The Vengeful Recap 2026-10-10

Previously, in The Vengeful…

Angel rested after the return from Green Barrel and the meeting with the Baron. Hellion proposed showing the visiting nobles something of the allies and resources available to them in Eastonton. Uther and Maria offered support, while the unanswered questions about Steven and the Maidenfelds remained waiting.

On his way out, Hellion found Crispin in a tree, singing Flight of Dragons.

The boy did not want to go without Angel. He feared Hellion might sell him. The suggestion that he could represent Angel and find something for her helped, but he set a condition: Sandor had to come too. He barely knew Sandor; he trusted him more nevertheless.

They walked through increased patrols and checkpoints to the military base. The nobles arrived with their honor guard, Oren joined them, and the marshal finished briefing his troops before coming along. Trajan remained behind. Hellion replenished the teleportation circle’s surrounding orbs from his own supply, then opened the way.

Eastonton greeted the delegation with a ruined chamber, a tree, and figures dressed as Dark Archons. The Duke drew his weapon. These were not new attackers: Minfilia had raised their former enemies as undead guards.

Beyond them, pixies and wary dryads inhabited Oberon’s oasis. Hellion offered candy and reassurance; the dryads returned his bow and left acorns, which he collected, leaving seeds in exchange. Jessica brought the visitors into the restored living quarters with Dimension DoorDimension DoorLevel 4 · Conjuration1 action · 500 ft. · InstantaneousVYou teleport yourself from your current location to any other spot within range. You arrive at exactly the spot desired. It can be a place you can see, one you can visualize, or one you can describe by stating distance and direction, such as "200 feet straight downward" or "upward to the northwest at a 45-degree angle, 300 feet." You can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn't exceed what you can carry. You can also bring one willing creature of your size or smaller who is carrying gear up to its carrying capacity. The creature must be within 5 feet of you when you cast this spell. If you would arrive in a place already occupied by an object or a creature, you and any creature traveling with you each take 4d6 force damage, and the spell fails to teleport you..

In the cafeteria, Sandor startled at the horned, red-skinned baker. Sensodyne introduced herself as a devil, learned that the children were Angel’s friends, and invited them to take bread. Maria praised her baking. Miya, meanwhile, protested that Hellion had brought Angel’s parents without Angel. She had dressed up expecting to meet her.

Boyle could offer contacts in Port Surrey, but no easy answer to the Maidenfeld mystery. Their spice sources remained closely guarded, and their trading arrangements restricted resale. There was still no news from Thrantorbury.

The delegation had come to see another guarded source of power: the Orb of Absorption.

Marcus Parnassus, the Kalassarian skeleton raised by Minfilia, recommended the control room and warned anyone approaching the orb to remove magical equipment. The visitors stored their items in lockers bound to their identities. Jessica led them toward the invisible boundary, keeping her own equipment because she would not cross it.

Miya described what the Reformists had done here: feeding children and captured adult spellcasters to a device that drained their magic. Jessica explained that its conduits powered the ruins and their traps; when the place was captured, the system had also been nourishing an aberration. The orb was now controlled. That did not make standing beneath it safe.

Crispin advanced. Hellion went with him.

Red wisps drew out of Hellion’s spine as he shook under the draining effect. He caught Crispin by the collar and dragged him back. The boy resisted. He felt lighter near the orb and wanted to go farther.

Part of that willingness was despair. Crispin said people hated who he had been, or might become. Hellion asked who he was now, reminded him that Angel would be sad if he did not return, and suggested coming back with her. Crispin eventually agreed to leave. Feeling better near the orb had not answered what it would do to him.

The prisoners elsewhere in the ruins posed a different urgency. Ranking Reformists were being kept asleep with Essence of Dream, but some resisted it. Jessica wanted a decision from Minfilia or the Crown Prince about their fate. No new sentence was passed.

After recovering their equipment, the visitors went to the Paladinate. Miya’s seized golem stood outside among the paladins. She had fought it and taken control of its magic, not built it herself.

Inside, the old religious imagery was rapidly giving way to the Great Erected One. An enormous, unmistakable stained-glass depiction finally explained the name to Hellion. The Duchess had thought its meaning already clear. Jessica described Boyle as mortified.

Bastion was less amusing. Hellion intended to accompany Angel there; Jessica urged him to distract her from going for now. She had heard of an Orb of Power fifty miles across and still growing, and described Reformists consolidating control while people fled the destruction. Her report was alarming, but secondhand. Neither an expedition nor a postponement was agreed.

With help from Hedwig and the Hags of Hama, the group returned to Rannekford. Hellion made rounds among the rescued captives. Sister Pira and Gwyniviere helped tend the worst injuries, with few healers to share the work. Hellion intervened when clergy hesitated to help a Cornups girl because of her appearance, and gave her food and drink himself.

The rescued elves were quiet and suspicious. Hellion left food and sweet water, spoke Elvish, and offered to listen. They did not tell him where home was. After he moved away, they examined the food and fed the youngest first.

One girl, comforting another child, looked remarkably like Maerwen. Hellion began to say the name, stopped himself, and walked away without pressing her.

