and guards wear black neckerchiefs, dark clothes, or black cloaks.
  • The castle appears to believe several members of the ducal family are dead.
• The main group heads toward the courtyard and chapel.
  • They investigate funeral preparations and local rumors.
  • They maintain a Highbury-linked clergy cover from the Order or Angel of Civilization.
• Cover identities include:
  • Sister Marie or Mother Superior.
  • Sister Rachel.
  • John as the kennelmaster.
  • Mark as Junior, a house-trained dog or pet.
  • Possible additional names such as Dale Pritchard remain uncertain.
• The cover story is that the group traveled with Baron Highbury’s entourage.
  • They claim they were separated when a carriage wheel broke.
  • A uniform sigil is shifted to the Highbury crest, likely a yew tree.
  • Apgarian or another foreign language is considered to support the cover.

Chapel Mourning

• The chapel is busy preparing for funeral rites.
  • Extra wooden chairs are brought in despite existing pews.
  • Flowers are being arranged for the service.
  • Someone corrects the flowers to lilies.
• Crispin Mallow is helping with the arrangements.
  • He is an outsourced flower contractor.
  • The usual gardeners are understaffed.
  • He knows little beyond rumor.
• An elderly priest recognizes the supposed Angel of Civilization clergy.
  • He directs Crispin to tend the altar flowers.
  • Father Karam Dunweather accepts the Highbury-chapter cover.
  • He brings the disguised clergy to his office.
• Father Dunweather remains outwardly Orthodox.
  • He bows to a small altar with a standard Orthodox icon or symbol.
  • His blessing uses Orthodox language.
  • His phrasing about living, laughing, and loving through pain feels Reformist-adjacent.
• The party tests Reformist language.
  • Father Dunweather responds to a “True Way” recognition phrase.
  • His answer strongly suggests familiarity with Reformist language.
  • Whether this proves membership or only exposure remains unresolved.
• Father Dunweather wears a reddish garnet ring.
  • It is not a signet ring.
  • Its meaning is unknown.
  • Possibilities include rank, clerical authority, Reformist marking, or ordinary jewelry.

Presumed Deaths

• Guards assume the disguised group is part of the Highbury entourage.
  • One guard says their lord is at the sparring rings.
  • The same guard implies John may now be heir.
  • John interprets this as meaning the castle believes his mother, Luke, and Mark are dead.
• Crispin Mallow repeats the rumor.
  • Luke Malthrek is described as the heir.
  • Mark Malthrek is described as the second son.
  • Both are presumed dead.
  • Other presumed casualties remain unclear.
• Father Dunweather says the ducal family is believed to have perished.
  • The event is tied to the Travertines.
  • A recovery team has been sent to retrieve remains.
  • Travel to the Travertines takes a little over a week.
• Funeral rites are being split.
  • A simpler immediate ceremony is planned now.
  • A later formal observance will follow once remains and invited mourners arrive.
  • Viewings may last about a month.
• Castle staff in the kitchens repeat related rumors.
  • They believe the Duchess, Lord Luke or young Sir John, and Mark may be dead.
  • Mark is remembered as reckless enough for the rumor to feel plausible.
  • News of the deaths may have arrived by Sending rather than ordinary travel.

Travertines Rumors

• Crispin has heard distorted rumors from the Travertines.
  • The Crown Prince supposedly became violently unstable.
  • Rumored victims include the Viscount or Vicomte Moreau and his daughter.
  • The daughter is likely Lady Pallia, though this remains uncertain.
• The party challenges the account.
  • They say the Viscount is alive but imprisoned.
  • They suggest the rumor may have reversed the culprit.
  • Lady Pallia, the bride, may have been the unstable one.
• Father Dunweather expects Rannek involvement.
  • The Ranneks may have been invited to the funeral.
  • Final confirmation may depend on Duke Ellington.
  • Dunweather has heard there is trouble among the Ranneks.
• The party preserves specific Rannek corrections.
  • Guinevere or Gwyniviere is mentioned.
  • The party says she is not dead.
  • The Marchioness and her daughters remain uncertain.
• The larger rumor environment is unstable.
  • Travertines deaths are being linked to bandits, unrest, and Crown Prince blame.
  • The castle’s information is delayed, garbled, or deliberately shaped.
  • The Reformists appear positioned to exploit the confusion.

Parasite Concerns

• The party links the false deaths to parasite removal.
  • Someone may be believed dead because a parasite was removed.
  • The table frames the possibility of someone attending their own funeral.
  • The affected person says part of them may have died.
  • The loss is described as at least ten years of self or memory.
• John distrusts clergy at Castle Malthrek.
  • He worries parasites may be influencing people.
  • He notes parasites cannot simply be felt.
  • They must be exposed, detected, or shown.
• A rune can identify suspicious signs.
  • It works in short bursts of about one minute.
  • The range is around 60 feet.
  • It can detect piercings or suspicious markers.
  • Use may be detectable by enemies, scrying, or wards.
• Minfilia becomes part of the memory plan.
  • Sister Philippa is named as the source of an idea.
  • Minfilia mentioned Encode Thoughts.
  • Minfilia still has the parasite removed from John’s mother.
  • The plan may involve extracting or preserving memories from the parasite.
• The party wants to reach Minfilia.
  • They first need the local teleportation sigil or circle.
  • The circle may exist somewhere in Castle Malthrek.
  • The information may be in Antoinette’s rooms, journals, or encoded notes.

