7/16/22

Q1: Are you a good cook? A1: for a single man, yes, but I figure that Kel makes extra for lunch and leaves it in the ice box for me, so I don't often have to fend for myself.
Q2: What do you think happens after you, specifically, die? A1: We continue our service, just in another form. As a spirit, one might serve the Lady as a messenger to Her followers, or a spiritual guide to those newly connected to Her Light.
 
BEGIN SESSION
The ship pulls into the docks, and we see militiamen on their way to greet us at our dock space. I shore up my mind and hold myself with a very sure attitude. This is my city, my home, and I will not be treated as an outsider, a stranger. STE roll (12), not high, but I'm not hiding. I am the distraction. Rorin alias for now is Wiccan Ivoryhammer. The sergeant is a half-elf and they are interviewing folks coming into town. The half-elf is trying to get the human guards to not be assholes to the ship crew. We move into the city and are given final instructions to take the mounts to the Temple of Kusco where they will be quarantined for 3 days, after which we can get them back.
 
Cerrah enters a cutscene. A voice echoes on the wind, and folks are gathering outside the Temple of Lady Constance. The anxiety, dread, and anticipation drip off of the crowd. Druss and I can see Max in all his height over the crowd. Marda INS (11 - fail, probably). We approach Max, and the crowd is teeming with soldiers. Leona is there with Max, and they're outfitted in lighter armor. Druss INS (9 - fail) but Leona won't make eye contact with him. Garnet and Marquis are surrounded by monks, Melfine INS (16 - pass) Marquis is pissed and Garnet scowls. HP Temperance is in a position of leadership, General-Priestess Stoneskin is a Goliath woman there with her. The stage they are on is the one I built just a short time ago. Rorin locates Garfield. PER (27 - pass) I see a flash of light understage and something moving underneath it. The stage is festooned with icons of Morbus Sempra, and we know this to be an execution. Max whispers to Druss and Leona hands Melfine something. A hush falls and the source of the song emerges. Vladimir Goforth leads a chain of people out onto the stage, and at the end of the chain we see a flash of red, and see Dani as the final prisoner. They make Dani kneel, and she keeps singing. The axe raises, and drops. Smoke bombs pop and I see another flash understage. Garfield flashes through and disappears into the city. Druss hauls me off and tells me what Max had said, about not helping what we thought was going, and heading to my shop. SUR (23) to make our way back to my shop. I am moving with Druss still, and the others split off to meet us. In my shop, Kel is not there, but it is clear that it hasn't been abandoned.
 
Once we've all met up again, I lock up and bar the door. We roll 3 times for our NPCs (19, 15, and 17 (burned INSP from question answering for the third one)). Chaos runs rampant outside. After 45-60 minutes, the noise lessens. Faint rattling comes from somewhere behind Kel's desk and the trapdoor hidden there opens to reveal Kel, very dirty and panting-tired, and she has Dani with her. Garfield, Leona, and Max follow shortly after. I pull Kel up and out of the hole, to see they are all in a state of injury. We set about healing and cleaning, feeding and watering, to help settle them in and calm them down. Max reveals that they'd been planning this for awhile and they couldn't risk us fucking it up. Kel has mapped out the sewers from before (piss-genies) and the connections to ziggurats. Max says they've worked with Bridget, who is also under scrutiny; Leona was questioned multiple times but they avoided any "celestial" influences (for the were- business). Garfield has the estate locked down, but the body hasn't been worked on for 2 weeks (gentle repose is 10 days, so 4 days of decay take us to 5 today days. Raise dead is good up to 10 days). The Sanctum is under lockdown as well, and under scrutiny from the Temples despite being a governing body of those Temples. The Churches who spoke out against disbanding the Bard's Guild were those of Ladies Constance and Daja, indifferent were Unspoken One and Morbus Sempra, dissenters were to Lords Terrance and Zitz, and Lady Almusk. Lavender Thatcher headed this project.
 
Druss wants to head back to his shop, but first informs Max that his dear Papa is coming to town, about now. Max does not like the idea of inviting an Arch-Fey to come for family dinner. Most of the Bard's Guild got out of Dodge the night of the first attack, while Garnet is under the protection of the Sanctum, which is holding her while it investigates any "potential wrongdoing," keeping her from the city. The city's Witch Hunters Guild is out in force, Vandren hasn't been seen but their bindings have been seen. The Guild has only arrested two people, Dani and the alchemist we saw on the stage earlier. Most of the arrests are the militia, which is taking in criminal reports and neighbors' snitching, mostly rumor/word-of-mouth tips. There is an inside man, Vladimir Goforth, the werewolf sheriff of the city. He's having to toe the line since he's a lycan and is under strict review. Him escorting the prisoners was a way to test his loyalties to the city over his lycan nature. Kel tells me that control of the city is going to be up for vote, between the Church leaders and the Guild leaders. They are supposed to vote to represent their constituents, but it is clear that they are not going to vote along those lines. A long-term plan isn't together yet, as the Resistance hasn't had much ability to contact the Marquis in our absence. The Marquis messages in at this time, and Melfine is trying to work out a meetup, as well as collect any and all info. Druss goes upstairs with Leona to have a heart-to-heart.
 
