Speaking of that recap, here's our...
Session 18 Recap!Part One:Interesting CharactersIt’s a bright sunny afternoon in Cai Shaan. There are people out in the streets, working in yards, going about city life. Certain striking members of the party attract curious looks. However, Basil mysteriously vanished as soon as the party entered.
“Inima” is looking around, checking their surroundings, almost as if looking for something. Then they notice Basil is missing! They put their hand to their forehead.
Amani/“Inima”: “Oh, don’t tell me…”
Meallan: “Should we go find him?”
“Inima”: “Are we gonna be able to?”
Meallan: “No, he is small and quick.”
Amani sighs. “I guess we’ll deal with him later…”
Tally: “He’ll be able to find us.”
Am: “Oh, I’m not worried about that.”
Anthony wants to go to the nearest inn/tavern for drinks! And indeed he finds one! He’s gonna go in!
Amani: “Well- wait a minute! Why are we running off? Weren’t we supposed to fight a sea monster?!”
Ant: “Yeah, but we’ve also been on the road for several days, and I could do for a warm fire and a nice ale.”
“That’s nice, but there’s a sea monster attacking people right now!”
...Except. There is not. Not right this moment.
Tally: “I want to see the sea!”
M: “Why don’t we do both? Anthony can have his drink, we can take a rest, and then we can go see the sea. I want to buy some things on the way.”
Amani just looks very worried.
M: “Amani, if we hear where the monster is, we’ll go there. In the meantime, I think we all need a rest.”
T: “What kind of rest?”
“I do not know. Anthony obviously knows what kind of rest he wants.”
Ant: “I’m a man of simple needs!”
Am: “Great, so if the sea monster attacks in the middle of all this, we’ll all be too drunk to do anything. Great. What heroes!”
M: “I’m not planning on drinking.”
T: “I think he can function on a few drinks.”
M: “He has proven that he can function on a few drinks.”
“He can function on wasp poison, so- Well, sort of.”
M: “Yes.”
Ant: “Yeah, I feel like- give me a little credit here!”
Am: “That is impressive, I guess…”
M: “Amani, are you alright?”
Am: “Don’t worry about me. I just really want to fight the sea monster so it doesn’t attack any more people.”
T: “That’s a good idea, Inima!
Am: “Thank you.”
M: “It is a very good idea. At the same time, are we ready to fight the sea monster?”
Am: “I am!”
T: “First, I want to rest on the beach!”
Am: “That’s… that’s a good idea!”
M: “I think it would be nice to see the sea.”
M: “Anthony, why don’t you buy your drink to go?”
Ant: “Alright, as long as there aren’t any open-container laws here.”
Am: “Why don’t you buy your drink near the beach?”
A drunk halfling wanders past, still drinking.
Anthony: “...All right! Fine by me!”
M: “Let’s go to the beach. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the sea.”
...Not counting the sea on the east coast when they were investigating the Sexy Tree. It just wasn’t long enough to be the same.
They enter the tavern, which is pretty quiet this time of day; mid-afternoon.
There’s a strange group of individuals around a table. There’s a red-skinned, horned figure at the far end of the table, reading from a scroll. There’s a second horned figure who is almost ghostly pale in appearance, and a faintly glowing human, with their backs to Anthony. Across from them is a plainly attired, slender blue-grey elf with long white hair in a scruffy semblance of a ponytail. The elf also has a fancy silver ear-cuff shaped like a jewelled bird’s wing, which technically wasn’t mentioned until later in the session but description flows better when grouped together, dangit! There’s a second figure seated beside them, whose head is lowered. Their features can’t be made out.
The elf looks up, and their smile wavers for a moment. They lean over to whisper something to the figure beside them, who looks up.
The second figure is a short (5’1”), quite plump figure, accentuated by the robes they wear, which are made of purple and pink silks. The only part of them that can be seen is their face, and even that is mostly obscured by a large collar. They’ve got emerald green eyes and dusty blonde hair cut short on one side, with patterns shaved into it. Their skin is a soft earthy brown, and they have freckles that shine and shimmer in the light because their freckles are made of diamonds! On their back, they have a big metal shield, and then down on the side, they have a strange hooked bronze sword. They’re just having a good time! And this… is the guest character!
They’re very shiny, so Amani’s attention is immediately captured!
Aytal runs over to the shiny person. The red tiefling stops talking and everyone is distracted by the funny animal.
Guest Character: “Aww, look at you!”
They feed Aytal some scraps of meat from their plate, trying to coax him out from under the table.
Guest Character: “Over here! It’s okay, I’m your friend, I’m your friend right, yeah?”
Aytal takes the food and jumps up on the stranger’s knees. The figure awws, and sits there super excited because this adorable creature is adoring them, but they don’t want to scare him off. Aytal looks up into the individual’s face, at their sparkly lil’ freckles. He makes happy ferret sounds.
The stranger loves him.
Tally has spotted the blue-grey elf, who looks exactly like someone she knows. She awkwardly tries to catch their eye all 'hey, I think I recognise you- do you recognise me back?'There’s some note of recognition when the elf looks at Tally, but then they return their attention to the guest character and Aytal
Meallan approaches them. “That’s mine. He seems to have taken quite a liking to you.”
Guest Character: “Oh, is this your dog?”
Meallan: “He’s not a dog…”
The stranger awkwardly picks Aytal up and holds him out to Meallan. Meallan clicks his fingers and Aytal reappears on his shoulders. The guest character gasps.
“Oh my goodness a magic dog!”
Meallan: “He is not a dog.”
Guest Character: “I’ve never seen one of those!”
Meallan: “He is not a dog.”
Guest Character: “Not a…? Well yeah, I’ve never seen a dog that can disappear too.”
Meallan: “Well, he is not a dog in any sense of the word. He is a sable, but he is a fey. He’s my familiar.”
Guest Character: “Ooooh...riiigghhhht. Okay.”
Khamet turns to them and points at Aytal. “Be careful. This is a magical sable...made from dung. So wash your hands. Wash your hands after that, by the way.”
Meallan sighs. “Please do not mind Khamet. He says all sorts of strange things.”
Gem: “That’s okay! Um, my name is Gem. I’m made from people. Um...yeah. Hi! It’s great to meet all of you!”
Meallan: “Hello, Gem.”
Tally approaches. The blue-grey elf says: “Hi, you’re from my brother’s shrine, aren’t you?”
Tally: “Uh...your brother’s shrine?”
Blue Elf: “Yeah! Or some...weird place, I don’t really know. He lives there. It’s on a hill.”
Tally: “I’m sorry. I thought...I recognised you from somewhere. You’re not Zephyr, are you?”
The elf laughs. “Ah no, no I’m not Zephyr. I get that a lot. Well not...not really so much? But sometimes! Uh, my name’s Gale.”
There’s an awkward pause.
Gale continues: “And you are…?”
Tally: “Hi, I’m Tally. Uh, yeah I did train at the Shrine, so. Yeah. Oh I guess I’d be pretty recognisable too, huh? Well, fancy meeting you here?”
Gale: “It’s nice to meet you as well. Um, I have to say, I don’t know you personally, I haven’t heard- he hasn’t said anything about you, but you look-”
He gestures to her blue monklike attire. “-you look distinctive.”
Tally makes a small unhappy sound. Gale quickly clarifies:
“I meant with your blue robes. That you’re wearing. Not...not anything else.”
Tally: “Wow, I’m glad I wore clothes today.”
Making Plans!
Anthony is on his way to the bar to get a drink when he sees the two tieflings. With his only frame of reference being Tenacity, he is immediately suspicious and tries to...nonchalantly sneak over to the bar to get what he needs. Which apparently, is a gallon of ale.
Khamet approaches the pale tiefling. “Oh wow! Are you sick? Your skin is so white! You’re so pale!”
She blinks at him. Her eyes are solid red. “Ah...genetics, I guess? Um. Hi, I’m Aria, by the way.”
“Hi, Aria! How are you?”
She seems a bit uncertain. “I’m...good? I’m not sick.”
Khamet: “Oh, okay. Well that’s good because I’ve never seen, like, someone be this white. So I was just concerned- but I’m glad that you’re okay. Nice to meet you, Aria. It’s a very pretty name. Do you like music?”
She nods, but glances desperately at the glowing human beside her. “Yep. I like music I guess? It’s more my parents...gave me this name.”
Khamet: “Oh. Okay, okay, well okay, that’s great!”
He turns to the glowing human and says: “Why are you glowing?”
Meanwhile, Meallan is finally introducing himself to Gem by name. He glances over at Khamet.
Meallan: “Excuse me for a second.”
Gem: “Oh, okay.”
Leaving Aytal with Gem, Meallan taps Khamet on the shoulder.Gem is excited to have such a cute furry friendo, and Aytal begs them for more treats!
Khamet completely ignores Meallan.
Meallan: “Khamet…”
Khamet continues to ignore him. The glowing human looks at Meallan, looks at Khamet, and then turns around to speak to Khamet.
“I think your friend’s trying to get your attention.”
Khamet: “Oh no, he’s not my friend. He’s just some guy that we picked off the street.”
Meallan sighs.
Khamet: “He’s like a drain to society? Um. Anyways, I was just wondering-”
Meallan: “Is he bothering you?”
Glowing Human: “Yes? I mean- not in a bad way, but he keeps asking us strange questions. He asked me why I’m glowing and that’s not something I usually get like, first up.”
Meallan: “Yes, he does that.”
Amani: “It’s a very personal thing.”
Meallan: “He does ask people rather strange questions. Do you mind?”
Anthony, meanwhile, is trying to sneak out of the establishment as quickly and quietly as possible. He looks a little bit uncomfortable, so Tally goes to check on him.
Gale: “Oh...okay, bye.”
Tally: “No excuse me, I need to go check on my friend.”
Gale gives her a little thumbs-up, and turns back to Gem and the others.
Glowing Human: “Well, I mean, the questions are a bit unwanted but I wouldn’t say he’s ‘bothering’ me particularly. Like, if he just stops asking me weird questions, he seems like a perfectly...nice presence.”
Meallan: “Alright.”
He leans down to Khamet. “Asking strange questions...I’m quite sure that’s not ‘nice’. Why do you do it?”
Khamet looks annoyed. “Can you leave?”
Meallan slinks away back to Gem and Aytal. He sits down and calls Aytal over. Tally catches up to Anthony.