Castle Magic

• The chapel entrance does not show a massive orb presence.
  • No strong orb effect is felt there.
  • The area is not especially saturated with Feywild magic.
  • The dominant magical impression is the familiar Seneran grounding force.
• Castle Malthrek’s grounding feels unusually heavy.
  • It resembles the force that anchors people to Senera.
  • It prevents disappearance or easy movement away.
  • The cause remains unresolved.
• Courtyard traffic includes suspicious people.
  • Ordinary staff and pierced individuals pass nearby.
  • Some pierced people look at the party suspiciously before moving on.
• Near the training grounds, John senses something familiar.
  • The signal resembles what he has observed around Reformists.
  • It is explicitly not orb-related.
  • It is tied to piercings.
  • More than five piercing-linked signatures are nearby.
  • One strong signal is close.
• Near the mourning tent, an orb presence is also felt.
  • The orb radiates from inside or near the tent.
  • The specific orb is not identified.
  • The distinction between piercing signals and orb signals remains important.

Training Grounds

• The party passes the sparring grounds.
  • Soldiers are actively training despite the castle’s mourning.
  • John finds the drills socially and politically wrong.
  • The yard smells of sweat, blood, and tears.
• Sir Aldric Torward is present.
  • He is likely a noble military figure tied to northern Malthrek fortresses.
  • He is short, stocky, bald, heavily bearded, and commanding.
  • He actively corrects soldiers.
  • His exact title remains uncertain.
• John’s military background comes up.
  • He mentions prior battlefield or posting experience.
  • A location heard as Raban needs confirmation.
• Mark remains under the Junior dog cover.
  • He sniffs around the chapel and later near the tent.
  • He tries to signal through dog behavior.
  • The party cannot tell whether he smells meat, family, danger, or chapel suspiciousness.
• Near the tent, Mark smells his father.
  • He uses finger-biting or counting to indicate five people inside.
  • The party infers there may be four Malthreks plus one other.
  • Mark becomes frustrated when the dog act limits communication.

Mourning Tent

• The disguised clergy party enters a guarded mourning tent.
  • They interrupt a private noble discussion.
  • Five people are present, matching Mark’s signal.
  • A guard checks inside before admitting them.
• Duke Ellington Malthrek is identified.
  • He is tall, about 6’1“.
  • He has brown hair, a thick well-kept beard, and a curled mustache.
  • He did not summon the clergy and does not recognize them.
  • He accepts their presence and tells them to raise their heads.
• Duchess Antoinette is emotionally exposed.
  • This is effectively her first time seeing her husband in ten lost years.
  • Her disguise is mundane, including auburn-dyed hair.
  • A woman in the tent has a Malthrek-like face that someone almost recognizes.
• Baron Highbury is likely present.
  • He appears older, white-haired, bearded, and less confident than his clothing suggests.
  • Earlier descriptions also frame him as quiet but not meek.
  • Whether “large bear” is literal, figurative, or wrong remains unresolved.
• Another person wears religious habit similar to the party’s cover.
  • Non-clergy nobles bow to the disguised sisters.
  • The resident sister only nods, treating them as peers.

Highbury and Fagus

• Sister Marie gives her cover name as Sister Marie Rosebush.
  • She introduces her companion as Sister Rachel.
  • She offers condolences and service to their liege lord.
  • The Duke or Highbury recognizes the Rosebush family name.
• Baron Highbury introduces Lord Fagus Malthrek.
  • Fagus is Highbury’s son-in-law.
  • He is a relative of Duke Ellington, perhaps through a second-cousin line.
  • Fagus was once married to Highbury’s deceased daughter.
  • His name and exact relation remain uncertain.
• Highbury came to seek permission for a future union.
  • The proposed bride is Monique, one of Highbury’s nieces.
  • Highbury adopted Monique into his main house before coming to Castle Malthrek.
  • Monique is about a year from coming of age.
  • The party questions whether she is too young.
• The proposal feels predatory or opportunistic.
  • Highbury says announcing the union at a funeral would be poor taste.
  • The deaths were unexpected.
  • The arrangement makes someone feel as though others had already planned for their death.
• Sister Marie offers a benediction or mass.
  • It would require Father Karam Dunweather’s approval.
  • It could be held in a smaller chapel.
  • It would not disrupt funeral rites.

Crown Discussion

• After dismissing the disguised clergy, the nobles resume private business.
  • Guards move the party out of earshot.
  • The conversation is explicitly about the Crown.
  • The substance is not captured.
• The party later identifies the likely plot.
  • Reformists plan to move against Crown Prince Marlion.
  • They intend to accuse him of using the Topaz Sword of Summer to cause a death.
  • They plan to bring a complaint before the Peerage after the funeral.
• The accusation appears distorted.
  • Marlion may not have been responsible for disposing of the hags.
  • The mistress allegedly made a deal to dispose of them.
  • The mistress is said to have caused Hellion’s death.
  • The vicomte is still alive, though his parasite has been removed.
• The alleged witness remains unclear.
  • A Reformist woman claimed they had one of their women as a witness.
  • The party suspects a hag or someone tied to the Children of the Coven or Crone.
  • An approving woman is repeatedly described as a vampire or possibly disguised.
• The Reformists may be exploiting timing.
  • Travel delays, missing bodies, and false death reports make truth difficult to prove.
  • Their story uses real chaos from the Travertines to support false conclusions.

