|
Post by Thorn on May 15, 2021 18:11:15 GMT -5
Session 54: Names learned!Runaka (she/her): Crown Princess of Lustross.
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on May 17, 2021 7:13:06 GMT -5
Session 54 Recap: Argentian Awaits!This one is an extra long recap, it seems! Key Points:*Meallan learns where Etherforge is.
*Tenacity tells the party where they can find the Sunfire Blade.
*The party learn what the Hellfire Paladin actually is. They send her to find a cave for Crystal.
*Khamet explains why he made a pact with the Hellfire Paladin.
*The party decide to investigate the robbery of an antique dealer and jeweller.
*The party gain the promise of assistance from Runaka, Crown Princess of Lustross. Recap Proper: It is sunset on the 15th of Stone 15003, the evening after leaving Moonstone, and the party have finally reached Argentian: a large city of softly glittering grey-and-white stone. While most of the party head for a tavern called Star’s Heart, Meallan hunts for news of Etherforge, the etherlium refinery. While waiting in line for street food, a bored dwarf chats with Meallan. They find the city boring, but mention that there’s an angelic statue in the city centre that tourists seem to like. Meallan also learns that while widely useful astrolith products are sold in local stores, ones that are less so (like etherlium) are bought direct from the refineries. The vendor, overhearing their conversation, gives Meallan directions to Etherforge- in the mountains, past a secluded monastery.
When the rest of the party enter Star’s Heart, they notice a wood elf singing an old elvish song about the harvest, while a second accompanies her on a harp. Moon can smell soup and roasting meat, and snuffles around to determine who she should best talk to about acquiring some. The harp player lays down her instrument and approaches Moon and, between ordering for herself and ordering for some party members who consume considerably less than she anticipates, Moon purchases enough food to feed a small army.
Tally is the first to notice a familiar purple-suited tiefling at the back of the room. Tenacity gestures for the party to join her. They notice that she is accompanied by an unfamiliar, powerfully built woman with grey skin, who has her hands wrapped around a tankard of ale and her gaze lowered towards the same. Khamet immediately beelines for her and asks her why she is grey.
The woman expresses disappointment that Khamet doesn’t recognise her- as they do have a contract, after all. Realising that she is the Hellfire Paladin, whom he calls ‘Av’, Khamet tries to strike up a cheery conversation with very little success. Tenacity indicates that she wishes to speak with the party more privately, and that she has fully booked out a room for her own use. Khamet, Anthony, Amani and Pippi follow Tenacity while the others stay behind with the Hellfire Paladin. Moon is a little dejected that Khamet suggested she stay back, but is soon distracted by the large amount of food she ordered for herself and her companions, and by Tally opting to hang back with her outside.
Meallan soon returns, and hurries to join Tenacity as soon as he learns of her presence, arriving just as she finishes her explanation. Some time ago, Tenacity promised via a Sending spell to explain where the Sunfire Blade is located, and she has at last followed through. It turns out that the Sunfire Blade is located in the Temporal Fortress, where it was confiscated and locked up long ago. Tenacity agrees to take the party there to speak with her superiors and try to acquire the blade legitimately, but recommends that they finish their current tasks first, as time-travel can be unpredictable and it’s not uncommon for people to lose days or weeks when returning from the fortress.
Tenacity expresses disappointment when she sees that Meallan has made another pact. When he asks how she knows, she waves a hand in front of her eyes, reminding him that her eyes are ‘weird’ and she can see things others don’t. In full view of Pippi, Meallan removes Wisp from his pocket to demonstrate how harmless his newest patron is. The little fiend says hi to Tenacity, but soon asks to return to the pocket, as he is still wary of Meallan’s friends.
