Session 10: The Lady and the Hag
General Summary
In this episode of Dream Thieves...
The Dead Man Walks
Gervil, having met an uncertain end at the hands of the fey creature in the abandoned house in Union, awoke! But he was not where he expected. He pushed his way out of a sepulcher that was adorned with his name and his likeness was seen on a small monument to the death of a great man. But he was not dead! Atleast, not in the normal sense. Outside he discovered a vast cemetary, whose location was unknown. He met Virgil, a mysterious figure bathed in necrotic black ooze, bound in chains wrapped around his hands and feet. Virgil explained that he's is Gervil's brother from beyond the pale and the apprentice to the Grim Reaper. It was their destiny to be 'reunited' a fate whose consequences were not fully understood by either men, but the method of achieving it was. Gervil was attacked by a group pale demons, who protested Virgil's revealing information that should not have been given to a member of the living. Virgil briefly took over in Gervil's defence, destroying the beasts with a slew of new powers Gervil had never known he could harness. Virgil explained that he will come to Gervil's aid if his HP drops ever drops to zero. However, in doing so the two grow closer and closer to "reunification." Gervil can also choose to advance that reunification himself and draw from Virgil's strength should he ever need it. Virgil said his goodbyes for now, and Gervil found himself in a coffin on the hill of Squarehill Keep, naked.Squarehill Keep Continues
Back with our heros, they spoke to the local grave digger, who said he was there to move the bodies of the bandits slain by the Araby venturing party from days earlier, but had to wait on the city guard to act on the case before he could do his duty. Aeða spoke to a monk, deep in meditation, about the others visitng Squarehill Keep. He replied asking her about the purpose of a sunrise. They shared a moment of peace and harmony before he said he would be there in case he was needed in other ways. Zanuriel began hearing voices nearby, but could not at first determine what they were. Then, he realized that the voice was coming from a mushroom next to him, and he was understanding the message from the plant itself. After a few moments the voice began losing focus, and the words eventually returned to the earth, undecipherable. He inspected another red cap mushroom and found an entrance to a druid burrow.A Transaction of Trickery
The party entered the druid burrow and met Lady Swansong, a potion merchant who sold them bespoke concoctions. They could not pay for the potions in gold however, Lady Swansong explained that she collected 'stray relationships' and could discard a relationship that the heroes no longer needed. The person they'd give up would not remember them, but they would retain the memories of the relationship that, in reality, no longer exists. Aetha, Azriel and Torentous all bought potions and agreed to the deal. The potions purchased were the Potion of the false inquisitor (fake strength to intimidate a foe ), the Potion of the sleeping beast (tame a particularly powerful beast in the wild), and a Love potion of the autumn wind (a love potion of unknown terms and potency). As they were conducting business they heard cries from someone down in her basement. Azriel snuck downstairs and discovered a mimick chest who sounded the alarm back to Lady Swansong, who then ejected the heroes from her shop, sending them straight up through the earth itself back to the surface. Back on the hill they met Amelia who, oddly, didn't recognize the heroes that bought a potion from Lady Swansong. Charles Hippo didn't recognize them either. The heroes had been swindled! They'd entered into a deadly deal with the merchant, who took not one relationship from them, but all of them! And the effects of the extraction were worsening with time! They went back down into Lady Swansong's shop to discover an illusion spell had been cast during their first visit, but had since ended and that the shop was actually... a hag's den! They went down to the basement to find the hag using their 'wisps', the relationships extracted, to animate three abominations who then retreated to the dungeon below. The heroes attempted to subdue the hag, but they were about to discover that a hag has many tricks up her sleeve, and her first was exploding into a rainstorm of worms that crawled into the earth, easily evading the heroes' attempt at capture.Chasing Lost Memories
Time was running out. The heroes started forgetting each other as the potion increased its power against them. They went downstairs and fought the abominations who had been infused with their whisps. The creatures were able to charm the heroes in fits and spurts, turning them against one another, but ultimately met their end. The heroes attempted to reunite with the wisps with varying degrees of success Aeða and Azriel managed to convince their wisps to return, but Torrentous found his wisp more stubborn, who vanished to a space above them. After mining the area for 4 obsidian, they went after the wisp.A New Ally
The heroes climbed up a chain into the higher level to discover an armature workshop had been hidden in a pocket dimension, out of time and space from their normal world. They met a craftswoman, not determined to be either man or machine, who, on discovering that they held the artifact originally stolen by Enzo, told them to activate "Protocol Autumn". The artifact and the infernal engine was used. Protocol Autumn sprang to life! The heroes discovered they had just made operational a special armature they could customize and improve as their adventure went on. What's next for our heroes? How will they use their newly made armature? Find out in next week's episode of Dream Thieves!
Aeða Mɛlñɛriæn
Azriel Carynthian
Zanuriel Leafbreeze
Torentous Tenaysius
Gervil Norev
Report Date
20 Nov 2023
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