Chapter 4, Session 2: Fame, Fights and Flickermask
General Summary
'Sup you little bastards, welcome to the Reckoning!'
- Amrys of Persicorum gets to work killing Gnomes.
The party finished their long rests within Fen's tower in the forest on the outskirts of Edmonton. Though during the night, Kodo and Mimsi found themselves dragged into a dream organised by The Monastery of Flowers in which Elder Caste gave the news that the second elder, Elder Tai Shan had been found murdered in his rooms mere days ago and now the Monastery was faced with an unenviable task, replacing two of the three elders at EXCEPTIONALLY short notice.
Elder Caste told the gathered monks that, in two months, they would be holding the funeral service for Elder Tai Shan and, during this time, a decision would be made about who would become the next elders of the Monastery of flowers in a time of deep confusion and conflict, especially as the Monastery of flowers are, now more than ever, being asked to put aside their apolitical neutrality to become a force in the battle for Alturis. Kodo and Mimsi both noted that, during this meeting, a representative of a dark gi-clad group known as 'The Petals' spoke up and asked if their group now had permission to return to the Monastery to pay their respects and, more importantly, actively partake in the process of finding new elders to lead the monastery. Caste gave them permission but seemed wary of doing so and at that point she opened the floor for monastery questions.
Mimsi did not ask a question but considered the possibility... and subsequent Impossibility... of a Goblin becoming a Monastery of Flowers elder, as well as her 'rough' relationship with the Monastery of Flowers and Elder Tai Shan being one of the few elders willing to actively engage with her beyond simple punishments, even if it was for a simple sparring session. Kodo then waited for time before asking Elder Caste for more details on Tai Shan's murder. At which point, Caste revealed that they were still investigating things but the Monastery is not known for their investigative skills or sleuthing abilities and so, as a result, she was going to be bringing in a group of Inquisitors to investigate the area as this was far more their specialty. Though this notably drew some upset across some of the monks.
With that, the meeting came to an end, and the two monks woke the next morning troubled but deciding to stick to their own activities.
With that, the rest of the party awoke and began their mornings, Kodo completed some meditation whilst Thordak was assisted by Amrys and Fen in completing some training as he continued to practice fighting with just one arm by using The Harvest-Maker. During this time, Fen and the others in the party soon started to realise that there was a presence outside of their tower, a small girl was seemingly setting up a shop stall in the middle of the forest in preparation for seeing the party. As they walked out, the girl revealed that her name was Hayili Flickermask and that she was a travelling salesmen and wanted to make some deals with the party.
Quickly, the party started to benefit from the loot and artificer infusions that she had available, in particular, Hayili gave Thordak a Fashion Prosthetic to fix upon his stump and thus give him access to heavy weapons once more, she gave Amrys an Alchemy Jug on the condition he would consume the 2 gallons of Mayonnaise that he summoned from the jug, which he did in a display that was equal parts impressive and disgusting. Hayili also gave Thordak Boots of Elvenkind and performed some magic on Mimsi's Pointy stick to turn it into a +1 weapon as well as gifting Fenbalar a ring with a topaz stone embedded in it, a ring of Spell Refuelling. She also revealed that she recognised Thordak and Amrys specifically, she recognised Thordak as having a 10,000gp bounty on condition of being brough to the Arch-Inquisitor of King's Bay ALIVE, she also revealed that Amrys has a 5,000gp bounty and has been labeled an Aist mage and deserter of the Crownsguard.
Hayili's condition on all of these gifts and information was a simple one, she expected the party to help her in return. Hayili wasn't just an ordinary merchant, she was also a mercenary who had made the risky choice of working for The Elected Crown of Alturis. , The Inquisitors and The Aist States . This has landed Hayili in hot water but also in a position where she knows enough secrets and has enough blackmail on hand to ensure no group can risk removing her lest the enemy discover the secrets Hayili possesses. Hayili has found success in this, but very few friends.
She wants the parties help in this situation, she recognises them as Persicorum but does not reveal why and escorts them to new Edmonton to meet the one that hired her.
The party were soon acquainted with Miroslav Cauchmar a black Dragonborn and head of the Frey-Blades in Edmonton who hired Hayili for the job. He explained that the Feral Gnomes on the Western side of Edmonton had outlived their stay and were no longer welcome in the town as Queen Frey wanted it for herself and her forces.
However, the Frey Blades are conscious of the risk associated with simply attacking worshippers of the witness and of how they will be perceived during this war for killing a group of feral gnomes without reason. And so, as a result, they plan on now acting on rumours they have heard to both weaken the Gnomes and enrage them. The Blades had recently learned that these Gnomes had built altars according to guidance from the being that they followed, these altars were capable of summoning creatures from the abyss that would answer to the Gnomes and serve them for a short time. The altars were large bowls made of metals and cobbled together stone that held pools of boiling and steaming blood.