Rejoining the others outside, Khamet asks ‘Av’ why she calls herself a paladin if she follows a fiend, and if she worships the Burning Hunger as one would a deity. She indicates that it isn’t really worship, but that she does serve the Burning Hunger as her ‘instrument.’ The paladin is cagey on the details of her background at first. However, she wants to know what she can do to help the party achieve their goal faster, as her mistress grows impatient waiting for the demiplanar key. Motivated by Meallan refusing to answer her questions if she doesn’t answer his, and by the amount of alcohol she’s already consumed, the Hellfire Paladin gives away more about herself than she’d perhaps intended in exchange for suggestions on how she can help the party moving forward.
In life she was a paladin in service to a deity, but a fiend was able to get to her. When she died this fiend- the Burning Hunger- replaced all her memories of her former deity with the Burning Hunger herself, and revived the fallen paladin as a fiend in her service. Now ‘Av’ serves as her instrument, bound to carry out her mistress’ will.
Meallan asks if she has ever considered that this might be the wrong choice. The Hellfire Paladin says that she does not have a choice, but Meallan insists that there is always a choice. Frustrated, she retorts that this may be the case for ‘little mortals’, but not for her. Avelina explains that her humanity is gone, and now she is a ‘hellsworn’ fiend, her existence bound in serving her mistress’ will. She still wants to know what she can do to help bring about Malka’s demise more swiftly- she knows battle, and little beyond that, but will help in other ways if the party can give her direction. Khamet mentions that one of the things preventing them from leaving Argentian is that he promised to find a cave for Crystal. Reluctantly, the Hellfire Paladin thus leaves to hunt out a suitable cave.
Tenacity clarifies for the party that hellsworn fiends are fiends who used to be humanoids, but upon their deaths were...well. Sworn to serve hell as fiends. Meallan and Amani want to know why Khamet made a pact with the Hellfire Paladin. Khamet explains that the pact says he will grant her the osseus metallicum, or ‘demiplanar key’ as she calls it, upon Malka’s death. If the Hellfire Paladin dies, falling in battle with Malka (or at the hands of the party should she survive that), there is no need for him to give up the key. Meallan admits that he is relieved, as he was worried about Khamet’s motivations when he made the initial pact. Meallan assures Khamet that, when the time comes, he will help ensure the Hellfire Paladin’s demise.
Khamet tells Tally he has a surprise for him, to welcome him to the ‘boys’ club’. Tally is confused, and points out the drow has been a ‘boy’ many times before- but Khamet responds that it’s the first time he has met Tally as a man! He presents Tally with a very special gift that he purchased months before, in the hopes of helping him out in his relationships. Responses from the party are varied, with Meallan wondering why this (and why now?.) Amani and Asariel both awkwardly stare at the wall, before Amani excuses themself and retreats outside with Meallan to stargaze. Pippi finds this behaviour strange, as she doesn’t understand why people would be embarrassed by reference to an activity they are merely uninterested in. Crystal, unsurprisingly, doesn’t understand the conversation at all and pretends to be politely listening in.
To change the topic, Tenacity asks if anyone would like to come and dance to the harp music with her. She is not a very good dancer, but gains confidence once Khamet joins her. The pair are soon joined by Tally, after he has finished entertaining Crystal with rock-based magic.
Outside with Amani, Meallan talks about how he doesn’t understand how some people, like Tally, can be physically attracted to people they barely know. He has only ever had those feelings for Malka- but she was uninterested and, after the recent revelations about her, he doesn’t feel that way anymore. Amani says they can relate, but they have never felt that way about anyone at all. Romance too seems strange to Amani and they don’t understand why others, including their sister, are interested in such things. After this heart-to-heart, the mages return indoors.
While poorly dancing with Tenacity, Khamet hears that valuable items were stolen from an antique dealer and a jeweller in quick succession that morning, but nobody saw who took them and no culprit has been found. Meallan asks Basil how he would go about robbing these places. He admits that he would need to see the buildings to know for sure, but usually he prefers to enter through a second-story window. The party make plans to look into the thefts the following day.
