Whose the Boss?

Gathering / Conference

The Path of Nightshade continue there search for Trigger and have a few run ins with the rival factions in Rockshire.

Gilly is locked in q nice suite she’s not allowed to leave as she is being detained by Helms Ferry. Bobushio, Moz, and Thuniel are escorted to the lobby. Caia and Alcath on the sunrise side of town are in a dirty alley facing an illusory wall.   After the tabaxi leaves, Caia sends Ebony behind the wall while looking through her eyes. Beyond the illusion, Ebony sees another wall, with about two feet of space between. Caia uses her wand of secrets and finds the door, then realizes the Tabaxi was also likely using a wand of secrets.   They open the secret door and enter a kitchen back room. It seems like the Tabaxi handed something off then left. Caia checks for any other secrets with her wand, but there’s just lots of food. Beyond the door is a busy kitchen and a startled chef. Caia and Alcath do their best to weave invisibly through the kitchen and get past everyone. Beyond the kitchen is a restaurant and casino. It’s rather dated, worn at the edges, and full of every type of person imaginable.   Caia looks for any area being guarded and sees that any door aside from the main entrance has guards. The employees have a cloud brooch, and everyone seems to be watching for anyone cheating or using magic. They watch a potential cheater get tossed on his butt. There’s a reception desk and staircases leading to possibly rooms upstairs. The cloud pin represents the bottom of the genie. There’s a sign that says “The Grinning Djinn.”   They think they see Poppet out the corner of there eye, but cannot confirm. They decide to drop their invisibility and Caia turns into Poppet. A guard immediately approaches Caia and says he thought she had already gone up, and says we need to take them back. The guard leads them to a back room where the management resides. There are double doors with two Tabaxi waiting outside. One of the bored Tabaxi immediately perks up and tells her, “You just went inside. Who are you?” Caia rebuts “Who did you let in?”   The grey Tabaxi decides to let her inside. It’s beautiful inside, a gorgeous room. There’s a black tabaxi with one blue and one green eye seated at a desk across from Poppet. The grey tabby says, “Wildcard, looks like we’ve got a problem.” Wildcard looks amused.   Meanwhile, Gilly is stuck in her room with a stout, professional dwarf. She tries to engage him in conversation, but he is a tough nut to crack. He tells a story about a high naked cowguy “minotaur’ that took five guys to throw out. He shows off a scar as he warms to her. He introduces himself as Gerrig Grimhelm . Gilly introduces herself, and Gerrig tenses when she mentions who her dad is. She tells him that she wishes he weren’t her dad. She says she wants a family and stuff, but there have been lots of bounties and troubles. He asks where she’s been the past couple of years. She only came back to pay her respects to her mom.   She asks what he knows about her mom dying. He says all he knows is that Ivy Hill was trying to tip it as something a different Family did, but Helm’s Ferry talked to Stormpeak and neither family had done it. Gerrig’s dad also worked for the family. He says he’s second-cousin to Grildor. He says he’s seen Grildor bathe, and she doesn’t want to touch that with a ten-foot pole. He sings opera in the bath.   Gilly invites him to a game. He says he’s enjoying the conversation, and it’s unusual to have someone he’s supposed to guard be nice and so pretty. Gilly flirts back a little too. But he grows suspicious when she asks for a room with a small window. He says she’ll be able to see the city well enough when they take her back to Ivy Hill.   Thuniel, Moz and Bobushio know which room Gilly is in, in the center of this part of the casino. We’re led into the casino and given 10 GP tokens for the casino as a thanks.   They choose to get a room at the casino. It’s on the far end of the hotel from where Gilly is. It seems Helms Ferry did that on purpose. Thuniel argues with Bobushio and gets her own room with Moz. She gets a complimentary bottle of firewhiskey from the House. Thuniel says, “Let’s go find a hot table.” While walking the floor, a half-orc comes over and asks Mozakosh if she’s been touched by the divine. He can sense her aura, and it seems like she has the gift of the divine. Fumbling at his words he admits he is socially inept. Then he says she has the gift of seeing, and pulls out a tarot deck. Moz connects that the reason she can anoint ancestral weapons and such, might be due to her divine connection to the Dal Quor - The Dreamscape. She names some of the Black Fang Clan and pulls out her hero badge and the Half Orc brightens. He asks if anyone has blessed her cards. He’s going to bless her Major Arcana part of her deck. In future, she’ll be able to pull three cards and random (good stuff) might happen. He asks if Moz and Thuniel wanna come with to consecrate the cards. In his room is a basin, blood and stuff, and he does a ritual. The magical mist flows over the cards. It will let her use the cards in combat or cast divination.   