Druss, Max, Rorin, Garfield, Leona, and I go to Myths and Legends (Party 1). The others go to meet the Marquis' guards at the bar near the Temple of Pudge (The Docks). A squad of monks lead by Jericho, who looks worse-for-wear, comes upon Party 2 and mock-detains them as a ruse for the militia guards. They make their way into the Sanctum and move to the Marquis' office, filling them in on our recent adventures with the blight and zombies, but only a smidgen of the Shadowfell part of the adventure. "Shadowfell" elicits an "aww fuck" kind of response, but comforts themselves with knowing that the body is in an anti-magic room and safe from oncoming sycophantic vessels. The Marquis wants to send them to their dormitory, but they aren't going to hang around. Melfine does ask how to help, with murder or otherwise. She finds out that I'm under no scrutiny, which is true of no one else. "Who is trustworthy, outside of the Sanctum?" -- "Followers of Lady Constance, Daja, Dem Felic... Don't trust though, loyalty isn't ironclad, they need plausible deniability." Garnet is in their chamber, and Party 2 wants to see them before they go. Trustable people: Harold Ravenswood (Infrastructure Guild), Robert N0-shoe (Artisan Guild), Maggie Mayhem (Agricultural Guild), Jericho (duh), Vladimir Goforth, someone from the Witch Hunter's Guild who is not to be named. Voters to be swayed: New head of Steam Guild Holden Cockswell, Ebony Velez (Architect's Guild), A'Eiron Longglide (Merchant's Guild) can be bought. Va'Der Moonshadow is against Zitz, but is being challenged for head of Woodworking Guild (and another I missed). For Zitz: Gariton Larel Terrington (Tinker), Lavender Thatcher (Accounting Guild), Leslie Knope (Parks), and Karthen Steeldust (Smith's Guild; can be bought). Garmeeli the Swift is "neutral" and uninterested in politics.
 
Party 1 works out the plan for getting to Myths and Legends. I am to stay inside, unless shit pops off. Rorin is going to watch the shadows and hide in them across the street. The guard density is great, no more than 40 ft between them and minimum of pairs. We enter the shop, while Rorin successfully hides. There is a light on in the shop, so Druss leads the way in. Sitting at the table is an older, well-dressed gentleman drinking something brown and strong. Druss is tense, and falls to attention. The man asks if Max is there too, which he is. The man is dressed in outback chic, and bringing it. He has big, curlicue elf ears, olive skin a la Wood Elves, stark-white hair in a close, practical crop with a widow's peak. His name is Charles Corben. Max moves into the room, and shrinks at sight of his father. Druss talks to Charles, who asks after the one who had been the channel of communication (Melfine), and recognizes and greets Leona. Druss tells of our finding Charles' old items and maybe meeting his old friend/associate. Charles asks after the rug, journals, and other items we'd found in the Haversack. Charles invites us all to sit down and eat some stew he made (beef and barley). He makes it clear that it's safe here, showing protection runes he's worked into the surroundings. Druss is still wound tight as a clockspring. Charles asks after the subject matter of the found journals, specifically asks it of me, and I divulge it all, not wishing to dissemble at all. He focuses on the Corruption Stone, which he got in Shadowfell after falling prey to a Shadow Drake. The Stone gave off a spore-like effect, and he posits if it were to combine with a human host, it would evolve and become more powerful. Druss lets him know that it has found a host, as we saw in the Raven's Wood (we killed the host and kept the body, which was then accidentally sent here to the Sanctum, in the anti-magic room mentioned above). The elf host is known to Charles, she went by Tarathiel Heiwenys. She looked to change pollination patterns with bees, forest reclamation, and such. Druss tells of her last acts and the "killing" of the rakshasa. He tells us that it doesn't really die die, they go and recharge/reform. Since Melfine didn't relay her experience with the dream shadow demon, we think it is good and gone for now, suspecting that it is still reforming. They are master shapeshifters, but he thinks we should be fine, totally fine, no worries, 100% cool. As we're packing up, Melfine's message comes in alerting us to the danger she heard of from the Marquis.
 
Party 2 has to get out of the Sanctum somehow. Through some magic and tumbling, they make it to their chosen exfiltration point. SUR check (24) and Marda is able to finish the sequence and get them back to my shop. Party 1 is walking to the Temple of Daja, carrying a ton of equipment from Myths and Legends. Druss asks Charles to let Druss do all of the talking. We run into some guards, CHA check (16), and they're gonna escort us to Daja's Temple. Rorin shoots his grappling hook, no rope/chain, to cause a distraction. The guards notice the noise, but nothing. Druss begins to regale the squad with war stories, again nothing. We enter the Temple, and Druss really tries for the handshake again, but the sergeant won't bite. We enter the temple. Cut to Rorin, and he's having a hard time getting into any of the alternate entries to the Temple. Inside, about 1 am, we reach a priest and look to send most of this equipment to Smallville (The were-person village). Rorin meets up with us, meets Charles (using his new married name Fireforge), and then the priest shows up. Druss is ok to store his shit here as well as ship it out, when that time comes. I head out, to my shop, and am tailed by the militiamen. Later, Druss and Co are met by some new guards, Vladimir Goforth and his deputy, a gnome female, who has a fucking gun?!? Druss asks to touch it, and is presented with a 6-barrel pepperbox as long as the gnome's forearm. We've never met this gunslinger, who is named Shandra, new to town, a tinker who needed to earn some money after her father passed. They ask to escort Druss to his shop, but he's not staying there any longer. Druss no longer feels this to be his city (I can't hear this, much to my shame) and then Rorin rolls up to converse as well. Druss is willing to be guided, so as to keep the guards he might encounter from dying. Vlad and Co do the escort, surrounding the group, and they traverse the path to The Docks. They will take Rorin back to his estate after dropping Druss+ off.
 
Druss gets dropped off, then Rorin gets to the locked-down estate. Vlad pulls Rorin aside for some questioning about his (Vlad's) wife's needs. Vlad asks Rorin to stay put at the estate, then fucks off. Rorin parkours his way into the estate to find it in Home Alone Mode. In his room there is a large package, an ornate box with a bow. Inside are some dope Brass Knucks.™™™
END SESSION
 
Current Stats: 75/75 hp, +d6