The party eventually retire to bed, but Pippi first takes Meallan aside. The elf mentions that she agreed to help the party because she felt sorry for Meallan, who had been trapped by a pact with a fiend, but now it turns out he knowingly went and made another fiendish pact. When he insists that he saw no other option besides forming a pact with Wisp, Pippi asks Meallan why he felt the pact was so essential- if he wanted to further improve his magic, why didn’t Meallan simply study magic as she does? He says he didn’t have the time, and informs her that the pact with Wisp ends when Malka is killed. Pippi admits that it sounds about as safe as it can be, given these terms. However, she is not happy that he kept things from her, since Pippi is in this with him for better or worse and can’t help the party to her full ability if she doesn’t have all the facts.
The next morning, Moon is awake before most of the party. She sets off to hunt for any possible rumours of vampires in the mountains, now clearly visible in the distance. She meets a traveller who, when asked if she’s seen anything unusual, mentions strange and definitely not local bats flittering about a monastery in those mountains, along with unusual mists. The bats didn’t attack her or anything, so this isn’t really a lot to go on. Moon sneaks around foraging in the city, and is seen only by a curious child, who tumbles out their window and listens to Moon explain all about the mushrooms she is gathering from the edge of their garden.
When Khamet wakes, he makes a beeline for Asariel, who is sitting cross-legged having already completed their trance. Khamet wants to know why they seem so stressed around him. They remind him that Asariel once watched Khamet sit on their distressed child to restrain them, and then on the voyage to Lustross kept bothering them when they were trying to be seasick and miserable in peace. Audibly hurt, Khamet says that he was just trying to gather fun facts for his friend. Asariel wants to know what kind of fun facts he is after. Khamet asks if they have ever been to Valdrona. Sadly, Asariel has not. Khamet starts to ramble about how hard it must be for Asariel to live so far away from their wife. They tolerate this conversation for a while but, when Khamet glances away at one point, Asariel vanishes. Amani, ever their child, has also disappeared.
But not for any worrying reasons- no! Amani has set out to buy gifts for their family. As they step out from a shop where they purchased lovely astrolith pieces, they nearly walk into Asariel, who quickly hides something behind their back. Amani does the same. The archmage awkwardly shuffles past them and awkward small-talk about the weather ensues, until there is enough distance between them that they can sweep away without either mage revealing what they are holding.
After her mushroom-gathering excursion Moon joins Khamet, Meallan and Tally as they head to the castle seeking Official Permission to solve the previous day’s robberies!! And to see if the castle is home to any strange bats (Moon quickly verifies that it is not.) After the guards see their Cai city passes, and their letter from Usavias explaining (and perhaps embellishing upon) how much good the party have done for the city, the party are taken to meet with Crown Princess Runaka. She agrees to do what she can to obtain etherlium for the party, who let her believe they need it to deal with a demon a cult tried to summon beneath the city of Cai Shaan. Runaka is a little confused when Khamet talks about needing legal recognition for a cave for Crystal, as there are trolls already in Lustross and they typically inhabit their caves without worrying about deeds from the government. She nevertheless assures him that it should be easy enough to get a cave legally recognised as Crystal’s one.
Across town, Amani is looking for a book for Isra. They find a bookshop run by a cheerful gnome woman standing on a stack of boxes to see over the counter. When Amani asks for recommendations of stories that contain romance or adventure, they receive several. One about a band of adventuring wizards especially catches their attention, and as they page through the book Amani discovers no romance at all...Amani purchases it, but has half a mind to keep this book for themself.
Amani then sets off towards the castle, where they intend to gain access to the library to search for information on fiends and Vystris, and perhaps for books Isra might enjoy. They arrive as the rest of the party are leaving, and agree to meet at the jeweller later in the day to investigate yesterday morning’s break-in.
At the library, Amani can find nothing on Vystris, but they do find some books Isra may like. They mentally file these away to search for in shops later on. When it comes to fiends they were mostly hoping for information on Malka- which is convenient as a king of Lustross a couple thousand years ago happened to be her warlock. Of course, she is called ‘Koach’ in these texts, but Meallan previously informed the party they are the same entity.
