Session Nineteen: Bye Bye Birdie
General Summary
Get to the Common Area Nesza and Silmer find Mia and April in the hallway of the ship, lugging a very green-looking Buff Half-Elf (Bryan). After explaining that he simply had too much to drink and ingested a substance to help remove the toxins from his body, Silmer offers to take Bryan to his cabin. Before doing so, Nesza explains to the ladies that Tatalla would like to brief the group in the common area. He then asks Mia why she’s covered in flour. In reply, Mia cleans herself off by casting Gust, dusting all except Silmer in a light layer of flour instead. Silmer reacted with a Windwall. So Silmer takes Bryan to his cabin while the rest head to the common area. Silmer checks if Bryan is OK and decides that he simply needs to by hydrated. He leaves Bryan a drink and leaves too. Before arriving in the common area, Emir stops Corvus and Malak. He apologises for his reaction and what he had implied. He emphasizes that he was stressed and that he had no intention to hurt anyone. Revealing himself as dangerous and the more people who know, the more danger he is in. Corvus says that they both had over stepped their bounds. Corvus then wishes to continue the conversation but Emir tells him that it’s best to discuss this further at another time, gesturing to the common area. Emir, Cissa and Malak head in and Corvus decides to send a message to Jurian saying all is fine. Jurian tells him that he felt Corvus’ heart racing. There’s obviously something wrong. But he hopes that Corvus will be able to rest soundly. The Crackling Captain Tatalla is obviously still trying to calm herself as the group arrive. Strands of her hair stand on end from the static that she is creating. Occasional sparks fly off of her. Nesza starts the conversation with an apology for showing her and her ship such disrespect. The whole group follows suit – April a bit more drunkenly than the rest. After a few taps on the wrists from Tatalla, she briefs the group on the plans in Thaliost. They will be arriving at night and will be expected to go straight to the “Deciding Arrow Tavern”. There, a member of House Vadalis will meet with them and take them to a ship (water based, but still runs on Lyrandar technology) on the outskirts of the city. As the ship is bound to an air elemental, Mia will be expected to captain it. Silmer, who has the most sailing experience, will be the navigator. And the rest are expected to assist on the ship where needed. Silmer offers to give the party members some pointers. As it’s not clear what type of ship it will be or exactly how big it is, the roles will not be assigned until they get to the ship. Everyone will get some “basic training”. Tatalla also says that she’s not sure whether she’d stick around once the group have disembarked. But if Silmer needs her, he knows how to get hold of her. Tatalla leaves and the group discuss the mission somewhat. Nesza mentions April’s mother at one point, which reminds Cissa of what she was trying to do before. April sobers immediately at the mention of her mother. Valarie and Jenny Apologizing to April for being so distracted, she starts to scry on Valarie. She sees Valarie in a darkened room that seems to be glittering slightly. She’s in the room with someone else. Cissa couldn’t quite identify who the other person is but she seems to have sea shells in her hair. She and Valarie discuss the need for food but other than that, there isn’t much conversation. April is relieved to learn that her mother is alive. She asks Cissa to send her mother a message, which she does. She tells Valarie that April and Ethan are safe. She asks Valarie where she is and that April will find her…and that April loves her. Valarie is happy to hear from her daughter. She says that she and Jenny are safe for now but she doesn’t know why they are here. She mentions that elves are keeping them there and they are lead by someone called Sickle. Cissa is knocked from the vision, panicking April, who then hysterically presses for Cissa to get back in touch, to scry, anything. Cissa she can’t straight away, but tells April that she’ll try to contact Valarie again soon. Silmer takes her to the side to calm her down. Hats The group discuss Thrane and what to expect in Thaliost. They realise that some party members might have trouble walking around. Mia decides to braid her hair over her ears. Although Aasimar are not frowned upon in Thrane, Nesza doesn’t want to draw attention to himself so he’ll disguise himself. The group also insist that Silmer use the Hat of Disguise that Corvus got him. So he changes into a scarred half elf named Hayon d’Lyrandar. He explains that Hayon was his ship’s captain. He apparently died during the attack where Valarie was captured. Cissa makes notes. Nesza then brings Hawk up to Cissa again, apologising for springing it on her. She tells him no apology is needed but that she would like to to talk to him about Hawk soon. Nesza gets a little frustrated, telling Cissa that he never knows when he should talk about things. He and George were always open to each other and this group seems to revel in secrets. He had to hide the warforged issue and he had to not mention Elijah. At the mention of Elijah, April and Silmer chime in asking if he meant Elijah d’Orien, the man in the purple hat. Silmer says that Elijah has promised to have him meet Sunny. Mia is annoyed that everyone is asking help from an Orien. Cissa looks at the whole group and realises that they all need more context on the people they are talking about. She tells April she wished that she had known when Elijah was around because he could’ve helped with Valarie. And she tells Silmer that she knows Sunny too. Cissa says that she needs to sing to the group. Both Corvus and Emir try to dissuade her but she insists. So they both ask to help. Emir asks if Vence