Granary Plan

• The party considers possible compromised locations.
  • Armory.
  • Granary.
  • Servants’ quarters.
  • Broader food and drink supply.
• They worry about mind-affecting food or drink.
  • A central or eastern brewery may be involved.
  • Castle Malthrek food comes mostly from Tawdita, the Malter River Valley, and the Western Lowlands.
  • Imports may still come through Thrantiburri, Eastindpen, and Port Surrey.
  • Port Surrey’s disruption may force Reformists to accelerate plans.
• The granary sits between the mourning tents and the city gate.
  • The Malthrek characters know its location.
  • The layout has not changed much in ten years.
  • Nearby houses have been renovated or recolored.
• The granary is heavily guarded.
  • It has more visible guards than the keep itself.
  • John does not recognize the guards.
  • Mark might, but this is not confirmed.
  • The building is worked stone, possibly basalt or squared blocks.
• Sister Rachel distracts the guards.
  • She claims she is looking for Junior.
  • The guard confirms no dog entered through the guarded door.
  • Unfamiliar dogs usually go to the kennel master.
  • Rowdy dogs may be handled harshly.

Granary Security

• The guard explains the obvious entrances.
  • The door is watched.
  • A window might be possible.
  • A flying dog is treated as absurd.
• An Arcana check finds no obvious cursed item on the guards.
  • The result is strong but not definitive.
  • Full armor leaves uncertainty.
  • Prior Reformists may have used lead or lead lining to conceal magic.
  • No lead is visibly confirmed.
• Local layout becomes tactically useful.
  • An inner wall stands behind the granary.
  • The stables are to the party’s right.
  • A small alleyway lies to the left.
  • Horses are nearby.
• A horse distraction is proposed.
  • The group discusses hay, apples, salt licks, mineral licks, and sweets.
  • A Feywild-style sweet lure or golden-apple lure is considered.
  • A natural 20 Nature check supports the plan.
• The target horse is Melissa, Tony’s horse.
  • Melissa pushes at the stable gate.
  • She backs up, gallops, and jumps the fence cleanly.
  • A PC calls attention to the loose horse.
  • Tony runs after Melissa while struggling with his pants.

Granary Infiltration

• The horse distraction pulls the guards away.
  • One guard is licked by Melissa.
  • He begins swelling or bloating.
  • He says he is allergic.
  • The allergy may be to horse slobber, horse hair, or both.
• The disguised sister extends the emergency.
  • She asks whether the guard can breathe.
  • She requests permission to heal or inspect him.
  • She checks both guards for horse hair.
  • One guard misunderstands this as checking for magic in his blood.
• Prestidigitation removes the enticing scent.
  • The target is likely something on or in the guard’s hand.
  • Melissa reacts angrily, as if betrayed.
  • The guards remain occupied.
• John and Duchess Antoinette enter the granary.
  • They slip inside while the guards are distracted.
  • They quietly close the door behind them.
  • People are working inside the granary.
  • John and Antoinette move to the other side.
• A possible orb is inside.
  • It appears to keep something fresh.
  • It is too high for the speaker to reach.
  • It may preserve normal food, contaminated food, or something else.

Kalassarian Castle

• Castle Malthrek is Kalassarian-built.
  • It is not merely a newer castle built on Kalassarian ruins.
  • Ancient magical systems may still exist inside it.
  • John is eager to inspect Kalassarian items or inventions.
• Kalassarians are distinguished from gnomes.
  • Courerans are described as the gnomes of the human world.
  • Kalassarians are connected to Courerans.
  • They are credited with ancient magical-item invention.
• Antoinette’s Thralmal access may matter.
  • She has no formal Reformist rank.
  • She remains important because she controls or grants access to Thralmal vaults.
  • The vaults may function as a double key.
  • They may unlock something dangerous beneath the castle.
• The court wizard’s authority is relevant.
  • Magical items found in the castle would likely fall under the court wizard.
  • Expected magical staff include at least an abjurer, evoker, and transmuter.
  • The court wizard was not a necromancer unless that changed during Antoinette’s missing decade.
• The Wizard’s Tower becomes a possible target.
  • It is a nearby spire toward the back.
  • Expected defenses include wards, invisibility detection, noise detection, protections, and animated guardians.
  • Abjurers are considered especially hard to infiltrate.

Kitchen Cover

• Lime, Justin, Rebecca, and others operate under kitchen-worker cover.
  • They claim they were sent by an unnamed old recruiter.
  • Rebecca, also called Becky or Beck, may be presented as a younger sister or the old recruiter’s child outside marriage.
  • Staff accept the story because the kitchen is overwhelmed.
• The kitchen is short-handed.
  • Funeral lunch preparations are underway.
  • Staff received short notice earlier that day.
  • Actual chefs arrive late but eventually take command.
• Kitchen culture is informal.
  • Staff use names rather than titles.
  • “Yes, chef” hierarchy is rejected as not Apgarian.
  • Gordon appears to be a senior worker or kitchen authority.
  • Marston, Fiona, Sabina or Savanna, Rendor, Lala, and Dormes are named or implied staff.
• Food prep includes:
  • Potatoes, carrots, onions, spring onions, lamb, herbs, spices, and saved peelings.
  • Oysters cleaned, shucked, sauced, and baked.
  • Cheese sauce with rosemary and tarragon.
  • Tomato sauce.
  • Funeral potato salad with pickled radish, peppers, cream, and beet coloring.
• Oysters were magically preserved with Gentle Repose.
  • Magical transport or courier logistics remain uncertain.

Rebecca and Byzantine

• Rebecca, also called Becky or Beck, tries to behave well enough to attend a later tea party.
  • Byzantine appears closely tied to her.
  • Byzantine may be a teddy bear, companion, focus, or animated object.
  • A potato is seen held by a paw.
• Rebecca uses Mage Hand in the kitchen.
  • She peels potatoes.
  • She later grates cheese.
  • Byzantine’s paw is described as if controlling or using the magical hand.
  • Staff test her with a small wedge of cheese.
• Visible magic creates risk.
  • Staff warn that nobles may try to adopt or recruit a magical child.
  • Rebecca drops the spell when a suspicious guard enters.
  • A Sleight of Hand result hides the magic successfully.
• Byzantine causes kitchen trouble.
  • Too much salt is dumped into the stew or pot area.
  • The exact sequence remains unclear.
  • Staff and party members work around the confusion.
• The kitchen begins to treat Rebecca as useful.
  • Workers joke they lucked into a magic user.
  • Gordon repeatedly watches Rebecca.
  • The party reads this protectively, though he may simply want a daughter.

