C2 Session 12: Road to Mecas Report
General Summary
2nd of Anarire 1545 Continued
After the fight settles, Brin goes to look at what the gnolls were destroying and as he does the Alpha's body bursts into flames as a blood burst in unleashed. Most of it is absorbed by Brin with Jamal getting minor parts of it afterwards. After the fire settles and is absorbed from the body, the night is dark once again. Margaret check on the pair to make sure they're okay. Then they look at what the gnolls are tearing apart. Inside the mess of metal scraps that the creatures had been tearing apart, you see a strange ball with a lock. It's about the size of a chest. Made completely of metal. They check over the strange chest and find it locked, but not trapped or enchanted. Ana and Ubek unlock the chest. Inside is:- Longbow
- Lots of coin
- A fine silver belly chain crafted with fine detail and matching choker.
- 5 potions
- 2 scrolls
- 1 ring with a shield on it and a closed eye
- 20 gem
- An engraved amber medallion with steel studs
- A pair of engraved gold earrings with tungsten adornments
- An engraved gold locket with a painted image of a handsome elven male
- Longbow 50g
- Lots of coin (130 platinum, 2478 gold, 9095 silver, 1889 copper
- A fine silver belly chain crafted with fine detail and matching choker. (500g for pair)
- 5 potions (Blood of the Lycanthrope Antidote, Potion of Poison, Potion of Resistance (Acid), Potion of Speed, Potion of Longevity)
- 2 scrolls (Charm Animal, Enhance Ability (Cat's Grace))
- 1 ring with a shield on it and a closed eye
- 20 gem (Amber x1 120 gp, 7 rubies x 1800, (×12; worth 600 gp total): Chrysoprase (translucent green) ×2, Carnelian (opaque orange to red-brown), Chalcedony (opaque white) ×2, Bloodstone (opaque dark gray with red flecks) ×3, Quartz (transparent white, smoky gray, or yellow), Star rose quartz (translucent rosy stone with white star-shaped center), Sardonyx (opaque bands of red and white), Jasper (opaque blue, black, or brown))
- An engraved amber medallion with steel studs (1200g)
- A pair of engraved gold earrings with tungsten adornments (1200g)
- An engraved gold locket with a painted image of a handsome elven male (4000g)
3rd of Anarire 1545
As they rest and wait for morning to come, Luna, Brin, Jamal and Ubek all smell something sweet over the smell of the camels. Margaret realises there are some rare spices found in the desert that only come into maturity under special circumstances. They smell sweet like cinnamen and have a big kick to them. They come at a high price. The plant only smells sweet a day or two before it goes to seed and goes sour. It's only in these days that before it goes sour that it can be harvested. Part of the group heads out to find the plant. They harvest it and store it in Brin's pot. They nearly got lost on the way back but do make it back. Margaret advices to not let it get wet so it may dry out properly. The group rests until 3am without issue. At about 5:30am, There is a large structure off to the side of the road. It's a Caravanserai. A fortified building that acts as a rest stop. It has cooking facilities and is often guarded by guards of the state. Free to stay at, but no services available. Just a space to cook, sleep and take care of yourself. As the group approaches a buzzard Aarakocra with an injured wing spots the group and encourages them to hurry up and he's hungry. As the group gets closer the bird can see it has mistaken the group for someone else. They were expecting their friends to have arrived by now. Their group was attack by goblins that literally popped out of the sand and had their supplies stolen last night. He was told to go ahead to the caravanserai while they tried to get their supplies back. The bird is worried about his friends as the heat of the day approaches. The party offers to help the group and he is very grateful and will show them the area his friends were attacked in. His name is Zephyr Skywing. Ana looks over his wing but she's not super familiar with his anatomy to be comfortable healing it right now. They help Zephyr onto a camel and head off into the desert. As they approach the area, Brin spots a trap door in a more rocky section of the sand. However, Margaret, Ana and Luna all see several places where the sand looks a little strange. Ana goes to investigate the sand around one of the strange areas and finds some canvas covering a hole in he ground. Zephyr will watch the camels while the group goes down one of the holes to investigate, leaving the obvious trap door for now. They get out some rope that Brin relays while Ana climbs down. The shaft goes down 30 ft. The rough surface is climbable, but the support is preferred. Unfortunately Ana falls. She is able to roll to minimise it, but does still hurt herself. Ana finds herself in a space with many goblins who were sleeping that all wake at the sound of her fall. Ana is very quick to call down Xeldarix's light on them which kills most of them. Margaret hurries down after Margaret. One of the goblins with a massive Greataxe (for a goblin) tries to attack them but misses. Ubek encourages Brin to head down and help the girls which Brin does. The only two remaining Goblin lackies back up the one with the Greataxe while a spellcasting Goblin runs off after a failed spell