can play it. He’ll come in at the end to support her. Malak mentions that he’s not sure whether this is the time for this song. They need to get to sleep and prepare for the journey. But Cissa says she doesn’t know when they will have this opportunity again and there is information that the group needs to know. The Song of Hawk It is agreed that Vence sings the chorus and Cissa the verses. Both perform on the lute. Corvus plays on his father’s flute. They take everyone above deck, including Tatalla. They sing the Song of Hawk: Certain people in the audience recognise the tune as the one used for the “Song of Myranna”. With the wall of Silver Flame behind her, Cissa creates an illusionary version of herself (when she used to have the long black braid) and tells the story of how she knew a champion. She shows him as a regular guy with a bit of cocky smile who just wanted to do good around Flamekeep. She shows him fighting alongside another paladin in the war. She shows him studying while she playing a lute by his feet. She shows him getting an assignment from people in veils. She shows him finding a gem that makes him glow. She shows him asking for assistance from an old elf, human with a cowboy hat, a paladin, a tortle, a firbolg and a half-orc. All of them glowed when touching the gem (Cissa does not). The man in the hat seems to indicate that the gem belongs on some kind of scepter. Cissa then shows her and the half-orc playing a song together in a progression where some people were holding up a young girl. How she and Hawk stand in front of some heavy doors where the rest of the group and the young girl could go in. She shows the two of them suddenly being attacked by the paladins standing guard. But, before that fight ended, something bashes open the heavy doors and flies over them, out of sight of the onlookers (although it’s clear that Cissa and Hawk can still see it). The rest of the party also run through the doors. Beyond the doors, one sees the girl running for the party. And behind her, where the Silver Flame is burning, there is an entity that looks almost like an angel, smiling menacingly. The group close the doors, leaving the girl inside. This distresses Hawk who demands the group to open it but they refuse. And he starts to fall into despair. Cissa tries to calm him down but his own despair seems to transform her into a decaying form of herself. It then implies that the group is being explained by the entity that the audience can’t see that Hawk’s form is the one way to defeat whatever is beyond the doors. He needs to allow it to possess him. In this way, the group will be able to destroy it… but it will also kill him. It shows that the group is furiously trying to find another solution but Hawk obviously has already made up his mind. He bids the group farewell, opens the doors, walks through and closes them again. The group wait… and when enough possible time has passed, they open the doors again. Where the entity stood now stands Hawk. Where he once had a cocky smile there is now a menacing grin. As the group run in, the tortle pushes Cissa back to door, as if he seems to understand something. So Cissa watches from the door. The Firbolg sends the young girl to Cissa, who holds her as she watches the group fight Hawk. It ends with the old elf casting a spell on the tortle, who severs Hawk’s spine in one powerful swing. The song ends where a shadow leaves Hawk’s body and also a specter of the man with a cocky smile. He nods his head in appreciation as he and the shadow are absorbed by the flame. Questions When the song ends, Emir puts his arm around Cissa as she doubles over. Corvus considers moving towards Cissa but decides against is. It’s also apparent that the flute and Corvus’ cane are glowing. Silmer claps. April stops him (“I don’t think we’re supposed to?”). Corvus claps. The group ask a few questions. April notices that the young girl with silvery hair is familiar somehow. Malak explains to her that the girl’s name is Keeper Jossea Mer, the grandmother of Captain Conrad Mer. Sunny’s age also is called into question. He looks quite old in Cissa‘s visuals but this was 60 years ago and both Elijah and Cissa seem to think that he’s still alive. She says she doesn’t know why he’s still around. Elijah and Aria are supposed to be in their 90s but seem to look not much older now than then. She also give them Sunny’s real name, explaining why he changed it. Malak also explains that the firbolg, Keya, was the general of the Flameless. Corvus chimes in that this was the regiment that Myranna and Luscinia, his mother, were in. After questioning, Malak also explains who the Flameless were. Cissa, who doesn’t really look 100%, asks to get some rest so Emir takes her to the common area to lay her down. Malak joins them, deciding to turn in early. Nesza and April head to the dojo with Silmer, Tatalla goes back to steering the ship while Corvus and Mia stay above deck to talk about “hair”. Too Far Mia explains to Corvus how she’ll make a larger braid over her ears. Corvus tells her that he’ll help sort that out for her. Corvus then tells Mia that he accidentally discovered something. He knows that Mia is going to be upset about it but he thought it would be unfair to keep it from her. He tells her that Cissa knows Mia’s father. Apparently he was the first to go on the trail. Corvus needed to find out more information so he looked up Mia’s genealogy in the library and found out that her father is listed as “Unknown”. He realised his mistake as soon as he had made it (that he was probably digging in something that he should not have been). And he wanted to tell Mia he was sorry. He does say that, seeing as their parents are so intertwined, it will be practically impossible for him not to touch upon her family’s secrets. Mia is furious. She tells Corvus that she can’t keep making up excuses