Session 61: Simone Returns to Brechlen Report
General Summary
15th of Anarire 1524 continued The group splits up. Fargrim goes to see Galloway, Lily stays at the manor with Xeldarix and Karl heads to Poden with Erin. Fargrim casts sending to Galloway and arranges to meet with him at the mage guild. Fargrim takes him to the Forged Grill and gives him some of the details about what happened but did his best to be vague on subject areas that could land the group in trouble. The longer the tour goes on the quieter Galloway becomes and the less questions he asks as he gets more and more confused by the timeline presented to him. Galloway is shown to the stone coffins and to other places that Fargrim believes are important like the cells. Afterwards he messages Lily to let her know that Galloway has mixed feelings over what has happened. Then he head back to journal and get some rest.
Lily and Xeldarix have a discussion on spells, practice footwork and memories. Xeldarix also spends some time drawing a person that she says she sees in her dreams. At 9:30pm Lily gets the message from Fargrim to signal his return, Lily sends a message to Erin to see if her and Karl will be coming back from Poden today. She gets a reply that they are staying in Poden. She heads to bed.
Karl messages the Poden school to ensure they will have an opening for teleporting as he and Erin walk over. Thankfully there is a spot open shortly and they are able to get there without any issue. Once they arrive they find one of the many Miss Berrys’ and they ask after Christos, thinking he might be able to help with the purchase and selling of items since he would probably be interested in a scroll they have. Miss Berry explains everything goes through her and she puts out the information to the Masters. They start to head down to Miss Berry’s office and Erin asks about the defences to ensure her pearl would be safe here. Miss Berry offers to show them some of the defences once the items have been looked at. In the office items are identified and discussions over buying items are had. Afterwards they head to an area for Erin to test herself against Miss Berry. Xeldarix is brought up and it would seem Miss Berry is not a fan. She does not care for the lack of memory from Xeldarix as she is not welcome here. Erin and Miss Berry face off, but it is barely a fight. Miss Berry goes invisible as soon as the fight begins, but Erin’s blood power allows her to see through it. Karl has to pull out the staff to watch and keep track of what is happening. They have a similar fighting style and Miss Berry is able to stun Erin but Miss Berry does not attack during this time. Erin loses her temper and goes into her Divine Rage form and stuns Miss Berry, but Miss Berry frees herself from the stun before it naturally fades and catches Erin off guard and hitting her hard. Erin gets madder and madder until in the end the area is covered in magical darkness and Miss Berry walks away from the fight. Erin runs around the darkness demanding a fair fight. In the end Karl had to calm her. Afterwards Karl buys a bag of holding and several of the healing potions. They leave the university and go visit a few other shops on their way to an inn for a drink. Karl buys some magical paint for Simone. He also buys a drinking flask with a sea motif. After having a drink at the inn they book a room and Karl is very excited to show Erin some special magic. For the first time Karl casts Magnificent Mansion. They head inside and Erin is in awe of the magic. Karl has the servants bring wine as he shows Erin around and mentions the crew would all fit in here too. They throw around the idea of using this to try and impress General Viona. They discuss a few ideas for timing for the meeting. Their discussion shifts to the Dragon below Brechlen. Erin is uneasy about the whole thing and the slaves it has. Karl mentions he’ll have Aeyrn scout the lair. Erin knows she is a liability down there and it is giving her a lot of anxiety. To let Karl go and have to wait, or go with and be forced to turn on him. Later, after chats and relaxing Karl casts sending to Fargrim and learns that Fargrim is unsure about how Galloway is taking the thieves guild situation. Karl does a few more sendings, identifies a few things that have been missed in the last few days before heading to bed. The rings allow for limited telepathy three times a day and a one way planeshift to Dis. The pale red liquid is a special poison for use on devils to bypass their magical defences, the yellow material is not magical, and the iron coins are souls in contained form. 16th of Anarire 1524 Another mid summer’s day passes over the area. Lily and Fargrim head for an early start at the library. While there she finds the apprentices that were mean to be looking into the things about the dragon runes and the name of the man in the tomb. They are awoken with a start since they have snuck into the library to try and finish the research overnight and are now due in a lecturer. Lily gives them a spare copy of the runes and information as they run off. Erin informs Lily and Fargrim via the ring that her and Karl have returned to the city as they start their research for the day.