attack. Jamal leads Ubek to another canvas related hole to hope it leads down to the same area. Ana is able to kill the Greataxe welder with an eldritch blast. Margaret calls down moonlight on the spellcaster as they run while the goblin lackies attack her as she runs past. With Brin successfully down the hole and in the fight he quickly starts to attack the lackies and gets a dagger attack back at himself for his troubles. The spellcasting goblin tries to curse Margaret as she runs, but fails. She runs down a hallway and can be heard talking to other Goblins. Jamal climbs down the new hole to join the fight. One of the goblins the spellcaster spoke to runs towards the fight and throws a dagger at Margaret, hitting her in the side. Ana kills one of the lackies that Brin is fighting. Margaret twin spells a Mind whip at the new goblin and the spellcaster and they are muddled mentally. A more beefy looking goblin runs up past the goblin throwing daggers with a shortbow but is too drunk to shoot straight. Ubek tries to hit one of the Goblins with his own shortbow but misses while Brin kills the last lackey. He follows up by critically wounding the goblin with the daggers. The goblin with the shortbow can't hit the board side of a cavern wall as he lets loose more arrows. Meanwhile the spellcaster continues to run away. Jamal moves up and runs the dagger goblin through with his scimitar. A final goblin runs up and conjures a bubble of darkness. Ana tries to dispel it but it doesn't seem to be a spell. Margaret knows that with her magic slowing them down, the goblin couldn’t have both caused this darkness and gotten away, so she fiddles with her bracers and attempts to send a bolt of lightning down that hall. This kills the goblin causing the darkness, which makes it disappear, and the spellcaster down the hallway. Ubek attacks the one Goblin still standing with the shortbow with Brin's help. The shortbow goblin pulls out a shortsword and is much more accurate with that as he slashes Ubek. Jamal and Ana follow up with their own attacks to finish it off. With the Goblins killed, they go about searching the goblins while Brin checks out the next room. For Brin, there is Foul-smelling guano covering the floor. He spies scores of strange creatures/rodents with 6 legs that cling to the ceiling, chittering to each other. There is a door in the SW corner. For Ana, she has very little lucky with the goblins as they have no pockets, but there are backpacks around the room that might hold something. Sadly they are goblin sized backpacks. The backpacks around the room hold a total of thirty-six rations, five silvered arrows, 90 cp, 23 sp, and 8 gp.
- Lyra Sunfeater - Eladrin
- Tharok Stonefist - Dwarf
- Sylas Whisperwind - Wood Elf
- Aria Swiftclaw - Tabaxi
- 250 pounds of flour
- 10 pounds of ginger
- 200 pounds of salt
- 5 pounds of cloves
- 200 pounds of iron bars
- 3 pounds of saffron
- 10 square yards of linen
- And a caravan wagon broken down into it's various parts
At 5pm everyone is up and rested. They discuss and agree to offer to travel with Zephyr's group for safety. They will have to slow down to Dwarven walking speed. The Caravaners reveal that people need special passes to enter the city after dark, which they have due to their business and will be able to use if needed to help the party enter the city in thanks for their help. By 5:30pm the group heads off. It is peaceful as they move down the road, taking turns on the camels, and nothing bothers them. However at 9pm they come across a caravan wagon off to the side of the road. They send Luna to check it out. Luna sees blood splatter on the sand nearby and on the caravan wagon. There are arrows embedded in the wagon as well. No sign of people or the animals that hulled it. There are some remains of tracks heading out into the desert. The group decides to leave it and move on, continuing on their way to Aftane. By midnighyt they see rough lights in the distance down the road, but they still have a long way to go. They decide to take a break here, putting up the dome and setting a watch. Brin and Ana take the first watch together.
4th of Anarire 1545
During Ana and Brin's watch, there is a sudden temperature drop. Ana and Brin for the first hour notice the extreme chill and can push through. Brin uses his bed roll to try and stay warm and Ana lights a torch. Margaret continuously casts Bonfire for an hour to help them. At 2am Jamal takes over for Brin. During the next two hours Ana and Jamal can feel the cold start to drain their energy. At 4pm the group gets moving. Lyra, Aria, Ana and Jamal really struggle as the cold seems to effect them more during the first hour of the walk. In reaction to this, Ana turns into a cat and climbs onto Brin's pack. It's a long hour, but the next seems longer for Ana as she struggles in cat form, the cold chilling her to her core. It also effects. Sylas and Ubek. It's 6am and the city is in sight but still another two hour walk. In the first hour Ana and Ubek continue to be effected but the last hour the sun rises and the chill starts to come out of the air. There is a small community outside the wall but the majority of the city is inside the fortified city. There is a small line at the gate as the guards speak to people seeking to enter the city.
