Session Fifty Eight: Reunions

General Summary

The Princess diaries

  With breakfast behind them, the party heads out to the House Sivis station. Tristan heads inside to send a message to Theda, asking her whether she wants to examine him in Starilaskur or Wroat. The rest of the group meanwhile waits outside. While Chantilly keeps eyes on a stranger wearing a black bangle, Griff takes a moment to look through the cards that Corinne had sent him from her honeymoon. The cards tell a story spanning the days she spent there; she was quite sad at the beginning and even completely lost the prince at one point. Eventually she found him in a tree, where he’d apparently taken refuge from an angry stag. After finding out that she has a special way with animals, he seems to have become quite smitten with the princess (a feeling that is not reciprocated). The cards get passed around the group. Everyone is happy to hear how the princess has been, though Chantilly needs a moment to get used to the group having a connection to royalty.  

Catching up Tatalla

  Their business at the House Sivis station done, the group moves on to the House Lyrander station. Chantilly again opts to stay outside to keep an eye on suspicious elements in the street. The rest meet up with Tatalla. Griff introduces newcomer Tristan to her, mentioning he’s the one that’s dating Grace. This piques her interest and she wants to discuss this more later. She’s less thrilled to see Emir, warning him not to cause trouble.   Tatalla turns to Silmer. The siblings discuss April’s absence and saving Valerie, and then begin to dive into everything the group has been up to off late. Chantilly is called in at this point so she can be brought up to speed at the same time, Silmer explains that April is with her mother in Sharn, and details the state they left Windshire in. He also tells her how he spoke to their father, explaining how this was possible at the Silent Fane and how he is currently suffering in il’Lashtavar. Tatalla isn’t too happy to hear that and asks if the group has been thinking about options to remedy that. Silmer explains that the party is doing a lot, that they are currently following the Trail in an effort to help those who have been victimised. Within this conversation, Tatalla also tells Malak that she knew his daughter, as they ferried people in and out of Cyre together. She also knew Myranna was the Silverbird before the Siege of Metrol ever happened as a result, and this is why she renamed her ship to ‘The Silverbird’.  

Sister, I met my brother

  Silmer casually drops that he met his brother. Tatalla lightly bluescreens at the notion that he even *has* a brother. Malak adds that he has another sister too who is a princess (and therefore Silmer is a prince). Tatalla bluescreens a little harder. Silmer goes on to explain the Tortles’ apparent plight in Sarlona and this shakes his sister out of it; she’s ready to fly over there immediately and kick some ass if that’s what it takes. Tristan mentions there’s a certain large Tortle that might want to give her some backup, which means Silmer now has to explain Hawk to her.   Focusing the conversation on what is next for the party, it’s explained that Wroat is next on our itinerary. This draws two other half-elves over as they overhear it; Merel and Rayler.  

House Medani, so helpful!

  Rayler explains he lives in Wroat, and offers to help the group in any way they need, be it information, a place to stay, or anything else. He works in the legal department of House Medani and has an in there as well, so if the party needs to find anything or anyone in Wroat, they should definitely approach House Medani. He is also close to his cousin Wilkis d’Medani who is the House’s leader, and believes Wilkis would be interested in discussing the Eyes.   Other Houses also seem to have a growing interest in that direction, and it seems currently there is a group from House Deneith asking around about the Eyes in Wroat. House Tharrask also is demanding to be in on this investigation. Tristan questions whether one of the Deneiths in question is Briar, but Rayler is uncomfortable giving up names. He does confirm some of the Deneiths in question came from Korth.   Silmer tells Rayler that he wants to let all of Khorvaire know about what is going on in Sarlona, to motivate people to intervene there. Rayler explains that that is a complicated matter, as it is highly political. He will however talk to Wilkis about it. Tatalla at this point also asks Emir to regularly check in and let her know how Silmer is doing, once the party is on the road again.   Griff explains to Silmer that Merel knew his father, which prompts Silmer to ask her what he was like when he was younger, before he got to know him. She tells him that Chellon really cared for his people deeply, while he could also be very stubborn. She’s happy that Silmer found him, as he meant the word to her too. Merel is determined to save Chellon from his current state.  