Koach, the Queen of Conquerors, helped an ambitious King Silverbeard conquer his neighbours- including the Underdark, which is why Lustross has no Underdark today. But once he was no longer of use to her, she failed to alert him to an assassination attempt, and he was killed. The story is much as it was in the play the party watched in Cai Shaan.
The party regroup at the closed jewelry store to begin their investigations, early in the afternoon on the 16th of Stone 15003.
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on May 22, 2021 15:45:33 GMT -5
One week until EuroAtlantis, folks! Will the party solve the Mystery of the Missing Jewelry? Join me then to find out!
Also, three days until the deadline for the writing exchange! I look forward to seeing what everyone has come up with. :-D
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on May 24, 2021 18:39:29 GMT -5
Five days until EuroAtlantis session 55! And about two days until we share our pieces for the writing exchange. I'm excited to see what you all came up with, folks!
We also say goodbye to RP Bot, and welcome Avrae to the server. The command for rolling dice is the same as with RP Bot, but Avrae has a few other features too- including the ability to track initiative, status conditions, and how many rounds have passed in a combat!
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on May 26, 2021 7:11:21 GMT -5
My drabble for our third writing exchange! “Meallan, we must talk.”
She guided him to a chair at one end of the table and seated herself opposite, fingers interlaced, eyes piercing his soul. Meallan wasn’t sure what Malka wanted. Usually these dreams were more vague than this.
“...yes?” he ventured.
“Do you recall that lovely young fey? Bitterbright, I believe?”
“I don’t know about ‘lovely’,” Meallan grumbled.
“Oh, come now. They were sweet. So bright and enthusiastic about the world.”
“Your point, Malka?”
She smiled her perfect smile. “I think you two should get talking. You’d be good for each other. Did you see the way they looked at you?”
“In terror? When they thought I was about to kill them?”
“Yes,” she clapped her hands together delightedly. “Perfection! You could be terrified of each other for the rest of your days. Wouldn't that be wonderful?”
Based on this prompt: Koach loves terrible couples. She ships Meallan and Bitterbright.
|
|
|
Post by Celestial on May 26, 2021 7:29:16 GMT -5
This is my drabble, with the prompt at the bottom. It is silly, sparse, a stretch, and written the night before, but I managed to tie it into the main campaign, so, yay? “So, who is this person we’ve been assigned to?” the guard reached for the briefing papers held by their companion-in-arms.
“He’s one of the lot who first eliminated the squid monster, and then the cult in the tunnels under the city,” the other elf handed them the papers, exhaling.
“Wait, I was told this isn’t bodyguarding duty. And even if it was, sounds like they can take care of themselves,” the first guard frowned. They scanned the papers, trying to glean an answer in the cleanly scribed text.
“Apparently Lord Lyrelle wants it to protect the city from him. He’s been doing all this while running around with a fiend pact attached to him. Trying to get rid of it, apparently, but until then-”
“It’s our job to make sure he doesn’t get up to any trouble?” the first elf sighed. “Never meet your heroes.”
That earned a slight chuckle from the second guard. “No, it never works out.”
“Seems a shame though. This Meallan helped the city out, twice. Risked his life by the sound of it, and got a house and city pass from it. To be treated with suspicion by the lord, that’s got to sting.”
The second elf shrugged. “Should not have made a pact with a demon if he did not want people to be suspicious of you.”
The first guard pondered this. “Yes, probably. Just saying, still a shame.”
This earned a raised eyebrow from their companion-in-arms. “Do you want to question Lord Lyrelle’s orders? Because you’re welcome to go up to him and try that.”
A silence descended as the first guard continued to read the assignment. They suddenly stopped, blinking. “Hey, look at this.”
“What?” their companion-in-arms leaned in.