Rendor and Talbito

• Rendor tells strange stories while working.
  • He claims to have met a beautiful long-eared woman with glowing white eyes in water.
  • Another speaker identifies the woman as likely a dryad rather than an elf.
  • Dryads are tied to trees and may charm woodcutters to protect groves.
  • Rendor claims he used to be a lumberjack.
• Rendor shows signs of fey influence.
  • During one story, he freezes with mouth open and eyes glazed.
  • He silently resumes mopping.
  • A faint trace of fey magic is felt.
  • Another worker says Rendor is fey-touched.
• Other strange stories surface.
  • Rendor may have been polymorphed into a cow near Mount Sinitar.
  • He stops short, implying he may not be allowed to discuss the place.
  • Hag folklore includes a mother, crone, maiden triad and a chicken-footed house.
• Talbito, a Reformist paladin, arrives as a guard or messenger.
  • He says Lord Fagus wants custard for himself, custard for Baron Highbury, and a cake.
  • Staff decide cheesecake will work.
  • He looks around as if searching for something.
• Talbito feels wrong.
  • An Arcana check senses faint magical wrongness.
  • He notices Rendor, looks him over, nods, touches his chin, and leaves.
  • The dessert order may be ordinary entitlement, a pretext, or connected to Rendor.

Kitchen Ally

• A kitchen staff member seems genuinely saddened by the Malthrek situation.
  • He cares about Mark and Luke.
  • He believes the Malthreks are fundamentally good despite recent years.
  • He has quietly observed strange events.
• A party member quietly reveals part of the truth.
  • Mark and Luke are alive.
  • The party is investigating events among the Malthreks.
  • The Crown Prince is alive and aware of events in Senera.
  • Pallia Travertine is described as a hag who became unstable and violent.
• The staff member agrees not to expose the party.
  • He can explain what has been happening after lunch service.
  • He reads the situation as another political power play.
• Apgarian nostalgia colors the conversation.
  • A speaker expected Seneran nobility to resemble courtly stories.
  • Instead they found intrigue, schemes, and nonsense.
  • Apgarians, Estregans, and Kalassarians become targets of cultural jokes.
• Island and war lore comes up.
  • Anasai, Strandiz, Bentaygas, and Papagis are mentioned.
  • General Strandiz is said to be alive and remarried to someone named Emma.
  • Bartholomew Strandiz is tied to a broken treaty.
  • The details remain unstable.

Verenestra, Poplar, and Runecraft

• Poplar arrives from the Feywild.
  • Poplar is a cleric of the archfey Lady Verenestra and a good healer.
  • Minfilia adapts or corrupts Verenestra’s name as Lady Vanessa.
  • Poplar notes that Minfilia eerily resembles Verenestra and begins to believe she may be an avatar of the archfey.
  • This later helps seed the cult of Lady Vanessa among the rickshaw drivers of Port Rainoso, Raibon.
• Emily Hazeldine describes her runecraft.
  • Emily alone can make her style of runes or etchings.
  • She made a rune of Tongues so language runes can process languages she has not learned.
  • With a book, she can study a language for a day or two and turn it into a rune.
  • She can currently master runes up to third level.
• Higher runes require special tools.
  • Low-level runes can be copied easily.
  • Third-level and higher runes require a synthesizer.
  • Emily built prosthetics after the incident.
  • Her prosthetics may contain a plant synthesizer that produces etchings.
• Her runes differ from normal spellcasting.
  • Runes last until dispelled.
  • Harmful runes must be charged by design.
  • Feywild protocols forbid unrestricted damaging runes.
  • Her father warned they would be abused and cause war.
• Emily made some Sending Stones.
  • Her rune-based Sending uses amplification.
  • It may bypass ordinary word or use limits.
  • She can etch Teleportation Circle if given a sigil and some magic.
  • She advises John to study like a wizard: writing, reading, preparing, memorizing, and practicing.

Leaving Castle Malthrek

• Emily returns with waterskins.
  • She avoided private discussion indoors because too many people were present.
  • She says Lime and the others look all right.
  • A message is attempted toward Lime about heading to the city and meeting after lunch.
• Mark in dog-like form warns the group.
  • He growls and pulls someone away from a route by grabbing a skirt.
  • The group hides and peeks instead.
• An armored guard appears near the kitchen door.
  • He is Talbito, a Reformist paladin.
  • John does not recognize him.
  • Someone notes he is not from Castle Malthrek.
  • His symbol may be tied to the Ivories.
• The guard has faint curse-related wrongness.
  • A roll detects a cursed piercing or similar signal from a distance.
  • The group avoids him by leaving through a side route or moving the opposite way.
• The group leaves by the front gate.
  • They expect not to be recognized.
  • About six guards are near the gate.
  • Father Dunweather has already mentioned the disguised clergy.
  • The guards allow them to leave and return without a pass.
• The gate is warded.
  • Wrongness and visible wards are attached to one archway pillar.
  • The wards resemble earlier ones, though one feels different.
  • A small nearby orb is sensed, distinct from larger obvious orbs.

