Session 2.3 - Common Interests Report

General Summary

Following the lesser siege of Camelot our heroes have fallen back to Camelot’s sister city of Burgess, which has proven full of surprising elements even during their short stay. Already they have entered the circular gates beneath the 12 Towers of Truth which line the city’s walls and found their way to the Rogue River district and the company of the Rogue Sisters, three Nix women with ties to Anima who deal in magic great and small. They were joined by their acquaintance from the Uncanny Valley, Vermilia Amere, who found her way to the city for her own purposes.

The Rogues pointed our heroes in the right direction by way of Meltwater Pulse, the so-called ‘rough’ part of town, where both the Reminiscentia center and local tavern and waystation Tilly’s Revenge awaited.

Seeking answers, the Lake sisters visited the Renitentia in their capacity as Reminiscentienne and came across a high-ranking member of their order named Vivus Reminiscentienne Tiptoe Gilgeira, where they were promised a translated copy of the mysterious journal of indeterminate age which does not appear to want to be translated or interpreted but may unlock an ancient secret or two, the Analul Indefinit. Tiptoe promised a translated copy within a few hours, and the Lakes set off to find their friends Meanwhile, the remaining members of their party pulled up stools at Tilly’s Revenge, where they were treated to artisan cocktails crafted in the old Pitchblending style created by Feldspar Pitchblende herself — Malcolm and Vermilia learned that they served as a good foil for one another after a brief incident with a breath weapon, while Griflynn surveyed its inhabitants. The Lake twins arrived just in time to find a tavern full of Burgessian Bestiare encouraging the Princess Absabeth to chug a mysterious drink which seemed to activate some untapped power within her. In the distance, Camelot still smoulders.

PART ONE:

THE MISTRESS OF MURMURS

It is late in the evening by the time a messenger sets foot inside of Tilly’s Revenge. The Protectors of the Realm have had some time to treat themselves to some of the delicacies of Pitic and Nixian cuisine and in turn soaked up a fair amount of the fancy liquor they've been plied with and are comfortably seated awaiting actionable information. It is, of course, at this very moment that a young man with a shock of ginger hair shaved into an undercut, glowing golden eyes with no pupils, a litany of golden scars, and two golden legs attached to his diminutive Pitic frame, who makes his way to the group and presents a letter addressed not to either of the Princesses…but to the Knight of the Whispers herself, Ser Griflynn Toussaint.

Grifflynn, back still to the wall, notes the royal seal withholding the secrets within before carefully unfolding the missive, reading it quickly. After a moment, Griff sidles up to the bar and shares the letter with Princess Godiva, who holds the key to its last mystery. After a moment of consideration, Godiva hastily scrawls a single word at the bottom of the last page near her own father's signature:

JUR

Griflynn mouths the word to herself a few times, testing the taste of it behind her teeth before quietly but firmly repeating it aloud, scanning the letter one last time, and neatly refolding it before tucking it away within her armor. A few minutes later for reasons only she and Godiva know, Griflynn requests that Ivy lead them to the workshop of one Larimar Lodestone only to learn that the young man who delivered her message is Larimar's older brother Hellion Lodestone, who is himself more than happy to lead the visitors from out of town to the greatest whitesmithy in all of Burgess. Along the way the group passes a bard or town crier of one sort or another, his ghostly pale visage heightened by the sweet melody his enchanted glass violin plays - Ivy waves at the musician, longtime acquaintance Frax Lightfast, though time does not allow her to stop and talk on this particular occasion.

The dark, dense streets of Tilly's Revenge give way to the bare expanse of Coldshoulder, whose mines represent over 50% of Burgess' exports. It is to the mine they go, in fact, a small but elegantly carved entrance sits with doors propped aloft and just before one reaches the mouth, a large whitesmithy stands surrounded by similar (smaller) establishments. LODESTONE WHITESMITHY is etched into the metal sign in the common tongue of Albion, though all the signs appear to be in the native tongue of the Pitic. Griflynn and Ivy lead the group single file into the shop, stopping short when they're met with impenetrable dark in the foyer. A dulcet voice rings out just before twin embers of orange and blue become visible in the dark:

"Right, sorry, you can't see, can you? Forgive me, we don't normally get Mortelle clientele and most of us don't need light to see. Let me fix that."

One by one a series of strangely shaped but otherwise uniform sconces on the wall burst into action, pink flame welling up from seemingly nowhere and bathing the room in a warm, dreamy glow by which all present are able to see. Standing before the party is woman of youth buth otherwise indeterminable age, chestnut brown hair tied in a messy braid and swinging loosely against the bell curve of her hips, dressed in a simple white work shrift, belt, and men's trousers.

"Lady Larimar Lodestone - it seems you've met my brother, Hellion. How can I help you?"

It is Grifflynn who takes the lead despite Ivy's clear connection to this woman and place. A few minutes into their conversation Larimar notes that Grifflynn wears the Hands of Truth before sheepishly announcing that Balestriere na Réaltaí-Riviere is a Racine of Ecclesia Organica and New Animism, particularly here in Burgess where so many of her other children, the Pitic, make their living. Still digesting the news, Griff asks (half-joking, half-serious) if this makes she and Larimar sisters, to which Larimar responds,

"Cousins, I think. Something like that."

