Chapter 7, Session 1: Brothers, Shops and Temptation
General Summary
We're also your family... we're here whether you like it or not.The session started with the party moving down to Easthaven. Thordak continued his contact with Temptation as she agreed to begin her search for Lyren Killian though she admitted she had no idea who this person was. After a few more days of travel, Anastasia discovered that she was still finding it exceptionally difficult to dream as she was haunted by visions of paranoia as the door seemed to haunt her nightmares. After she expressed her tiredness to Kodo, the firbolg tasked Bazzle Strum-Strum with researching solutions for this problem. The party stopped in a small abandoned farm between the Monastery of Flowers and Easthaven where they searched for a boat to take to meet Temptation, though they could not find one and, despite Fen offering to make use of his Fabrication spell. The party decided to move down to Easthaven, rest for a time and try to shift some of the platinum they were carrying from The Unwaking in order to get a ship and restock their resources. The party reached Easthaven to find it was so overpopulated with the recent monk migration that they were forced to state their business in the town and camp out as all inns were full. However, during this time, Bazzle had learned that an amulet of protection against divination magic would protect Anastasia from the dreams and so Kodo gifted her the amulet that belonged to him. Temporarily protecting her from the curse of The Untethered. After a long rest, the party decided to spend a single day in Easthaven purchasing wares before taking boats to a nearby island to make a deal with Temptation. During this time, she responded to Thordak by stating that she did not learn who Lyren Killian was and he was not on any records... though she revealed she knew who the 'Mask-Maker' for Xan Prayerkeep was and that it was not possible for her to take him away from the arch-inquisitor but she could supply the party with support and information to get Killian back. These terms were agreeable to Kodo and the party agreed to meet her within 24 hours. With that, Persicorum decided it was time to shift their loot and paid a visit to a variety of stores. Their first port of call was The Beauty's Eyes, a small franchise store in Easthaven where they were greeted by a male Aasimar who agreed to (very excitedly) purchase 1,000gp worth of platinum after agreeing to knock 200gp off of the price. During this time, the party persued the wares of the shop, with Mimsi being drawn to a jewellery item called The Tiara of Princess Undgren that was due to go on sale at an auction in Blackstone in the future. Meanwhile, Fen's eye was drawn to a necklace that, after identifying and inspecting it, discovered was a 'Necklace of Wish'. Upon asking about it, Fen learned it was in-transit for a buyer who had paid thousands of gold for it. Though Fen did not learn the individuals name. After this point, the party visited The preparation shack and met The mute Goliath and Groken who were, if a little strange and bloodthirsty, welcoming to their custom, though the Goliath seemed to take a focused interest in Kodo. The party traded some gold and platinum for several items including a fake The Grimoires spellbook, a pair of handwraps that allowed for traversal bonuses, a glass warhammer that allowed one to cast blur on themselves and a pair of monk robes that increased the wearers dexterity. During this time, Kodo and the mute goliath came to the realisation that they were related in a way as the goliath revealed they were the son of Stoneskipper and they spent some time reminiscing before Kodo was invited to spend the night with the rest of his party in the Preparation Shack in order to enjoy a meal and catch-up session. During this time, the goliath also revealed that he had been gifted Long-Stride's club weapon from his time in the Monastery of Flowers by Elder Tai Shan. The party agreed to return to the Preparation Shack after they finished shopping and so they visited The Hermit's Assistance, a potion sellers shop owned by Baneroth the potion maker, a strange sapphire dragonborn with an exhausted expression and a manic energy. The shopkeeper was eccentric and forward with the party; trading several healing potions and lucky dip potions for an expensive platinum teaset. Afterwards, they revealed to the party that they dealt in illicit substances and took Anastasia and Thordak to a back room where the pair of them purchased one of each substance they found in return for thousands of gold worth of platinum... though Mimsi managed to barter down the amount Baneroth attempted to claim. Before the party left, Kodo asked Baneroth to investigate The Moonblade and Baneroth revealed the weapons name is Galas'Var and that it needed to be plunged into the space where The Dread King fell in order to be awakened. Finally, Thordak visited the Beauty's Eyes to purchase a new engagement ring for his meeting with Temptation... With their shopping resolved, the party returned to the goliath