The Wandering Isles: Session 55
The tension remained high as Dash Heidmann peered through a crack in the ship’s door, catching a glimpse of Ilveg Thornthrower—the head of the Crisis Response Unit. Whether he’d been seen or not was unclear, but the risk was real. Before long, Rykur Frakes entered the room and locked the door behind him. Eos began recounting her journey—what she had learned, what she had lost—since leaving home.
Rykur listened, then offered his own story in return: a mistake from his past involving a sea serpent, a lost ship, and scars still worn. It had haunted him ever since, a lesson etched in salt and memory.
Hatsu Toshitsugu stepped forward with his own truth. He spoke of what had happened in Saigo no Toshi and of the burden he now carried. With nowhere left to turn, he asked for help in reclaiming what had been taken.
Their conversation turned quiet, more personal. Rykur offered Dash a rare moment of clarity—fatherhood changes you, he said. Not because you want it to, but because it must. Dash took it in, alongside the troubling news of someone being kept in a cage simply for how she looked.
Elsewhere, Amaedrianna Blüdfist kept watch from the shore, studying Ashrest’s formidable walls for any sign of weakness. Slate found her there, still searching for his missing book—the one tied to Vathros. He confronted her, certain she was hiding something. He wasn’t wrong.
Meanwhile, Weslyn Theiwyse slipped into sleep and into a dream that didn’t feel like his own. There, he found himself in the Arcanum, standing before Remington Maleficum. The two spoke in a shifting, surreal space shaped by Weslyn’s will. Remington revealed the truth of his prison—a Seal of his own design—and asked Weslyn to find his daughter, Kaelora, back in Saigo no Toshi. Weslyn agreed, on one condition: that Remington destroy his former home. And Remington agreed.
Back on the ship, the conversation shifted toward something new—something hopeful. The group asked Rykur if he knew a place where they could build something of their own. A bastion. A sanctuary. Somewhere safe for Eos, and for the human members of their group. Rykur offered a suggestion: why not build a town? One that could be protected. One that could last.
As plans began to form, the group reunited on the beach. They joked about sand. Bickered a little. Then attention turned to the woman in the cage. Dash and Amaedrianna were ready to break her out. Eos and Hatsu leaned toward returning to Asazaki—if only Eos knew how to use her new staff.
Slate may have claimed he knew a little something about that, but even his insights couldn’t awaken the weapon’s power. Still, they tried. Eos practiced her spells. Hatsu prayed. Magic shimmered in the air, bending moonlight into violet stars that flickered and faded depending on the strength of the casting.
In her continued search, Amaedrianna discovered that the caged woman had wings. The kind whispered about in old tales—like those of angels. She was furious no one had mentioned that. The debate that followed was heated. How could they free her? How could they do it without risking everything?
Weslyn turned invisible and took the Seal from Eos. Amaedrianna, rendered unseen by Slate’s magic, flew after him. The two moved like shadows, slipping into the prison and reaching the winged figure. Weslyn spoke gently, trying to earn her trust. She hesitated, but in the end, chose hope over fear. With no better option, she entered the Seal.
They escaped as quietly as they’d come.
The group reunited once more. No time for rest. They fled under moonlight, leaving the fortress behind them, and ran until dawn.
And that’s where their story paused—on the edge of morning, plans uncertain, the future wide open.
