Riots, Break-Ins, and Trysts

General Summary

On the morning of the day of the heist, the party met downstairs in the Pheasant Chamber to plan the evening's events. After John Foote's disappearance at the docks the night before, the party became unsure if the pirate would be around to get them out of town. To that end, they headed to a few bars in the Cotton Ward looking for Foote or someone who knew of his whereabouts. In the Crimson Hole, a bar known for serving sailors, they encountered a bartender who told them that Foote had been there the night before and had mentioned moving his ship down south. With the help of Saestril Boecelin, the party eventually caught up with Foote who revealed that he had moved the Amity south of the city for a quicker getaway, as that night he was planning to break two fellow pirates—the Larron brothers—out of South Isle Prison. He told the party that the majority of the Hildonian fleet was currently sailing towards the Achinad Sea in response to an international crisis, leaving only one military ship in the city. Further south, he had the Larrons' ship lying in wait to assist their getaway. Foote told the party that when he did leave it would be in a hurry and so they should be sure to be ready to go.
With their escape route secured, the party moved on to other preparations. At an alchemy store called the Remedy Boutique they bought bird treats dosed with a sleeping potion to handle Percival Fould's raven familiar. They also bought two vials of fake bloodlust potion (in actuality simple hot sauce), with the intent of offering a toast to the protest's ringleader to ensure that he drank the potion given to him by Lethe earlier. Following that they headed to Blackcat and Butterbean's Rare Goods and Fine Trinkets, where they purchased enchanted earrings that would allow the party to communicate across long distances. Additionally, Lethe bought a Bag of Holding and a sheet of trace paper, and Precision bought a "Box O' Loot" with the intent of opening it on her date with Percival.
As the sun set, the party headed to the Diamond Quarter to enact their plan. Erevan and Ciana headed towards the protest to ensure the riot would begin and distract the guards, while Lethe and Precision headed towards the Eliosan Plaza. Precision knocked on Percival's door and invited him out. The elderly mage was taken aback by the request but gladly accepted, taking along the crystal orb that monitored the alarm spells in the Arcaneum. The two of them headed to a park in the Emerald Quarter where Percival told Precision that while he was flattered, he was also 187 years old and thought it would be inappropriate for the night to be anything other than platonic. His mood changed however when Precison dosed him with a love potion, and the two opened up the Box O' Loot together.
Meanwhile with Percival out of the way, Lethe climbed up to the roof of the Arcaneum and unlocked the door with the keys he had made. Using the Detect Magic spell he was able to avoid all of the alarm spells and approach the riddle gate. He was able to solve the riddle after a few tries, and entered the highly-guarded repository. He passed by several artifacts the seemed to be guarded by powerful warding spells before approaching the Codex of the Eloqui Order, a large glowing orb hovering over a cauldron that seemed to call out to the ring on his finger. A voice called out from the orb asking Lethe what knowledge to sought. Lethe asked for the location of the arcaltium cairns, and the orb responded by showing him a map of the world. Bright lights appeared over the northern Tarval Mountains, the Field of Illusions, the Ernleb Forest, a small island in southeast Vätteroth, and the Snakewood. Lethe then asked where he could find magical knowledge and the Codex responded that while the Eloqui Order is the greatest repository of knowledge on the continent, across the sea on Pagalia and Ortuca lay ancient kingdoms with ancient knowledge. He also learned that in the room were powerful artifacts, but they were protected by powerful and randomized spells.
Ciana noticed amongst the crowd the two men she and Precision had flirted with in the Fountainpool Inn their last time in Alcaster. The tall man re-introduced himself as Folsten and his dwarfish friend as Thørn, and revealed that their fathers were both famous adventurers. Ciana made plans to have a drink with them after the protest before locating the ringleader of the event. Raising a toast, the three of them drank from their respective vials, and as the potion took hold the ringleader began shouting and raving in anger. At that moment Viniza Valenti came out of the Royal Plaza to see what was going on. The ringleader, full of potion-induced rage, pulled out a crystalline dagger and charged at Valenti but was effortlessly cut down. Valenti called for the guards to break up the protest but at that moment several members of the crowd pulled out similar crystalline daggers and plunged them into their own hearts, transforming into hulking monstrosities of flesh and crystal. The creatures started attacking the crowd and guards indiscriminately, and amongst the carnage Erevan noticed that some of the ones who were killed by the creatures turned into similar creatures themselves. Erevan and Ciana began fighting the monstrosities and called out for help on their hearrings.
Back in the Emerald Plaza, Precision and Percival's night was interrupted by screams of fleeing civilians. The two ran towards the protest and prepared to rush to their allies' aid.

Chapter Ten

"Riots, Break-Ins, and Trysts"

---

Previous Chapter: She's Just A Bit Of A Fixer-Upper

Next Chapter: The Hildonian Job

---

Ingame Date: 4^th of Rainseed, 1855
Real-Life Date: June 27, 2020
Protagonists:

• Precision
• Lethe Argie
• Erevan

Featured NPCs:

• John Foote
• Saestril Boecelin
• Percival Fould
• Viniza Valenti

Locations:

• Alcaster