The tieflings are… red and white… don’t you think that a red tiefling and a white tiefling may possibly make a pink tiefling? Feel free to thinkmoji away, dear reader.
Tally: “Hey man, anything the problem here? Anybody giving you trouble?”
Anthony: “Uh...no. Those two horned people kind of look like uhhhh...like some authorities that I don’t want to deal with.”
Tally: “Ohhhh. Bad experience with horned people?”
Anthony: “Yes.”
Tally: “Mmm, gotcha. Well, if you just need a moment out there.”
Anthony: “Na, I guess I just like...wanna get to the sea monster and get it over with now.”
Tally: “Ah, oh well. I’ll come out here and get you as soon as the others are done...you know. Bickering.”
Anthony: “Yeah, cool. If they’re asking questions about me, you know, don’t tell ‘em nuthin!”
Tally: “Sure. I’ll tell them lots of nothing.”
Anthony: “Excellent. Thanks Tally.”
Tally goes back to the table and sidles closer to the horned people. Just in case.
Gale nudges Gem: “I think these might be the sort of people you were looking for? To maybe...you know…?”
Gem gasps audibly. “Oh my goodness! That’s such a good idea. Heeeeeyy, guys. Um. Do you know anything about sea monsters? Or have you ever...partaken in like, the slaying of like a sea monster?”
Meallan: “No. But that is why we are here.”
Gem: “Oh my goodness, it’s a coincidence! Okay. So, um, so there’s like this sea monster here or something? And originally…”
They lean in to whisper theatrically, hand at the edge of their mouth. “I’m kind of like...a hero? Um. But. So I was like gonna kill the sea monster, but then I was talking to a few people and by the sound of it it’s kind of big? Um. So I thought, maybe, I could use some help with it? And so if you were in the neighbourhood, you know maybe looking for some work, that could be great. Or not! You know, you don’t have to do anything, it’s fine. I can handle it myself, but…”
Amani was not paying much attention to what just went on. They were busy looking around, but at Gem’s words their attention is caught. They go on over:
Amani: “You said you needed help with the sea monster?”
Gem: “Yeah, so like, it’s been like wrecking ships and stuff, and so-”
Amani: “And probably the sea elf cities.”
Gem: “Oh no, that’s so sad!”
Amani: “It is! Finally, someone understands.”
Khamet is still trying to speak to the glowing human. She forces a smile, turns around and says: “Can I help you?”
Khamet: “Yes, I was just curious about uh who you guys are. Because you look, um…unusual. Where I come from it’s mostly just humans. So.”
Glowing Human: “Ah okay, I’m sorry. I’m just used to a lot of really, uh, insensitive questions? Um. But yeah. If you’re wondering why I am glowing, um...I’m an aasimar, and-”
Khamet loudly gasps. “An aasimar!”
“Yes!?”
“Just like Raia!”
“I don’t know who Raia is, but I’m sure they’re very lovely.”
Khamet is so happy! “She is! Oh my god, hi, I’m sorry, I’m sorry the only other aasimar I know is like this really really great person, so.”
Throughout all this, the red tiefling at the head of the table is looking pretty grumpy and not really saying anything. The glowing person nods in response to Khamet.
“Oh, okay well I’m glad, I mean we do tend to be very great people...um. My name’s Thea, You were...I think someone called you Khamet?”
Khamet: “Oh yes, my name is Khamet.”
Thea sticks her hand out awkwardly. Khamet shakes it.
Khamet: “Oh, I’m so happy to meet you guys. I hope you’re not stuck here because of the sea monster, are you?”
Thea: “Oh, nononono. We live here. We’re just having a little meeting.Um, for…”
The red tiefling interrupts. “Well, we would be having a meeting, if not for certain. Interruptions.”
Khamet: “Yeah! You know, interruptions, they’re so bad. Well it was so nice to meet you, Thea, Aria and...you are?”
Red Tiefling: “Uh. Isaac.”
Khamet: “Oh. Hello Isaac, nice to meet you.”
Isaac reluctantly takes Khamet’s hand and shakes it. Although neatly clipped down, he’s got obvious claws on his fingertips.
Khamet: “Hey do you guys want like a drink or something?”
Over the other side of the table, monster-slaying matters are still under discussion.
Gale: “Well if you’re particularly interested, I could set you up a meeting with my employer?”
Meallan: “Who is your employer?”
Gale: “The Master of Trade. Little bit...I don’t want to say ‘pissy’, but I do wanna say that- although don’t tell them I said that!- at the moment because of all the lack of trade, but um-”
Amani: “That sounds about right.”
Gem: “But like, if we kill this sea monster then surely they’ll be like…less pissy? So…”
Gale: “Yeah I think they would be significantly less pissy if we killed the sea monster. Or if you killed the sea monster. I’m not.”
Meallan: “We were told to speak to the Master of Trade. That would be useful.”
Gale: “This seems like it was uh, a meeting made by fate, you know?”
Meallan: “Indeed.”
Gem: “It was preordained by destiny!”
Gale: “Yes ‘preordained’, thank-you for that.”
Gale says that he can take the party to meet Usavias, the Master of Trade. Gale has previously mentioned who he works for multiple times to Gem, because he’s quite proud of this, but Gem is Gem and totally forgot. But they’re happy to tag along anyway!
Meallan: “That would be quite useful. Perhaps...when is this meeting supposed to take place? We were thinking of going down to the beach before.
Gale: “Well, that’s the thing. I can- I can organise a meeting for you? I don’t know how I’m going to tell you what time it is if you’re off on the beach. Um.”
Gem gasps. “Why don’t we have the meeting...on the beach?!”
Amani: “Yeah, that’s-!”
Gale: “I mean that’s a great idea, but then I have to get them to come down to the beach. Uh. They don’t-”
Amani (sarcastic): “Oh no, they’d have to go down to the beach.” (I think this was the line?)
Gale sighs: “Well, they don’t seem like the sort who would like getting sand in their toes.”
Amani: “Of course they wouldn’t.”
Gale: “They’re an indoor elf, more than-”
Tally: “Well maybe, maybe if we took them swimsuit shopping first they’d be happier to come?”
Gale is not sure how to respond to this suggestion.
Khamet buys drinks for himself, Gale, Aria and Thea. Isaac rejected the offer, he is looking increasingly grumpy and picking at his claws, wondering what his life has come to.
Gale offers to arrange the meeting, and then meet the party back here in a couple hours to let them know when it’s actually happening.
Meallan: “That sounds...perfect. Thank-you very much.”
Amani: “Alright.”
Gale: “Alright, so I’ll see you back here in two hours. Please don’t be late, or I have to hang out with these guys again.”
Gem asks if they can come along. Meallan asks who the people with Gale are.
“These guys?” He gestures around the table. “Ah yeah, we’ve got um...Thea, Aria, Isaac. Yep.”
Meallan: “But who are they?”
Gale: “I don’t know what you’re asking me.”
Eventually they work this out, and Gale explains that these are just some people he knows. They have this meeting every so often, it’s a support group for people of unusual heritage like theirs (they’re actually currently trying to workshop a name for said group.)
Meallan: “Oh I see. How curious. Well, I wish them all the best of luck then.”
Meallan goes over to the little support group. “Are you still okay? You don’t need any help do you?”
Thea: “Yeah yeah, we’re fine.”
Isaac is less chipper: “We’re fine, yes, thank-you. Go find your sea monster.”
Meallan glances at Khamet to ensure he’s still not bothering them, before returning to the others.
Cool RocksThe party leaves the tavern. Meallan keeps an eye out for magic shops, but doesn’t find any of the specialty fancy magic stores. But he finds some apothecaries. He looks for an incense shop.
He enters a shop that’s full of crystals and incense, dude. So new age! Meallan’s a bit uncomfortable.
Meallan tries to persuade the shopkeeper, “Since I’m buying quite a lot, I don’t suppose I could get a discount?”
“No.”
Tally: “Meallan, you should’ve asked if the spiritual energies of the universe would grant you this discount today!”
Shopkeeper: “Do you want your incense or not?”
Meallan buys 5 gold worth of incense.
M: “Do you have any sort of things for healing?”
Gem, meanwhile, is looking at a variety of overpriced sparkly things. They find a ridiculous big crystal necklace, one that can fix their Aura. They spend all of their money on that.
Khamet… wanders off without a goodbye.
Meallan leans in towards Tally. “Do you think I annoyed him? I was only asking genuinely.”
T: “Ahhh… he gets annoyed a lot, but he tends to cool off later. Hold on, I need to check something in the shop and then I’ll go check on him.”
M: “I just… I don’t want to anger him, but I always seem to, and I don’t know how to fix it!” Referring to his actions in the inn.
T: “This time, I think he might’ve been… huhh… I don’t know, really. You just gotta accept that sometimes he gets annoyed at things. And sooner or later he’s gotta talk about it. I hope.”
M: “I just… I don’t understand! He asks all these strange questions, and I’m sure asking them is not nice. And I’m trying to understand what it’s like to be nice, but he asks them… I’m sure it’s not right, but he does it!”
T: “Meallan, you did not do a bad in there. You did not do a bad. Okay? Would you like a pat on the head?”
“...I would.” He leans down. She can probably just pat his shoulder. She mainly lets Meallan go in for a self-pat.
T: “Good boy.”
M: “Thank you, Tally. I appreciate it.”
The shopkeeper hears about half of this conversation. But really, they’re used to these sorts of weird conversations.
Aytal… steals a little rose quartz! Then after they leave the shop, he climbs Gem’s shoulders and deposits it into their hands.
Gem gasps! “Oh my goodness, thank you so much!!” They scritch Aytal on the head, then pull out some snacks for Aytal. They don’t even consider the source of the gem.
Aytal accepts the snacks, then returns to Meallan.
Khamet is wandering the area, looking for something pretty to catalogue. He notices a sign nearby written in Elvish and Common. There’s a nice public garden nearby! He does want to go to the garden; it’s nice and he likes gardens! So he parks Hatar outside the garden and enters.
He notices that the city is more urban than Ur. They have a huge garden. There’s trees overhanging at first, and then a large botanical garden. There’s plants all over and a pond with pale blue water lilies. Khamet wanders around. He stares for a while at the water lilies and simultaneously thinks they’re cool and feels homesick. He sits down near them and writes in his journal. It’s nice. He found a nice place.
The others notice that Khamet is gone. In addition to Basil!