Trajan sought help through Emily, but Kelthyr and Luana were unavailable. Oren might guide an escort while remaining outside a settlement that barred him. Miya and Natalia were assigned to learn what the captured Sir Aldric Torward knew about northern settlements and drow; answers would have to wait.

Hellion and Trajan also agreed to protect Crispin’s identity and give him room to decide how to handle his new life.

Back in the Eastonton ruins after dinner, Crispin found a way to make a decision of his own.

He introduced himself to Miya as Chris Mallory. When she identified herself as a hag, he asked for a bargain. Learning magic was taking too long. He wanted older people to leave him alone, especially those who did bad things to the people around him.

Miya suggested invisibility. He offered his name, expecting to forget it if he traded it away. She corrected that expectation and said she had no use for his name. Gardening proved more useful: she wanted a grove in Eastonton and hoped to help Natalia rebuild a coven.

In her room, Miya worked hair, blood, and magic into a simple bronze ring. She offered a Ring of InvisibilityRing of InvisibilityR G| D M G · Legendary · requires attunementWhile wearing this ring, you can turn invisible as an action. Anything you are wearing or carrying is invisible with you. You remain invisible until the ring is removed, until you attack or cast a spell, or until you use a bonus action to become visible again. for future gardening services, with no requirement that he stay in Eastonton now. Wearing it would also connect them mentally across any distance on the same plane. To reach her, he should use her real name: Dorothy.

Crispin gave his own name and accepted.

Dorothy recognized the name of a serial killer. She assumed the killer had stolen it from the child. Crispin let that explanation stand.

They tested the connection: thoughts, shared sight, and the sensation of Dorothy pinching her cheek. She lent him A Fulminating Treatise, an evocation book, as a separate gesture of friendship. Being able to understand its words did not mean he knew how to cast its spells; he hoped Sandor could teach him.

They agreed to keep each other’s private information. Dorothy celebrated her first hag bargain. Crispin returned to the others and refused to explain what had happened. When Hellion questioned Miya, she said she had only asked him to promote her magazine.

Jessica accompanied the returning party. By the carriage ride back from the military base, Sandor was struggling to stay awake and Crispin was fidgeting with his ring. The meeting could wait until morning.

By breakfast, the Maidenfelds and several other nobles had left. Their departures encouraged suspicions, but did not settle their loyalties; some had instructions to accompany the family and play along.

The council considered waiting another day before mounting a rescue for Minfilia and Crown Prince Marlion in Thrantorbury. The prince’s advice mattered to the Maidenfeld crisis, and the group chose to help Thrantorbury before pursuing the larger operation. No rescue had launched.

Angel joined the meeting and learned that Hellion had met Miya. She wanted a visit, a gift, and a joint birthday celebration. A language rune appeared on her pancake; told to hold it rather than eat it, she answered Hellion’s Elvish greeting.

Jessica was less visible, but made her presence felt when a joke about her biting necks earned Hellion an unseen punch that sent his head into his plate. He insisted he was fine and kept eating.

Angel had tried to contact Steven before sleeping and received no response. Hellion urged her to concentrate on helping the rescued elders and children home while he pursued Steven’s safety. Jessica would help investigate the Maidenfelds, with Uther offering to reimburse operational expenses. Borrowing a submarine, finding an insider, and tracing possible Kalassarian machinery remained proposals, not discoveries.

The companions debated celestial goodness and freedom, the danger of someone exploiting the Haven’s eggs, and what hags might know. They even invented gossip to barter for information. But the first people they chose to approach were already in the gardens.

They also told Jessica who Crispin had been and how Angel had used Auraxx’s boon to return him to childhood. They supported giving the boy another chance; a closer magical examination was left for a later opportunity.

Angel met the girl who resembled Maerwen and addressed her by that name. The girl said she did not know Legally Bare. Angel believed her, apologized, and introduced herself.

The girl recognized one of her rescuers. Her own name was Raistasi.

She could not find her mother or explain her home’s location in human terms. An unnamed merchant had agreed to bring her outside; Angel later described the encounter as a kidnapping involving a deal. Raistasi remained hesitant to trust. She asked for her missing stag antler band, without which she could not currently use her magic.

The party promised to bring her and the others home.

With the recovered band back in place, Raistasi entered a tree and emerged from another through Tree StrideTree StrideLevel 5 · Conjuration1 action · Self · 1 minuteV, SYou gain the ability to enter a tree and move from inside it to inside another tree of the same kind within 500 feet. Both trees must be living and at least the same size as you. You must use 5 feet of movement to enter a tree. You instantly know the location of all other trees of the same kind within 500 feet and, as part of the move used to enter the tree, can either pass into one of those trees or step out of the tree you're in. You appear in a spot of your choice within 5 feet of the destination tree, using another 5 feet of movement. If you have no movement left, you appear within 5 feet of the tree you entered. You can use this transportation ability once per round for the duration. You must end each turn outside a tree.. She called herself a child of the Green Lord. Around Angel, she perceived a resonant aura, without identifying the Emerald Shield shards themselves.

