At the Edge of War

Fighting Kariil Acquermann

The party fights Kariil. Noah hits Kariil with two arrows, and his body drops. Noah notices that Kariil change to that of a guard covered with illusion magic. Arc sees the dead guard, and realizes that it is the unconscious guard he saw in the alleyway earlier.
The party realizes that Kariil might be employing both enchantment and illusion magic. Meanwhile, Adeena sees light glimmering from a nearby rooftop, similar to the one she saw earlier. She decides to investigate and leave the combat to the party.
Two more figures who appear like Kariil emerge and attack the party. Splix kills one with a fiery chromatic orb spell, and Kiris knocks the other one unconscious.
Three more individuals who look like Kariil appear and attack the party. Adeena ignores them and climbs up to the rooftop. She sees three Followers of Yekora on the rooftop, but they are not hostile to her.
The Followers of Yekora fire crossbow bolts at the individuals disguised as Kariil, killing most of them instantly.
One of the disguised individuals runs and imparts the following words to the party before taking a crossbow bolt from a Follower of Yekora:

“There are unwanted visitors. We’ll meet again.”

Theobald attempts to use his Revivifying Card on one of the dead bodies. He is stopped by Arc.
Splix casts a fireball to the Followers of Yekora’s location. The roof collapses, and the Followers of Yekora are subdued by Adeena and the party.

The Followers of Yekora explain that they are helping her and her party against The Cult of Miledu.
Adeena asks how will they help her. Splix casts detect thoughts, and he sees a retinue of soldiers reaching Midkip. He shares this to Adeena and the party.
Adeena asks the Followers of Yekora what will happen after the battle. The followers respond that it is up to Frederick Oberon, their leader. Adeena asks them if Frederick Oberon will come to Midkip, but the followers do not know.
The party lets them go, but Thoradin warns them not to face Adeena.

Arc, Theobald and Leneia take care of the dead. They put them on a cart and plan to carry them to Ironfleet Compound.
The party asks Leneia about Kariil and demonology. Leneia answers by telling the party that Stella warned her that necromancy and demonology are two practices that she should never touch.
The party reach Ironfleet Compound and see a crowd gathering in front of the gate. The people notice the dead bodies on the cart, and a few of them recognize the dead.
Before anyone in the party could react, Adikia stands up and talks to the crowd. She convinces them that the enemies did this. As a result, the people become fervent enough to volunteer and help the party’s cause.

Adeena prays in solitude inside the chapel. She asks for clarity about the situation between her and the Followers of Yekora.

Theobald, Thoradin and Leneia help the friends and family of the deceased. They carry the body inside the chapel so they can mourn peacefully.
After the wake, the bodies are burned outside the chapel.

Kiris tries to search for information about Calyxius, devils, and necromancy inside the library. Unfortunately, the library holds no answers for Kiris’s questions.

Noah enters the wake and tries to talk to one of the mourners. She realizes that the woman nearest to her is related to the guard she hit with her arrows earlier. She stays silent in guilt.

Splix successfully attempts to cast locate creature targeting Kariil. Splix sees him traversing the border between Chtapodhi and Ankyra.
Afterwards, Splix casts scrying on Vanayra. He spies on her for quite some time. At the tail end of the spell’s duration, Splix sees Adikia emerging from the staircase.

Arc exits the Ironfleet Compound to survey the surrounding area. He sees two interesting things: Adikia traveling to Ankyra on a horse; and a lone ship docking to a nearby port. Arc decides to check the ship.
Arc sees a fifty-people strong fighting force exiting the ship. He observes, and he identifies a tall, heavy-armored man giving orders to the soldiers.
Arc decides to surprise the leader by sneaking up on him. The leader appears unsurprised by Arc, as if he is expecting the surprise.
Arc identifies himself as a servant of Gandour. The leader tells him:

“Then you can treat me as a friend. We’re from Sumber and we’re here to provide help.”

The leader then introduces him and the soldiers as Followers of Yekora. Arc sees the followers marching towards Ankyra.

Adikia travels to Ankyra alone to confront Vanayra. Adikia finds a horse and creates an ancient companion.
Adikia enters the prison and interrogates Vanayra.
Adikia asks Vanayra about Kariil and Calyxius. Vanayra laughs mockingly. Adikia casts thunderclap to scare Vanayra.
Vanayra tells Adikia that Kariil loaned power from Calyxius. In addition, Kariil is the one who taught Auriel about necromancy and Calyxius.
Adikia asks Vanayra about Kariil’s reason in joining The Cult of Miledu. Vanayra answers that Kariil wants to claim his inheritance from the Acquermann Clan. Kariil wants the power from being a Lordknight.
Adikia asks Vanayra why she killed her adoptive parents. Vanayra tells Adikia that it was an order from the Council of Corleus. It was explained to Vanayra that the order should stop a coming war.
Adikia asks Vanayra if Frederick Oberon is part of the Council of Corleus. Vanayra adds that the Council and Frederick Oberon do not see eye to eye.
Adikia asks Vanayra about her and Kariil’s relationship. Adikia casts detect thoughts and it becomes clear to her that Vanayra and Kariil has a romantic relationship. However, Vanayra seems to still be hiding a part of the truth.

Splix catches a part of Adikia and Vanayra’s conversation. He gathers the party to decide on what to do next.