Am: “They do know we’re supposed to have a meeting soon, right? And that we’re trying to fight a sea monster?”
Meallan sighs. “Let’s just go down to the beach, and then we’ll see.”
“Well, we have to meet them at the tavern again anyway. Just… wherever is not in the crowded parts of town.”
“I can always try and send him a message. If he lets me.”
“Can you?”
“If Aytal finds him, or I can find an animal to get him.”
“Are you sure he’d listen? He doesn’t seem to be on good terms with you.”
Meallan sighs. “I can try.”
“I guess we’ll meet? But… it’s not how I want to spend my time in Cai Shaan.”
“If he does not come back for the meeting, we’ll find out what happened.”
“Okay. I guess.”
“Amani, are you alright-?”
Gem: “I’m sure that if his heart is in the right place, he can just follow his heart, and then he’ll come to the important meeting that we’re having!”
Amani: “Uhh… I’m not sure if his heart works that way, but I appreciate what you’re trying to say here!”
M: “Well, let’s just focus on what we can change and go down to the beach.”
Amani: “Maybe… Only thing we _can_ change is to… not overstay our welcome and to destroy that sea monster! That’s all that matters.”
M: “Well, Amani, if it makes you feel better, if we go down to the beach, you’ll see the sea, you’ll see where it could be, we’ll see where our potential battle plans could be.”
Am: “...I guess.”
Tally is still in the shop and looks for rocks for earthbending! Specifically something to practice with, play with it to make it into different shapes and reshape. She picks out an amethyst!
Meallan sees this inside, and goes inside to help cover the costs. Tally accepts.
M: “I want to make up for… well, at least start to make up for things.”
T: “Weeeeell, uh, it doesn’t make up for things, but I’ll appreciate it! Thanks!”
M: “I’m trying to do a nice thing.”
“Yup, this is a nice! Go ahead! Enjoy!”
“Thank you.”
And then they head off to the beach!
As they walk, Amani’s looking around, for anything or anyone in particular, checking if they’re attracting any attention, and trying to blend in with the group. They are, of course, absolutely attracting attention because they are a shiny faintly glowing silver sorcerer and they did absolutely nothing about that in their disguise, c’mon Amani. But no one approaches them. Amani is content with that!
Distracted by the ShinyThey find themselves at a lovely sandy beach! It’s along the coastline, sunlight is glinting off the water. Tally can’t really see a thing, but she likes it anyway.
Khamet, meanwhile, is still sitting in the garden, and now he’s drafting a few letters.
A human child--about 6 years old-- approaches him. “What are you writing?”
Khamet: “Oh! I’m just writing a few letters! How are you today?”
“I’m good! Who are you writing to?”
“Oh, I’m writing to my friends. I have friends that live very far away. Do you know how to write?”
“Yeah, I can write a little bit!”
“Ah, well! What do you like writing about? Or what can you write?”
“Uh… I like writing about dolphins. I really like dolphins. I can draw dolphins! I can… yeah.”
“Oh yeah. Yeah, you live around here, right?”
“Yeah! Yeah, I live up that way.” He gestures vaguely.
“Oh, cool! Where are your parents?”
“Just over there.” He points to the other side of the pond.
“Oh, that’s cool.”
Khamet waves to the parents. Said parents are not looking.
Kid: “As soon as they’re looking, they’ll probably be mad at me for talking to strangers who I don’t know.”
“Oh, well, if you want, I can introduce myself to your parents, and then I would no longer be a complete stranger?”
“Oh! Yeah, maybe they’d like you. You seem like a friendly person! Yeah!”
Khamet takes the kid and goes up to the parents. “Hi!”
The parents double-take. “Who are you?”
“My name is Khamet! Your child asked me what I was doing, and he seemed like a nice kid. And he was worried that you will yell at him if you saw him talking to a stranger. Which I mean, you shouldn’t talk to strangers really, but uh, you know, I just don’t want him to like, be punished for being honest with his parents, right?”
...The parents agree… and trail off because what is this situation??
While they ruminate on that, the beach group are a-combin’. It’s not where anywhere is built because building cities on the sand is Bad.
Amani examines the beach for signs of damage and keeps an eye on those around. When given the option to approach the humanoids around and ask them, they do not take it.
Around the beach, there are sea elves! They’re blue, they don’t have hair, their eyes are pure black, and they have very pointy teeth. They’re basically piranha elves.
Amani is not concerned.
Meallan is startled at these new types of people, wooooah! He’s read about them a bit, and had friends tell him about them before. He knows they’re sea elves and they live in the sea and are adapted for living in the water. But seeing them… It strikes his curiosity. He watches to see what they do.
The sea elves… hang out on the beach. Like normal. So eventually, Meallan instead stares at the sea.
Amani looks for signs of damage, anything from the creature. They find… shell! Pretty shells! Yay! Oh, and some grooves in the sand, most of it washed away by now. Amani gets distracted by the shinies.
Gem approaches Amani to help. They point to the sea and whisper to Amani: ”That’s where the monster lives!”
Am: “...Yes, I. Assumed so.”
Gem looks very proud of themself!
Am: “Do you know anywhere in particular from the ocean?”
Gem: “Uh… like, the deep part? With the water.”
“Okay, thanks, Gem.”
“Yeah.”
Gem gets distracted and starts making sand castles.
Am: “Uh, can you keep an eye out for any damage?”
“Yeah!”
Gem eventually wanders along the beach a bit more. They start talking to people about the monster attack, but get sidetracked. Before that though! They learned from two elves that regarding the sea creature, a few people were killed (Gem: “Gasp!”), mostly sea elves but a few others. Damage done to buildings, but mostly in the water. Damage to trade routes. Stuff like that.
Gem reports back to Amani with their findings. “So yeah, the monster lives in the water. And it attacked some houses, and some roads, and some more houses.”
Am: “...I see… Did anyone die?”
“Yeah, about the sounds of it? It’s really sad. I didn’t ask who…”
“Can you ask about anyone in particular?”
Gem goes back to the person who very solemnly told them about the deaths, and goes: “What was the names, exactly, of all the people who died?”
The sea elf gives them the most scathing look. “Oh, I don’t know all their names! I lost a cousin… Solrelle. Yeah.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that!”
“Thank-you.”
Gem reaches out and gives an awkward pat on the shoulders.
Then they return to Amani and report back with the one name. Amani doesn’t have a reaction to that, but they still look worried. “I see. Thank you for asking.”
Gem: “Have you ever fought a sea monster before?”
Amani sighed. “No. It’s my first time.”
Gem: “Well, they say that the first time is always the hardest, but then it gets easier from there on out!”
Amani: “That is true. And I’ll try to make it easier in other ways as well.”
Gem: “Okay!”
Anthony discovers that there’s only been two attacks. Both when the water was fairly high and in the evening-ish. It’s currently afternoon and low tide.
Magic Sand
Gem continues to try to help by looking at sand. Because Earth Genasi! Maybe an advantage there.
They find bits of debris in the sand; most of it has been cleared away as it’s been a few days. There’s bits of house wreckage in the sand (small pieces). Gem collects some pieces together, puts it on the ground in front of them, and stares while trying to make sense of the pile. They try really hard doing this!
Meallan, walking along the beach, casts Detect Magic.
He notices some colorful sand. Like, purple and green weird not-sand mixed in, which has a faint feel of transmutation magic. He doesn’t see much else. He picks some up to show the others.
Gem can tell it’s not a rock thingy. Gem picks some up themself because they think it’s pretty and interesting!
Am: “Do you know anything about this?”
Gem: “Me?”
“Yeah!”
“Umm, so, it’s like sand, um, but it’s green and purple. Ahh, whoo, which means it’s not like normal sand. Which means that it’s probably… magic sand.”
Am: “...Can you. Ask the sea elves about this?”
While Meallan prepares to cast Identify, Gem approaches the sea elves to ask what the green-purple sand is. None of them know what it is, but they guess that it got washed in from the rest of the ships that got attacked. Or it could’ve been from buildings that got attacked? Or just came from the ocean.
Gem pockets their sand and returns to the group.
Amani… prompts Gem what they found.
Gem: “Yeah, they don’t really know what it is, so I’m gonna go with my Magic Sand theory?”
M: “I will find out what it is in a second.”
Am: “Alright, good.”
Meallan has difficulty picking out grains, but they’re able to determine that… this is not a thing they should be touching! It alters things it’s in contact with.
Meallan drops the sand!
(Thundy, OOC: “So it is radioactive!”)
Amani: “What? What is it?”
M: “It alters things it’s in contact with.”
Meallan casts Mage Hand to grab it out of Gem’s hand.
Gem: “Oh! D-do you want the sand? Because like, I’m fine not having it.”
M: “Uhh, you’d better not be touching it. It changes things.
“Like, in a good way, or like, in a bad way?”
“I’m not sure, it just changes them.”
Amani: “You don’t…look different.”
Meallan’s hands indeed look normal.
Gem tries to take some sand anyway! On the down-low. Though the others see them.
Aytal is sent to shake it out of their hand.
M: “Don’t do that.”
Am: “What are you doing?”
Gem: “I mean, it’s just so pretty!” They take out a collection of souvenirs they’ve been collecting on their travels. Like rocks, gems, pretty leaves. “I’m just trying to gather things together, y’know? And if this is magic, this is like, way better than a regular souvenir!”
Amani notes they’re wearing leather gloves. “Well, at least you’re not touching it with your hands…”
Meallan: “Perhaps you’d better be careful with that.”
Gem reluctantly relents and throws the sand back on the beach, where children can find it.
Meallan takes some sand with Mage Hand and wraps it in some parchment; cartography parchment from back from the quest for the Crate of Basil.
Tally was trying to pay attention to the investigation, she really was! But… the sun’s in her eyes and all, and then she’s like a big dog at the beach, running around and going in and out of the water! And then she quiets down a bit and starts swimming in the shallow water. If there’s anyone in the water with her, she playfully greets them, and this gets some people talking to her.
Tally tries to see a bit underwater. She finds nothing big, just debris here and there that hadn’t been cleared away. Nothing special.
Meanwhile, the kid’s parents have concluded that Khamet is not an evil kidnapper man, and they’re having a nice conversation.
Khamet: “Have you heard about the sea monster that attacked recently?”
Parent: “Yeah, everyone’s heard about the sea monster. It attacked down on the shore, it killed some people and broke some stuff. Usually people on the above water part of the city are pretty safe.”
