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Session 16: Animaesus and Tarrasques: The Ways of Salt: Shallow is the Butter

General Summary

It is the 20th of Light, the last day of the month, and the fourth day of the Blood Festival, and the group finds themselves each at their perspective homes, with Eros and Birdman discussing her newfound telepathic powers, something created and aided by the recent trauma of Altopar, no doubt, but still something filled with anxiety and fear. Nonetheless, it has aided in how these two can now build eachother's characters and trust. They get a message from Shallowbutter, concerned about Eros' punctuality to her future performance for one of the drows Matrons; Eros sends a magical message to confirm her anticipation and arrival.

During this conversation, they make their way to the Herald's Tavern in order to meet the others. Cotton and Stryke have already brought the children for breakfast, waiting on Birdman, Stryke, Mel, and Ssech. The dark sorcerer Ssech soon arrives and joins the others at their larger table in the corner. Soon later, disguised as an average barmaid, Mel also arrives to observe and maybe understand the unneeded aggressiveness of Eros, Stryke, and Birdman with the chaos caused by Altopar's death the day beforehand. As Mel, this obscure investigator, she overhears a orthoptera talking of Eros and her burgeoning reputation of the days prior, mostly related to Altopar. This is also, at least in name, by Eros, and with others speaking her name, she cannot help but be curious, and she reads the surface thoughts of the orthoptera and its odd drow companion, and near the end of the spell, Eros sees the drow knows of her and has been investigating the young human bard. This causes Eros to jump over and threaten the drow noble of a house other than 12, and it was only Mel's, Cotton's, and Birdman's involvement that was able to intimidate the drow and control Eros long enough for the drow to disperse. He waits for a few moments outside, and he almost talks again with Birdman if Eros had not stormed out. Mel again tries to persuade Eros of her chaotic choices, the consequences they bring, and the truth that must follow afterwards; Eros storms away, and Birdman and her agree to go to the 12th House.

Inside, Mel and Ssech agree to get materials and to repair what was broken the day before in Mel's house when they engaged with Altopar; Ssech offers a bloody-mary as a peace offering, and the two dark casters spend the morning making simple repairs and cleaning up the mess of the soon-to-be-forgotten mage.

Cotton begins to arrange steps to understand Altopar's Vault as rumors began spreading the day before of the 12th House involving in cleaning up Altopar's many real estate businesses, and that they found a basement level of his tower. No one can get past whatever traps lay about. She thus involves Hantelmann, and they try to find others to assist with this, but Stryke is too involved with the children today, and Eros and Birdman have seen been distracted, as will be explained below.

As Eros and Birdman discuss next steps outside, Leandra joins them, and she sees Shallowbutter approaching impatiently. She could not wait, and now pushes Eros to finish her outfit, and she wants Eros to come down below quickly--to greet the Matron and provide her needed distraction during this trying times. With this rush, Eros tells Leandra to stay behind, and her telepathy with Birdman serves as needed aid to allow him to follow her to the dark tunnels of the 12th House Drow. Eventually, after weaving through the city streets and stairwells, Shallowbutter leads Eros, her drow squad, and the slinking Birdmand thereafter, deep into the tunnels beneath the City of Salt. The caverns twist east and west, and flow north and south, edging on cave cliffs, rocky shale, and darkening caves, and still Eros only sees the light of Shallowbutter's torch until the last few hundred feet of a thirty minute long trek below. That, until, a pale white, with an opalescent purple glow takes over their view like the rising sun in the darkness.

Cotton finally meets with her fence, Hantellman, and the cynas explains the deed will be near impossible without further aid, and if it is not done today, they maybe at a loss for any of its success.

Sometime later, Telearia also finds Cotton, in search of Birdman and Eros. She came to aid Eros, but a dwarf friend she arrived with from lands far to the south has been captured, waiting to perform in the Stagecourts. Cotton agrees, and they go to see of Ssech and Mel will aid them, and they do agree but only after Telearia offers her sacred weave blades as compensation for breaking into the Stageprisons. Cotton drawas a detailed map from what she remembers from a few weeks before.


Finally, Eros is lead deeper into the drow cavern, passed the strange light, to a room filled with petrified spiders and eggs. She soon meets Neferteri, a drow mage, and she is lead to a room to rest and freshen up as Neferteri goes to find the Matron.

Cover image: by Seth Love

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