Martha’s Food House

• The group reaches Martha’s Food House.
  • Martha no longer runs it; Martha Jr. does.
  • Menus are painted directly onto tables.
  • Most shops and baths are closed for mourning.
  • Martha’s remains open for workers and valued customers.
• The party maintains social cover.
  • They order food, coffee, matcha, sparkling water, sugarcane surprise, and other dishes.
  • They joke about meat, Mark’s hunger, and awkward cover wording.
  • The streets feel emptier than expected, even during mourning.
• Local food and cafe color surfaces.
  • Bell pepper pie is requested or offered.
  • Warp Star Cafe or Coffee is mentioned.
  • There is no local Warp Star, though Tressemer has one.
  • Matcha is dismissed as grassy.
• Religion and mourning customs come up.
  • The party awkwardly tries to bless a pagan food house.
  • The local response invokes the Mother or Mother of the World.
  • Local mourning wreaths use flowers loved by the deceased.
  • Divine Masochist custom places flowers at the dead person’s feet only when the body is present.
• Flower meanings are discussed.
  • White lilies are tied to death and mourning.
  • Gardenias and yellow acacias may suggest secret love.
  • Poppies suggest stronger romantic love.
  • Poisonous plants such as hemlock, wolfsbane, monkshood, belladonna, and nightshade are mentioned.

Reformist Hot Spot

• The party identifies the Maltreks as the current Reformist hot spot.
  • Reformists are gathering major hierarchy figures there.
  • They may expect the party to target the Malthrek nest next.
  • They appear to operate through small, ranked teams.
• Known or suspected Malthrek hierarchy roles include:
  • Priest.
  • Bearer of the Cup.
  • Bearer of the Sword.
  • Bearer of the Whip.
  • Bearer of the Candle.
  • Bearer of Fears.
  • Bearer of Pain.
  • Bearer of Sadness.
  • Bearer of Joy.
• Father Karam Dunweather may be the priest or director.
  • He may be acting independently, manipulated, or used.
  • No bishop is clearly identified at the Maltreks.
  • A Candlebearer may be connected to him.
• Sir Aldric Torward is likely Bearer of the Sword.
  • The Whip Bearer and Candle Bearer are not securely identified.
  • Lady Vane may be Lady Maribel Veyne.
  • Dame Fenwick, Lady Vane, and Maribel Veyne remain distinct possibilities until confirmed.
• Fagus appears involved.
  • He may be using Highbury or the marriage arrangement as an infiltration device.
  • Highbury may be enchanted, controlled, or otherwise manipulated.
  • The comparison to a Kalamushan horse suggests a Trojan-horse analogue.

Immediate Strategy

• The party wants to disrupt the Reformists quickly.
  • They want to act before more allies arrive.
  • They want to free or awaken Duke Ellington.
  • They need him to understand the real situation.
• Options discussed include:
  • Luring ranked Reformists out one by one.
  • Reaching the Duke directly and removing the parasite.
  • Teleporting him out.
  • Returning through the cave or cellar route.
  • Waiting for Lime’s group to gather useful intelligence.
• Teleportation is not enough by itself.
  • Reformists may have their own teleportation options.
  • Removing or exposing one parasite host may alert others.
  • Parasite hosts may communicate or report through a shared network.
• The party’s advantage is the false death belief.
  • Reformists may think Mother, Luke, the Viscount, and others are dead.
  • The mistaken reports may buy time.
  • Removed parasites may be the source of the false death assumptions.
• Minfilia is considered a strong defensive asset.
  • She can raise skeletons into an army.
  • She also has preserved parasites and memory-recovery leads.

Thralmal Hag Deal

• The party considers going to the Thralmals.
  • They want to identify which hags are involved.
  • They need to clarify the current state of Antoinette’s old deal.
  • Tiphanie and Lime may help identify hag types.
• Antoinette describes the deal as a blood bargain.
  • She drank their blood.
  • She spilled her own blood.
  • She gave them her left pinky toe.
  • The bargain predates the parasite.
• The deal may still matter after Antoinette’s cure.
  • If it passes by blood or next of kin, it may point to Matthew Malthrek.
  • It may be tied to a promised hag marriage.
  • Antoinette thought parasite removal freed her from the obligation.
  • Another speaker says celestial blood likely severed the binding.
• Celestial blood is treated as exceptionally powerful.
  • It can break archfey pacts, warlock pacts, god-tied effects, and cursed items.
  • It may have cut through the hag bargain.
  • The party cannot rely on it as their only solution.
• The diplomatic framing remains open.
  • Antoinette’s actions were distorted by ten lost years.
  • The party might present their intervention as preserving or restoring the deal.
  • It is unclear whether the hags are blocking or enabling Reformist access to Thralmal pools.

Hicklanders

• The party identifies local Hicklanders as a possible wild card.
  • Hicklanders hate the nobility.
  • Reformists may be using them.
  • The Narrows Hicks are trusted because they have already opposed the Reformist church.
• Donmar is proposed as a possible local leader.
  • He is described as a tall man with a scar on his face.
  • He may know local Hicklander networks.
  • The party does not want to share broad information with all Hicklanders.
• A local woman recognizes or tests Hicklander links.
  • She references a coin.
  • She uses an insider term sounding like Erkirgral.
  • She knows Donmar, Hickland for Hicks, and the Narrows.
  • Her local network is decentralized and distant from Donmar’s group.
• The woman says Reformists are destroying her people.
  • She does not conduct Hickland for Hicks business at home.
  • She offers to take the party to a separate meeting place immediately.
• Hickic language comes up.
  • Donmar showed Rebecca a Hickic book.
  • A remembered word is clarified as krasitar, meaning goodbye.
  • Kelthyr later says early Hicks or early Hickic people called themselves the Ma’al.
  • The term Erkirgral may be wrong or more specific than the party thinks.