Khamet: “Yeah. Well. I was thinking it’d be really hard for land dwellers to fight a sea monster. I was just wondering if there were any ocean dwellers, like maybe the dolphins, that we could recruit to help us fight, because they would have a lot more luck swimming in water.”
Kid: “Oh yeah! Dolphins attack sharks sometimes, I heard! Dolphins are really brave!”
Khamet: “Oh! Well yeah! Maybe we can try recruiting the dolphins. Hmm… man. I wish there were sea people. But there aren’t any sea people.”
“Of course there are sea people!”
“Wait, there are sea people?”
“Yeah! There are sea people! There’s elves! There’s sometimes some triton, they look kinda like sea elves, but not really, sometimes they’re green. Lots of sea people!”
“Okay! We should recruit some of the sea people to help…”
“There’s a sea person over there!” The kid points to a sea elf, who’s just chilling, sitting at the edge of the pond with their legs in the water.
“Oh, okay! Thank you. I will need to ask the sea person if they can help with the giant squid situation.”
Khamet goes towards the sea person. “Hello!”
The sea elf looks up. “Hi? Can I help you?”
“Hi! Well, the kid over there told me that you were a sea person.”
“...Yes?”
“Hi!”
“Hiii…”
“So, do you live in the sea?”
“Yeah, I live in the sea, where else would I live?”
“Oh, cool! So like, do you have _buildings_ underneath the sea? Do you ride _sea horses?_”
“Uh, absolutely to the first one. The second one would be pretty metal, but not as far as I know. I think the triton ride sea horse creatures.”
“Oh, okay. Do you ride dolphins?”
“Uhh, I don’t like the dolphins much, they’re jerks.”
“Oh, u-uh, they are jerks. Uh, I bet you’re really big good swimmers, huh?”
She nods.
“Cool! Cool. Do you know if anyone would have experience fighting giant sea monsters?”
She goes a bit pale. “There’s no one that I know. Are you looking for some adventurers?”
“Well, not adventurers. Well, I’m an adventurer. But. I thought maybe that people who live in the sea might have valuable information I can learn from.”
“Don’t go near the sea monster… I don’t know why you’d go near it, but… I don’t know anyone who’d fight it…”
“Well, because it’s hurting people!”
“Yeah, but. Then if you go near it, then you get hurt as well. That’s… _I’m_ not doing that! And I don’t know anyone who’s doing that.”
“Okay… Oh, oh! Do squids like harpoons, or is that just a whaling thing?”
“I mean, I don’t think anyone likes harpoons.”
“Okay. Okay. Oh uh, by the way, what’s your name?”
She introduces herself as Lylino.
“Well, thank you so much, Lylino! Your life sounds really interesting. Obviously, I could not live underwater, because I would drown. But. Y’know, hopefully, we can get rid of the squid people, and the water will be safe again!”
“I would appreciate that. I don’t think I ever got your name.”
Khamet introduces himself.
“Thank you, Khamet. I will keep an ear out for news of your hopeful not-demise.”
“Okay! Our victory! Don’t worry. I’ll try to make you proud! I will not let your help go in vain!”
Part 2:Back 2: the tavernThe party returns to the tavern. It’s been cleared out despite Gale’s earlier guesses.
There’s a couple of wood elves in the corner being entertained by a golden dragonborn with a violin.
Gale informs the group that in another hour, they can have a meeting. So the party still has an hour (Well, an hour and a half, but it’s nice to be there early.)
Anthony asks the gold dragonborn for any draconic folk songs to learn to sing to Tyzol later.
The gold dragonborn grins at him. “I can teach you anything.”
He doesn’t know all the words, but he can tell that she’s not scamming him with any really rude lyrics. He can manage to learn to mimic a song.
Khamet just… looks around, shrugs, and does his own thing. He goes to write in his journal some more, and writes about the sea people!
Meallan leaves and looks around for any large stray animals for Basil. They aren’t abundant because it’s not that chaotic of a city. He manages to find a nanny goat with a beard, wandering the streets and chomping on some weeds.
Meallan approaches them. “Hello. Listen. We have a friend who’s very keen to have a mount. Would you be interested?”
While asking, he looks for signs of an owner, like a collar or brand. He doesn’t see anything. The goat gives a gentle nudge with their head.
“Do you belong to anyone?”
...They just look at him. And when Meallan moves, they move to follow.
“Can you please stay here? I will consult with the others?” He gives them a scritch.
The goat gives a bleeting sound and goes back to eating weeds.
Meallan returns to the others. “Listen. I was thinking. Basil keeps wanting a mount. I found a goat outside, which may do the trick. Do you think he would like that?”
Amani: “Um. That’s nice to do, but… wouldn’t it be better if Basil tamed one himself?”
Meallan sighs. “Perhaps. ...I don’t know. He’s not been having much luck. I’ve been wanting to help him.”
“I know. And. Where did you find the goat again?”
“Wandering the streets. It didn’t seem to have an owner.”
“Well, I guess… There’s a point when animals on the streets are rounded up. Maybe we should make sure they’re not rounded up first, at least?”
“I did ask it. It didn’t give me any reply. And it did seem very keen to follow me.”
“Well… Um… Have you checked for a brand or collar or anything?”
“I did. And I didn’t find anything.”
“Okay. Mm…” Amani trails off, unsure how to respond.
“It’s something to keep in mind. We can always ask him when he comes back.”
“Maybe… bring it up with him.”
The golden dragonborn puts a hand on Anthony’s shoulder. “You’re doing very well. For a beginner. Can I buy you anything?”
Anthony: “Oh! Um… I’m alright, but thanks. I’m actually dating a dragonborn.”
“Oh, what a shame… Oh, what kind of dragonborn?”
“Oh, a uh, a white dragonborn.”
“Because you know, we gold dragonborn are… known for our prowess in several areas…”
“Ohh, uh… I think I’ll be fine! Thank you for the music though! ...Tell you what.” He leans in and points with his thumb: “That guy, over there, he used to have a _yuan-ti_ girlfriend!”
“Ooh! That’s fascinating!” She proceeds to ignore Anthony and approaches Khamet.
“I heard you might like scales!”
Khamet: “Oh… Uh… Uh, in what way do I like scales, do I like them on my armor? Do I like them as a guitar pick? I don’t know what you’re telling me here?”
She smiles toothily and winks at him.
“Oh! Oh, o-o-oh, uh… Uh… Oh! Oh, oh, I see. I’m sorry. I have nothing against dragonborn. Do you want to take a seat?”
“Oh, that’s a shame. Yeah, sure, why not!” She takes a seat with the rest of the party.
Khamet: “So, dragonborn. That’s pretty interesting. Um. Can I touch your arm?”
“Absolutely.” She holds out her arm.
Khamet touches the arm. “Interesting! Wow! That is so cool!”
“Just interesting?”
“Yeah, so cool!” He touches it more. “Really, really interesting!” He’s completely focused on her arm.
Khamet: “So! Where do you live?”
“Oh. I live around. Do you want me to show you?”
“Uhh… I mean, I have, uh, friends?”
Gem approaches Tally. “So, you mentioned you were like, learning to control rocks, and things, and learning to move them and shape them?”
Tally: “Uh, just a little bit!”
“Can you show me?”
“I’ll try?”
Tally uses elemental attunement to play with her pet rock. Gem is super impressed.
“Wow, that’s so cool!” They try to mold some earth, but it just shifts around on the table. “You’re so good, though! Where did you learn?”
“I trained at the Shrine of Luhine.”
“Oh, yeah, of course. Um. Yeah! I can sorta do some magic? But my sister’s way better than I am. But I can just move a few rocks around. I’ve never been as good as her.”
“I can make a few small shapes, like this. But moving a few rocks around is already really cool! I’ve been training, and I’m hoping that later on I can move bigger rocks, and maybe improve my stance, so as to more be like a rock.”
“Excellent! I’m kinda like a rock, but I think we might be talking about different things!”
“Different rocks?”
Dragonborn: “Can I touch _your_ arm?”
Khamet: “Sure! Yeah!”
She runs a couple of claws down his arm. “My name is Katu. What’s your name?”
“My name is Khamet! I heard you like playing music?”
“That I do. Can I play something for you?”
“I-I don’t know. Um. Oh! What is your favorite song?”
She plays a tune that feels… slow, rather romantic. Which he kinda picks up on, at least the slow aspect.
Anthony yells from another table: “Get her number, Khamet!!”
Tally runs around town to see what others have to say. She doesn’t learn much more about the sea monster. But she learns a bit about the sea people, and their little tidal islands further out. Most live in Cai Shaan, though. And they like water!
Not Supposed to Be HereWhile the dragonborn was attempting to seduce Khamet, Amani gets bored and leaves. Meallan follows them. By this point, Meallan’s disguise has worn off, so he’s wearing his cloak, mostly to cover his ears.
Amani begins going around town listening for rumors. They’re still trying to be stealthy, and searching the faces around them, trying to avoid attention. Amani’s not paying too much attention to Meallan.
They get that the creature attacked the shore, and that mostly sea elves died, and then maybe a couple of swimmers but otherwise guards. The sea elves who died or were attacked were mostly living in the water.
As for their attempt to be stealthy… A half-elf guard passes, taller and lighter-skinned than Amani, who gives them a curious look, out of some sort of familiarity. But they keep walking. Amani tries to play it cool, but as soon as the half-elf passes, they completely freeze up, a hint of panic on their face.
Meallan notices their pause. “Amani? Are you okay?”
“Y-yes p-please don’t… I’m fine! I’m fine!! I’m fine! Uh, no! No! Who is that? I don’t know who that is!”
“Yes, Inima. I got confused, with a friend-”
“Yes, I think you have me confused for someone else! That I heard!”
“I think I do. I’m sorry.”
Amani keeps looking over their shoulder at the half-elf.
Meallan whispers to Amani. “Is this someone you know?”
Amani: “...Meallan, don’t worry about it, please. It’s my business.”
The half-elf does glance back a couple times. And there’s a point where they’re both looking back at each other at the same time and make eye contact. It’s very awkward and the half-elf guard looks away quickly.
Meallan: “Is this-”
Amani doesn’t give him a chance to finish as they bolt into a nearby alley. Meallan follows.
Meallan switches to Sylvan. “Is this similar to… her?”
Amani: “Her? Who’s her?”
“Ragnailt.”
