The Rogue's gone rogue

Criminal Activity

With the information that she might be able to get details about the Ritual her father is trying to complete is in The Ivy Keep. Gilly sneaks into her childhood home while the rest of The Path of Nightshade try their best to keep her from getting caught. Gilly discovers more about the unholy dealings between her Reginard Boulderhill and The Deep Father.

After reading the letter from her mother that was left in The Hiccup Tree Gilly sneaks toward The Ivy Keep to uncover information about the ritual her father seeks to complete, past totally unaware of the gardeners and guards. Even Ebony loses track of her. Gilly lets Moz know that she is going into the house, but she doesn’t respond when Moz asks if she needs back-up.   Moz links up to Ebony who relays a message to Caia, who relays to Thuniel and Bobushio that “The Rogue’s gone rogue,” and the rest of the party reconvened at the stables. Bobushio tries to get Big Tuna to get an audience with Reginard based on having news of Gilandre, but he’s not very persuasive. Caia "Kyle" changed as the same halfling Gilly is disguised as tries to convince Big Tuna that she feels poorly. Tuna gets someone to bring water.   Caia "Kyle" goes blind and deaf and catatonic as she goes to see though Ebony. Big Tuna panics and Bob says, "can we go into the sitting room again?" Thuniel tries to distance herself from the pirates a bit and asks Zips if she has an office to talk. In the sitting room, Bob makes Big Tuna panic as he states the man "Kyle" is having a baby, confused and Big Tuna runs to collect towels and boiling water. The remaining butler won’t let Bob leave to go get more towels. Alcath tries to convince the butler to go get cheap, strong alcohol instead of using the nice stuff and the butler leaves to fetch better antiseptic.   Gilly steak through the keep and heads to Reginard’s study in the taller tower.   Thuniel tries to plumb Zips for information, first about her view on Gilandre, then about her place in the family. Zips asks her if the chemistry she is feeling between them is real or just perceived. Thuniel plays coy then she makes a riding date for the next day after lunch. Finally, she says she feels guilty about leaving Bob who is supposed to be her business partner and asks to be shown in the garden door to the house.   Gilly has to sneaks past Louie HaHa’s office, Trigger’s dorm and her own childhood bedroom.   Meanwhile, Bob and the others tumble into the hallway and decide to get upstairs toward Gilly’s bedroom. They sneak behind the butler to the stairs and head up. Thuniel misses them leaving the room by a few moments. She can’t locate anyone, but she suggests to Zips to look around for them. They might have been taken upstairs to lie Caia "Kyle" down.   Gilly approaches Louie HaHa’s room and hears an argument inside. There’s a screechy voice familiar to her being Louie HaHa inside saying we’ve been looking for the artifact for ages and Reginard won’t tell them what they’re for. Then a voice of Trigger answers "we don’t need to know what the artifact is for, we just gonna do the job." She asks “Why can’t we see Gilandre NOW? We’ve been able to locate her for a long time.” And he yells “Do I look like I know anything about this arcane shit?” She says, “We haven’t seen Reginard for three days and he’s locked in his tower and he won’t even see ME. I’m the matriarch now.” And Trigger responds “You’re no more important than I am.” Then footsteps toward the door and Gilly goes to hide, as a spry halfling stomps out and heads toward Reginard’s office. She follows Trigger as he stomps toward the tower, which is guarded by two of the house staff. He’s rattling the door and shouting to Reginard seems disinclined to move.   Bob, Alcath, Caia, and Moz are moving through the house, trying to find Gillys bedroom. They pick the lock to get into Gilly’s bedroom, then duck inside and close and lock the door. The room is comfy and tidy and there’s a chair that looks well-used. Caia notices that there’s so much magic in the room and she can’t quite tell where it’s coming from. It seems static and not aggressive. It is abjuration and illusion magic. They rummage and Caia tries to identify the magic. Then they hear distant pounding of Trigger on Reginards study door.   Gilly watches the three at the door (one calls Trigger “Daddy” and he calls them “Poppet”). Gilly then uses her crossbolt to shoot a stink bomb at the door. Trigger announces that “we’re under attack!” Trigger is super alert, Poppet is vomiting violently in the corner and the other watery eyes stop him from seeing who attacked. A ten foot cloud obscures their vision and Gilly runs into it and dodges past them, then tries to pick the lock. She can’t get it open.   Down the hall, Caia hears this and casts Message at Gilly, asking “Is that you? Do you need help? We’re in your bedroom.” Gilly doesn’t speak to respond. Alcath runs out the door, and casts a scroll of silence right where the stinky group is located. Then Alcath runs towards them and Bobushio follows. Trigger is still yelling, not realizing that people can’t hear him. He sees two unknown assailants running toward them and he pulls his crossbow. Bobushio throws his hands up and teleports fifteen feet back. Gilly manages to not throw up inside the stink cloud and keep trying to pick the lock.   Thuniel confronts Big Tuna in the hallway and asks where her escort is and perplexed he replies, “I dunno.” He alerts servants that there are missing guests and she demands to be returned to the stables to retrieve her horse. Thuniel sits astride Meera in the courtyard, refusing to leave the grounds without her escort.   