Erin and Karl start their day with breakfast at the Attractive Carrot. Karl points out Mary and explains how things work here. Erin tells Karl that Mary isn’t a tiefling. They don’t talk about it anymore as Mary comes over to serve them. They discuss the circle of witches in the area. Mary says the witches play at being fiends by hoarding souls and power with no idea what they have exchanged for their small time of fun. Karl wants to know where to find the circle and he’ll ensure they meet this consequence sooner than nature intended. He also wants their numbers, leaders, movements to and from the locations, and the precautions taken to both hide and defend the circle. Karl asks what Mary would like to see happen with this. She wants to expend less resources to keep her children safe and the witches can’t have them. He also asks her to spread a rumour for him: “Something I heard in Saarmen. The Unchained are frustrated with how brazen the circle has been, and are talking of putting them in their place.” Karl pauses “But there are whispers that the circle can find salvation with the golden flame.” Afterwards Karl and Erin leave the tarven. They talk about Karl's possible new alias and all the deeds he could put out into the world that the Golden Flame has done to start making himself known. They stop at a cafe to get a coffee for Miss Berry as they head towards the University. He asks about the items he bought yesterday to sell but it is too soon to tell what will go and what will not. Once they take the circle back to Brechlen Erin walks Karl to the forge.
During their day of research the apprentices return. They report they haven’t found much but the name is definitely Khinasi in origin. They will continue looking. Once Lily is finished with her research for the day she reads with Xeldarix until Fargrim is done. They head back to the manor.
Karl has a pretty good day at the forge. He sees Lily’s order get finished up. Once he finishes up he heads back to the manor.
At 4:45 Fargrim and Lily return to the manor. Karl returns half an hour later. He updates Fargrim on what he found in Poden item wise. Fargrim is excited and wants to try putting furniture into the bag of holding. However it won’t through the opening. They talk about their days and Karl voices the idea of a feast on Erin’s ship tonight. Afterwards they wake Lily to continue talking. Karl shares what he and Erin got up to and the whole incident with Mary. He tells also shares the idea of the feast with Lily, however he also brings up the possibility of scouting the dragon’s lair with Aeryn by making her invisible and having Fargrim give her true seeing. There is some concern over disturbing what is done there but they agree information is needed to see how dangerous this is. Since the abandon inn likely has guards on it now they agree they will need to through the sewer their usual way. They agree to meet at the temple in three hours. Karl will go to Erin’s ship to throw a feast while Fargrim and Lily have dinner here. Karl leaves the bag of holding with Lily and Fargrim as he heads off.
Lily and Fargrim test the bag of holding by putting the dangerous sword in there before going to look into food for the night. At 5:30 Caramella finds the poor dears looking for food as she comes downstairs. Half an hour later dinner is severed where Fargrim makes a mess of himself in his efforts to eat extremely quickly. Afterwards they head for the temple where Phobe is and arrive at 7:45pm.
Karl had turned himself invisible before he left the manor and carefully made his way towards the port. He tries to sneak up on Erin, however he isn’t as successful as he hoped. They set up his mansion below deck. Erin and Ten stay on watch so the whole crew can enjoy the dinner. She is hoping to have some fun with Karl afterwards, but her hopes are dashed by learning of the plans to go into the sewer. After the crew and Karl have eaten, he goes back up to get Erin and head out. As they walk Karl tells Erin about Miss Berry’s full history as far as his experience with her. They also talk about Simone and Karl comes to the conclusion that leaving someone with Simone’s traumatic history alone for a month might have been a mistake.
At the temple Lily checks in with Selise. The thieves guild seems to have stopped bothering them and Lily has an idea about maybe trying to get the abandoned inn so they can expand the help they’re offering. Meanwhile Fargrim talks to Phobe. He learns she is having trouble with some of the more modern uses of the Brecht language. Also the other kids don’t seem to like Phobe’s stories. Upon learning that these stories came from her Shadow Friend Fargrim asks to hear one.