“List of his inventory. Between all the usual stuff,” they pointed a finger at one particular line of text. “What’s a mint chocolate chip kissable rapier?”
The other elf looked over, eyes widening as the words registered. “I…I don’t know.”
“Sounds delicious.”
“It does! Urgh, I want mint chocolate chip now,” the second guard leaned back.
“You and me both,” the first elf paused for a second before their eyes lit up with the glint of a dangerous idea. “Saaay…”
“Oh no, I do not like that tone of voice.”
“Everyone likes mint chocolate chip? Including Lord Lyrelle?”
A facepalm from the second guard. “Please stop wherever you’re going with this.”
“What if we try to get them to make up?” a bright, beaming smile was now plastered across the first elf’s face. “If Lord Lyrelle gets such a thoughtful gift from someone, surely, maybe, he’ll be a bit more charitable?”
An exasperated sigh from behind the palm. “Is this just an excuse to get out of work?”
“No!” the first guard shook their head. “I just want to make things better. Seems a shame for the lord to not trust a hero, even if he has made a pact with a demon. And besides, anybody who likes mint chocolate chip cannot possibly be evil, right?”
There was no reply from the second guard. Only the dead air that lingers around someone who has just heard something so stupid they have no reply to it.
“You can try it,” finally came the tiniest, quietest reply. “But I had nothing to do with this.”
“Of course, you got it!” the first guard flashed their companion-in-arms a fingergun salute: it was something the adventurers had begun spreading around. “This is going to work, trust me.”
The second guard stood. “I’m going to go get some brightmint. I think I have a headache developing.”
"Apparently, some guards are very interested in that mint chocolate chip kissable rapier in Meallan's inventory. Looks like they'll try and court Lyrelle with this."
|
|
|
Post by Gelquie on May 26, 2021 21:46:25 GMT -5
Belated but not gone! This one is more serious than funny; ah well. Meallan woke up in his room of the party house and got up and stretched. He didn't really know how he got here, nor did he remember anything of the night before. But he remembered his habits; how Meallan wanted to stick his head out the window to let nature's air wake him, how he could do for a cup of coffee, and how the remnants of something magical remained within him.
It all worked even better than expected. But right now instead of coffee he could really do instead with some tea.
Meallan ignored his other instincts to do just that, for tea is the best way to start any day. He made it exactly as he remembered, albeit the house could do with better supplies, if he cared enough to supply the house. But he had a careful hand, and was able to make enough for himself and for him to offer some to the rest of the party, to the confusion of all. Particularly the confusion of those who refused tea, to which Meallan responded with annoyance.
"Oh, is it a magic tea of sorts?" Amani asked.
"No, it's green tea," Meallan responded unhelpfully. "Now, I don't know what plans you have today, but I'll be spending my morning alone. Please don't disturb me."
The others looked at each other.
"Meallan, didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to meditate again?" Tally asked, confused.
"Did I? Well, would you mind if we do it later?"
"I-I suppose... Maybe Amani would like to do it?" Tally suggested, to the wholehearted agreement of everyone else in the party except Amani.
"Well, uh... I don't know, I was going to talk to my Night's Peace, and maybe work out--"
Meallan blinked in alarm. "Ah! ...Excuse me, I burned myself, but I'm alright. Anyway, take the meditation, Amani, I think it would serve you well."
"There's no meditation better than time with my--"
"Take. The. Meditation." Meallan placed another cup of tea in front of Amani, giving them a kindly stern look that spoke volumes.
Amani and the others could only blink in surprised, then watch as Meallan walked away.
What an intriguing start! But now it was time for what he had in mind. He locked himself inside his room and sat on the edge of his bed. He gently placed his palms together and closed his eyes, focusing inward, drawing from within...
"...Ah, I thought I might find you," a feminine voice chimed through.
Meallan felt the presence of Koach stir. "You are not Meallan."
"No, I am not. Thank you very much for noticing. Perhaps you remember me? No matter. I needed to get a read of your magical signature, and now I have. But while I have your attention, why don't we have a nice chat? I only regret I cannot offer you some tea."