“No. No, I’m not responsible for anything bad, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“You’re just, you seem very keen to avoid… this elf.”
“Look, I’m not supposed to be here.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No! I’m just not supposed to be here! That’s all! You don’t need to worry about it.”
“I am worried. I consider you my friend. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine! I-I will be, alright! I just need to, figure out, what to, do about. This!”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I don’t… think so. There’s… Augh…”
Amani sinks to the ground and buries their face in their hands.
Meallan leans down and touches Amani on the shoulder. “Amani, I’m worried about you. Please tell me what’s wrong.”
“Meallan, I can’t explain it to you. I can’t explain it to anyone. Simply put, I’m not supposed to be here, and no one’s supposed to recognize me. And I think he just did.“
“Who is that?”
“Just… Just someone I know! No one… No one terrible! Don’t worry about that. It’s- I’m not in trouble, I… I’m not in trouble like that. Not in trouble like you.”
Meallan looks away at this. “Please just tell me what’s wrong. I’m… I’m worried about you. I know… I know what happened between us, and I know that…” He sighs. “I betrayed you, and I hurt you. And I want to make up for it, but I can’t if you don’t tell me what you need. “
“Meallan, there’s… I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do. And there’s nothing you can- Well, there might be something you can do, but it’s not something I can tell you about.”
“I know what it’s like to keep secrets. And I understand if you don’t want to tell me. But… at the same time, I told you things about myself. Maybe you can trust me back?”
“After… I…” Amani pauses for a long time, as they struggle to figure out words. They seem very uncertain.
“I won’t force you if you don’t want to.”
Amani: “...I… I’ve been wrong... Look, I’ve been wrong before. How do I know I’m not wrong now? ...I-I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can tell you.”
“What do you think it is?”
“What do you think what is?”
“You say you’ve been wrong before. But you must-”
“About people. About who I can trust. So I’m not trusting my gut anymore, alright? I’m not.”
“...Alright. Fine.” Meallan looks a little hurt by this. “...Whatever it is, you can rely on me. I’ll do my best to help.”
“...Well, for now. That person, that man is… gone, so… I’m sure something would’ve happened by now if anything was going to happen. So, I think everything will be alright. But thank you.”
“Let’s keep going.”
“Yes. Let’s keep going a different direction!”
“Yes. There’s something I also wanted to do before the meeting. If you hide behind me, I’ll try and shelter you.”
He also has Aytal curl around Amani to hide the marks on their face. But Amani resists.
Amani: “Please don’t hide my marks. I need them.”
“Alright.” Meallan summons Aytal back to his shoulders.
“But thank you. That is… helpful… and I, do appreciate it.”
“They make you very distinct.”
Amani shrugs. “Well, that’s the idea.”
Gem’s Culinary Adventures!
Gem wants to order the tavern’s specialty dish. Gale warns them that it is not great- ‘specialty’ is very generous phrasing. Gem still wants to try it however, but they have one minor problem...they spent all their money on that special crystal necklace. They try to sweet-talk a bored human staff member into letting them try it for free.
Gem pulls out all their best moves! They talk about how nice the decor is, and how they’ve heard so much about this food and they really want to try it. They’re only in town for a few days so time is of the essence, and if the nice man will just let them try it for free, they’ll absolutely make it up to him later!
The man is still bored, but goes with it. “Yip, sure, nobody’s ordering this stuff anyway. There you go.”
Gem is elated! They take it, and eat it, and think it is the single greatest thing on the planet. Because it’s not potatoes (they don’t seem a big fan of potatoes.) The key ingredient is...mushrooms!
Earthbending
Tally returns to the tavern, not successful in getting rumors. She sits there bored. Then she plays with her pet rock with earthbending, and offers to show off a few earthbending stances to Gem.
Gem is very impressed! They show off some of their own stances. And turns out, the way they earthbend is with songs and singing. They demonstrate; they bring out some pipes and blow out a tune. In response, the sand on the table spins around in a spiral like it’s dancing.
Tally’s in love! She asks Gem if she can throw herself into Gem’s arm for a hug. Gem accepts the hug wholeheartedly, and they hug!
Gem holds the hug for maybe a little too long. But it’s not too long for Tally.
Gem: “It’s been so long since I could find anyone to do this stuff. So it’s really cool! And I’m just, it’s just… you’re a wonderful person.”
Tally: “Awwh! You too. You say you have more people like this in a village somewhere?”
Gem freezes up. “Yeah, but I’m not… I’m not really supposed to talk about it. Sorry! Um. Maybe, um… yeah.”
“Oh! That’s fine, I’m not supposed to talk about mine either.”
“Maybe we can just not talk about it together, then.”
“Yeah! Let’s just keep doing this instead.”
“Cool!”
And then they proceed to show off more of their stuff. They make some pretty lights, then do some generic rock magic things. Tally is entertained until the meeting.
Meallan walks with Amani and looks for magic shops and stationery shops.
He manages to easily find a journal, some ink, and a scroll.
He then ends up checking out a scroll shop, looking for spells of comprehend languages, and then either water walk or water breathing. And then maybe silence.
Upon bringing up the water walk and water breathing and pointing out how it’ll be helpful…
Amani: “Uh, actually, Meallan. I’ve learned water walking just recently. I can just cast it all on you once, so don’t worry about that.”
Meallan: “Oh! Excellent! In that case, I’ll just look for Water Breathing.”
Amani: “Okay. ...I mean, if we’re water walking, I don’t think we’ll need to breathe underwater.”
“Well, we might want to dive.”
“Euuuh… you can do that!”
“Do you not like the water?”
“I’m just not a great swimmer, is all.”
“Well, neither am I! But that’ll solve the problem, won’t it?”
“Well that’s why I learned water walk! I didn’t want to swim.”
“Alright.”
Meallan finds a scroll upon which to transcribe Water Breathing (not the spell itself), and it has instructions on how to transcribe and cast the spell. He brings it up to the counter, and finds he doesn’t have enough. It’s worth 15, and he has 13. So they move to haggle.
M: “This is to help us battle a sea monster. The one that is terrorizing the city. Please.”
The merchant is wavering. “Well, it doesn’t directly affect my shop…”
Amani: “Perhaps, but they might supply your shop, or other shops you might like going to. Also, these are your neighbors, so, you might wanna consider that.”
With that, the merchant willingly drops the price to 13 gp.
Meallan is hesitant to use all the rest of his money, so he looks through his items to trade.
So he tries to sell… his crossbow! To a scollery merchant. The merchant has no interest in it whatsoever because what’s he supposed to do with it?
Merchant: “Do you have anything vaguely magical?”
Meallan: “Yes, but I would rather keep it for myself.”
“I can sell it to you for 13?”
“I suppose 13 will do.”
Upon seeing Meallan wavering, they just give Meallan 3gp to help offset the costs, for the sake of the mission. And so Meallan buys the scroll.
...Of course, he still needs the inks for that.
And so, once their chores are done, they all go back to the tavern to get ready for the meeting! Before the party depart, Katu the dragonborn tells Khamet that he can always find her back here if he so desires.
A Chance Meeting
The party leave the tavern about a half hour before their meeting to give them time to get there. As they approach the waterfront Tally, Gem and Khamet notice the first drow they’ve seen since they arrived in Cai Shaan. The drow is carrying some boxes but, when they see Tally, they freeze up for a moment. They open their mouth and then close it again really quickly.
Khamet: “Tally, are they your friend?”
The drow looks quite young. They put down the boxes and timidly approach the party, signing their pronouns as they do (he/him.)
Drow: “Um...this might be a very, very forward question, but I’ve never seen another drow before? And I was wondering if maybe, uh, you might be my mother? Uh, are you here to see me, maybe?”
Tally’s freezing up. He seems straightforward but you can never be too sure! Especially with these kids, they’re the worst. She notes that the kid has freckles like her, indicating time spent aboveground in the sun, and that his white hair is fairly short and shoved up under a cap. Tally relaxes a little as she registers these details.
Tally: “I haven’t had any children as far as I remember. Ah...well, um or somebody’s been hiding...no. No. Can’t have.”
The kid looks utterly crestfallen. “Oh. That’s okay, um-”
Tally looks around to see if there are any more drow. She doesn’t see any, just as she hasn’t seen any since she came to Shaan, and neither have the others. Gale is waiting impatiently nearby, but Tally isn’t inclined to hurry.
Tally: “Okay kid, are there any more of you around here?”
Drow: “Um, I mean my dad’s somewhere.”
Tally gasps. The drow continues.
“You mean like...he’s, huh? He’s not a drow if that’s what you’re asking? No. Um...”
The stranger seems flustered. “My name’s Arim. What’s your name?”
“I’m Tally.”
Silence ensues. Arim awkwardly shuffles.
“I can...I can just go then, but thank you for answering my question.”
Tally cuts in. “No, no! Pleasedon’tpleasedon’t...how long have you been here in Cai Shaan?”
“Uh, my whole life?”
Tally: “Uh okay, I’ve just arrived. I’ve been…”
Tally trails off as she realises she’s about to say something she doesn’t want the rest of the group to hear. “Can we talk about this...later, or somewhere away? Or is there a place where you’d feel safe meeting up, Arim?”
Arim: “Um...suresuresure! Um...I can give you, I can give you my address or, or I work here! I work here and I work on the docks.”
He points.
Tally: “Yeah. I mean I know that I’m not dangerous but, you know, it might be dangerous for you to give me your address this fast. I mean…”
Arim: “True. True.”
Tally: “Yeah...yeah.”
Arim: “I live with my dad though, and like, I’m not bragging, but I’m pretty sure he could punch you in the face if it came to that.”
Tally is unconvinced.
Arim: “If you were really a danger...if you were a danger, to me.”
Tally: “Oh that’s so cute...that’s so cute, you love your dad, don’t you? Awww.”
Tally thinks it’s sweet, but is absolutely sure she could pulverise his father. Meallan is thinking something along the same lines, but doesn’t say it because he knows it’s a bad thing to say. Tally and Arim agree on a place to meet in the evening, further along the docks. Gale is getting increasingly impatient- arms folded, tapping his foot- but with this all wrapped up, the party continue on their way.
We’re gonna have a great time...
The party arrive at the trade offices on the waterfront. To the left of the entrance hall is a large window looking out over the harbour, with a stretch of beach just barely visible to the far right. There are a few guards, and at the back of the room a desk with a secretarial type! Just kinda hanging out scribbling notes.
