Chapter 10, Session 7: The Desperate, The Brash and The Spies

General Summary

'You burned that bridge when you asked us to build those fucking puppets! And you expect us to nod and say you're so capable after all?'

• Sindarae Pollet angrily rebukes an unaware Xan Prayerkeep whilst Persicorum watch...

The session started with Olympia, Mimsi and Anastasia going on a #girlstrip to spy on Xan Prayerkeep in his floating estate. 
Using a mixture of a high level invisibility, pass without a trace and individual high stealth rolls, the group managed to make their way across the city of Blackstone and weren't seen to be breaking their curfew by anyone. They soon came upon the estate of Xan Prayerkeep and saw that the house had been modified to contain a necrotic field underneath it to kill pests and there was a small twig covered bonfire in the grounds... Xan had clearly not found Persicorum's twig prank on him particularly funny...
Seeing this, the girls first checked the large and imposing front doors to the estate before wandering around his house and first noticing that his gardening equipment was seemingly working of it's own accord magically throughout the night and then finding there was a strangely modest looking backdoor they could go through. As Anastasia went to pick the lock; Olympia and Mimsi checked it for traps and magical effects and noticed that there was a quiet breath coming from the door: there was something alive about it. Olympia also came to the realisation that the gardening tools weren't animated but, rather, were being manned by many unseen servants toiling on the area.
Thoroughly spooked and not willing to risk their progress, the girls decided to double back and risk the front door fo the estate, sneaking through it and, after resetting their spells, moving through the unseen servant filled front hall. They moved towards the sound of voices and moved into a hallway area where, unseen, they spied on a meeting between Xan, two lawyers, Leora Pollet and Sindarae Pollet. The meeting was a deeply personal one in which Xan Prayerkeep was attempting to force the Pollet's and their children to stay in his estate and under his protection until the conflict with the Utrunks clan was resolved. 
However, this offer from Prayerkeep elicited an explosive response from Leora Pollet who accused Xan of destroying their trust when he told them to 'make those puppets' and she also told him she wanted him to be more distanced from their two children as she didn't like the 'rumour of him being their father' becoming more public. 
After Leora stormed out, Sindarae remained and told Xan he should have come to them privately, rather than involving lawyers, and even though Leora still had affection for him she still hadn't forgiven him for 'banning her from her loved creation'. She then left as well. 
When the Pollet's left the room, Xan dismissed one lawyer whilst the other dropped their Disguise Self to reveal that they were Lyren Killian who tried to reassure and assuage Xan's anxieties; also asking him to consider sending Persicorum to deal with the Utrunks... a sentiment Xan refused immediately as he admitted he found Persicorum to be a dangerous and unreliable group. The girls then watched as Xan told Lyren to 'help him' and they watched as Lyren cast a spell that sent Xan straight to sleep... seemingly a modified Sleep spell.
In the quiet, Olympia watched Lyren pull a sending stone out of his pocket but the girls decided they had overstayed their welcome and, hushing Mimsi's protests, they decided to leave the estate before they were caught. They did not learn Xan's battle tactic; but they did learn important personal information about him.
The girls returned and the party long rested for the night before sharing their news and making their plan to leave: admitting that if things go awry they may be forced to never return to Blackstone but going through with saving the Utrunks anyway. 
The group floated and discussed several plans to get out of Blackstone and to get to the Utrunks quickly, they also waited for Ez to finish a small scouting mission of his own where he saw a protest break into a riot in the centre of the city as the citizens of Blackstone were becoming increasingly frustrated and he saw the unveiling of the Conquest Gearkeepers, the next model of Gearkeeper bred for war rather than guard duty. 
As he flew, Ez then noticed a series of explosives detonate through the streets and noticed that the primary areas of the explosions were spots that he had visited on his date with Lord Alastair, Ez went to Deepest Desire to meet Lord Alastair and request support but instead accidentally triggered several alarms that led to a group from The Mirrored to emerge and attack Ez before they quickly talked out what had happened and Ez was told that Alastair was 'away on business'. 
While Ez was gone, the rest of the party dealt with two key interactions, the first was an interaction with a bugbear named 'Munder' who owned 'Munders' a Magic Trader's in Blackstone and he gave the party several useful potions and items as he revealed that he was one of the individuals caught in the The Blackstone Rox Centre attack 2 days ago and wanted to show his appreciation for the party saving him.  After that, the party also saw that the newspaper from The Heralds had been released and contained the article penned by Reporter Kovir about his interview with the party. 
The report was decidedly damning with Kovir acknowledging the honesty and good character of Persicorum whilst putting down the poor leadership of Blackstone and The Elected Crown of Alturis. as a whole... leading Persicorum to express deep concern for his safety.
Ez returned and gave the party the run down of what was happening which left the party split. Half wanted to help establish safety and order in the city whilst the other half saw this as a good opportunity for the party to escape the city without resistance. The pragmatic group won out and the party utilised stealth to reach their skyship and fly away in the chaos of the city. 
Thordak took over flying for the majority of the trip and the party realised they would have one night of sleep and a day of travel afterwards and so they set up watches whilst Thordak flew throughout the night. 
Olympia and Kodo completed their watch together where Olympia tried to make conversation with Kodo but, finding it difficult, she asked if Kodo still wanted to be a part of their group at all or if he had lost interest with them. Kodo acknowledged that he still valued Persicorum and that he wanted to 'share the adventure' with them but the day will inevitably come where he will drift away... and that was okay to Kodo as it didn't mean their relationship would crumble.
After this watch, Ez stayed up to keep Thordak company and noticed the weather was beginning to turn as rain was starting and the clouds were beginning to grow dark and foreboding. Ez decided to transform into a house cat and draped himself around Thordak's neck to keep the Orc company. 
Fen's rest was eventful however as, in the storm, Fen saw shapes start to form: humanoid shapes that sat in the clouds and looked just like The Chaos triplets, though now numerous in number. 
Fen then watched as, half broken and mechanised into a horrifying mesh of human and machine, the figure of Archania Weave appeared on the ship and lowered her blade at Fen before dashing at him into combat.

Report Date

03 Feb 2024

Primary Location

Blackstone

Secondary Location

Peaches Pitts

Related Characters

• Archania Weave