Bobushio wants to find a way to talk to Redla more informally. He sends her a message to see if she wants talk more. She tells him to meet her at the restaurant, then asks if his friends will be there. He says, let’s keep it between us.   Back at the other casino The Grinning Djinn, Caia asks Poppet, “Where’s Daddy?” Caia can tell that Poppet suspects/knows who Caia is, and that Poppet is here by invitation.   Poppet doesn’t answer, but Wild Card says, “So who’s going to get the bounty?” Caia says, “She gets the bounty, but I want to know what it’s for.” Then Wild Card says she knows who’s real. She asks why Caia is here, and she says she was sent by Ivy Hill.   Wild Card signals to multiple guards to come put Caia in cuffs. Wildcard says that she’s been given a key member of Ivy Hill by an insider. Caia flustered warns Wildcard that she will go nuclear if she does not answer her questions. Wildcard responds says Good Luck to Caia’s threat to go nuclear.   Caia changes into Wildcard and says she could be bought. Wildcard doesn’t take the bait. She says she needs to control this. The guards manacle them and there’s antimagic on the cuffs.   They take them to a holding room in a cell. Caia tells Ebony to take a message back to Ivy Hill. Caia stays as Wildcard through the whole casino so they see her being led in manacles. After about an hour, Wild Card comes to the room.   She sits on a stool on the other side of the bars, and asks for their story. She’s interested that Caia can transform herself and could do it in that room. Caia is belligerent, and does not cooperate so Wildcard leaves and comes back two hours later. After her leaving again, Alcath decides to say that they are trying to stabilize the city after the huge ordeal of the city being attacked by Angels Demons and Devils.   She asks who he is and why he cares about the city. Alcath namedrops Gilandre Boulderhill, and Wildcard likes that. They reveal they tracked Trigger here. Poppet betrayed him. Wildcard doesn’t want them to take Trigger, cuz he was expensive. Alcath says he’s ready to abandon Trigger, and she asks how she can be sure that he won’t come back now that he knows where Trigger is. Alcath thanks her for confirming he’s here.   He does tell her that he and his people helped bring the city back. She looks confused. “You obviously have skill. So tell me what happened, and we’ll go from there.”   Alcath tells her that Reginard wanted to summon demons, and now he’s dead. Then they say Louie HaHa is also dead as she tried to continue with the plan.   Wildcard is plotting. She’s replies, "that’s three of the Ivy Crew accounted for, where are the other three?" Alcath says two were back in Ivy Hill, which is why we’re looking for Trigger. She says she’ll probably keep them in the cell until she gets it all sorted.   Caia asks why Wildcard wants Trigger. She says she wants the leverage. She still needs to figure out what she can do. Wildcard really, legit doesn’t care about money. She just really likes to collect things and people sometimes.   Alcath then namedrops Bobushio. She asks who they are, and how they know so many important people. Alcath introduces them as “Path of Nightshade”.   The Party then comes up with Codenames. Bobushio = Heirloom Moz = Mandragora Caia = Belladonna Gilly = Fingerling Alcath = Aubergine Thuniel = Datura   Alcath reveals their connections with The Gatrel of Astrafell, The Simbelmyne Family, The Black Fang Clan and other influential families. Caia suggests that she could help Wildcard. She says maybe they can make a deal, and exchange a favor for a favor. Caia says she also wants info about the other two facechangers Wildcard met.     Wildcard reveals that the last time she did a deal with them, they caused chaos in her organization and she lost a lot of power. The second time she dealt with one, she discovered there nature that other facechanger was responsible for the cue. She tortured that one and got information from them before they died. Caia says other facechangers have been trying to kill her or wouldn’t talk to her either. The dying one said they have eyes everywhere.   Wildcard says she doesn’t keep secrets anymore because of a facechanger. Caia reveals that if she casts Moonbeam on a shapechanger, it makes them go white and wobbly. Wildcard has her turn into Reginard so she can cast moonbeam on her. Wildcard agrees to a smaller favor because of the demonstration. Caia does a great death performance. Caia demonstrates standing halfway in the moonbeam and trying to change, but it doesn’t work. Wildcard says that information is worth it. She does move the Moonbeam to Alcath, to prove that it won’t make him change.   Wildcard says that’s worthy knowledge and lets Alcath and Caia out of the cell. She asks how to get a hold of them, Alcath says they travel a lot. She says she will be able to contact them. Alcath mentions his last name Cinderarm then she makes a connection to the Woodbridge Cinderarms. She offers them lodging in The Grinning Djinn.   They also reveal that Bobushio borrows money from his friends.