for him intruding on her privacy. They touch upon their friendship. Corvus thinks their bond might have been formed on a fragile foundation of parties and drinking. They need to work towards something stronger. Mia says she wants to take a break for now and walks away. As she does so, Corvus asks her if she would want him to give information that he might find. She doesn’t reply and keeps walking. Mia heads to the common area and finds two scrolls on her bunk that she (angrily) reads by herself. After reading it, she heads to the dojo to find a way to cool down. Corvus decides to send Luscinia a message. He asks her how he can get a hold of a feather and be selected for the trail. She replies that he must agree to “end all suffering”. When Corvus asks “what does that mean”, she replies with “you know what that means”. Meditation and Star Travel Corvus then heads to the dojo to meditate while Nesza and Silmer spar a bit. April is testing some gadgets out in the corner. Silmer is trying to teach Nesza to ignore distractions. To try to meditate while defending himself. It… doesn’t go very well. Mia pops her head in, sees Corvus and storms off again. April goes after her. Silmer, remembering that Tatalla asked him to watch over Mia when she’s upset, decides to join. Nesza tries to engage with Corvus but Corvus is not responding. So Nesza decides to meditate too, focusing on the female instead. She whispers “Now you know why…” Nesza eventually goes back to the common area for bed. Corvus remains in a meditative state in the dojo. Silmer and April engage with Mia. She is a bit stand offish at first but the conversation quickly moves towards air travel, which piques her interest and improves her mood. April wonders if there is a way to travel to the stars. Mia is excited by the prospect and they both muse over what type of elemental will be needed. The girls head back to the common area and Silmer goes back to the dojo to sleep (Corvus is still meditating so Silmer awkwardly heads to bed). Molly isn’t the Only one Who isn’t Fooled…. In the common area, Mia goes to bed. Emir and Cissa are still up. Cissa is lying on the bed, looking better than before. Emir is sitting on the side of the bed, working on a document. April decides to ask Emir about “the three of them”. Emir puts the document away and asks for clarification. April lists Emir, Vence… and Thaen. Emir asks if they can talk above deck. Outside, Emir asks why April mentioned the third name. She explains that she has heard more than one person say that Molly can’t be fooled. April waves that matter away and explains that her grandfather told her about how Vence saved him. Emir shifts into Vence and he tells her exactly what happened. That Conrad was questioning Kleris and might have needed to kill him had Vence not helped reveal what Kleris was up to. It resulted in Conrad helping to save the warforged. April tells him that she’s very grateful for what he did. Vence then tells her that he was super proud of her standing up for herself and stealing back her possessions (and also her grandfather’s). But he explains that the list she took was that of the warforged names. It could have caused a lot of harm had it ended in the wrong hands. He then asks April to tell the others who heard the name “Thaen” to keep that to themselves. It’s not someone they want to encounter. Taking Flight All are in bed. Corvus lets his mind dwell. And, as a result, he sees happy moments between him and his parents as a young boy. His memories show him moments of love. After four hours, he gets up an goes above deck. He first sends a message to Cygnus. He tells her about the trail. That it involves Luscinia and Cissa. And that Atratus and Asir both have feathers. He removes Jurian‘s bracelets and throws it on the floor. He then stands on the edge of the ship’s banister and steps off. He falls hundreds of feet but casts feather fall using his father’s flute and lands safely on the ground. He sends the message to the Duchess, pleading to be able to come home. She replies with “are you sure this is what you want?” and when he says yes, black tendrils start to engulf his body. The blackness takes over his already-dark surroundings. And from within this blackness, a hand is held out to him. He takes the hand and is guided into the void. Black Swan The next morning, as everyone meets in the common area, Cissa asks if anyone has seen Corvus. She’s been up for hours and was looking for him. No one’s seen him. So the group start looking, eventually finding the bracelet. Cissa urgently sends a message to Corvus, asking him where is and if he is alright. He replies saying that he’s back in Aerenal. By the Duchess’ side. That he had told her and Cygnus about the trail. And that there will be concequences. Cissa replies with a “WHY?!” Corvus doesn’t reply. She asks again. Corvus ignores her. Cissa relays the message to the group, explaining that Corvus betrayed them. Cissa and Malak together explain the Undying Court to the group. And that the Duchess, the elven deity of death and rebirth, requires Birds to sing her songs of suffering as mementos. It seems to be what keeps her alive. However, Cissa explains that Svecica, Corvus’ father, once managed to take from the Duchess what she usually takes from them. And briefly explains the story of Luscinia and Svecica. And how Luscinia is using the feathers to end suffering. Mia angrily exclaims that EberronVision will make everyone SO HAPPY that it will CURE ALL SUFFERING! As everyone starts to chime in, Cissa screams in pain, clutching her chest. She weakly but urgently sends three messages. All of them are the same message “Are you alright?! Please reply!” Two seem to receive no reply, the last one seems to get through. As a reply to the last message, she says “Asir, you need to hide. Corvus betrayed us. My father has been killed”.