Gem walks straight past the guards (and Gale, who seems a bit offput by this) and up to the desk. “Hello! Um, we are here to kill the sea monster. And we came to see the Important Person who will tell us how to do that.”
The secretary glances over the group, and then down at their book.
“Sure. Take a seat, um, you’ll probably be called up in a few minutes.”
Gem: “Can we just...go in? Like, this seems really important.”
The secretary draws breath sharply. “Ah, yeah I can’t just let you go wandering back there on your own. I’m sorry.”
Gem: “But I’m not on my own. I’ve got, like, five people with me.”
“Yeah that’s...that’s not helping. You can just sit, they won’t be long.”
Meallan: “Gem, get away-”
Gem: “This is lame.”
The secretary is a little concerned. “How old are you?”
Gem is defensive: “Older than you are.”
They laugh. “Probably not.”
Gem sinks into a chair in a huff. Meallan sends Aytal over to check on them. Gem immediately forgets they are annoyed- wow, such magic!- and just plays with Aytal.
Amani sits as well. “Alright. We can take a minute. We were taking a few minutes anyway…”
Meallan approaches Khamet. “I...I bought this for you. I know that you...you hate me, let’s be frank. But I just wanted to show that I do appreciate you, and I do hope that you keep doing your writing.”
He awkwardly offers Khamet the blank journal and some ink. Khamet looks at Meallan, but doesn’t take them.
Khamet: “You think you can…bribe me into liking you?”
Meallan: “No! I just wanted to give you a gift.”
Khamet: “Aha. Yep. Well, I don’t actually need this. At all.”
Meallan (quietly): “I see.”
Khamet: “Like, I don’t want your garbage.”
Meallan: “Is there anything that I could do for you? That you would like?”
A moment passes.
Khamet: “No.”
Meallan: “Alright.”
He looks quite hurt by this as he goes to sit with Gem and Amani. Tally follows him.
Tally: “Hey, being a good person doesn’t mean getting every single person around you to like you. Sometimes they’re just not gonna like you, and that’s...that’s them, and that’s just because you’re not made for each other.”
Meallan: “I know.”
Tally: “There are other ways of being a good person, ‘kay?”
Meallan: “I just...wanted to show him that I appreciate him, even if he doesn’t appreciate me.”
Tally: “Well, maybe he doesn’t need your appreciation.”
Meallan: “I’m trying, but...I just want to show everyone that I’m trying.”
Tally: “You’re trying. That’s good.”
Meallan: “Hmmm.”
Gem takes Aytal and moves closer.
“Aww yeah, um…”
They awkwardly put Aytal in Meallan’s lap and sit next to him. Meallan starts petting Aytal, and they remain here huddled together on one side of the hall. After a few moments, someone totally nondescript comes out of the back room and says something to the secretary, who addresses the party:
“You can go up now.”
Gem: “Finally!”
They are lead up a spiralling staircase by the nondescript employee, and into a long corridor. The employee halts and knocks on a door at the very end, and the party and Gale enter.
Usavias stands. They’re a fairly chubby wood elf dressed in a long white gown decorated with shards of crystal, like dewdrops in a spider’s web. They gesture their pronouns as they step towards the party.
Gale: “Yeah, I brought the adventurers with me? Sounds like we’re gonna have a...great time...mmmm.”
Gem: “Hi there! Um...my name is Gem, these are the others, um. We are here to help slay your sea monster and just generally save the day. So if you can give us any information that would help with that, that would be great.”
Usavias: “You’re very to-the-point. Gale has told me of you adventurers.”
Gem: “Well, if the sea monster keeps attacking, I feel it would be better to be like...quick, and direct! With our attacks.”
Usavias nods, and glances out the window behind themself at the port. It is thankfully not currently under attack by a sea monster! Hooray!
Usavias explains that they are willing to offer a 500g reward if the party can bring back proof they have killed the sea monster. They can provide the party with a ship and crew, including Gale, who serves as the ship’s captain.
Gem: “We’ll do it! But I don’t want money. Um.”
Gem whispers in their ear. “Um. If I help save your town, will you write, like, a letter to my mum telling her what a good job I’ve been doing?”
Usavias whispers back: “Okay. But first of all, ah, it’s kind of offensive to call this place a town. Secondly, yes, sure, I’ll write you a letter.”
Gem: “But it’s got houses and stuff.”
Usavias: “It’s not a ‘town’, it’s a city, okay? I’m very proud of my city.”
Gem: “Okay. It’s a nice city!”
Usavias: “Thank-you. Yes, I will write you your letter if you can succeed in slaying this monster and return.”
Gem: “Awesome. Thankyousomuch!”
Gem returns to the group. Amani pipes up:
“Of course we’ll do it- that’s why we’re here. But is there anything you can tell us that would help us?”
Usavias: “Anything I can tell you?”
The elf thinks about this. “Yeah it’s...it’s big. Has tentacles. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it before, uh.”
Gale interjects. “Yeah. I’m used to dealing with pirates, with the small...you know, the monsters with the big crab claws? I’m used to those, but uh this- this creature is something I have never encountered.”
Amani: “Has anyone drawn it?”
Gale looks back at Usavias. The latter shrugs. “I don’t go around...seeing what every child has drawn, but I...I have a drawing of it. It’s not very good.”
Amani: “We’ll take what we can get.”
The party examine what is little better than a child’s drawing of some tentacles waving around above the water.
Meallan: “I…”
Usavias: “Yeah I’m sorry, I’ve never been very good at drawing.”
Amani: “It’s alright…”
Meallan: “If I may interject?”
Usavias: “Of course?”
Meallan: “While we were on the beach, I did find some...rather strange sand.”
He comes forward and uses a mage hand to unwrap the sample he took.
Usavias: “We really should put up some signs about that.”
Meallan: “Yes, it-”
Usavias: “Okay.”
Meallan: “It is magical and it transforms...things. Could there be a connection?”
Usavias: “Yeaaaah. It is...a connection to the giant monster?”
Meallan: “Possibly.”
Usavias: “Mmm.”
They run a hand through their hair. “I don’t think- don’t think it could do something on that scale.”
Amani: “What does it transform into?”
Usavias: “Uhh, it’s not a very nice thing...if you’ve touched it, you probably shouldn’t have. I think most of it’s been removed, a small quantity shouldn’t do very much. Um. But...yeah, it essentially transforms things. So you could end up looking like one of those horrible crab-monsters. Except maybe still vaguely humanoid.”
Amani: “What if we get a lot of this sand? And then throw it at the sea monster?”
Usavias: “Don’t- ah. So you want to create...a super sea monster?”
Amani: “Oh. No.”
Meallan: “No!”
Amani: “I was hoping it would do...something else. Never mind.”
Usavias: “It would be tricky. It would be about fifty/fifty whether it would make the monster more or less effective.”
Amani: “Oh no. No. No, we’ll just slay it.”
Meallan: “Did this sand begin appearing around the time the sea monster did? Or has it been appearing for a while?”
Usavias: “You can just ask me where it’s from. I know it’s from a ship.”
They explain that the substance was being imported into Shaan when the ship was wrecked by the monster.
Meallan: “I see. And, did anything strange happen before the monster arrived?”
Usavias: “Define strange.”
Meallan: “Well, anything that may have caused it to appear.”
Usavias: “I don’t think so?”
Anthony: “I bought a gallon of beer, you know.”
Amani: “Anthony, now’s not a good time.”
Usavias says to Meallan: “Sir, it’s really rude to wear a hood inside.”
Amani: “Uh, he’s wearing it for a good reason.”
Meallan: “I have a...condition.”
Amani: “Yeah. It’s really, really bad.”
Khamet: “It makes him look ugly.”
Usavias: “Sure, whatever. Firbolg, it’s fine.”
Meallan’s ears move, and he reluctantly pulls down the hood. He looks annoyed.
Usavias asks the party how much time they need to prepare.
Amani: “I suppose it depends on what we’re dealing with. Um, can you tell us anything about the damage specifically? We’ve heard rumours, but some of them seemed a little...weird.”
Usavias: “So we lost three ships. Lyrelle said the number of buildings was somewhere between uh...ten and twenty destroyed, there were a lot more damaged. I can’t quite remember the details. Um...36 people died.”
(including that one elf’s cousin, Solrelle! What a tragic tale…)
Usavias, after thinking for a moment: “91 injured.”
Meallan: “Sounds serious.”
Amani: “Do you have a list of these casualties, by any chance?”
Usavias: “I don’t have one on me, but I could procure one for you?”
Meallan: “Would it be possible to also-?”
Amani: “I would like that. Thank-you. I just want to make sure it’s not... someone I know.”
Usavias nods. “Were you concerned about anyone in particular?”
Amani: “Uh, I’ll just look through the list. Thank-you.”
They nod in assent.
Meallan: “Would it be possible to ask you for a favour? In aiding with fighting this sea monster.”
Usavias: “Um...I mean, I was going to pay you, is that not enough? What kind of favour would you like?”
Meallan: “I would simply like...I have a spell I have recently acquired. But I need to actually be able to cast it. And to cast it, I will need to inscribe it into my spellbook. May I ask you for-?”
Usavias: “Seems straightforward.”
Meallan: “-parchments and inks? To be able to inscribe it.”
Usavias: “I suppose that wouldn’t be...yes, okay. If you go and kill this monster for me, and prove that you’ve killed it, you can have whatever you want within reason.”
Meallan: “No. I want this before, so I can use the spell while fighting the monster.”
Usavias: “Okay. But if you don’t kill it, um, you owe me.”
Meallan: “Alright, that is fair.”
Meallan arranges to acquire 150gp worth of inks and parchment which is…a considerable amount. Wow. How wordy are these friggin spells?
Gem asks: “So you’re going to give us a boat?”
Anthony: “Dibs being captain!”
Gale looks over at him. “We already have a captain, but thank-you for your offer.”
Amani: “Um, just in case anyone was wondering...in case we need to get off the boat for anything, I have water walk prepared for all of this.”
Gem: “Which is good, um…’cause I don’t think I can swim?”
Amani: “It’s okay, I can’t swim very well either.”
Meallan: “Oh. The spell I have in question is water breathing, so you’ll be able to breathe underwater too.”
Gem: “Oh that’s good! Um, but like, if I fell off the boat I wouldn’t want to like, go swimming with the giant tentacle monster. But you know, it’s nice that the option is there.”