Mark and Family Status

• Mark identifies John, Emily, and Duchess Antoinette as family.
  • Antoinette is his mother.
  • Luke is alive.
  • Matthew’s status remains uncertain.
  • Matthew may be at the University of Thrantorbury.
• Antoinette’s condition is explained to outsiders.
  • She was manipulated for ten years by something planted in her brain.
  • The parasite was removed.
  • She lost memories of what she did during that period.
  • The party asks for forgiveness for harm caused while she was manipulated.
• Mark also had a brain parasite.
  • It has been removed.
  • He was targeted because he carried or owned something the enemy wanted.
  • John may be the only one who was not infected or manipulated.
• Mark’s lycanthropy remains urgent.
  • He was turned at the new moon.
  • The first full moon after being turned may make him uncontrollable.
  • The timing may be about half a month away.
  • He is warned to be careful around Lime because of her moon connection.
• Mark resists removing the curse.
  • He fears losing usefulness against the Reformists.
  • He compares himself unfavorably to John and trained fighters.
  • Others insist he has sorcerer potential.
  • He worries he might be a wild magic sorcerer.

Spirits and Fey Threads

• Lime is the holder of the spirit of the moon.
  • This refers to the power of the moon manifesting through her, not ghostly possession.
  • Oscar casting moonbeam may have revealed this connection.
  • Lime is compared to Selune, but not treated as identical.
• Other spirit holders are named.
  • Bianca holds the spirit of the seas.
  • Snow holds the spirit of the rain.
  • Sigrid held the spirit of the spider.
  • Sigrid died knowingly after rescue and wanted peace.
• The spirits may be tied to the land’s creation.
  • They may reside in the Heart or a similar concept.
  • Hedwig’s group includes many pregnant people.
  • Snow is pregnant; Bianca is not and may be too young.
• Pecorine is identified as a succubus.
  • Her need is life energy tied to intimacy, not blood.
  • Jokes about liver or daily meat are rejected as misunderstandings.
  • The exact mechanics remain unresolved.
• Old-wife-tale figures map onto known people.
  • Guillerma as Crone.
  • Aika as Mother.
  • Ines as Maiden.
  • Aika is connected to forbidden Feywild knowledge.
  • She reportedly cannot communicate now, though the exact reason is unclear.

Rendor and the Paladin

• A suspicious church or paladin figure lingers near the kitchen or food-house scene.
  • He searches for someone holding something heretical.
  • He uses a paladin-like detection sense.
  • He identifies an old man with a Fey curse.
• Rebecca intervenes.
  • She casts Phantasmal Killer on the suspicious man.
  • He appears to fail the save.
  • The illusion involves a queen knowing he is rude and threatening him through fear.
  • He panics, repeats that he has to do this, and kneels or genuflects.
• The old man gives his name as Rendor.
  • Lime detects a Fey curse on him.
  • Justin casts Remove Curse.
  • The spell grants only a temporary reprieve.
• Rendor briefly becomes young.
  • He appears around 27.
  • He then ages again.
  • Multiple witnesses see the change.
  • Rendor insists this proves his stories are true.
• The curse trigger remains uncertain.
  • It may be tied to thinking or speaking about the curse.
  • Avoiding the topic may keep him younger.
  • Rendor’s talkative nature makes the curse especially hard to manage.
• The suspicious man is subdued.
  • Someone puts him to sleep.
  • The party drags him inside.
  • They remove his armor and inspect him.
  • Lime identifies him as a bad paladin and Reformist.

Hidden Route

• The party decides to bring the sleeping paladin along.
  • They discuss binding him before he wakes.
  • Lime says a line about a person in him, but the meaning is unclear.
  • Possibilities include possession, parasite, hostage, or another condition.
• Justin carries the captive through a cellar or secret route.
  • The chef opens or allows access.
  • The path is cramped and familiar to locals.
  • It involves crawling, a crevice, and climbing or rappelling.
• Lime helps the climb.
  • She casts Grasping Vine.
  • Justin handles the climb impressively while managing the captive.
  • The guide leads the group toward a stream, lake, and small cave.
• Another route segment follows Emily and Perigo.
  • They pass through steps to a welded-iron gate.
  • The gate uses an old key and padlock.
  • The Duchess later thinks the route may be sewer-related.
  • The guide calls it a maintenance tunnel.
• A hidden pipe entrance opens after a specific knock.
  • The pipe section rolls aside.
  • The group squeezes through.
  • It is resealed with hidden bolts.
  • Hickic-speaking attendants welcome them as friends.

Hideout Reunion

• Justin and Lime are already at the hideout when the others arrive.
  • Emily is present or greets them.
  • Someone questions whether she is really Emily.
  • Rebecca is not present because she stayed behind in the castle kitchens.
• The arrivals are clarified.
  • Mark enters.
  • John enters.
  • The Duchess enters with John escorting her.
  • Luke is not part of this arrival.
• The hideout is deep and stone-surrounded.
  • It is accessible through a pipe or lead-pipe route.
  • The entrance can be barred.
  • Emily proposes it as a secure teleport staging point.
• Hags and Hicklanders converge.
  • Someone has a temporary hag connection with John.
  • A speaker identifies herself as a hag from the White Witches or Hags of Hama.
  • Locals recognize Hama from childhood stories.
  • The group says Hama and the Hags of Hama are back but no longer want to destroy them.
• Hicklanders are also moving.
  • Someone has contacted a Hicklander.
  • The Hicklanders are heading to their headquarters.
  • The destination may overlap with the hideout or route network.

