A future uncertain: My dearest friend
Once we're back in private, Carlyle stresses out that he won't the one to manipulate Kasvarina as this would just be wrong and against everything he believes in. So he asks Auryn to stay true to her creed as well as he knows that she is quite adept at influencing other people, which is really not a big deal with regular people but could prove to be fatal with someone who's in such a blank state.
In response, Auryn looks at Carlyle with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“Of course I won't use my powers on her. How can you believe that I would use my family as a tool? We're on the same side here, all I want is to help her remember what she has lost. I fully trust in our familial bonds and my ability to bring her light and happiness so she can see that she didn't lose everything when Grappa wiped her memory.”
She then falls quiet until we return back to Flint. There, Auryn brings up the subject of the attack on the Vantrys estate again and points out that Macbannin had given his evidence to “the Guardian”, so we should maybe contact Dawkins before we leave. Oh and don't you dare try to brush off the matter again, Gabriel.
(One way of exiting out of the Kasvarina and her troubles with Carlyle topic 
)
Carlyle seems content with this short detour and so Auryn tries to send a sending to Dawkins to announce our coming visit to his home. However, she gets no reply from her friend and her face turns to ashen white as this had been exactly how the troubles with Andrei and his disappearance had begun.
So we both hurry to the Dawkins estate to ask if everything is alright with the Rear Admiral. Fortunately, Milena is present and can give us an all-clear as dear Morris just had yet another exacerbation of Yerasol-Malaria and is currently sleeping. She is a bit worried though as he has never had symptoms this severe, but the doctor was quite sure that he'll suffer no lasting damage.
Just as she finishes this sentence, we hear rumbling noises from upstairs. So Milena gives us the permission to enter Morris' room as she understands that we would clearly want to see him. Once we enter his room, we find Morris at full consciousness, albeit in a weak condition. He smiles slightly as soon as he sees us and excuses himself for being unable to get up yet even though he wishes he'd be in his office right now.
We explain that we just returned from a delicate mission, but have certain information we'd want to share with him. Then, we tell him about the weakened seal of Macbannin and that we found the root and probably the solution for this problem: Macbannin himself. Or rather his ghost. This give Dawkins a good laugh, as this would have been the most logical explanation of all. Then we explain the matter of the Planar Seal and how it came to be. Now this is something that worries Dawkins deeply, but he asks us to continue first as we clearly got more to tell him first.
So we ask him whether he would still have some dark information from Macbannin he had found with a dying man several years ago. Dawkins raises an eyebrow in return as if he had never thought that someone would ever mention these documents again.
“Yes, I still keep them safely stored. But alas, I gave that man the promise that no matter what I would only hand them out on his direct, personal request. So please understand that I would need something from Macbannin that qualifies as that sort of 'request'”
Of course we understand that such matters are quite serious for people like him, so we agree to get a written permission from Macbannin for the documents. Dawkins then explains why he would be so worried regarding the Planar Seal: One day ago, he was struck with an intense pain and the feeling as if the threshold between our world and the Dreaming was on fire. He collapsed, but in his subconscious mind, he then remembered that pain from a previous incarnation who had felt the same fire two centuries ago.
We put the pieces together and explain that it is very likely that two hundred years ago, some Obscurati might have tried to manipulate the seal and failed, which caused the dragons to lose their flight. So someone could already be at the ritual location and make first tests for the real one.
“This... also reminds me of an ancient, mythical tale of the Dreaming. One that existed before my first self was even born. Once there was a time when the Dreaming was limitless, borderless. We were and we were all that was. If what you say about the original state of this world is true, then maybe there is more to that myth than we thought...” Dawkins muses.
“Those must have been days of wonder... oh how I wish to see the world through the eyes of my youth again. So much that we have left behind. How I miss being simply the Commander of the Aurora, sailing with my crew to unknown shores. It was then when I first met you, my dear. I remember it like it happened yesterday”
With these words, Morris gently touches Auryn's cheek, a gesture that she promptly returns by placing her hand on his and smiling with her warmest of smiles.
“Just get well soon. And then we'll make sure to voyage again one day.”
“...and the first time I've seen your dance... even though you're standing right beside me, I can see you clearly prancing through the ballroom, turning everyone's heads.”
He laughs again softly and Auryn promises that next time she will be in Flint and not be on a pressing mission, she will return here and dance just for Morris Dawkins, her dear friend. But for now, we have to find Kasvarina and will be leaving the country soon. Dawkins wishes us good luck and adds that he'll make sure he's in his office and back to work soon.