“One day a family went for a walk. The dad was mean. He would always tell the little kids off for talking to their imaginary friends. It started to rain and it was really hard to see. They got lost. Soon it got dark. They stopped under a big tree to rest for the night. However as they started to sleep they heard a noise coming from the tree." "The parents ask who is there but no one answers. They hear more noises. One of the girls says that her friends can't speak and maybe these people can't either. The dad gets mad at her. The mum goes along with it. She asks they to clap once for yes and twice for now. She asks if anyone is there and..." Phobe claps once. "The dad gets annoyed and hits the mum for being silly. One of the girls ask if they are here to help them." Phobe claps once. "This got the dad's attention and he demands they take him home." Phobe claps twice. "The mum asks if they are lost like the family is." Phobe claps twice. "One of the girls asks if they live in the woods." Phobe claps twice. "The dad says this is stupid. The mum asks if they're a boy." Phobe claps twice. "The mum asks if they're a girl." Phobe claps twice. "The dad asks if they are human as he laughs." Phobe claps twice. "The mum asks if they are alone." Phobe claps twice. "The dad frowns and asks how many of them are there." Phobe claps continuously while continuing to talk. "The dad is pulled into the rain and after a few minutes the rain stops." Phobe stops clapping. "The family can see the town and the mum takes her kids back to town safely. They loved happily ever after."Lily and Fargrim try to tell Phobe why some of the children might not like the story, which just confuses Phobe. Fargrim says the story was well told and is given one of her drawings as a thank you. The drawing has a castle with a princess on top and a dragon. Lily asks for the story behind it
"There was a beautiful princess that was kidnapped by a horrible dragon." Phobe says. "When they were at the dragon's castle, he switches bodies with the princess and makes it so she can't leave. Then when the prince comes to save the princess he kills her! Because she is the dragon! Then he marries the real dragon." She smiles. She explains the dragon felt horrible since he was a she, but wasn’t born right. The princess made fun of him and then she wasn’t right anymore. So it all got fixed.At 8:30pm Karl arrives with Erin after story time. They talk a little about the abandoned inn and the crisis Galloway must be going through with the whole event. Afterwards they head down to the sewers. Lily unlocks the gate again and they make their way to the area above the dragon’s possible lair. As they enter that area Fargrim and Lily notice four cloaks on the floor where the skeleton things once were. Aeyrn has true seeing, enhanced ability and invisibility cast on her before she is sent down the steps. Karl looks through his familiar’s eyes and narrates for the group what he sees.
- Some Sahuagin are in the same area they were in last time but further down the passageway the group had run past last time.
- There is a down that way.
- In the large cavern were the dire crocodiles were there is a door that is labelled The Handmaiden’s Sanctuary.
- A Khansi woman in a white and gold dress with her hair in a rather elegant updo that is the dragon in a human form. She is a huge black dragon.
| Name | Steve's Analyse for meaning representing people | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Fire Poppy | Only grows in an area that has been burnt. This is for someone who has come into their own with fire. |  |
| Fox Glove | Healing and pain. |  |
| Gladiolus | Strength to do what news to be done even if harsh. |  |
| Jacobs Ladder | Associated with ageing but in a sense of empowerment. With age comes wisdom and strength. |  |
| Khinasi Violet | Spiritual Wisdom and Humility. |  |
| Mallow | For Love and Protection. |  |
| Rhizanthella | It only grows underground. Maybe for someone connected to the Earth or coming from below. |  |
| Snapdragon | Often the first to flower in spring. Some believe them to be deceptive as a result but full of grace. |  |
| Star of Brechtar | Often a sign of redemption. |  |
When Karl gets up he quickly pops to the manor to cast private Sanctum as he has every morning before heading to the forge. He does well with his work and talks with his mother about her plans for the fire giant armour. She gets a bit overwhelmed when Karl talks about and hints at things that happened at the thieves guild. He also tells her that tomorrow he’ll be unable to work since Simone will be returning and he’s helping her settle in. At 3pm Erin meets Karl in the shop for when he finishes work. Erin was trying to find something to help protect her from the effects of the dragon’s lair but had come up dry which was frustrating her. Karl suggests that they have a safe word that will tell Erin she needs to refocus and recentre herself even if she doesn’t realise something is wrong like yesterday. Karl suggests the Elven word for fire (Fete). He uses Erin as a sounding board for a few ideas. They head to the manor but upon seeing no one is there they head to the mage guild instead. They go up to see Master Barnes and fill her in on the situation. Originally it was just to see if she knew Mind Blank and could cast it on Erin and Enna. She does not know it, but says she will get it and invites herself along to deal with the situation, not taking no for an answer. Trinity looks over the new runes and explains they are not runes of charm. They are like the metamagic rod that Karl overused. They are extenders that allow her to apply effects outside of her lair. These ones seem to link specifically to blood abilities. It would likely be designed to draw creatures down to the true area that is warded to ensnare their senses in a more binding manner. A trap of many layers. At 4:20 Karl and Erin make their way down to the library to see Lily and Fargrim. They chat while the pair finish up their research for the day. They each share what they have learned so far. They also talk about collecting Simone tomorrow as a group. Fargrim wants to give the crystal powder from the Dao to June but realises it’s the afternoon and probably shouldn’t bother her right now. Karl and Fargrim head to the manor while Lily heads to the forge with Xeldarix to take her order to the temple. On the way to the manor Karl and Fargrim talk about Fargrim’s research. Erin leaves to go back to her ship and the pair have dinner at 6pm.