Kelthyr Teleport

• Emily prepares teleportation from the hideout.
  • She can create the setup and perfect diamonds.
  • There are enough diamonds for three runs.
  • She will need rest afterward.
  • Duchess Antoinette may serve as an anchor or stabilizer.
• The group needs a connection to Kelthyr Kulok.
  • They use his book about making clothes for dolls.
  • Emily casts Sending to ask permission to teleport to him.
  • Kelthyr warns it is unsafe but permits the teleport.
• Kelthyr is tied to several threads.
  • He is one of their best sorcerers.
  • He is connected to a living-doll student, likely Angel Rannek.
  • He is part Hickic or Hicklander by name.
  • Kulok is claimed as Hick.
• The travel party enters the circle.
  • Martha von Grier may or may not accompany them.
  • Justin drags an unidentified unstable male into the circle.
  • Lime or Emily stands over him to fit everyone.
  • A piercing is relevant to the restrained man.
• They arrive near a bloodied man, likely Kelthyr.
  • He is treating himself with a potion.
  • He has no healing spells available.
  • He recognizes someone as the person who mispronounced Erkirgral.
  • Emily gives him her Periapt of Wound Closure.

Parasite Extraction

• The party explains parasites and Green Liquid.
  • Parasites or eggs may be introduced through food.
  • Meat and vegetables are both considered.
  • A popular matcha-like drink may be relevant.
  • Infected troops who drink Green Liquid can become mind flayers.
• Celestial blood is used openly.
  • The party says its use is no longer secret.
  • Angel, the Duchess, and other celestial allies have volunteered blood.
  • The group stresses that celestial blood cannot be the only solution.
• A man is dosed with celestial blood.
  • It is poured into his mouth.
  • Justin massages his throat to make him swallow.
  • The man foams at the mouth.
  • Violent healing follows.
• The healing ejects a parasite.
  • Teeth regrow.
  • Piercing wounds close.
  • A buttock piercing falls out.
  • Hair and face distort.
  • Blood comes from ears and eyes.
  • A white wriggling parasite forces its way out through an eye.
• Emily catches the parasite.
  • She rolls a natural 20 Dexterity check.
  • A flask is dispensed by her prosthetic arm.
  • The parasite is larger than Luke’s and Mark’s.
  • It is identified as an aberration.

Orbs and Eastonton Leads

• The party mentions the yellow Orb of Absorption from Eastonton.
  • The wounded contact knows of other orbs.
  • He has seen red, purple, and clear white orbs.
  • He has not seen the yellow one.
• The red orb is important.
  • It blocks magic.
  • Its current status is unclear.
  • It may have been hidden, held, or possessed by the speaker.
  • Minfilia considers it important.
• Eastonton remains connected.
  • Garward Eastonton is in Thrantorbury, not Eastonton.
  • He is a Reformist and possibly a top figure.
  • He helped turn Eastonton Paladinate paladins into Reformists.
• The Bishop of Surrey is dead.
  • Someone’s brother believed the bishop was very evil.
  • Minfilia killed him.
  • Donmar had already briefed others about Minfilia as cleric, necromancer, and pregnant.
• Eastonton provides allies and infrastructure.
  • The Great Erected One’s power is credited with saving a paladin and freeing Eastonton.
  • Eastonton has a teleportation circle under a Kalassarian ruin near the Orb of Absorption.
  • Freed Eastonton paladins or captives may help at Malthrek.

Memory Extraction Ritual

• The group probes the captured parasite.
  • A gem, prism, glass eyes, runes, orb setup, and Major Image are involved.
  • The setup is meant to avoid harming a living brain.
  • The runes may function as a fake brain or containment medium.
• A strand of thought is extracted.
  • It is hair-thin.
  • It is pulled from the parasite and placed on the rune.
  • The parasite reacts violently.
  • It wriggles and tries to reach the caster through openings or even a fingernail.
• The projected memory appears random or surface-level.
  • The group does not know whether it is recent or old.
  • Part of the device or projection may only be visible with truesight.
• The memory shows a castle hallway.
  • The viewpoint is likely the parasite’s host.
  • He moves through familiar halls.
  • He places objects in specific locations.
• Duchess Antoinette appears in the memory.
  • She addresses the host as Paladin.
  • She corrects him from “my lady” to “Your Grace.”
  • She says Sister Rislas needs him and will tell him what to do.
  • She asks whether he has seen her husband.
  • The paladin says the Duke is still in her chambers.

Duchess Fallout

• The memory implicates Antoinette’s lost decade.
  • She concludes her husband is still fighting.
  • She says resisting will only hurt him more.
  • She goes to see him.
• After the memory, the Duchess breaks down.
  • She believes she may have put the parasite into her husband.
  • She fears she may have put parasites into Luke and Mark.
  • She worries she brought John with her because she was about to do the same to him.
• The party tries to separate guilt from manipulation.
  • They remind her the enemy and parasite influenced her.
  • They suggest she may have believed she was saving her sons.
  • She remains distressed and uncertain.
• Parasites are linked to fear and vulnerability.
  • Reformist recruitment exploits fear, insecurity, and emotional pain.
  • Aberrations can weaponize memories of loved ones.
  • This is worse if loved ones have also been parasitized.
• The group may use parasite reactions diagnostically.
  • People with parasites react badly near the extracted aberration.
  • The reaction may reveal infected hosts.
  • The danger is that it may also trigger the parasite network.