It dawned on Koach. "...You'd find a way to make it with holy water."
"Very clever! Why don't we get right to the point, then. I want you to tell me your plans with this world, should you succeed."
Koach explained that she was a demon that feeds on hunger for power, and how becoming a god would allow her to no longer need to feed on this.
"Hmm, yes, I'm sure that would be very convenient for you," 'Meallan' said unconvincingly. "But I'm sure you don't mean to languish in godhood for eternity."
Was that a twitch from Koach? "I don't believe I need to explain myself to you."
"I thought you might not, Koach. You don't need to worry about me. Not unless, of course, I find you're a threat to my city."
"You would still be helping the ones who are trying to kill me, wouldn't you?"
"Oh, I suppose that's true. As for how much and why, well... I don't believe I need to explain myself to you," 'Meallan' thought with the sense of a sweet smile. "Nevertheless, it looks like I have what I need. Goodbye."
And with that, Koach once more found her suddenly cut off from her connection to Meallan, only this time with more of a force that seemed to cut through her brain.
'Meallan,' meanwhile, stood up. "Well, I still have a half hour left to this spell. I suppose I'll make the most of it and learn what I can. I've got time~."
----
It was dark, and cold, and the tunnels were labyrinthine. There was no end to the paths that seemed to wind around, promising some sort of exit or intriguing discovery. If not for the dead ends or the sudden obstacles or the occasional mental message from an unknown source. If not for the stone construction, the traveler within would've had half a mind to blast a path forward, or something!
It would seem as if she had been here forever. How long would she be here? All she was doing was getting frustrated, as she ran into yet another trap that forced her into the next tunnel that she had spent so long traversing.
Just then, there was a message in the woman's head.
"Don't worry, Meallan, even if you do not find the the path, you will not be here forever. You won't even be here all day. I just had some important business to take care of, which I have handled. It's nothing that would harm you, so don't worry about it."
The woman paused. "Why?! What for?! If you had to steal my body, why couldn't you place me somewhere... nicer?!"
"Oh please, I can't go around with you as me; quite simply, I don't trust you to do that. But I couldn't leave you somewhere boring; that's just how nice I am."
"I hate this."
"Aww, what a shame. Give it some time, you'll be back before you know it."
The woman did her best to give it some time. But she made essentially no progress before the spell finally wore of.
Just then, Meallan suddenly found himself back in his body, with a cup of tea in his hands, taking in the bewildered expressions of the rest of the party members with far too many cups of tea, and at a loss for how to explain what happened.
Meanwhile, below, the woman blinked, and looked where she was. Then the woman held her blue robe with silver stars around herself and laughed.
"What a shame, Meallan; you weren't that far from the center!" Solstriana trilled. "Ah well. It was fun while it lasted. And I believe I learned so much."
Solstriana turned, muttering the incantation for a teleport, and then she was gone.
====
"Meallan and Solstriana swapped bodies."
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on May 27, 2021 16:55:54 GMT -5
Two days until next EuroAtlantis, folks. See ya then!
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on May 28, 2021 15:57:25 GMT -5
Woohoo it's Friday! You know what that means? We have EuroAtlantis tomorrow, yay!
We'll be down Khamet, who will be off causing his own shenanagins. Can Basil, Amani, Meallan, Moon, Anthony and Tally solve crimes without him??? I sure hope so! Join me tomorrow to find out.
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on May 29, 2021 17:26:51 GMT -5
Session 55: Names Learned!Lenny (he/him): muscular and fair-skinned angel with short blonde hair, and a greatsword strapped across his back. Not ultra talkative.
Yuri??? Henry??? (he/him): a slender, fair-skinned and golden-freckled angel with long brown hair, who dreams of owning a little cottage where he can make jam.