After collecting the items from the forge, Lily and Xeldarix make their way to the temple and talk about what Xeldarix has been reading. She has been reading about constellations and navigating using them. One of the stories she likes is the “Moon child”. Moon has little girl. She lonely. No friends so far away. She look at stars and want to be like them and have all the friends, but feel bad leaving moon because then moon be lonely. In end went halfway. Went to be with stars but be moon shape to show moon love. After the story they arrive at the temple without issue before heading back to the manor.
At dinner Fargrim and Karl discuss how much Erin has put a lot of her life in Karl’s hands in a short time. Karl invites Fargrim to go shopping with him after dinner. They discuss June and how agitated she is all the time. Karl says it might be due to growing up a half-elf in a place that might not have accepted her. At 6:30pm Lily returns to join them for dinner with Xeldarix and Uqaviel in tow. They end up talking about Falak and the dragon brothers again. Karl has a plan involving oil of etherealness or a spell that would do the same thing. Then when he finds them coming back to this plane and teleporting them out. Karl is writing this down on some paper and Xeldarix starts to draw on the edges. They’re not very good drawings though. This gets Karl thinking about how Xeldarix used to be good at evading spells and asks Lily how her training has been going and suggests she train with Erin. The conversation evolves to talk about Simone, Anubis and Justice. After dinner Fargrim chaperones Karl to the shops while Lily and Xeldarix train. When Karl heads up to his room he finds Saryea already asleep on the cot. 18th of Anarire 1524 Another cool and cloudy day in Brechlen. At 6am everyone wakes up. As Lily wakes up she realises that there are spider webs on the windows. She messages Fargrim via the ring and gets her armour on. Fargrim does the same. After Lily is ready she heads downstairs and she warns Caramella not to go outside. Karl comes down with his sister, which Caramella seems happy to see Saryea coming downstairs for breakfast. Lily contacts Erin via the ring when Karl mentions she is coming for breakfast. Erin is nearly at the house and will be with the group soon. Karl uses his detect life ability to feel there are thousands of spiders covering the house and hundreds inside. At this point Fargrim comes downstairs to join the group and learns of the wonderful news about the amount of spiders outside. While they wait for Erin, they have a quick breakfast. They talk about about their dragon problem and realise it is unlikely they’ll be able to do anything about it today and get Simone. They mention the Aboleth that is in the lair to Uqaviel. He explains he dealt with the one before for three reasons. Xeldarix had exhausted herself, Lily wasn’t far behind and it tried to control Uqaviel. It was rude and had to go. They talk about what Uqaviel will do while in the lair since he has no desire to help. At this point Erin arrives and tells Fargrim and Lily via the rings that there are three metal spiders on the roof of the building. The group gets ready to head outside and fight. Fargrim casts freedom of movement on himself and his two friends. Saryea goes to keep Caramella safe. Lily conjures flames to burn through the web while Karl controls them to stop them burning down the house. There the three spiders worked their way towards the group. Their paralysing rays are not having any effect thanks to Fargrim. Karl uses a forcecage to isolate two of them while the group destroys it. Then they use their ranged to finish off the other two. The spider is moved out to the backyard once the group ensures that nothing else of any danger is around. Fargrim finds a tracking orb on the spider but Karl is unable to tell who it is tracking. They cover the forcecage spiders with a sheet out the front so they don’t freak out the neighbours while they wait for the spell to fade. Once it does fade Karl finds the other two orbs. He realises they are for Fargrim and Lily when he focuses on them and that the armour from these things would actually make some amazing armour. They extract 12 plates in total from the three creatures. Karl has a moment with Saryea before they leave and learns that she had actually been in the Watch Headquarters when Daffodil used an Earthquake to free himself and destroy the building. At 8:30am the group leaves to head to the mage guild. While there Fargrim delivers the powder to June and she estimates that his boots will be done by the end of the day on the 21st. Meanwhile Karl enlists the help of Master Barnes to get to Poden to avoid spending a spell slot. At 9am Master Barnes takes them all to Poden. Only to have the Miss Berry’s descend on Xeldarix very upset to find she has returned. Karl and Lily are quick to jump to