While Jeremi recuperates from his recent resurrection, the rest of the Company resupply themselves and rest.
The Feast of Hallowed Gillias (Festival of the Dead)
Rafe, Sebastian, Orongorg, Uso, and Jeremi (with Estac�o) meet at the Ghostly Minstrel to discuss their situation. Jeremi is obviously still recovering from his wounds, as he overlooks that it is an important holiday of his faith and forgets to hold a blessing to honor Hallowed Gillias, the First Martyr of �tonistm. The Company's main concern is finding Thanali and recovering the mummified hand which they believe is a key to the sealed door in the Baneguard. While sitting in the tavern, the Company spy another human man of the West inside. He sticks out because, although obviously a westerner, he is dressed in Verundhian fashion. Jeremi approaches the man, but is quickly rebuffed by the man's seeming distaste for the �tonist religion. Sebastian also attempts to conveerse with the man, but to no avail. The stranger is a man of few words. Eventually, Jeremi's cohort, Estac�o, is able to convince the man that while some wear the garb and trappings of priests of Universal �tonism, they are in fact not proselytizers. The man introduces himself as Cirend Owain, born in Courrisseux but living in Verundhi for six years now. He bears a strong dislike of �tonism, and has adopted the ways of the native Verundhians. Coincidentally, Cirend's original �tonist Patron was Hallowed Gillias, and it is on the Feast of Hallowed Gillias that he meets the rest of the Company.
Cirend eventually agrees to join the Company, although his reasons and motives remain unclear. He clearly will provide an expertise in combat that the other members of the company lack.
With Cirend in tow, the Company visit Ishara Jagruti to recover Jeremi's staff. She believes that the staff may provide some type of powers to protect its wielder against magical effects, but the runes on the staff are written in an ancient, pre-Alfr language that she has never before encountered. They ask her about Thanali, and also check in again at the local headquarters of the Sepoy Kpeshiya. No one has seen nor heard from Thanali for quite some time. He is thought to be gone on an extended mission.
After many hours of questioning the locals to see if anyone has seen Thanali, they decide to return to the Baneguard under the assumption that if Thanali has the key, he may try to use it to get inside. Upon arriving at the sealed door, the Company discover a slain and brutally disfigured Kalimat. He is clearly beyond magical ressurrection. Cirend is able to identify that both man-made and natural weapons killed the �tonist champion. Uso and Jeremi also detect signs of magical attacks. Odder still, the sealed door has been breached. The Company pass through and enter the next phase of the Baneguard.
Once they pass through the door, they can tell that they are in a much older section of the Baneguard than the areas through which they previously passed. Moving forward, they are attacked by a huge, feral ape and a devil-dog armed with a powerful longbow. They quickly defeat these two foes, and discover that the devil-dog wears a bone ring. Cirend, curious as to its function, grabs the ring and puts it on. Much to his dismay, he discovers that he is unable to remove the ring.
The rest of the Company note that this devil-dog is equipped in a much better fashion than many of the more "tribal" devil-dogs whom they encountered in the rural areas of Esoria. His fur coloring and weapons have more in common with the devil-dogs they first met, months ago, in the basement of the crazy old woman's house in Barrid.
Further into the Banevault, Sebastian is in such a hurry that he forgets to check for traps and he and Cirend become cut off from the rest of the Company in a cleverly-designed mechanical trap. Just as things look their worst, Rafe remembers the gift bestowed upon him by the Raunie of the Baltrany Rye. With a mere thought, he recalls Sebastian and Cirend to his side. Continuing forward, the Company discover a Kobali's dead body among some rubbled at the far end of the trap. They dig it up and discover that the Kobali was only recently killed by the trap, perhaps in the past two or three days. This Kobali also wears a bone ring.
Further still the Company find a room with a warding generator, very similar to a room they found in the outer segments of the Banevault. This generator, however, appears to be functioning. They continue and bypass a spear trap, finding a dead kobold body on the other side of the trap. The kobold appears to have bled to death from multiple puncture wounds. He also wears a bone ring.
Toward the end of the day, the Company enter a room and are attacked by a foul, mis-shapen bear that seems to have been constructed from other animal parts. It fights with no regard for its own safety and seems nearly immune to the Company's weapons and magick. Eventually, it is defeated and the Company pause for rest and recuperation.