Sujim (she/her): human woman with mid-brown skin and a side-shave. She helped a friend steal some valuable items by buying him an invisibility potion, in exchange for the two angels restoring her vision (she was previously blind in one eye) and healing her friend's wife.
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on May 29, 2021 20:27:20 GMT -5
Hey folks, I have some good news! I have decided to level up the party after they acquire the etherlium, which will be in a session or two.
So it's a good idea to get thinking, even vaguely, about level 9- yay! For most of you, it looks like you'll be taking a ninth level in your original class. Thundy, of course, gets to choose between an eighth level in bard, or second level in sorcerer, when he levels up Anthony.
(If anyone else is interested in pursuing a multiclass, let me know and we can work something out! Plenty of in-game opportunities have arisen by this stage to justify levels in various classes.)
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on May 31, 2021 1:49:22 GMT -5
Session 55 Recap: Dungeons and Detectives!Key Points:*The party investigate the missing jewelry and clock.
*Tally tells a suspect, Sujim, about Malka's efforts to become a deity.
*The party meet the mausoleum-dwelling angels, Yuri/Henry and Lenny. Recap Proper:It is early afternoon on the 16th of Stone. With Khamet having been mysteriously sidetracked on his way to the rendezvous, the rest of the party investigate first the jewelry store and then the antique dealer for clues regarding a recent theft. Basil finds thieves cant marking the buildings as targets, Moon picks up a couple of suspicious scents, and Meallan finds illusion magic characterising traces of a strange liquid. This is later confirmed to be an invisibility potion when the party visit the potion dealer, and Moon and Basil each buy an invisibility potion for their own use besides.
When Amani and Anthony pay the jeweller a visit, they learn that this young dwarf’s sister was jealous of them recently inheriting the family business. When the duo proceed to visit this sister, they learn that she wasn’t involved with the thefts, but that she believes they could be connected to an ancient graveyard at the edge of town. People say it’s haunted, but she is more inclined to believe the rumour thieves stash their stolen goods there, and there have been an unusual number of thefts of similar objects lately. Anthony and Amani subsequently decide to check out the graveyard.
The rest of the party, meanwhile, search the area around the crime scene for traces of the scent Moon has deduced belongs to someone called ‘Sujim’, a human woman who purchased an invisibility potion three days prior. They find her home, and then wait outside for her to return. Meallan disguises himself as a drunken, dishevelled dwarf, and when Sujim returns flings himself across her doorstep and begs for some water. Meanwhile Basil, who had snuck into the house through the back door and discovered a second invisibility potion, takes the murmur of voices at the door as a signal to skedaddle. When Sujim threatens to get the guards, Meallan finally moves out of the way, and she enters her home, locking the door behind her. The party plan their next moves.
Anthony and Amani have long since left the graveyard. They decided to get backup before going in, and so have returned in search of the party, with Anthony showing Amani clips of The Shining on his phone as they walk (Amani is disappointed to see it is not actually about shiny things!) The party decide to approach the front door while Basil and Aytal sneak in the back to seek Incriminating Evidence.
After some unsuccessful questioning, Anthony casts zone of truth on Sujim. She immediately tries to shut the door on the party, but Amani sticks their foot in the gap and then they and Moon prise the door slowly open, so that Sujim has to skitter out of the way to avoid being pressed against the wall. However, she doesn’t respond well to intimidation. She wants to know why the party are asking her these questions, and their response that they are here on behalf of Runaka does not fully satisfy Sujim.
Eventually Tally comes clean: there is a demon trying to become a deity, and if the party solve this crime for Princess Runaka she will help them obtain an item to aid in the fight against this demon. Understandably alarmed at this news, Sujim tells the party about two glowing men hanging out in the supposedly haunted graveyard, who offer healing in exchange for beautiful objects. She asks, however, that the party not reveal it was her who sent them there.
The party pause at the edge of the graveyard, and Moon focuses for a moment. She detects that there are fiends, fey...and celestials...within a mile. With the fiends accounted for by Wisp and Aytal, it seems likely celestials await them inside. The party enter the mausoleum at the graveyard’s heart, and find themselves face-to-face with a pair of tall, glowing figures.