Khamet is kinda reserved, fidgeting as though he doesn’t want to be here throughout this whole meeting. Tally is also fairly reserved, but Anthony is excited by the prospect of proper reward money for once!
It’s mid-afternoon, and the ship and crew will be ready for the party the following dawn. In the meantime, the party goes back out into the street and prepares to spend an afternoon in Shaan.
ProgressVarious party members find different places to stay.
Amani, Meallan, Tally, and Gem decide to camp out on the beach.
Khamet books a shared room in an inn, with anyone but any of the other party members. (Before he does, he sends letters to home and then takes a walk.)
Anthony, meanwhile, splurges on a single room; what luxury!
And so we have… Beach Party and Inn Party!
Anthony sends a letter to Tyzol to inform her he’s in Cai Shaan and to send letters to the post office there. He inquires how she’s doing and if she likes the necklace. Meallan helps send the letter by getting a bird on the job who isn’t a seagull.
Amani waits by a building near the beach, where they asked someone to meet them with the list. They rendezvous and they get the list of deaths. They find that the list contains no one they knew well, but there were names they recognized, to various degrees. They look a little less worried, but nevertheless look a little perturbed by a few names.
“I… I kinda knew that person… alright, thankyouverymuch.”
Amani returns the letter respectfully.
They slowly walk back to the beach, where they sit and stare.
Meallan: “Are you okay?”
Amani: “Don’t worry about me, Meallan. Everything’s fine. There was no one I knew very well on the list.”
Meallan: “I-I am worried about you. You’ve just been acting… distant. And I know that…”
Amani: “I’m sorry Meallan, but it really can’t be helped.”
Meallan: “Is it because of what I said? Or… what I did?”
Amani: “...I mean, that’s a factor, but it’s really more to do with me. I just… need to… trust the… right instincts. That are… not mine.”
The conversation is interrupted when Tally goes off to the meeting place with Arim. Meallan breaks off to give Tally Aytal. “If anything happens, just send him over.”
Tally raises an eyebrow because she knows that this is Meallan’s spying device, and this is super sensitive information! So she refuses.
Meallan hesitates, wondering if he should send Aytal anyway, but he still wants to respect Tally’s wishes.
Amani sees this, and says “Uh, If she doesn’t want to, why doesn’t Aytal just stay here? It’ll be alright, I’m sure.”
Meallan: “I suppose. We’re just keeping an eye on her, right? Making sure everything is alright?”
Amani: “Maybe it’d be best for now if she kept an eye on herself. Don’t worry about her, Meallan, for right now. ...Just as long as everyone comes back!”
Meallan: “If she doesn’t come back within an hour, I’ll send him out.”
Amani: “Clearly, there’s some sort of thing going on that she doesn’t want us to know. And I can only respect that.”
Meallan sighs. “I don’t want to betray her trust. I also do want to find out what’s going on.”
Amani: “She has her reasons for keeping something hidden as we all do.”
A Meeting, A Chance
Tally makes her way back to the docks, to meet Arim near a ship adorned with lots of flags. He’s there waiting for her already. Arim has tidied himself up a bit and put on a nice blue outfit, which is maybe not entirely coincidentally the same colour as Tally’s attire!
Arim: “Hello Tally.”
Tally: “Hi Arim.”
Tally wonders if she’ll be meeting his dad, or just Arim.
“Umm...if you want to meet my dad, you can! But I didn’t tell him I was coming here, because I thought you wanted to speak to me alone, maybe?”
Tally: “Oh...okay. Did you tell anybody else that you’d be here with me?”
Arim: “No? Just your friends.”
Tally: “Okay. See, while I know I’m not dangerous, ah, generally it would be safer if you met anyone else like me if you...told somebody else where you’re gonna be so they can check on you later.”
Arim snorts at this. “I’m not a child! I mean...I am a child, but...y’know, as far as most of your friends are concerned, I'm not a child.”
Tally: “How old are you?”
Arim: “I’m like, at least 36.”
Tally: “I’m 145.”
Arim: “I mean, I mean I said compared to most of your friends, right? Like your human friends are probably way, way younger than me.”
Tally: “Uh...are they? Oh! Oh yeah, I keep forgetting. I always forget if they’re like in their thirties, or in their fifties- ugh, I can’t tell the difference!”
Arim: “I know, right???”
Tally: “Yeah! It’s so hard.
Arim: “Sometimes their hair goes all like grey, and then it goes white, and that’s how you can tell they’re pretty old.”
Tally: “Yeah. So...I’m sorry, I’m pretty sure I’m not your mum, and...I’m pretty sure I’m not your dad either.”
Arim: “Aww, it’s okay. I’ve got a dad, and you don’t have my mum’s name, so...it’s all good.”
Tally: “Well, what if I could...try and help find your mum? I might know stuff.”
Arim sighs.
“I mean, I’ve literally never seen another drow in my life.”
Tally: “That’s...that’s good.”
Arim: “I mean technically I’m not even a drow, but...mmm.”
Tally: “Can I ask what you are technically?”
Arim: “I mean, technically, I’m a wood elf. Uh, my dad’s a wood elf, and I was raised as a wood elf, but I look mostly like a drow, so. As far as people are concerned, I’m a drow. Because my mum’s a drow.”
Tally: “Oh. Do you have any...okay. First of all, so that we’re on more equal terms, I need to tell you what I couldn’t say back then. I’ve been living on the surface for...46? 45-46 years? And yes, I did come from what we call the ‘Underdark’ of this island?”
Arim: “Yeah, I’ve heard of the Underdark!”
Tally: “Yeah? That’s not the tone in which people usually talk about the Underdark, but yeaaaah? ”
Arim: “I mean, I haven’t heard a lot about it.”
Tally: “Okay...ohhhhhh, okay. That explains it.”
She laughs awkwardly. Arim chips in:
“Well I know it’s a bad place, I’m not a child. I mean...no, I know it’s a bad place. Um. But I’ve never been there and...I mean, some of the rumours I hear? They’re pretty ridiculous, so I don’t think it...well, it might not be as bad as they make out?”
Tally doesn’t really know how to respond.
“So Arim, you are from this island, right? Not from a different body of land?”
He shakes his head. “Yeah, I’ve been here my whole life.”
Tally: “Okay. Um...do you have any idea, like, a clue that could help figure out what happened to your mum? I mean, I dunno, I’m just...you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want, but I figured you’d want some answers about her and...and I do know where to find some other drow?”
Arim is very excited to hear this! “Oh, cool. Okay, ah, so her name is Savorai. I don’t really know her, but my dad talks about her sometimes? And she kinda just...left. Um. But I don’t blame her for that. I think...you know, this place is…? She probably had her good reasons for leaving. Um. But no. I don’t know where she went. I don’t know if she went overseas, or if she...she wasn’t...she wasn’t on any records that we were allowed to, to check. For like um, passengers and things. But um...I don’t know.”
Tally: “Mmm. I’m sorry that she left you.”
Arim: “It’s okay, I mean I never really knew her. I just thought...it might be really cool to meet her.”
Tally: “Yeah. Well basically, since you haven’t met any more drow than me, I need to tell you that...if you see some of us walking in the sun and, y’know, with like freckles? And if we don’t have really long straight hair? Ah, basically we’re pretty safe.”
Arim: “You know, I mean you were in the city as well. Walking around in broad daylight, in the city, in normal-person clothes. Like, if you were a bad drow, I don’t think they would let you in.”
Tally: “Yeah! Yeah...that’s entirely true.”
Arim: “And you had all those friends. And like, drow normally don’t like the people on the surface- those definitely weren’t Underdark people.”
Tally: “You are so fearless. I envy you.”
Arim is clearly pleased with the compliment. “Thank-you.”
Tally: “I understand if you can’t give much more information about your mum, but if you or your dad want to...uhhh…maybe get to meet more drow, I could try and arrange that? If you want to meet up with me some more.”
Arim thinks about this.
“I’m not sure what my dad would think of that. I’d have to talk to him, but I’d definitely really like to! It’d be cool.”
Tally: “Okay, I can try and answer more questions if he has them.”
Arim: “I’m also like...people tell me my freckles are really weird, but you have the freckles too, and maybe the other drow have the freckles? And then that would be like, very…validating.”
Tally: “Um, we do get freckles but only like...nobody has freckles in the Underdark. We only get them after being in the sun, and since you’re so young I’m not sure how good that is but..we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes.”
Arim: “I mean, that’s another way I could tell if it’s like an Underdark drow then, right? They’d be dressed weird, they’d have long straight hair, and they’d not have freckles.”
Tally: “That’s true, but some of the others who come to the surface they don’t change that fast, and some of them can still only come out at night.”
Arim: “Hmmm.”
Tally: “Yeah, so it’s not always like that.”
Arim: “I mean, I don’t like the sun, but I can’t imagine living at night. That’d be boring, no-one does anything at night.”
Tally: “True.”
She sighs. Arim goes on:
“Okay, okay so when should I meet you to meet the other drow?”
Tally: “Wow. I’d have to ask them first if it’s okay to reveal their location, it’s pretty secretive. They’re pretty scared.”
Arim: “That’s cool! Um, I’ll still be here. Yeah, I’ll still be here, and you can tell them that I’m fine, and hopefully they will think that’s fine.”
Tally: “I mean, they’re um...I think I can give you an idea of their location, but they’d be...you’d have to count five travel days from Cai Shaan if you want to meet them in person. I dunno if you can travel that far?”
Arim: “I mean I’ve never really travelled...I don’t want to meet them on my own, I thought you were saying you’d take me to meet them?”
Tally: “Oh. Oh yeah, I would have to mediate. Yeah yeah. That’s what me and my bae do- we mediate.”
Arim: “Ohhhh, you have a...you have a bae?”
Tally: “Yeah!”
Arim: “I know the word…”
Tally (delighted): “You know the word?”
Arim: “Yeah, I know the word! Yeah. My dad taught me the word, um, apparently my mum used it sometimes. I thought it was cute.”
Tally: “Wow you...your mum called your dad her bae?”
Arim: “I think so?”
Tally: “Awwww! That’s the best thing, aww, now I’m really sad they got split.”
Arim: “Eh. People get split all the time.”
Tally: “But not baes!”
Arim: “Ah yeah, maybe. Maybe I don’t really...I don’t have the cultural context.”