Elder Brain Threat

• Emily explains the likely aberration hierarchy.
  • Parasites or mind flayers report to an Elder Brain nearby.
  • The analogy is workers or ants serving a queen.
  • Parasites send information, memories, and thoughts to the Elder Brain.
  • The Elder Brain can absorb knowledge and issue commands.
• An Elder Brain is treated as a major threat.
  • It is comparable to fighting two dragons.
  • It may be close enough to coordinate events in Senera.
  • Its network may explain rapid Reformist information flow.
• Dolls are considered as safer intermediaries.
  • Living brains are dangerous to probe with parasites.
  • Dolls can function as vessels or buffers.
  • Claudia, likely Claudia Keelsward, is proposed as a next doll or vessel.
• Byzantine or another doll is retrieved.
  • The doll comes from the Bag of Holding.
  • Emily says she will make the doll talk.
  • She removes its head.
  • She places runes inside its mouth and glass eyes.
• The scene ends with the doll experiment unresolved.
  • Someone offers to exchange the doll with something.
  • The parasite remains hostile and dangerous.
  • Further probing may recover lost information but risks unknown effects.

Larger Enemy Web

• Malthrek is full of Reformist Church activity.
  • Reformists are rallying there.
  • Mentioned figures include Bearer of the Cup, Bearer of the Whip, Lady or Maribel Veyne, and Isana Walburton.
  • Isana is obscure outside wealthy or noble circles.
  • She may be comparable to Lady Veyne.
• Some enemy identities are unstable.
  • Someone involved was not the real person.
  • A simulacrum may have been acting in their place.
  • The Bearer, Bishop, and Veyne threads remain tangled.
• Sovereign Rothschild is identified as an archlich.
  • Someone knows the name only from an economics textbook.
  • The group jokes grimly that an accountant or banker fits soul detachment.
  • Many current enemies may be Rothschild’s minions.
• Orb use raises the stakes.
  • If Reformists possess enough orbs, they may have nearly unlimited energy.
  • Reformist magic is described as rudimentary.
  • Orbs make their damage output far stronger than expected.
  • The memory projection may persist half an hour to an hour with enough orb support.
• Dark Archons remain relevant.
  • Minfilia obtained Dark Archons from Eastonton and turned them undead.
  • They are described as the Bishop’s minions.
  • One cast Circle of Death.
  • Circle of Death is banned in most Feywild cities and deadly to children.

Elven Boons and Shards

• The Sapphire Brooch of Winter becomes a priority.
  • It may have frozen or contained a plane or domain.
  • The ritual may have required a fey life-cost called yielding.
  • Its current effect is compared to the Ring of Winter.
  • The Prince of Frost is seeking the Ring of Winter.
• Emily speculates on the ritual cost.
  • The Children of the Crone may have used a powerful caster.
  • They may have used an important crone.
  • They may even have used members of the Children of the Coven.
  • The Shield may have been a person used as the ritual cost, explaining why it has no markings.
• Skelwick and Spellwick are distinct.
  • Skelwick is north of Eastonton.
  • The Brooch is probably not in Skelwick now.
  • The Children of the Crone may already have taken it.
• Children of the Coven and Children of the Crone remain difficult to separate.
  • Someone tried to go to a place connected to them.
  • It was full of crones, converted to crones, or overtaken.
  • The Brooch froze them, but who “them” refers to is unclear.
  • The Children of the Coven are still present and fighting.
• Emerald Shield shards remain important.
  • Emily says the hags or crones likely are not seeking the shards in the Thralmals.
  • The shards are in Malter Valley.
  • Angel has two shards.
  • The enemy may also have two.
  • Angel may be the only one able to find the rest.

Queen Mab and Fey History

• A blessing invokes the Green Lord, Arcadia, Titania, and Queen Mab.
  • An initial reference to the Prince of Frost is corrected to Queen Mab.
  • Emily reacts badly to Queen Mab’s name.
• Emily gives a Feywild history.
  • Queen Mab waged war against the Archfey.
  • King Oberon and Queen Titania were forced to unite.
  • Their son was once the Sun Prince.
  • He became the Frost Prince.
• Queen Mab is blamed for lasting devastation.
  • Many innocent elves died.
  • Later attacks from other races and changelings followed.
  • This history occurs after the Draco-Giant War.
• A living survivor of the Draco-Giant War is nearby.
  • The survivor is with someone’s brother.
  • The listener is surprised by this account.
  • It challenges what their father told them about their true father.
• Fey travel remains restricted.
  • There is currently no bridge to the Feywild.
  • Elves apparently can teleport out in some conditions.
  • A recent restriction prevents even celestials from doing so.
  • This confirms to someone that Angel Rannek is indeed an angel.

Immediate Priorities

• The group decides the next major work remains at Malthrek.
  • They still need to talk to the hags.
  • They need to help at Castle Malthrek before broader travel.
  • Emily or another caster is low on spell slots and needs rest.
• Teleportation resources are limited.
  • Someone has a scroll of Teleportation.
  • One more teleport option is being conserved for emergencies.
  • A restriction prevents one speaker from leaving the town, castle, estate, or region.
  • The exact boundary is unclear.
• The Thrantorbury thread remains active.
  • Someone’s brother is in the Thrantorbury area.
  • He uses the university teleportation circle.
  • The group should eventually go to him.
  • Kelthyr, Matthew, Garward, and the University all remain connected leads.
• The party wants to preserve captured intelligence.
  • The parasite may contain useful memories.
  • The teleportation circle or cipher still needs decoding.
  • The red orb may be crucial.
  • The local Malthrek hierarchy must be mapped before direct confrontation.
• Current open hooks include:
  • Identify the alleged witness against Marlion.
  • Confirm Fagus, Highbury, Monique, and the marriage plot.
  • Confirm Lady Maribel Veyne’s role.
  • Identify the Whip Bearer, Candle Bearer, and any bishop-equivalent.
  • Determine what the Thralmal vaults unlock.
  • Determine what remains inside Castle Malthrek’s Kalassarian systems.