With the girls gone, Brin leaves Jamal in the room to head down to the bar to talk to Hilda. He learns:
- The likely hood of a camel place being near city gates, but each camel company is unique.
- The library is part of the wizarding school, but not really accessible to the public and connected to the Khirdai temple.
The girls and Ubek arrive at the bath house. Inside is a reception area. It's very well decorated. A few ladies are at the desk setting up the desk as it has just opened. They get the run down on the services available at the bath house. As they look over and check the groups papers and collect the coin for the services, a Khinasi gentleman comes in and a few of the service attendance are very quick to serve him. He's a charming fellow that flashes the attendances with smiles and has a conversation with them, listening intently about as they tell them about how their morning has been going. While he does this Margaret glances over at him and subtly casts detect thoughts, first focusing on one of the attendant's thoughts as she helps him. From the attendant's thoughts she learns that this is Sultan Arlando El-Adaba who probably has attendants out looking for him. The ladies clearly have crushes on this man. When she switches to the man, she sees he's thinking about the girls with a fondness, glad that he doesn't have to pay disrespectful clients a visit again. He's also compiling a mental list of things he needs to do after his spa service before the city gets too busy. The man pays gold for his service which includes having some new garments bought on his behalf for him to be ready to change into at the end of the service. When the man is taken away for his service, Margaret asks about the man. The attendant confirms that that was Sultan Arlando El-Adaba. He's a long time customer who has always been charming and kind to them, though apparently he has an unkind side. Though she's never met anyone who has personally seen it.
At 10:30pm Brin finds the camel company and returns the camels, getting the group's deposit back. Afterwards he heads to the wizard school at the back of the Khirdai temple. It's a more office looking building at the back of the Khirdai temple. Some younger people are going back and forth between the two buildings. Brin speaks with the reception desk after getting his papers checked. However, they require everyone using the library to have taken the Ruonil Oath. The temple of Ruonil and the Khirdai temple work together for the growth of the students in Aftane. The basics of it are:
- To obey the commands of the lawful ruler of the state.
- To preserve and protect all knowledge.
- Never to raise a hand against another mage sworn to the oaths, except as commanded by the liege in lawful war.
- Never to use magic to raise or communicate with the dead.
- To destroy any wielder of true magic who does not abide by these oaths.
At 1pm the girls finish their treatment with Ubek. They inquire about looking for cold weather clothing before heading back to the inn.
At 1:30pm Ubek, Ana and Margaret return to find Jamal and Brin in the room. The group talks about their days so far. As they talk, Ubek says the codeword peanuts. Subtly Ubek indicates it is between Ana and Brin. Margaret subtly dispels the scrying orb. This whole thing has made Ubek realise he is hungry, so Jamal leaves to arrange a late lunch for the group. They discuss Ana's family, since there is a chance it was her that was scried upon. When Jamal returns he discusses what he identified today.
- Bag of holding
- Potion of Climb
- Scroll of cure wounds
- Scroll of lessor restoration
- Monocile of Secret Doors
- Recipe for a poison
Overnight Ana dreams and she's in a wonderful jungle with Xeldarix waiting for her but she looks worried. While talking with her goddess Ana learns that her father had Peter spy on her and about the barbaric Ruornil ritual. Apparently her father is busy dealing with void issues. They had a bit of a scare with her mother, but everyone is okay. Xeldarix can't help him as she is caged / tethered to the divine realm now. Also Ruornil has been very tight lipped about the moon. The only thing he keeps saying is he isn't her keeper and Xeldarix should mind my own business. Afterwards Ana recounts how they helped Zephyr find the goblin lair, rescued the merchants and killed the horrible goblin queen and her spiders and vermin. She ends with telling Xeldarix about her quest to find a lost city that might be in the Shadow World. Xeldarix advises taking a priest with the group that can protect them from Aberrations and Undead.