Tally: “It’s fine. As long as she didn’t yeet him.”
Tally determines to send a letter to find out if it’s okay to introduce Arim to the other drow.
Tally: “It was nice meeting you. Bye!”
Arim: “Goodbye! I’ll see you around I suppose. Probably?”
Tally: “Yeah! After I’m done killing the sea monster.”
Arim: “Of course. Oh, wait! Ah, I hope you don’t die.”
Tally: “I hope I don’t die either.”
Spitefully Nice
Khamet has purchased a bed for the night in a room shared with assorted sea and wood elves. Some of them are here for sightseeing- there’s a really impressive statue underwater which can draw in a good crowd! The sea elves and the triton have an ongoing argument about what the statue actually depicts, and then on top of that the triton can’t agree amongst themselves what it’s all about either. And don’t get me started on how vicious the archaeologists get about it...anyway, it’s a statue of some deity or other, they’re just not fully sure which.
Khamet strikes up a conversation with a wood-elf visiting from Evertemple.
Khamet: “Oh. Hi! You sound interesting, you work in the Evertemple, right?”
Evertemple Elf: “I do. Not for very long, but I’m there.”
Khamet: “Tell me about your religion.”
She hesitates. “Have you been to Shaan before?”
Khamet: “No.”
“Okay. Well, I mean, the worship of the Everqueen is not much different here than it is anywhere else. We have an Everlight, who is in charge, uh...doesn’t like me very much, but I’m working on that.”
Khamet jots this down.
“Yeah! We worship our lovely creator-goddess, who created us all from the fey.”
She explains several things, some of which Khamet already knows. Then Khamet moves on to Weightier Topics.
Khamet: “Do you guys know anything about the Shadow Queen?”
“Oh yes, yes. She’s the Everqueen’s sister, she corrupted the drow. She’s a nasty jealous goddess.”
Khamet: “Okay, um, does she have like any- is her domain, like, just drow? Or do like other people worship the Shadow Queen?”
“It’s a bit vague. There are some people who revere her more highly than others. Some of us think that she’s essential- because of course you’ve got the Everqueen who is light and creation, and you’ve got the Shadow Queen who is about darkness and...condemnation. Um. And then other people just hate her. Personally, I just hate her, ah- but yeah! It’s mostly just drow who worship her, they think she’s pretty great and that she’s their creator. And I don’t know, they think that she saved them from...whatever the Everqueen was supposed to be doing.”
Khamet: “Does the Everqueen also love the drow? Or does she only love the surface elves?”
“Oh, she loves the drow. Um, she can’t...she can’t always--she can’t talk to the drow in the Underdark. Because that’s the Shadow Queen’s domain, and she blocks most of her influence- and that’s why, um, most drow don’t have the Blessing of the Everqueen. Uh, which most of us surface elves have. Because she likes to block-”
Khamet: “What’s the ‘Blessing of the Everqueen’?”
The elf explains that the Blessing of the Everqueen is the intrinsic ability of surface elves to change their reproductive biology over a good night’s rest, should they so desire.
Khamet: “Oh? Interesting...okay well thank-you for telling me about all this stuff.”
“You’re welcome!”
He is still scribbling notes down.
The elf goes on: “You’re lucky you found me, because some of these questions ah, some people would have thought you were just really stupid for asking. But, I don’t think you’re stupid. I think it’s really cool that you want to learn about other people.”
Khamet: “Oh. Well thank-you, ma’am. What’s your name?”
“Istai’ro. You can call me Istai if you like?”
Khamet: “Thank-you, Istai. That’s really cool. I appreciate you taking the time to explain the Everqueen to me, and I hope you have a good time. I hope you show that Everlight what for!”
Istai: “Aww, no, I wouldn’t be so...that implies I would be very mean about it. No, I’m just going to convince her that I am a worthy acolyte of my goddess.”
Khamet: “Well, I know a drow that doesn’t worship the Shadow Queen. I don’t know what she worships, but it’s not the Shadow Queen. And she says that sometimes-”
Istai: “I’d heard rumours.”
Khamet: “Yeah. Well, there are surface drow. Um...anyways, I just wanted to let you know that she says that sometimes being nice to people can be a sort of like...you can channel your spite into being nice. That is advice she gave me.”
Istai: “That’s actually...pretty incredible. I would- I mean, it’s also very drow- uh, but yeah. I mean, I can’t really be directly horrible to this person who is the...head of my order, in the city of Evertemple and all that. Um, but I could be spitefully nice! That sounds good.”
Khamet: “Spitefully nice. Alright. Have a nice life.”
Istai: “You too.”
Beach Scene
Before the beach-sleepover people (Tally, “Inima,” Meallan, and Gem) rest but after Tally comes back, Meallan approaches Tally!
“Did things go well?” he asks.
“Yep! Pretty well!” she replies.
Meallan: “I’m glad. I just… I wanted to ask you for your opinion.”
Tally: “Yep, I have a few opinions left.”
Meallan: “I bought a little present for Khamet to show him that, despite everything, I still appreciate him, but he rejected it. I was thinking of getting presents for everyone to show the same thing, but now I’m not so sure.”
Tally: “Mm. Well, there are different ways of showing your appreciation. Some people, gifts work really well. Some other people, um, nice words work better. Some other people, it’s… touchy… cuddling. Some other people it’s helping them out with stuff and guessing what they want, which I’m not good at, either. And gifts are a good way to start, and they’re generally accepted; I encourage you to experiment with other things. But Khamet is… a bit of a special case? So don’t let the results you get with him define everything else you do, even though it’s important to consider his reactions, too.”
Meallan: “I know why he dislikes me, but I thought maybe it would get better, and it feels like it’s gotten worse.”
Tally: “Meallan, some people are never, ever going to like you no matter what you do.”
Gem interjects! They pipe up: “Um, so, where I’m from, it’s complicated. I’m currently on a quest and I’m trying to prove myself and prove my worth to the people who are from where I’m from. So maybe you can try that, and maybe tomorrow, after we kill this sea monster, this person will like you more, and they’ll be all like, ‘oh!!! Look at Meallan, they’re a hero! They’re so cool!’”
Sounds like a solid plan, right?
“Yep, I suppose,” replies Meallan.
Gem: “I mean it’s worth a shot, right?”
Meallan: “Killing the sea monster is a nice thing, but I don’t think that will make Khamet like me. I don’t think anything ever will. Unless I--”
Gem: “--and I mean, if you kill the sea monster, you’ll be a hero, and people like heroes! So…”
Meallan: “Mm-hm. Yes, they do.”
Gem: “It’s just worth a shot!”
“Inima”: “It’s a way to prove yourself, I suppose.”
Meallan: “It can’t hurt to try. Thank you. I like you.”
Amani is barely paying attention to the conversation otherwise. Meallan goes to look at the stars and pets Aytal. Amani wanders around the shore feeling the water, stirring at it but not actually going in. And then they lie down to look at the stars.
Tenacious
Anthony is having a nice quiet beer. Suddenly, a little pink tiefling pops up next to him. It’s Tenacity, because of course it is.
Tenacity: “Oh, I thought you’d get here eventually!”
Anthony sprays his beer all over the place. Tenacity takes a few quick steps back to avoid the unwanted shower.
Tenacity: “Yeah, I’m not very good at this. Um...hey, Hero of Riverside! Slayer of Giant Badgers!”
Anthony: “What are you doing here? What do you want from me?”
Tenacity: “I’m just here to check up, and you know, make sure that you still don’t think you want to help us out here. Because seriously, uh, we don’t like this guy? You know we don’t like this guy, and I don’t get why you’re not helping us deal with this guy so I can actually get my license.”
Anthony: “Well, hey, look. If I...I need some guarantees first, you know, before I do anything. Before I even say anything, I need guarantees.”
Tenacity: “Yeah? What kind of guarantees?”
Anthony: “One: that I get to stay here in this time, right? I’m not going back.”
Tenacity: “That should be fine. We’ve stabilised worse...translocations, whatever that word is. Well, not me personally.”
Anthony: “Two: you gotta help me protect my girlfriend in Deyn, in case he goes after her.”
Tenacity glances over at a morose blue elf with a dusting of light freckles, then turns her attention back to Anthony. She whispers:
“Yeah, I’m sure I can help you out. What do you think he’s going to do to her?”
Anthony: “I dunno maybe, like, send her off to another like, time or dimension or something? I guess, you know, it’s like irony-”
Tenacity: “That is something he’d do…”
Anthony: “-or try send me back, I dunno. He’s crazy.”
Tenacity: “That’s what he’d do...that’s what he’d do. He once like- we’ve had him imprisoned before, and he once broke out, and then he just thought it would be really funny to send a bunch of very non-human looking people back to like, medieval human times?”
Anthony groans.
Tenacity: “So I can see him- I can see him doing that, yes.”
Anthony: “Yeah, see, I kinda don’t want him doing that to me.”
Tenacity: “Ah, you’ll be okay. I’m sure it’ll be fine, I’m sure.”
Her smile is not at all reassuring. Anthony is, predictably, not reassured.
Tenacity: “Okay so, um, this is probably the part where I should make a deal with you but I kinda just saw you and I’ve been waiting here a few days, and I was like ‘hey, I should go talk to him.’ Okay so, uh, I’m not very good at doing this sort of thing, and also I don’t want him to overhear me. I could- I could give you assurance...how could we help, how could we help each other?”
Anthony: “It’s been a long night, I’ll get back to you in the morning.”
Tenacity: “Sounds good!”
Anthony: “I need to talk with the rest of the guys first.”
Tenacity gives him the thumbs-up. “Yeah, I’ll be around. Um...wait. The rest of the guys- have you told them? About us?”
Anthony: “Not all of them.”
Tenacity: “I mean I wouldn’t blame you, considering how casually I told you about us. Like, I really should be better about that. I’m not good at this. Um I don’t know...I don’t know why they let me in this programme. Um...but yeah, sure! Sure.”
Anthony: “Right...cool. Now, I need to get a new beer.”
He’s holding up the empty tankard he just spat out.
Tenacity: “That’s cool. Uh, my money’s pretty good, and I feel really bad for making you spill all that...I’ll buy you one if you like?”
Anthony: “Okay, thanks.”
Tenacity buys Anthony a fresh tankard of beer.
Tenacity: “Make it super frothy and stuff, ‘cause that looks good. I’m sure he’ll love it.”