The party feel a sense of adoration and peace wash over them, as they look at the more gracile of the angelic duo. What a kind and beautiful person! Basil in particular is quite taken with this being. Meallan, however, is having none of it. During he and the party’s back-and-forth with the two angels (primarily the slender one, Yuri, as his companion Lenny stays fairly quiet), some information comes to light.
Yuri was an angelic servant of Torvmar, cast down for his vanity and alleged desire to be worshipped like a deity. Angels can’t reside in any place people would consider appropriate for humanoid occupation, unless they receive express permission from someone with the right to grant permission to live there. Thus, Yuri wants the party to convince this ‘princess’ they mentioned to grant him a little cottage, so he can achieve his life’s dream of making jams and having people tell him how amazing those jams are!
He offers to provide healing in exchange- or, since adventurers live rough lives and often lose people, perhaps he could even bring someone back from the dead? Moon is conflicted, and Meallan suspicious of Yuri’s motivations. The angel clarifies that if given a being’s name and an item that belonged to them, he can call a soul back from the afterlife and into a new body he forges for it. They are not undead, just granted a second chance at life. This was one of his abilities as a powerful celestial of Torvmar, and one which he can still harness in spite of his reduced circumstances. However, he can only do this occasionally, and the more difficult it is to recover the soul the longer it will be before he can do this again.
The party ask for the stolen jewelry and clock. Lenny is suspicious that the party will take them and never follow through on acquiring the cottage, but Yuri hands the items over without a fuss. The party agree to return the items to their owners, explain the situation to Princess Runaka, and ask her to grant the angels a cottage. In exchange Yuri is willing to provide healing to the party, remove a curse or return someone to life. Meallan also asks if Yuri can tell him why someone he knows was raised as an undead. Yuri says that he’ll need more details than that, particularly the circumstances surrounding the being’s death. Meallan decides he needs to think about how much he is willing to share. Accepting this, Yuri says that if Meallan can get him even a little of what he wants- even a terrible shack will do, he can always renovate it into a pretty cottage- then the celestial will do his best to answer whatever questions Meallan may have.
Leaving the two angels in the mausoleum, and with stolen treasures retrieved, the party set out to meet again with Runaka. Opinions on the celestials are divided, with Tally maintaining that they are creepy, while Amani stands by their belief that Meallan was too harsh to them.
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Jun 2, 2021 19:18:35 GMT -5
Hey team! Just a couple quick little updates:
As Chains is unable to make it on the 12th, we will not be playing the main campaign that weekend. Instead, Moni has offered to DM a lighthearted little one-shot set in a snowy town! Should be a lot of fun, hopefully see most of you there.
Session 56 of our main campaign will thus be on Wednesday 16th June! Join me then as we wrap up in Argentian. Should be a fairly chill session, but a nice one!
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Jun 3, 2021 6:18:13 GMT -5
Session 24 is just over four days away now! But the day before that, I'm running a special session in which Athenos, Yeet and Gem will team up. And um, based on their past behaviours...uhhhhhhh... (quotes copypasted from the relevant recaps.) Gem, session 19: Gem vs the Postal System vs their own internal struggle or something idk Athenos, session 10: Athenos vs Specificity vs The Party's Increasing Annoyance
...Yeet seems the most sensible soul, so hopefully she can keep these two on track! =0 Quoting this again as I trawl through all our old posts. We can only feel sorry for Yeet, needing to deal with both at once!
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Jun 5, 2021 7:22:00 GMT -5
A week and a few hours now until Moni's "snowy town" one-shot. A sequel of sorts to her much-loved beach episode- but this time instead of sleeping through it I'll be joining in, playing as Pippi! Looking forward to snowy fun with you all!! :-D
We'll have a session of the main campaign the following week, on the Wednesday.
|
|