and enjoyed a meal there prepared by both the goliath and Kodo as well as discussing their next plan and deciding they would spend the night in Easthaven before then meeting Temptation. Kodo told a variety of stories about his time with the goliaths, mainly describing the time he had accidentally broken the mute goliath's wrist as a child and they exchanged some battle stories before taking a long and comfortable rest. The next morning, the goliath pulled Kodo to a side room and, in a quiet moment between them, gave Kodo a note calling Kodo the 'son of Long-Stride' and gifting him Long-Strides old club as a memento from his master. Kodo resolved to return and the Goliath expressed he, and the rest of Persicorum, would always be welcome. With the comfort of the Preparation Shack behind them, the party contacted Temptation and organised their meet with nerves and trepidation; knowing they could still not be certain she was an ally... and that this could be a trick to finally capture them. Fen used the Fabricate spell to craft two perfect rowboats and the party made their way to the islet where they waited an hour for Temptation to arrive, Kodo practised stances with Long-Stride's club. Coming to a stunning realisation about the nature of his own growth and parallels with Long-Stride whilst Thordak trained with him. Eventually though, Temptation arrived via teleportation alongside two Inquisitors with covered faces and expressions. The starting exchange was tense, with Kodo and Anastasia realising that Temptation was fighting a deep, primal instinct to fight the party. During this stand-off, Kodo insisted on the groups sitting together and talking out the offer Temptation had for them. Temptation calmed and soon sat with the party and told them her plan, she wanted to kill Xan Prayerkeep in order to stop the monopoly he held over The Inquisitors and quell a large centre of it's corruption, Temptation explained that Prayerkeep was an exceptionally powerful Inquisitor both in terms of his political sway and his raw magical ability and this left Temptation unwilling to face him. As a result, she wanted the party to go to Blackstone and complete some research including breaking into Xan's offices to look for evidence and to retrieve Lyren Killian during this time. Temptation expressed her concern that Prayerkeep was planning something large as he was hiding in his offices, obsessing over Persicorum and spending large amount of money on magical items. The party wandered for a time if he was trying to assist in Dashilla the Dark Queen escaping The Feywild but Kodo reasoned that someone as powerhungry as Xan Prayerkeep would have nothing to gain from inviting a creature like Dashilla into Alturis. The party soon agreed to Temptation's offer, as her parting gift, the tiefling gave the party tickets to volunteer in Eastbourne to take a skyship to Blackstone, though she expressed that she had seen Eastcliff recently and told Mimsi about The Hook and Knife Foundation factory, stating it was a cruel, inhuman space that housed a dragon. She also explained that The True Victory cleric Ardeth had stayed in Eastcliff to help the population there... though the council of King's Bay had agreed to fund the factory further. Before she left, Temptation pulled Thordak to the side where she showed a far softer side to herself and he reassured her that she did a good job. Temptation addressed Thordak as Alpha of The Hunt before expressing her desire for things to be simple and for them to be together once more now that he had adventured and become the man she always knew he could be. At this point, Thordak made a small proposal to Temptation that she softly rejected as she explained she wanted him to either propose to her on a bloodied field of victory with Prayerkeep's corpse strewn below them... or she'd like him to treat her to a traditional date and dinner by candlelight. With that, the party said their goodbyes to Temptation and expressed that she was different to what they expected and she explained that she became an inquisitor to kill evil mages... not Aist Mages after her parents completed a warlock pact and sacrified Temptation's soul for power. She killed them for their crimes. With Temptation leaving the party behind, they spoke for a short time before coming to the realisation that Prayerkeep was likely the individual that purchased the necklace of Wish from the Beauty's Eyes and they could not afford to let him gain that item.
- Persicorum take the time to reassure Thordak Moonbrook.
Rewards Granted
The party gained several powerful magical items with their loot, including:
- Long-Stride's Club from The Mute Goliath
- Traversal Wraps (claimed by Kodo)
- The altered Monestary of Flowers robes (claimed by Mimsi)
- A copy of a Grimoire Tome (claimed by Fen)
- A warhammer of Blur (Claimed by Thordak)
- Several healing potions and lucky dip potions (yet to be distributed)
- A BUNCH of drugs (claimed by both Thordak and Anastasia).
Report Date
11 Jun 2022
Primary Location
Related Characters
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