Looking forward

  After this Merel takes Griff aside to another room. She tells him the situation is very awkward. Griff tells her he really likes Rayler, but wonders why she took him aside now. He’s feeling the tendency to run, which she anticipated and is the reason she’s blocking the door. She tells him that he really hurt her when he left her all those years ago, and that while she knows they would be able to get past this eventually, right now it is very complicated for her to have him around. The problem is that they don’t have that kind of time, with everything else going on. They need to find a way to get past this now.   While Griff agrees with this, he’s unsure how to do that. He explains that he hasn’t let anyone get close to him since he broke things up with her, up until a month ago. He’d wanted kids, and knew he couldn’t have those with Merel, so he left her and abandoned that idea altogether. He is happy that Merel has been able to move forward and has found Rayler. He also offers her that if she needs to hit him to feel better… She tries, but misses and leans into him, starting to cry. Griff hugs her, and tells her that he too has met someone, recently. That he wanted to run away again initially, but now intends to retire there with her, in Thaliost, maybe try to make it green again (he’s a Druid after all!). Who knows, maybe even have kids, if that’s still possible. He adds that when that happens, he’d love to see Merel and Rayler from time to time, as they used to be friends, not just lovers. Merel seems to like this suggestion. Griff also mentions he wants to take Rayler up on Godric. Merel seems to like that suggestion *a lot*.  

“She already crashed it”

  Meanwhile, Tristan asks Tatalla what she wanted to talk about with regards to Grace. She explains that she’s known Grace since she was very young, but has overheard stuff. Jules, the airship’s elemental, has told her things as well. There is definitely a conversation there to have, but with the shocking things she’s been told she’s not in the best mindspace for it. It is agreed that they will take a raincheck on this conversation for now.   Emir asks Tatalla if she knows how Mia is doing. The group is told she has already crashed her airship, and is working on Eberronvision. Tatalla then questions Emir on how Corvus and Cissa are doing. He tells her they are doing well, and that he and Corvus are working through some things. They recently had a perfectly civil conversation where nobody died. Emir apologises to Tatalla (and Jules through her) for what happened on the ship. When the group learns George is around, it is requested he comes down to say hello. The Goliath arrives and greets everyone with big hugs (whether he knows them or not). VETT pretends to be a play-doh doll during the hug, lightly freaking George out for a hot second. Meanwhile Griff is out taking Rayler on a pretty tame flight. Rayler screams throughout regardless.  

Oh no, the fuzz!

  The party heads to the market, where Emir wants to buy some gem dust to use in painting Lucy’s name. He finds a Goblin that’s willing to sell. The Goblin however tries to swindle him, charging a far too high price for some Rose Quartz. Emir catches on and talks the price down successfully. Afterwards Chantilly makes a point of visibly scribbling the shop’s details into a notebook and telling the Goblin she’ll report this to ‘the proper authorities’. The Goblin panicked a little at this.  

We start with ‘hi’

  As the group returns to Pavo’s place, Brikx appears to inform Tristan he has a guest. The guest in question, a lady in a lab coat with a lollipop in her mouth, quickly appears and immediately begins measuring Tristan. She talks into a floating purple orb to take notes, referring to Tristan as ‘subject 316’. Eventually Tristan manages to interrupt her from working long enough to start some greetings and introductions. Tristan tells the group her name is Theda. During the introductions she takes particular note of Griff’s altered eyes, and Malak’s note that Tristan has spots on his butt. She also shows a rather complete disregard for peoples’ personal space and seems to require some aid on social cues in a general sense.   Tristan and Theda take the examination upstairs. Once there, she has him strip down and resumes her measuring, looking for changes in his physiology. She finds some knots in his back, and recommends he finds a chiropractor for those, but no extra limbs or spikes or anything of that sort yet. No spots either. She also notes he seems less grumpy, and quickly concludes he must have found a lady friend, as he seems more like he did when he was dating her sister Merle.   After some further tests and taking a blood sample, Theda concludes Tristan isn’t going to die. While that is good news, Tristan worries about hurting those around him, the lady friend not least of all. Theda informs him that as things stand, he’ll continue to grow stronger. But as he does, this will also increase the chances of him going feral when he calls on his powers. On top of that there might be more permanent side effects (if the bat wings on the bunnies she tested on are an indication).   This prompts Tristan to ask if she could remove these abilities from him altogether. Theda is unsure, as she’s never considered it. It’s clear that neither party gave appropriate thought to the long term consequences initially. She shows him an injection device she has created to more easily administer the herbs he needs, now in a concentrated form in a handy vial. This way at least his feral rages can be mitigated more safely. She also inquires about Griff’s unusual eyes, prompting Tristan to explain how some of them, himself excluded, have walked through a Silver Flame. Theda mostly just thinks it’s a shame she can’t test how this interacts with her own creations now.  