5th of Anarire 1545
Margaret is up first at 5am. She writes in her journal and has some snacks while waiting for others to wake up. Everyone else wakes up at 6am. They split up after breakfast. Ana heads to the spa, Brin wants to find a money changer and look into banking, and Margaret wants to look for jewellers. Jamal hands out 800 gold, 3 silver and 9 copper to each person.Brin heads to the bank/temple of Sera, and finds it doesn't open until 8am. So he goes for a walk to the Murky Bridge district to look around. He finds they have an interesting bridge design that drops into the river rather then raising up. Brin gets a general sense of the area. It's busy. There are fishermen on the river. People coming in and out of the city, getting their papers checked. Everyone getting started for their day with the gate only recently opening. He loiters around, just watching the comings and goings. At some stage he watches the bridge in dropped into the river (with traffic stopped before and after the bridge) to allow ships to pass north and south before the bridge comes back up again. Afterwards, closer to opening time, he heads back to the bank.
Margaret find a nice cafe for breakfast. Near the end of eating, Luna spots a strange tent down an alleyway. When done, she goes to check it out. As she gets closer she sees it's a very small tent. It has a sign on it written in crayon that says "BoOKs!" She has an interesting conversation with the tent, the sign changing to answer some of her questions. Once she has permission to ritually identify the tent, she does so. It comes back as a Portal/Gate to a demiplane. Afterwards Margaret enters the tent. She steps in to a massive area. There are book shelves and stacks of books everywhere. Interesting objects lines the walls. Nearby a fawn is pouring herself some tea before turning to Margaret. After being asked her name, the fawn says that many call her the Librarian, but others call her Calluna. Margaret quickly learns that this bookshop doesn't deal in coins, but trades. Calluna has a system for those who promise future information for books they take now. Margaret is interested, but Calluna doesn't have information on the void currently. Calluna takes some of Margaret's blood so she can find Margaret when she has the information. Margaret is able to convince Calluna to give her something in return for the blood as collateral. It appears to be made out of stainglass. Afterwards Margaret is encouraged to leave quickly if she wants to be in roughly the same area she left. Someone is coming and she is looking to leave before he arrives. Just a friendly game of cat and mouse. It's always nice when the mouse thinks he's the cat. Margaret leaves the tent.
Brin arrives at the bank for 8:30pm. He learns they don't change gold into jewels. That's what a jeweller does. They can change it into different coins or store them, but that's it. They explain their banking system to Brin, which allows the coin to be transferred and withdrawn between the major cities in Aftane. Brin heads back to the inn to arrive at 9:30am where only Jamal and Ubek is there. He reassures Jamal he didn't give out any details to open an account on the guild's behalf, which Jamal is happy to hear since he doesn't trust the bank. He wants to see how connected they are with the Red Kings first. Brin wants to be sure the guild has funds, no matter where they go. Jamal reassures him while they're still small scale, that's not a concern. He has some on him for their trip and Oryn has access to the rest. When Brin leaves to find a jeweller, Ubek goes with him. They find a jeweller in the New Road district. Brin tells the gentleman he's looking for gems that have a nice cut, and hold their value. The jeweller recommends trade bars. He has 200 gold worth of trade bars at the moment and allows Brin to purchase. Trade bars are made by jewellers and certified by the temple of silver and gold before their makers mark is carved in. Brin insists on a receipt and it's given without issue. Afterwards they go to get something to eat. Finding a little cafe called Barbaric Coffee, with the tag line 'we'll fuel your work and your rage!' There is a menu on a large board above the counter. It has:
- Vos Pancakes (toppings include: sour cream and salmon, caviar or mushrooms. For the Anurirans Berries are available and comes with mocking)
- Pelmeni (Dumplings you idiots with pork, beef or lamb)
- Beef Stroganoff
- Syrniki (Vos Scone with cream and jams)
- Porridge
- Borscht (Beatroot soup)
- Pirozhki (Pastry with potatoes, meat, cabbage, or cheese)
- Shashlik (It's a kebab. Don't make me Shashlik you!)
Ana heads to the spa and gets the same package as the day before, relaxing until noon before returning to the inn.
Margaret steps out of the tent to find it is noon and she's in a park area near her inn instead of an alleyway. Margaret is distracted by the tent being gone for a moment before she sees the man from the spa come flying towards the park and is clearly looking around. Margaret waves to the Sultan and he asks her if she has seen a tent around here. Margaret subtly casts Detect Thoughts, to hear his frustrated thoughts on the tent disappearing right as he arrives, believing that 'she' is doing this on purpose. The Sultan warns Margaret against going in the bookshop again since a very nasty fey creature lurks inside. The Sultan is relieved that the fey let Margaret go before taking time to look into an orb, obviously looking to continue to try and track the fey who he believes to be endangering the public. Margaret leaves the Sultana to his work before locating a jeweller and getting some lunch. Afterwards she returns to the inn and finds Jamal is the only one in the suit. Margaret tells Jamal about what happened with the archfey. Jamal isn't sure if he should upset, impressed, scared or unfased by all this. While they're talking, Ana walks into the suit midway through the conversation. Margaret explains the whole situation to Ana. It turns out Ana knows about the bookstore and was warned to avoid it or be grounded forever. She shows them the book mark before identifying it while Ana tells them the story of Alfonso, the talking horse.