Her home, she explained, was a distant forest with a waterfall and a glade. The castle was harder to explain: to her, it was a very large house or cabin.

Raistasi invited the children to play a game of singing, climbing trees, and escaping an Earth Guardian below. They adapted it into tag. Sir Brastok watched nearby; Gwyniviere sketched the children, and Angel arranged a picnic on the grass.

Meanwhile, Lance reported to Hellion that he had confirmed with the guards that Raistasi was Maerwen. Hellion told Gwyniviere, hoping their existing connection might help negotiations with the elves. Gwyniviere pointed out that Raistasi had denied the identity to Angel, who believed her. The confirmation had not yet become an alliance, or a conversation Raistasi chose to have.

For the moment, the children were playing after captivity. Getting them home was still ahead.

Torris offered a possible route: a forest region near a small human settlement, a hunting lodge, lumberjacks, and a river. An old teleportation circle might shorten the journey, but its sigil, arrival point, and condition were uncertain. The companions proposed sending capable casters and fighters ahead before bringing the children through.

They chose to try the sigil first.

No advance party had secured the destination. Thrantorbury still needed help, Steven was still missing, and the Haven remained unreached. Beneath those larger dangers lay the immediate promise: bring the rescued people home.

At the Table: Where We Left Off

• Try the old circle’s sigil: Torris is the proposed route toward the elves’ home. The arrival point and safety remain unverified; an advance group was proposed, not shown arriving. A capable caster is needed for Teleportation CircleTeleportation CircleLevel 5 · Conjuration1 minute · 10 ft. · 1 roundV, MAs you cast the spell, you draw a 10-foot-diameter circle on the ground inscribed with sigils that link your location to a permanent teleportation circle of your choice whose sigil sequence you know and that is on the same plane of existence as you. A shimmering portal opens within the circle you drew and remains open until the end of your next turn. Any creature that enters the portal instantly appears within 5 feet of the destination circle or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied. Many major temples, guilds, and other important places have permanent teleportation circles inscribed somewhere within their confines. Each such circle includes a unique sigil sequence—a string of magical runes arranged in a particular pattern. When you first gain the ability to cast this spell, you learn the sigil sequences for two destinations on the Material Plane, determined by the DM. You can learn additional sigil sequences during your adventures. You can commit a new sigil sequence to memory after studying it for 1 minute. You can create a permanent teleportation circle by casting this spell in the same location every day for one year. You need not use the circle to teleport…. The fallback TeleportTeleportLevel 7 · Conjuration1 action · 10 ft. · InstantaneousVThis spell instantly transports you and up to eight willing creatures of your choice that you can see within range, or a single object that you can see within range, to a destination you select. If you target an object, it must be able to fit entirely inside a 10-foot cube, and it can't be held or carried by an unwilling creature. The destination you choose must be known to you, and it must be on the same plane of existence as you. Your familiarity with the destination determines whether you arrive there successfully. The DM rolls d100 and consults the table. "Permanent circle" means a permanent teleportation circle whose sigil sequence you know. "Associated object" means that you possess an object taken from the desired destination within the last six months, such as a book from a wizard's library, bed linen from a royal suite, or a chunk of marble from a lich's secret tomb. "Very familiar" is a place you have been very often, a place you have carefully studied, or a place you can see when you cast the spell. "Seen casually" is someplace you have seen more than once but with which you aren't very familiar. "Viewed once" is a place you have seen once, possibly using magic. "Descri… would carry seven passengers per trip.
• Raistasi has begun to trust Angel: her stag antler focus is recovered and she demonstrated Tree Stride. Lance confirmed her Maerwen identity to Hellion, who told Gwyniviere; Angel had accepted her denial. Her mother, homeward route, and the merchant’s identity remain unresolved.
• Crispin has a private bargain: future gardening for Dorothy’s invisibility ring, with a same-plane bond sharing thoughts, emotions, sight, and sensation. It does not compel his actions. The connection was tested; invisibility was not demonstrated in the bargain scene. Dorothy knows his real name but believes the adult killer stole it. Hellion was not told the terms. Jessica has separately been told the truth about Crispin’s transformation.
• Thrantorbury comes before the larger Maidenfeld operation: a further day’s wait before a rescue was proposed; no deadline was shown being communicated to Minfilia and Marlion. No rescue launched.
• Jessica has joined the companions: her Maidenfeld investigation has Uther’s offer to cover expenses, but no completed operation or submarine acquisition. Steven’s location and captor remain unknown; the Haven has not been reached.
• Eastonton’s work continues: Miya and Natalia are assigned to question Torward for information about northern settlements and drow. The separate question of the ranking Reformist prisoners’ long-term fate awaits Minfilia or the Crown Prince. Crispin’s unusual response to the Orb of Absorption remains unexplained and does not establish that entering farther would be safe.

Draft Source Note

This recap draws from the reviewed September 27 notes, including their boundaries and open hooks. It condenses side discussions while distinguishing private exchanges, attributed reports, and proposed actions from shared knowledge and completed events. This draft is for pregame use, not a replacement for the fuller notes.