Gilly manages to unlock the door to the tower and gets inside without it making a sound. She pushes it open.   Moz still druid shaped as a Cockatoo flies through the cloud and lands on Gilly’s shoulder. Caia sees that there’s nothing not magical in the tower staircase. She is in awe of what’s happening. Alcath misty steps right into the open door.   Trigger runs up on Bobushio threating to kill him. Bobushio immediately outs Gilandre and says we gotta go help her. She just entered the tower going up to Reginards study. Trigger confused and stunned immediately makes for the door. As soon as Trigger enters the sphere of silence, Bobushio punches out both guards with his thunder gauntlets.   Gilly is startled as Alcath appears right next to her. Bob books it for the door. Caia drags the unconscious Poppet into Gilly’s room, ties her up and hides her under the bed, then shape changes into Poppet and runs into the hallway to follow them.   Gilly, Alcath, and Moz run up a few flights of stairs. They have only moments until Trigger reaches them. Alcath agrees to slow down pursuers (including Bob). Alcath puts spike growth on the staircase, which drops the cone of silence, and the stairs become difficult terrain and they get hurt for moving through. Trigger stops before the thorns and he yells up the stairs, “Gilly! Are you there? Do you need me to come get you?”   Gilly doesn’t respond and keeps going to the top where there’s another locked door. Gilly doesn’t manage to unlock the door the first time. She kicks the door and yells, “Let me in!” Trigger hears it and he moves across the spikes.   In the meantime, Ebony finds Thuniel and whispers in her ear an update on the chaos happing in the halls near the tower. Thuniel hears the thunder gauntlets and psi forces open the door and charges in atop the her steed Meera. Zips shouts, “We’ve got a problem,” and an ogre yells and guards start running toward the house.   Gilly fails to pick the lock again, but Alcath goes ethereal, walks through, and sees an empty office, and a far door leading to a balcony. Gilly tries to pick the lock again. Alcath cannot unlock the door and he isn’t sure how to do it. He starts looking for a key.   Caia as Poppet is in the hallway when Big Tuna comes around the corner and asks what’s going on. BT asks what is going on here and “Poppet” says Gilandre is up in the tower, he instructs her to come with him. Then they hear hoofbeats rapidly coming up behind as the Elf and he mare come up behind them. Thuniel demands to find out what is happening to her investment in “Bobushio,” and Big Tuna says to stay behind him.   Big Tuna gets stopped by the spike trap. Gilly still is unsuccessful at getting the door open. Trigger comes up behind her and can’t see past her disguise. “I don’t have the key to this room. Where’s Gilly?” He says only Reginard has a key to the room, but that the disguised Gilly needs to leave because he needs to get into the room to find the daughter of Reginard Boulderhill. Gilly says okay. Then Bobushio outs her again. Trigger immediately takes her arm to lead her downstairs. Bobushio stops him too and persuades him to wait. Trigger demands to know what’s going on. Gilly asks why Reginard put a bounty on her and he says why do you think?   Trigger is convinced he needs to take her downstairs, she shouldn’t be here. Gilly says she wants to meet with her father and he says we all would. We haven’t seen him in three days.   During this conversation, Bobushio tries to pick the lock too. Inside Alcath can hear Trigger saying that they cannot get inside, then he speaks up that he is in there.   Caia backs down the stairs and goes back to Gilly’s room. Caia determined the spell in the room is an arcane lock and wants to try a password. Caia manages to hold people off for a second and get into Gilly’s room. She hears high-heels approaching and messages Gilly to warn her. Caia tries different names to unlock the arcane lock.   Big Tuna stalks through the spikes and once he’s around the bend, Thuniel leaps over them and catches up. Alcath is searching for a key. They are trying to pick the lock and failing.   Gilly says to Trigger that she thinks her dad wants her dead and he replies "I knows so get the hell out of here." She says I have to get in there because information about why he wants me dead and I might be able to stop it. Gilly asks if he knows about the Deep Father and he doesn’t. Reginard has gone batshit and tries to eat people sometimes. This place is in chaos and you being here is gonna make it worse because you are the source of the chaos. Trigger tells Gilly if the bitch gets up here, she’ll be done for, locked up, offered up.   Gilly tries to persuade him to help her get into the study. Bobushio helps out. Trigger says he’ll probably get killed for this, then he shoots the lock with his crossbow and Gilly tries to pick it again. Trigger tells her the only way she’ll be able to escape is off the balcony. They get the door open and Trigger goes down to stop HaHa. He turns Big Tuna around and tells him to trust him and he’ll explain later. Thuniel tells them quietly on the way down that we’ll be in touch.   Louis Haha is a terror. Everyone hates her. She is politely drilling everyone. Trigger comes down and tells her that he’s got it taken care of. Big Tuna and Trigger are handling her, but she seems super harsh and angry. She icily asks Thuniel to leave.   Caia still trys to guess the password and doesn’t manage. She tries to message Gilly to ask for password ideas and she comes up dry.   As Gilly enters the room, the entire room goes on lock-down with Arcane Magic. She hears a voice of her dad, but it’s so unlike his attitude, it almost sounds like not him. It sounds like a crazy and rambling echo.   