Cairn: The Crystal Shatters

Here we are back in Cairn, or rather, in the hamlet of Crystal Rock. 

Morning rolls around, and Russelet Leatherwind and Ratatosk Longberry join up with the otter fishermen and head out to the island what has the giant crystal. They go ashore (Ratatosk very glad to be back on land), and Billet Tiderunner, one of the otters, says they'll swing back around noon to check up on them. They wave, and head up towards the crystal to have a look. 

Right away they see problems. The memory-sapping power of the crystal is much stronger close, and both of them can sense that this is an Unnatural place. Ratatosk blindfolds them to see if other senses besides sight and hearing are affected, and touches and licks (ew) the crystal, but the data is inconclusive. He also writes himself notes to the effect of "THE CRYSTAL MAKES YOU FORGET!" and stashes them in his various pockets.

Meanwhile, back in town, Snootabur Shadowbough and Rumdiggle Sunsong go to the Temple of the Bright Ones. There they meet Seela Sungleam, the priestess, and she (after being reminded that the crystal is there) prays with them and puts a little glimmer around their heads, which helps them remained focused. She offers to perform a cleansing and so they decide to head out to the island. They borrow a boat and set out to sea, Rummy keeping the rows going in the right direction even though she's never been on the ocean before.

They reach the island go ashore, and find the others with blindfolds on. They take the blindfolds off and help Ratatosk and Russelet kind of recenter their brains a little, and then all of them circle the crystal while Seela performs the prayer. The crystal cracks slightly, and they all feel a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs as their Harmony melts away. It feels like the crystal is mad at them.

Ratatosk leads everyone in a dance to help regain some Harmony. As Snootabur is rolling around (how else would a hedgehog dance?), she feels her quills get wet. She uncurls and sees that the tide has come in, and their boat is floating away. Russelet, thinking quickly, hits it with a rope arrow and they reel it back in. They pile into the boat, tying Russelet to a rope so that he can parasail (to save room), and with some difficulty row back to the mainland. As they approach, a large quadrupedal creature comes charging up and nudges their boat onto the beach - Rummy recognizes Oof, the daggertusk from the circus.

Once there, their memories slowly start to return, but large parts of the day are gone. Memm Nightriver, the beast tamer, tells them that they need to go perform, and they manage to muddle through their acts (Ratatosk, fortunatley, does not forget how to safely make fireworks). After the show, Sumna Stormriver (the owner of the circus) calls them into her trailer and asks them what's going on. They explain the crystal, and realize that Sumna is one of the few people who seems to remember the crystal from one moment to the next (Sumna, for what it's worth, is extremely sharp and organized). The Knights tell her that they need to fix their crystal business, and Sumna says that the circus will help, they just need to figure out what to do. She calls Barlet Bluescale (the gecko business manager of the circus) in to help them, and when the characters see him munching on a cricket pie they realize they haven't eaten all day.

They head to the inn and eat a late supper and try to plan a little, but Rummy falls asleep at the table and Ratatosk is more scattered than usual. They decide to meet up tomorrow morning and approach this with a fresh set of eyes. 

The next morning, Barlet comes and finds them. They decide to go and visit Seela and make sure she's OK, and maybe see about any historical records of the town that she might have. She has to be reminded about what happened yesterday, but she does indeed have records, all transcribed in her hand from the original sources. Russelet reads up and learns that the crystal is almost never referred to in the history of the town, except when someone is writing about seeing it directly. But the founding of the town, which is described by one Starrin Tiderunner, does mention the crystal, and closes with his intent to go out and see it more closely. This seems to be when the trouble started.

The Knights discuss their options, and decide that the prayer did work, just not enough. They ask around and find that Zigri Woodberry, the beaver strongman of the circus, is also a priest of the Bright Ones, while Clothair Inkytail, the husband of the meerkat that owns the inn, dabbles in druidism. They decide to go back to the crystal tomorrow and have Ratatosk cast a spell to mitigate the Harmony loss that accompanies being on the island, then have Seela, Zigri, Ratatosk, and Clothair lead a dual prayer ritual to try and cleanse it. 

The next morning, they get on boats and head out. Sumna stays on shore with a pair of spyglasses to coordinate, while Russelet takes to the sky (on a tether) to keep a bat's-eye view of things. Rummy plays her inspirational song to keep everyone's spirits up, and Snootabur is ready to dance along with the druids. Ratatosk casts his spell and the crystal reacts, turning a deeper shade of purple, and then the prayers start.

It takes hours, but as the prayers continue the crystal begins to crack. It fights back, sucking away the participants' life force and will, but the Knights stay on track and push through, and eventually the crystal shatters into a fine dust and blows away on the wind. Everyone cheers and then heads back to town, and over the next day, all of the lost memories return. People in the hamlet remember others that, over the years, have been lost to the sea because no one remembered to look for them, and Billet informs the Knights that he did trade the large chunk of the crystal to a group of pika. The town of Crystal Rock throws the Knights (and the circus) a big party before the circus pulls up stakes and moves on.

What will their next adventure bring? We shall see!