Star & Scale #18

Star and Scale crossed the Windkept Bridge on their way to Sophivitas when Zeb brought up the fact he was having strange dreams of late, of people and places he'd never seen or been. Gift and Eden confirmed they were also having these dreams, a sort of Dream Tether to other people, though May and Ezekiel were not having them

• Having dreamed of a group of people looking into the secrets of Tsh'Ah, Zeb brought out the conch shell he bought many weeks ago, which the vendor had called an artifact of Tsh'Ah

  • Zeb whispered into it "If you hold the key, you keep the gate" and the shell created a magical blue line in the river below him, leading the group toward the ocean

  • Zeb, testing a theory about the dreams, said into the sky, "If you can see the blue line, follow it!"

Continuing on, Star and Scale was set upon by a flying book, entitled "Concoction of the Elixir Lowlands." It seemed to be enchanted, flying of its own accord, and had slammed into Gift's head

• The group considered tying the book up but it was able to escape and flew westward

Following after it, the group saw the book get shot down over a small hamlet off the royal road

• They traveled to the hamlet and found an Owlin named Daedalin had shot down the book and was writing lies into the books about potions

The book flew off again toward Sophivitas, but Daedalin decided it was fun to poke fun at and annoy the party, that is until a group of owlbears set upon the small village and Daedalin's crew ran off, leaving him behind with Star and Scale to deal with the threat

After dispatching the owl bears, Daedalin fancied himself a part of Star and Scale and let them know a Wing Guard had taken up residence in nearby church to Tyr and Daedalin had been paid to keep people from disturbing him

The group entered the church and found not only a Wing Guard and his pegasus but a member of the Ionlann, and overheard them discussing some shady business in Caim, from which the Wing Guard was hiding

Star and Scale confronted the Wing Guard and a tense standoff ensued in which neither side wanted to reveal the true reason they were in the church

Eventually, after leaving the church, the group heard the Wing Guard tell the Ionlann the jig was up and they needed to find a new hiding spot

• Star and Scale cut off an exit and met the two outside the church, and the Ionlann decided it was time for Star and Scale to die.