Gilly, Moz, Alcath, and Bobushio are now trapped in the office. The chaotic, rambling voice is so out of place because Reginard was always so composed and intelligent. Bob casts Faerie Fire and Alcath and Moz fail, but it reveals no one else.   Alcath moves to check the balcony door, but as he does so, a portal opens in the middle of the room. The voice says, “I just need the girl. Kill the rest.” Two shadowy figures emerge from the portal and disappear into the walls. A giant dog-like creature also emerges, looking mangled, moldy and disgusting. It’s covered in spikes with a scorpion tail arched over its back. A large toad-like critter (battle toad) follows it, both of them clearly demonic in nature.   Thuniel leaves the estate and rides around the outside of the walls. Moz flies over to the desk to try to sort through it. The dog attacks Gilly. The shadows try to attach and they fail to injure Alcath and Bob. The balcony door is locked. The fight continues as Caia tries to figure out the unlock word. Bob gets completely wrecked. Alcath helps people with some healing. They incapacitate guys and close the portal. Moz finds a switch that Gilly manages to flip and a box with a ledger slides out from a secret compartment. Bob knocks out the dog. Caia hits up Bob for password ideas. He pitches Deep Father. Thuniel stops Meera outside the wall and leaps to the top of a tree inside the walls. She can see a spirit hovering just outside the balcony door.   A portal opens beneath Gilly’s feet and starts to draw her in. Moz tosses a rope to Gilly and tries to haul her out. Bob is trying to get Gilly out without leaving her feet in a different dimension.   Caia speaks “Deep Father” in Halfling, and a stairway opens to an unlit cavern below Gilly’s bed. The stairs go down farther than Caia can see. She let’s Gilly know about it and Gilly asks “Do you see my feet?” Caia has Ebony tell Thuniel she found a secret location under Gilly’s bedroom.   Gilly struggles to pull herself up, but she cannot. Gilly looks down and sees the portal, her father’s Face coming out of the portal. His black hand reaches up and slashes open the back of her calf and rubs at the blood. He says “I have what I need. They told me this is what I needed. This is all I needed. Now I can find who I need to find. This is all I needed from you. Why did you run?!” Then the crazy goes away for just a moment, and he says, “ What have I done?” Then the crazed look in his eyes comes back.   Thuniel can see the specter outside react to something. She leaps, then starts climbing up the wall and gets 90 feet.   The portal closes and Gilly is left in emotional and physical turmoil. Moz casts Moonbeam on Toadie and wakes him up. They keep fighting the rest of the summoned demons. Caia asks why she would see Gilly’s feet and Gilly babbles incoherently. Thuniel manages to reach the balcony, and the shadow tries to attack her. Alcath slays the toad. Caia asks Gilly what to do, and Gilly says wait for us. Caia tries to “converse” with Poppet with yes and no questions. Poppet is confused and answers, but hard to say if she is truthful or not.   Thuniel finishes off the shadow. On the other side of the door, which is still barred, they hear Louie HaHa’s voice saying she doesn’t care what they say and she needs to know what’s going on. Trigger is trying to turn her back. The people in the room start to search for the trigger that will open the door. Moz tries to harvest poison from the toadie and burns her hands. Bobushio finds 50 GP and a silver dagger letter opener, letterhead, and a seal. They find the glyph that will unseal the room, but then Louie HaHa will be able to get in too. They discuss how to handle LHH.   Everyone asks for an explanation from Gilly. Gilly updates them and pulls out the ledger, which is written in Infernal. A quick glance shows Bob that it’s written in short-hand or code. “Five are needed to summon. We have four.” “She is needed for the final, once we have the five.”   They ask Gilly if they should charge ahead or retreat and regroup. Gilly chooses retreat. They decide to barricade the door and exit from the balcony. Ebony tells Caia they are leaving. Caia closes the arcane lock and tries to leave carrying Poppet. She featherfalls them both and makes Poppet invisible. We retreat to the Golden Touch.   Caia identifies the gifts Gilly got from Mom at the Hiccup Tree. Ring of Evasion (three charges) and a coin of all seeing armor (sleeping). The coin can be attuned to a set of armor and allows her to see in all directions at once while wearing the armor, advantage on perception checks, darkvision to 120ft, and such. It is connected to Kol Korran, the patron of thieves and money. She might get visions while wearing it, and if she does them, the armor will become more powerful.   Bobushio studies the book and figures out that there are five obelisks needed to summon the Deep Father. They are located around the city, but the book doesn’t say where. The fifth needs to be awakened and when that happens, the Deep Father will do what he’s gonna do and Reginard does not indicate what that is. Reg wants the power he will gain from the DF. In order to awaken the obelisk, he needs only one surviving heir. The other heirs have been sacrificed in order to awaken the other obelisks. The survior has to be the heir that has been bathed in the blood of the demon prince. Reg hasn’t been able to find the other child, and he can only do that with blood from a sibling. Now he has her blood and can hunt down the last of his bastards.   Gilly feels like she has now doomed a sibling to die.