Illusionist’s Bookmark Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement by a wizard, sorcerer or warlock who have access to a spell or ritual book) This well-worn bookmark is cut from an old illusionist’s scroll. While you’re attuned to the bookmark, you can leave it wedged between the pages of your spellbook to cause its own magic to empower your illusions. When you use a spell slot to cast an illusion spell that you have prepared in your spellbook, other creatures take a –5 penalty to ability checks made to examine it or determine the nature of the effect. If the illusion spell is capable of dealing damage, you can also reroll any 1 or 2 on the damage dice. When you do, you must use the new roll. If you remove the bookmark from your spellbook, you no longer gain this benefit.Afterwards Ana tells Margaret about what Xeldarix told her last night. Especially about getting a Cleric to go with them into the Shadow World.
Brin enters the inn suite to find the whole group there at 1:30pm. Brin shows off his trade bars and Ubek shows off his peanuts. They discuss some of the things they saw throughout the day. Brin tells them of the bridge and Jamal agrees that makes sense due to the Awnsheghs to the East and their armies. Ana reminds the group to get some cold weather gear at some point as their discussions shift to travel and heading South out of the city. They agree to leave in the morning. The safe word is changed from Peanuts to Mole, after a debate over food with Ubek. Ana, Jamal and Margaret head out together for supplies, while Brin and Ubek go potion shopping.
Brin and Ubek head to the temple of Sera to buy potions. Afterwards they head back to the inn and arrive at 3pm.
Ana, Jamal and Margaret head out the gate, with their papers checked, to the harbour on the river. On the way, before leaving the city gates while in Copper Pass, Margaret does see a single storey timber and brick building, with several leaded glass windows and tall elf-wrought wooden shelves. It's called Midhui's Oddities. They make note to come back and check it out afterwards. At the harbour they sadly learn that the business that ferries people to and from Mecas hasn't had their ferry arrive today yet. It normally arrives in the evening and is ready to head back in the morning. They are recommended to take camel's South instead. After asking around they learn that the sultan is looking into the issue. However people only have theories about what the issue could be. This happens from time to time. Sometimes river pirates, agents of the serpent or the eastern Awnshegh disrupt things. Afterwards they head back to the oddity shop they saw. On the way Margaret thought she saw a familiar tent but when she did a double take it was gone. Luna saw it appear and disappear in quick succession as a familiar man rounded around the corner to run down the alleyway. At Midhui's Oddities there is a mix of Anurian and elven architecture. It is well lit by glowing gemstones set into the ceiling. A young looking male wood elf is pottering around the counter. Smiles at the group but does not speak to greet then and goes about his business for the moment. His features are finely sculpted, with high cheekbones and a slender, angular jawline. His almond-shaped eyes, a vibrant shade of emerald green, sparkle with intelligence and curiosity. Long, pointed ears peek out from beneath a mane of chestnut-brown hair, which cascades down his back in loose waves. He wears a simple tunic of earthy green, adorned with intricate patterns reminiscent of foliage and vines. Around his waist, a leather belt holds various pouches and tools of the trade, while a cloak of deep forest green drapes gracefully over his shoulders. Margaret buys the coin with the broken tower on it. It's made by an artisan that went to the Golden Horn to see the ruins of the Basilisk's kingdom and survived to tell the tale. Ana buys some pixie dust. Margaret wants to sell things, but learns Brin had not evaluated any of the loot from the goblins which makes sales limited for the group at that moment. Afterwards they buy some cold weather gear before heading back to the docks to look at the temple of Neira to buy potions. Afterwards they head back to the inn.
At 5pm Margaret, Ana and Jamal arrive back at the inn where Brin and Ubek wait. They talk about leaving the city in the morning via camels. Ubek and Brin will get cold weather gear in the morning before leaving them. Jamal arranges dinner for the group. When it arrives, Brin starts some small talk about Ana's family. She tells them a harrowing tale from her childhood and gives a glimpse of the power of the pirate king. Through the conversation Ana changes the subject to confirm the moon is a goddess, or at least something close to one. She tells them of the boon her parents and their friends have of wings, and the group jokes that maybe the wings are like beards and arrive later in life for someone like Ana. After all that, they relax before bed. Margaret prays a little before bed to Xeldarix. She dreams of fire and feeling safe.
