Episode 44: Monsters and Mysteries

Player Characters: Reylan, Tetran, Vasya

General Summary

When the party returned from the lake, only Alex, Gideon, and Valentine decided to head back to the Northcall Inn. The others instead decided to roam around town after seeing that tents were being set up for something called "The Festival of Monsters"-- a tradition they learned was once held once every year to appease the monsters in the area but has now become a celebration ever since the monsters were "destroyed" by the Sisters.
After some talking with a gnome merchant and learning of the festival, the group bought some liquor-- Vasya buying more so than the others-- and eventually settled on relaxing for some food and talk at The Cowardly Woodcutter though Ghestin had wandered off to explore.
Entering the tavern, the trio was greeted by an amicable, heavily tattooed goliath named Tarkin. Tetran, after confirming that the goliath was indeed the titular woodcutter and now woodcarver, commissioned him to carve a token of the dragon the group had seen the visage of in the celestial plane. Excited with a new commission, Tarkin rushed off leaving his daughter, Zanni, to take care of and attend to the tavern with a list of chores.
As she took the orders of the others, revealing broken Common but diligent and helpful comments, Reylan rushed to help- cleaning up unattended messes leaving the other two to talk. Vasya learned a bit more about Tetran's mission finding Bruu though may have accidentally said too much about revealing "true selves" when speaking of Gideon which she covered up before taking Terra for a walk.
As Reylan and Tetran spoke, the former admitted that Gideon had never shown them his face in the past and that he probably knew about more things than he's letting on. Eventually, the two settled on talking about accommodations and safety measures. Tetran did admit over this discourse that he tends to keep people up so he normally spends his nights separately from others.
Outside, Vasya found Ghestin talking to a tiefling offering what looked to be a cigarette to the alchemist. While Vasya took a hit first, getting a buzz before handing it to Ghestin, the former familiar, reacted differently becoming more talkative as soon as Vasya escorted her back to the others.
As the alchemist spilled details about what she remembered from her life as a familiar and what she wanted to do on her errantry, Tetran was able to suss out memories and both he and Reylan were able to conclude that Ghestin had come from further south and west of the continent-- from the Southern Sands region. Another detail that Ghestin revealed was that she is in almost constant communication with the Raven Queen (aka "The Bird Queen" as she sometimes calls her) who gives her visions on occasion.
In order to keep her from going over every detail and to give herself a break from the effects of whatever she took, Reylan had cast Lesser Restoration allowing Ghestin to calm down just a bit from her high.
Later, after heading to their accommodations and settling in for the night, the same group of four reconvened the next morning focused on a task that Reylan wished to complete for Fiona, the city's enchanter. In order to accompany them, Tetran decided to go buy a mount and returned with a warhorse who Vasya is able to speak to revealing a new ability (Speak with Animals) that she had finally honed after learning it from her time back in Ithliond. She learned that the warhorse's name is Lightning (Blossom) and also learned some of his command words, relaying them to Tetran-- who nervously admitted that this is his first time riding though the others assure him that he'll be fine.
Along the way to the mountain path by the mouth of the Sun Devil Valley, the group happened to cross the paths of a mage with plenty of books and a huge mechanical armor-like construct guard that followed her. She happened to warn them of strange things happening in the north-- ie. the path that the trio were on.
When they finally came across the fallen cart, Terra picked up the scent of something warning Vasya but too late to warn the others as what seemed to be a monstrous cat leapt down and attacked Reylan and Ghestin at the head of the group.
In a flurry of attacks, Reylan and Ghestin's horse was struck down and though Reylan was able to stabilize it, she did so only to be felled by the acidic attack of the creature. With some quick thinking from Tetran, he brought Reylan back up with some healing magic-- seen by the others as black aura woven through with touches of gold-- while Terra was able to tear at the creature's throat and wrestle it down to the ground.
Dismounting, Tetran noticed Lightning stamping and allowed the horse to charge. Once given the order, Lightning leapt above allies and, after finding an opening, reared up before slamming down its hooves hard into the creature's head killing it.
Free from the threat of the monstrosity, Reylan and Ghestin got to harvesting the creature while Vasya spoke to the mountain goats learning of the area and the threats of it. It seemed that besides the small cat (the one that attacked the group), there are also big cats that seem to make the small cats bigger and other than that, there seem to be raccoons in the area that "make them see things".
As Vasya gathered what is left of the cart, Tetran suggested that they investigate where the cat leapt from, leading Nyx, with aid from some spells from Reylan, to find some loot.
Eventually after some Identify rituals by most of the group, they were able to uncover the secrets of the magical items found and store them away for future use. After being cleared with a message from Fiona to return with whatever they have, the group headed back to Red Rest.

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Rewards Granted

⦿ "Friends and Family" Discount at Fiona's store

Missions/Quests Completed

Fiona's Quest

Retrieve the shipment of coal abandoned by her assistant in the mountain pass just at the border of the Sun Devil Valley.

Character(s) interacted with

⦿ Tarkin, goliath, the owner and founder of The Cowardly Woodcutter
⦿ Zanni, goliath, waitress at The Cowardly Woodcutter who studies magic on the side
⦿ Turin Halfhorn, tiefling, exotic animal keeper and breeder and sex goddess extraordinaire

Notes

⦿ This marks the second time that Reylan was felled in the story and it was also to a monstrosity (by a Gulon; 1 SDS).
⦿ This marks the first confirmation in game of Vasya's new ability, Speak with Animals. The party has been witness to it, but she confirms this to Ghestin, Tetran, and Reylan that it was an ability she had learned while home in Ithliond only recently mastering it.
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⦾ This would have been the second time that Reylan would have lost a horse if Joss did not allow it to be stabilized as Reylan's action for her following turn.
⦾ A new area has been revealed on the map-- The Southern Sands-- and it is revealed that Ghestin could have originally come from there.

Report Date

31 Oct 2020

Primary Location

Red Rest

Loot _{Recovered from the ledge}

⦿ Wand of Minor Illusion (twig/small-sized) --> Ghestin
Once attuned, the user can take an action to cast the cantrip Minor Illusion. 3 charges per day that reset after a long rest.

⦿ Mirror Shard (Abjuration) --> Tetran
Single use of to reflect one spell.

⦿ Fish Scale --> R --> Traded
Single use to allow single-targeted Water Breathing

⦿ Basin --> Tetran
Does not require attunement. Food (limit of 1 meal per use) can be placed in the basin and Purify Food and Drink can be cast for a limit of 5 times per day. The charges reset at the next dawn.