Just as we're about to leave, we both suddenly see the brief vision of a radiant figure floating amidst a raging storm. We then go downstairs and say goodbye to Milena who is clearly not happy that everyone is so obsessed with work that they neglect their personal needs. And the moment we're finally leaving the estate, she briefly takes Carlyle aside and asks him in a whisper whether Auryn is alright as she seems strangely distant, like she was slowly erecting a wall around her.
“I know you two are close, and I am happy for you. But... something isn't right. She is more vulnerable than you'd think, and she needs someone she can open up to. I know now that Morris has always been that person for her, but with you being away on missions and all of that, I fear that we all might lose her...”
Carlyle seems a bit surprised at first, but he then nods to Milena and thanks her for her interesting insight. He then catches up with Auryn and as soon as they have left the estate, says that he is quite worried about Morris' condition. When Auryn replies that Morris is quite used to this depletion of his power and has always recovered from his fevers, Carlyle explains that something is different this time, something he had seen quite a few time in his long, previous life: That a person would become strangely sentimental and reminiscent near the end of their lifespan. As if they were looking back fondly at their memories to relive them just once more.
Auryn reacts pretty shocked to this revelation and doesn't know what to say. Instead, she just shakes her head in disbelief.
“No, no, this cannot be. He is so... strong, I've never seen anyone like him, and it is not like he's an old man yet. He has always recovered and I do believe with all of my heart that he will recover this time as well. I... don't want to think about living without him.”
Carlyle takes Auryn's hand in response as he understands that right now she doesn't even want to consider the possibility that this incarnation of the Old Stag may come to an end in the not too far future.
“I didn't want to frighten you. And what do I know about the lifespans of mortal fey incarnations? He may be decades away from his parting.”
(Remember her troubles with death? Imagine how the death of someone who is very dear to Auryn would affect her. She managed to deal with people dying, but just thinking about a friend's death gives her shivers)
With these last words, we return to our home without bringing up the subject again or even speak another word at all.
(What a way to finish adventure 7! Told you, it would end on a rather low key. Most of their personal issues will be resolved in the next bridge episode, so I won't talk about the background of this too much.
So, what can I say about this module from our perspective as players? Overall, we were really excited to finally get some background on the Obscurati plans. And my, what bold plans do they have! Nicodemus' revelation of the planar seal at the convocation and the whole crazy planar shenanigans of Lanjyr being connected to this were bombastic ideas. And as this was already revealed midway through the campaign, it opened up myriads of possible directions the campaign could take. I just wish that more modules would allow themselves to be as bold as this, as you'd usually see such a big reveal only during the final adventure.
I also very much enjoyed the portrayal of Nicodemus here, as we got to experience many facets of his persona. Usually, you can rarely get up close with your antagonist and by letting us play as his confidents, we were able to see both his softer spots and his deep flaws. From a storytelling point of view, this was just a fantastic move. I also really loved how our characters and the antagonists compare (especially Nic and Kas), and are very much similar to some extend. This was purely coincidental, but it also added a lot of depth and would, I believe, very much work in a novelized version.
What also worked really well was Tiz' use of additional material and letting us just do our thing at the convocation. From my personal perspective as a player, this was very much needed and staying sctrictly on script would have frustrated both of us. We know that the main point of the convocation is exposition, but the players need to be able to have more impact if they want to. This included the addition of a list of the actual planes that are used in each proposal, and a rough description of what they are doing in this setup. Again thanks to @arkwright for providing the list. Which was necessary to make our own improvements on the Miller's Pyre setup and develop the Brave New World plan. Also, ideally the future changes of the world would reflect on the results of the final vote of the convocation, of course with a twist as Nic doesn't know whether or not he's been duped into accepting a proposal with a backdoor from the RHC agents. But I get that this would be hard to implement as there could be a large number of likeable outcomes.
What was a bit disappointing was the role of Luc Jierre, or rather the lack thereof, and I get that this was due to the combined effect of the module being unsure whether he was still alive, switched sides or stayed loyal to the Ob at this point and the fact that Tiz didn't want to screw things up by having too many wild-cards, so he focused more on the "big ones" like Gradiax, who I believe deviates a lot from his original at this point. I truly believe that ZG, even though it would be much harder to implement corretly, could have benefitted from the more free floating choices of WotBS, like with the appearance and stance of Shalosha. A sentence or two would have been enough to give the DM a bit more direction on a possible recurring character here. Same with Lya Jierre.
Oh and in retrospect, I am a bit amused that the players obtaining the Humble Hook is really brushed over at that point. Usually, we were expected to turn in any kind of treasure we found to the officials. And we found this invaluable artifact on an official mission from our enemy faction. By real RAW, I suppose we were to hand it over to Delft, but... none of us really thought about it as that Hook clearly wanted to stay with Auryn. I love these kinds of "growing" artifacts by the way )