“FIFTY?!”

  Tristan asks if there are any additional positives to the ongoing mutations. Theda excitedly informs him there are genes of fifty types of animals inside him now, and she can send him a vial with a concoction that will help draw out more of their abilities. This will however lead to an increased chance of going feral as well, as it will increase his strength. He explains that he doesn’t want to risk hurting his friends, while she counters that as the feral risk is going to get worse anyway, he should at least take advantage of the extra abilities. In conclusion Tristan asks her to send the proposed vial to Wroat, and to look into the possibility of removing the abilities. In the meantime he will consider his options and discuss them with his friends.   With the talk of their experiment done, Theda finally finds the time to ask Tristan how he’s been. He talks a bit about how he’s been before returning the question. During her response she makes a comment about ‘sucking out peoples’ Quori’, which piques Tristan’s interest. He explains the group’s been to Dal Quor and has an interest in Quori because of that. Theda explains how she was at the palace and overheard some people talking about how Soft Ones are created. The Inspired take a young Kalashtar child and sever their connection to their Quori, which makes them docile. She doesn’t know how this link is severed though.   Emir, who has been listening in from his own room after hearing Tristan yell ‘FIFTY?!’ earlier, sends a message to Tristan and through him asks if there is a way to reverse this process, to ‘make the soft ones hard again’. Theda doesn’t know, but is willing to look into it.  

Meanwhile, downstairs

  Meanwhile Griff takes some time to inform Chantilly in more detail about what the group has been up to, and what seems to be going on around them. He leaves the other’s more personal stories out though, and encourages her to ask about those more directly. Silmer asks Griff about how things went with Merel, with regards to getting hit. Griff explains he would have let her but she missed. Silmer then offers some more training.  

Merle’s sister

  Tristan and Theda join the group downstairs, as does Emir, and she makes awkward eye contact as she introduces herself again. Griff asks her for her full name, she tells him her name is Theda Kessler. Emir mentions he thinks she’s like Corvus, but Malak doesn’t see it. Malak asks Theda how she met Tristan. She rather matter of factly states that he would have been her brother-in-law, as he would have married her sister Merle. Theda and Griff briefly discuss their shared interest in animal genetics. While she explains that consent is very important in her beliefs, he questions how that seems to extend only to humanoids (even after death) and not also to animals. Besides, some animals might also be followers of the Blood of Vol. Theda considers she should review her opinions on this.  

Purely hypothetical

  Malak then inquires, as they’re discussing ethics of consent, how Theda feels about a hypothetical situation where someone knows they might explode, but doesn’t inform those traveling with them. Theda agrees that that would be highly irresponsible. Emir makes a quip about Malak being able to explode, referring to his Aasimar abilities. As it turns out fully half of the party didn’t know about this ability and the fact it could hurt them, Malak ends up apologising for not telling them and demonstrating the ability. Griff sticks his hand into the light, which doesn’t hurt so much, and says he barely considers it an explosion.   Theda explains the usage of the new injector to the group. Emir asks if using magic to restrain Tristan could work, it might be helpful in certain situations. While it’s noted consent for this would be necessary and Tristan wouldn’t be able to give it in those situations, he preemptively gives it now. The exemption of situations of self defense is also brought up.   After a vampire pun, it’s mentioned you shouldn’t call people vampires just because they are pale, and Theda gives a little color scheme lesson: Tristan is pale, but not uncommonly so for a Karrnathi. Vampires are more of a graying blue, and if you go grayer than that you’re likely dealing with a zombie. Vampires also have pointy canines, which Tristan doesn’t have. (“Yet”, she adds). A vampire who maintains their body well won’t rot, but some do and some even opt for mummification.   After the conversation dies down, Tristan hugs his friend goodbye, and she heads out.