The party agreed, through a desire to assist Hayili and also through their disgust and hatred of Feral Gnomes and the creature they worship, the Caged Witness, to take on this job for the Frey-Blades. It was at this point that Miroslav pulled Kodo and Mimsi aside and explained to them that they would receive a hefty reward for ensuring that Hayili did not make it back from the mission alive. Though Kodo and Mimsi brushed Cauchmar off as he asked them this.
The party set to discussing tactics after this as they found a moment of privacy and, as Hayili offered the party several potions (potions of Haste for the monks and a potion of Fire Giant Strength for Thordak) they nearly erupted into conflict as Thordak drew his blade on Hayili for not sharing her potions of healing along with the rest of the potions (this led to him nearly getting executed in the streets for his actions).
In their discussion of tactics, the party decided to split into three teams to each handle a house each in their assaults with the notion that, if they hit each house hard at the same time, they could complete the job before the Gnomes could mount full defences. Though it would admittedly leave them far less potent than they typically are. Before the party split, the Edmonton Aist Mages revealed that Mimsi was surrounded by 3 different scrying sensors, Fen recognised that they all came from different sources and notably spoke to one of them, deducing that at LEAST one of the scrying sensors was Bazzle Strum-Strum. The party decided to save their spell slots and ignore these sensors for now at the very least.
The party split into the following teams:
- Thordak and Olympia
- Mimsi, Amrys and Hayili
- Kodo and Fen
With that, the party moved through the Aist side of Edmonton and learned that they had achieved a small degree of fame that also included them being asked for autographs by local aist mages and having to explain that Amrys and Fen were their 'interns'.
After questioning some of the aist in the area, Persicorum discovered that they were famous in the north as a bard had taken to singing their praises and telling their stories in the city of Freyfrost and had seen a measure of success from it. When asked for the Bard's name, Persicorum were told her name was Maria Cartwright, the Aasimar aboard The Mistwalker who promised Mimsi she would write a song about her one day.
With this fresh ego boost, the party moved into the Gnomish side of Edmonton and explored it's crumbled ruins of shops they once recognised but were now run down and broken into. The party split up at this point.
- Thordak and Olympia (team Amir) got to the house on the far outskirts of Edmonton and scouted it for a mere moment before Olympia at first tried to start a house fire and then settled for hurling (vicious) insults at just one of the Gnomes in the house.
- Mimsi, Amrys and Hayili (team Stick Smite) went to the home Persicorum once inhabited and, after Hayili turned herself invisible to track around the house, they decided to head in quietly and then strike hard in a surprise round to destroy the bowl and run away with evidence.
- Kodo and Fen (team Birdbros) took the long route to The Frosted Tankard by first stopping by the home that Lyren Killian once inhabited and searching through the place where Fen found an unidentified scroll and a broken mask whilst Kodo found a letter from Lyren explaining that he did not understand why the party abandoned him but that he intended on trying to reach The Spectre himself, he explains that he could not wait anymore as the gnomes were becoming aggressive and regularly raiding the town to the point that most residents (including Eb, Mary and Sue) had packed up and decided to leave... though they were not sure exactly where they would go yet. After that, Fen allowed Kodo to scout the building once and they found that, within the kitchen, was a caged Pawcaw being shaken around by a feral Gnome screaming 'COOK MORE FOOD!!' At which point, Kodo and Fen activated murder mode.
Rewards Granted
- Boots of Elvenkind were given to Thordak by Hayili Flickermask.
- An alchemy jug was given to Amrys by Hayili Flickermask.
- A spell refueling ring was given to Fen by Hayili Flickermask.
- Mimsi's staff was magically enchanted to become +1 by Hayili Flickermask.
- The party picked up several fractured shards of the Caged Witnesses demonic altar.
- 2 Potions of Haste (consumed)
- 1 Potion of fire giant strength (consumed)
- A sealed scroll case (unidentified) taken by Fen
- A broken mask taken by Fen
- Letters from Lyren Killian taken by Kodo
Missions/Quests Completed
- The party successfully made it back to Edmonton and found an update on Lyren's whereabouts
- The party found Pawcaw once more
- The party assisted Hayili Flickermask in her mission with the Aist Mages.
Character(s) interacted with
- Blade Miroslav Cauchmar
- Aist Mage Davion
- The altars of the Caged Witness
- Hayili Flickermask
Report Date
02 May 2021
Primary Location
Comments