5/22/2021

STILL HOLDING ONTO 1 INSPIRATION
Character development question notes - Aurane is morning person; the first thing he notices about a person is whether they are a workman-class person (calluses, broadness of shoulders, etc...) ; and if a spider was in a his room, he would relocate it outside of his home.
 
The city is more bustling than usual, as we have returned during the fall harvest festival. We approach the Cerulean Sanctum, which has a buffer of empty space between its grounds and the festival. The door of the Marquis' office is open, and we enter. Umbra is inside, with Priestess Diligence. Melfina sells them some of the hydra teeth for their research, but does not wish to part with the blood. The team recounts our adventure to the Marquis and Co, leaving out some details about the strange folk that helped us along the way. The Marquis rewards us with some money and gems (1 platinum, 1 diamond worth 300gp, 1 diamond worth >300gp), and a potion composed of a bilayer, the top being yellowish, the bottom sediment being black. Shaking resuspends the sediment. It was recovered from some event, and their studies indicate it will explode when exposed to air. POTION OF HANDGRENADE IS CANON. I suggest to the group engage the services of a well-esteemed city alchemist to study the potion, with the intent of getting a recipe for our future use, and for submission to proper academics and libraries around the city. I ask Priestess Diligence for a status update on the preservation of Elon, and she lets me know that all has gone well. There is going to be a council meeting tomorrow before the festival to discuss installing Holden Cockswell as the new head of the inventor's guild. I am going to hold onto the >300gp diamond. We exit the Sanctum, and witness the guards force out a vendor trying to set up too close to the Sanctum. I return to my shop, and Kel is there to welcome me. She walks me through to work that was completed, new accounts, and some festival work that could be done at a premium. Aurane spends the rest of the evening at home.
 
I spend the next day constructing a stage for the festival, which I do well and it is sturdy, but not pretty. This takes me all day. Character decision - Aurane finds the festival to be very important, and a vital feature of the city in this time of the year. It is vital that he help out as much as he can, but the added money for the rush job is not what is important. What he makes above the normal amount he would earn on a job like this will be tithed to the Temple of Lady Constance. Melfina arrives to tell me that the team is looking to meet up about 7PM at the estate. Rorin, Druss, and I go in search of a Meat Stick stand that I had seen on my way to the stage this morning. Melfina has called us here because she noticed a lot of traffic when she visited the Babblebrook Inn, many of whom were wearing things that were covering up tattoos, and these folks were in and out quicker than normal patrons. She also tells us that Marda is fighting tomorrow, and that we should go watch. We also need to figure out what we're doing next. Suddenly Rorin does a jutsu, and the room falls into complete darkness. Rorin just wanted to show off a little and go to bed. We need to finish the discussion though. We are just going to enjoy the festival for awhile now. Melfina had noticed that a lot of the shady folks from the inn were also vendors. Bedtime.
 
The next day, early in the morning but after I awoke, there was a cacophonous blast. I rush to see what happened, and the fireworks were being tested and had a huge mishap. Healers were on site to fix any injuries. We head to the fort where the fighting event will be taking place. A member of the guard, Cassandra Bitterspire, greets Marda as her first opponent. Marda wins her first match! There is a bit of a break until her next match, so we go exploring the festival. Fight two begins, against a wood elf of indeterminate gender or sex, wielding a great axe. Marda loses this round. We go about the festival, have some food, and find a person-chucking game. Druss and I toss Marda, but don't do well enough to score a prize. Rorin, Druss, and I then join the arm-wrestling contest. I take 2nd! The prize is a certificate for drinks at The Aftermath Cafe, amounting to 4 drinks. We go to cash them in at the cafe, and it is bustling. Then it's firework time. During the finale, there is a banging sound without fireworks. Something is flying through the air, then a massive explosion occurs, and we see what is basically a red dragon in the fireworks. The dragon design we see was heavily associated with a disbanded group of mage hunters from the Caster Wars. They were disbanded for their excessively cruel treatment of captured casters. In the distance, Druss and I see arrows flying in the darkness, and they land. Notes are attached, indicating their anger over the citizenry letting "the bards" into the cities, while they "fought and died" for us.
 
END SESSION