her defence. Karl arranges to collect the money from his sales and buy a few things while the others stay by the circle under watch. He gets two vials of oil of etherealness and a driftglobe. He returns quickly and books the time for his next available leaving opportunity which is at 10am. In the meantime Lily has taught Xeldarix boulder, parchment shears. They all take turns playing while waiting. When they teleport to Jarvis they receive a better welcome. Karl offers to get more supplies for Jarvis if he makes a list and Jarvis agrees to this. They head up to the ground floor to take a short rest. At 11am Karl sends Simone a message. She will be done in an hour but doesn’t think Anubis will allow them to approach. The group heads up to the temple. Karl knocks, but there is no answer. Fargrim goes to open the door and disappears. Karl, Erin, Lily and Xeldarix all back up. Erin tries to contact Fargrim with the ring while casting Sending. However, they get no response from Fargrim. At 12pm when the door is opened by Simone, Fargrim reappears. He does not feel like any time passed, but realises everyone has suddenly moved a lot. Simone looks rather unwell and it’s clear the past month has taken a toll on her. They help her down the hill and towards Jarvis’ tower. Lily uses her lay on hands ability to help Simone, which at the very least removes the illness. Fargrim wants to make Simone a big, rich breakfast, but Simone wants something simple and light. He settles for some pea porridge. Everyone takes a shortrest while Fargrim cooks. They take the time to fill Simone in on most of what has happened during her month in solitude. He works hard and makes a Delicious meal. This grants the group the ability to use a bonus action to take the Dash Action. They can use this benefit twice before it disappears. Afterwards Fargrim tries to find Sesslian and Deiz but it seems they are very far away. In the end Jarvis passes on a message for him. Jarvis also gives Karl a list of supply requests. Once this is done the group heads back to Brechlen. Lily checks in with Steve before the group leaves the mage guild. They take Simone back to the manor and while they suggest Simone rests upstairs, she quickly grows upset at the idea of being alone. She is very excited about the paints, even the magical one, that have been purchased for her. They have tea in the backyard where Lily plays a prank on Fargrim by putting a potion in his tea to make his hair turn yellow. This causes Fargrim to freak out and think he is cursed or sickened in some fashion. Simone reassures him it’s not poisoned. She can sense poison and no one’s drink is poisoned. Fargrim suspects Lily after speaking with Caramella. Meanwhile, Erin tries to train Xeldarix in the evasion skill she once had. Karl heads to his forge with the plates to drop off and Erin goes with him. Before she leaves she gives everyone their share of the fey pearl, including Simone. While he is gone the group helps Caramella in the kitchen. There are some antics from Xeldarix as she offers her ideas of helping and is annoyed that Fargrim doesn’t like her solutions. During dinner the group discusses a few things about what to do about their dragon problem and brainstorm help they can ask for. Simone does a reading for them. The question is: "What is the best way to rescue Brygo without raising Falak's guard?" Simone replies with: To rescue Brass Brygo it will be a struggle no matter how confident you are. This demonstration of care and comfort will bring Falak an opportunity. No matter your stealth, once you are in the lair she will know. Steve will ask the other Masters once he is consulted by the ring. Salma upon being consulted promises to give a blessing for them if they come see her before the leave, but also passes on some news there was a near riot at Lily’s Temple. When the homeless offered the old Avani supporters food it seem to have been taken as an insult. Nura had arranged the protest but was working hard with Salma to contain the Avani followers as she wanted a peaceful protest. During this conversation Simone had fallen asleep at the table. Fargrim takes her upstairs while Karl does some shopping on Fargrim’s behalf and Lily goes to see the temple. Lily hears about what happened and gives the following a pep talk. She gives money so they can buy new bowls and spies Nura lurking. She invites Nura to help them with the dragon and she promises to think about it. 19th of Anarire 1524 The next day is another mild and cloudy day. Karl completes his training, Fargrim and Lily continue their research and everyone meets at the manor to start their plan for taking down the black dragon.
Notes
| Name | XP | Total XP | Level at end of Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fargrim | 2000 | 130,810 | 13 |
| Karl | 2000 | 130,810 | 13 |
| Lily | 2000 | 130,810 | 13 |
| Simone | 500 | 53,639 | 9 |
