Session 19: The Druid and the Damned

General Summary

After entering Bel Tocino, and leaving Silvia, the dinosaurs, and Thor to guard in cave in a nearby sand dune, the party met Birdbrain, a sly but charismatic goblin merchant, and bought several of his goods. The party expressed a desire to find a hearty meal, and Birdbrain gave them a lengthy description of how to get to the inn of a friend of his, named Jackal. Before leaving, Moses struck up a little rivalry with Birdbrain after picking on him for his name, Birdbrain gave Moses his own moniker: 'smart-ass'.
On the way to Jackal's, Moses and Frar partook in snow cones sold by a talented halfling. Devis noticed the familiar smell of incense, and she and Nydyr followed it. They were greeted by a gnome dressed in dark blue and yellow, with light brown hair slicked back, standing outside a purple tent. The gnome introduced himself as Massimiliano, and informed them that he worked for 'Madam Tordek'. He introduced them to Ester, whom he greatly admires and calls 'The Madam'. Ester and Devis reunited, and Ester, Devis' older sister, spoke about finding her true calling in fortune telling and tarot card reading. Nydyr was particularly skeptical, so Ester offered to give him a free card reading. After some vague predictions of success and teamwork, the others joined them. Massimiliano made them all tea and was defensive of the Madam after she refused to perform further readings.
Max was dismissed for the evening, and the gang successfully made their way to Jackal's Solar Barge: Unique (crossed out and replaced with the word 'eunuch) Meals and Drinks, despite the crazy winding streets, which Max informed them change every night due to the nomadic nature of the population. Inside a green and yellow tent with odd plants in pots verging on ugly around the fabric walls, and glowing light emitted from small lanterns, the gang met a figure resembling an anthropomorphic black dog, wearing faded but colourful robes, who introduced himself as Jackal. Birdbrain was also present at the inn, and offered to buy drinks. Moses requested a barrel of ale, though Jackal clearly preferred to serve tea or black coffee. Birdbrain was flustered about paying, so the gang resolved it by not purchasing the barrel. Jackal was unamused.
The curtains to Jackal's inn suddenly opened as a group of children in red, yellow, and brown warpaint entered. There were four of them, with one sitting on another's shoulders, and the others flanking them. They introduced themselves as Merus, Salas, Mateo, and J'kan. Merus, the leader, a small pale boy with blonde dreadlocks, punched Birdbrain square in the face. He accused him of selling them a useless item; a hat meant to produce gold. Max tried to resolve this conflict but received a punch from Salas after paralysing Merus. Ekxus tried selling the hat to an old woman in the corner of the inn, but it seemed few people had much money in this city. Merus ended up with 15 gold and the useless hat from Birdbrain, who slightly revised his exchange policy, and 5 gold from the gang.
The party was left with Jackal, watering a pot plant on his counter with a seemingly never-ending jug of water. Jackal talked about a problem he'd been having with minor thefts (and the crushing of his pertunias) in recent days. He expressed that he would like the gang to find out the cause for this, in exchange for 15 gold each. They accepted.
After requesting, Max was led into Jackal's garden, a spectacular array of orange, lemon, fig, and olive trees growing in sandy grass. He spoke to two birds sitting on an orange bow about a figure they saw the previous night, who had apparently worn a mask painted with red, yellow, and brown, which Max faintly recognised, though he couldn't place where from. Jackal went home, and Max went back to Madam Tordek's, while the rest of the gang stayed at Jackal's for the night, taking intermittent shifts watching out for any intruder. Moses, disguised as Max, sneaked out to investigate Madam Tordek's establishment, being untrustworthy of her abilities and her allegiances. He stole a small pocket watch with one hundred hands, and returned to present it to Frar. At Jackal's, Nydyr and Devis investigated the mosaic fountain in garden, discovering a small safe and taking gold from it.
Max woke up in the early hours of the morning, finding no trace of Ester. Turning into a dog, he tried to find her, believing she had been kidnapped. Her scent led him to Jackal's but not directly inside. Instead, he was led to the garden, the scent running cold. The gang woke up and investigated the fountain with Max. After some inspection, Nydyr placed a coin in the outstretched hand of the fountain's statue, causing the statue to shift and reveal a dark and mysterious chamber.
After falling a little ways, the group found themselves in a chamber, with 4 adjacent rooms, each with a tarot card symbol above the doorways: The Fool, The Hanged Man, Judgement, and Death.
First, the group chose to investigate The Fool room, where a bronze man sat at a marble table with chair opposite. Bottles lined the back wall of room. The group was confused however, and left this room, thoroughly perturbed. They investigated the Judgement room next, where a collection of grim paintings decorated the walls. All except Frar were somewhat hypnotised by the paintings, which depicted their greatest fears. Frar broke paintings and freed them, though the gang emerged a little traumatised. In the central chamber, the tarot above the Judgement room lit up.
Returning to The Fool room, Frar engaged in a drinking competition with the bronze man. She won the competition, and Devis recognised the bronze man as her and her sister's father. They speculated about what would have happened had Frar lost, which would likely have doomed her to being turned to bronze in place of the man. The Fool tarot lit up.
Next, Devis went with Max into the Death room. They had a little moment together, as both of them suspected the worst of Ester Tordek. The others entered The Hanged Man room, which displayed a keyhole outside. Inside the room, joined by Max and Devis, the group saw a man hanging from a noose at the other end of a long passage, with a key pierced through his lip. The closer they got, they found, the tighter noose became. The further away they stood, the noose loosened. Eventually the man got free from the rope, after it was cut by Devis, and came towards the group, but Max, standing closest to the man, felt his throat begin to tighten. They all decided to make their way out of the room, leaving the door open behind them. The rope loosened completely and the man disappeared, revealing himself as an illusion. He dropped the key, and after messing with the lock, the Hanged Man tarot lit up.
The final room entered was that of Death. Inside, Devis and Max showed the others the big mirror which displayed the marble bust covered with four pieces of jewellery: a tiara, a nose-ring, an armband, and a necklace. When they turned around however, the bust was naked. The part decided to search for the jewellery in pockets of the corpses, eventually finding both the jewellery and some dangerous items, such as a vial of poison, a snake, and a fingertrap. They placed the jewellery on the bust and the bust itself vanished, jewellery hovering in the air, which Moses took. With all the tarot card symbols lit up, a glass staircase revealed itself as the floor incrementally lowered.
The dark figure in the painted mask revealed themselves to be Ester Tordek. She and Max confronted one another, expressing two very different worldviews. Max, perhaps foolishly, relied on her as a source of order in a world made disorderly by people, seeing her power as a manifestation of nature itself. In reality, her aims are far more ambitious, as she wishes to gain power from the adventurers to conquer nature and its disorder and chaos.

Rewards Granted

Moses: a necklace, armband, tiara, and nosering, as well as a pocket watch later reclaimed by Max.
Frar: -
Nydyr: a fair amount of gold (approx 20 gold)
Devis: a fair amount of gold
Max: -

Missions/Quests Completed

Jackal's mission solved.

Character(s) interacted with

In chronological order: Birdbrain, snow cone salesman, Max, Ester Tordek, Jackal, Merus, Solas, Mateo, and J'Khan.

Report Date

22 Aug 2020

Primary Location

Bel Tocino