Their bond now revealed to them both, Larimar's demeanor takes on a conspiratorial air as she brings a package out from the back of her workshop, unrolling it as she explains that Balestriere is revered by builders and craftsmen of all kind, and as the inventor of Sioraian metallurgy: Lady Lodestone has actually tried her hand at some of Bel’s published designs - in fact could not seem to help herself - including the Réalta Reatha (a flintlock-style pistol that burns the energy of a red flare star instead of powder) and a set of Rhodiu accretion discs beset with lacrivium dhezhu/împietri porfýrea, both of which are gifted to Griflynn as the rightful heir to a sizable legacy. As Malcolm tries on a set of clawed chainmail gauntlets to which he's directed by Lady Lodestone, Grifflynn asks the Lake Twins to accompany her outside for a moment to discuss her new acquisitions. Instead, Griflynn at last shares the letter with the Lakes, revealing that it concerns them as well. Fairly unperturbed, the twins turn their minds to the tasks denoted in the letter, including gathering intel on Lychnis - Lady recalls that Vermilia is originally from Lychnis and, as such, some of their interests may align.

Upon reentry, Larimar asks her cousin if there's any other way she might serve her - after thinking for a moment, Grifflynn asks if Larimar might be able to upgrade the weapons being distributed to Camelot's army, to which she not only whole-heartedly acquiesces but into which she immediately drafts brother Hellion and her shopmates, noted inventor Madder Shard and noted Ecouteama, Tintinnabula Holystone. Immediately the shop's temperature begins to rise alongside the cacophany of orders being shouted and bellows being stretched back into usefulness, and Larimar sends the group off to look into their other business within the area with a promise of fine craftsmanship for all (and a fine fee on King Arthur's line of truth).

One task firmly in hand, the group looks to Vermilia for information about Lychnis. The news is less than fortunate - Absabeth and Godiva's maternal uncle Ser Leodegrance Pendragon-Lufu has been purportedly leading a resistance within the walls of Lychnis, but even he has not been heard from in some days. The gallowblooms that carpet the city, the very same that provided the little hamlet with its fame and wealth in the first place, have all withered and blackened, though none yet have fallen from their vines. Beyond that Vermilia cannot say, nor can she say much more of her own family living somewhere within the occupied region. Each of its entry gates is manned by a squadron of Bestiare, she says, and more come in twos and threes by the day to be let in and assimilated into the occupancy. Within, the three generals rule absolutely: Mordred Pendragon, Morgause Lot, and Daghda Descescu have chosen Lychnis for their base of operations and each commands some 500 assorted elite warriors and spellcasters. If Leo is alright, he likely won't be for much longer.

It seems the decision is all but made for them - they must carefully circumvent Camelot and find their way to the outskirts of its northwestern neighbor Lychnis to see what they may see. Lady will contact Tiptoe as directed, though this time in need of her other skillset.

PART TWO:

COMMON INTERESTS

The group waits for dusk, though they do not wait terribly long, the lack of rest suppressed by the food and drink and Tilly's, and slips out of Burgess under cover of night. The walk to Lychnis is fairly silent, contemplative, their gazes averted from the ruin of their proud capitol and eyes instead fixed upon the horizon in search their destination. As the party crests the hilltop overlooking Lychnis, Godiva and Vermilia note that the wind does not greet them with the usual perfume of fresh gallowblooms. The gates are locked and manned as Vermilia reported. As the group wonders just how they're going to get into the city, the shadows give way to the form of Tiptoe herself, dressed from head to toe in matte black with her tail whipping lazily about her feet. In her hawk-eyed surveyal of the scene Vermilia notes something that was not there the last time she performed reconaissance on Burgess - at the top of the nearest gate and the two nearest beyond that sit a group of 3 gallowblooms though curiously one has been deadheaded, leaving only the stem and thorns behind. She knows this signal, and more importantly she knows who left it - Ser Leo is alive and he is trying to tell her that he's still fighting the good fight right under their noses.

Tiptoe offers to take Vermilia to the gates and on the way there, suggests that if Vermilia is able to shift, she do so before they reach the guards. By the time they reach the gate Vermilia is mostly herself save the translucent edge to her where she blends in against her surroundings, and Tiptoe calmly addresses the guards in High Venic for a few moments before they seemingly confer with one another and, ultimately, allow the pair into the city of their own free will. Their surprised compatriots at the top of the hill are left to their own devices to find entry, but a plan is shortly settled upon: Malcolm will shift into his bear form and guide Lady, Godiva, and Griflynn in under Bestiare glamor as prisoners while Absabeth and Adaleis keep lookout, leaving someone undeterred should the rest of the party run into trouble.

At the gate Malcolm plays his part to the best of his ability, yanking the conjured chains connecting his friends and speaking in rough but polite common to the guards of the Southwest gate - to the surprise of all, the guards reveal that all Bestiare are considered innocent until proven guilty and welcome their party into the city as their siblings in strife. Though the group is now separated, Lady waits untilt hey are a ways away to kneel in the dirt and scribble a message, which appears on the ground before Tiptoe and Vermilia. The two coordinate a plan to meet up at Amere Manor near the city center but before Vermilia and Tiptoe head off in that direction, Vermilia asks if that same mode of messaging can be used to reach anyone. It can, Tiptoe explains, as long as one kindly asks the roots of the earth to reach out for their intended. With Tiptoe's help Vermilia reaches and reaches further still, finally grasping onto the connection and hanging on for dear life. In her mind's eye she sees the central courtyard of Amere Manor, its gallowblooms too withered and weak, but Vermilia is not weak, no - she pushes with all of her might and sends her message racing through the veins of the earth to that very courtyard, where she watches the blooms rehydrate and shift from black to blood red. She is coming, and if anyone will know that, it is her mother.

Malcolm, Griflynn, Godiva, Lady, Vermilia, and Tiptoe make their way to Amere Manor only to find it heavily guarded with a perimiter and much worse for wear than what Vermilia remembers of the colorful structure, and are further waylaid by an owlish young woman dressed in a cloak of black feathers and what appears to be a corsair's clothing beneath. Vermilia alone recognizes the woman that introduces herself as Coronis Katzenjammer - she has seen her skulking about the boundaries of Lychnis in a similar fashion, and just barely notes the Amere family crest on a signet on her ring finger but it is enough to inspire trust in her report. Coronis relays that Mordred has made Vermilia's brothers Cousteix and Coeur his very own pages, while mother Sojourne II and father Donadei serve the assorted officers and warriors now camped therein. There is little time to waste, that much is clear, and Coronis offers to make a distraction to allow Vermilia to at last return to the family she left behind so long ago.

As Coronis shakes out her arms, the cloak of feathers melts into her skin and becomes her own coat of feathers. The fiery young Bestiare woman races into the crowd of guards with her cutlass aloft, her cries like manic birdsong carried on the wind. The Protectors of the Realm (and Tiptoe) sneak past undetected and enter the ancestral Amere home. It does not take Vermilia long to find her mother, of whom she is the spitting image, seated at a counter in the kitchen as though she is waiting for just such an occurrence. Though Vermilia hazards a moment to lament the years between them, Sojourne smiles warmly at her daughter and tells her the wild seems to have done her good, pulling her into a hug that smells of roses and the greenest green and good, tilled earth. When they separate she opens her mouth to let a few melodious woodnotes drift out, satisfied when responses ring out from all over the house. In what seems like the very next moment, Donadei Amere appears on the threshold of the kitchen and freezes at the sight of his only daughter, moving toward her before apparently thinking the better of it and offering only a warm, polite nod and promising that though time is not currently on their side, he owes her his sincerest apology and intends to give it. The family is rounded out by the appearance of two handsome young men with coltish musculature and the same face - Cousteix and Coeur do not hesitate where their father did and engulf Vermilia in a hug of their own.

The group prepares to exit the building and Sojourne rises at last, barefoot beneath the table, to ask everyone to step aside. Morgause has planted runes around the perimeter of the manor which block her from her natural collection to the land, thus explaining the simultaneous failure and dogged devotion to life displayed in the gallowbloom crop, and Sojourne has some opinions about that fact that she'd like to make known to greater Lychnis. The door slams open and spits forth Sojourne Seiliegh Amere II in all her glory: Her brilliant red hair surrounds her like an open flame and the moment her bare feet touch soil it is as though Lychnis is hit by a massive shockwave. Green light erupts from Sojourne's mouth, chest, and hands and blankets the city in it, leaves, and loose earth. Perfume permeates every sense as every gallowbloom in Lychnis bursts into bloodied red health at once and sends a shower of bruised petals into the maelstrom.

In the chaos Cousteix is found by the avian corsair, whom he kisses and thanks before borrowing the spare cutlass on her hip. Vermilia finds herself torn between awe at her family and the as-of-yet unknown whereabouts of Ser Leo but is saved from making the choice from the very family she once renounced.

"Go find Ser Leo, Bathsheba," Sojourne says over her shoulder as green energy creeps up her arms and legs and throat like vines, "I think we'll be alright here."

When Vermilia hesitates a moment too long it is her father, the bloodied bandaging over his damaged eye forgotten as he raises to his full height and puts his back against her mother's, who urges her on:

"Go, Bathsheba. We'll find you after you find him."

The last thing Bathsheba Amere sees over her should before turning to sprint in the direction of the next gate and hopefully the next secret message is her family: beaten, bloodied, made to serve in their own manor, and thanks to her, now standing proud on the outskirts of what remains of it to defend it.

Rewards Granted

Culture Shock
+2 XP for exploring the city of Burgess

Official Business
+2 XP for successfully infiltrating Lychnis to acquire intel

Cousins // Their Rightful Owner
GRIFLYNN: Accretion Discs (2x), Mistress of Murmurs (Royal Title) ; Realta Reatha (flintlock pistol)