Session 12: Gryffonspire Inn

General Summary

In this episode of DREAM THIEVES...

A New Rest

Our heroes, after having saved the lives of Jessa and many servants at Jacaranda Manor, fled from the destruction towards Willoughby, where they believed they could spend the night at a tavern and inn close by...Gryffonspire inn. When they arrived they spoke to Fineas onion knight, who after sharing what happened, let them up into the inn, which is located on a tall plateau, very dangerous to climb. He also told them of the sacred order of Onion Knights, a class of paladin only available to the gnomish people. Their main ability to to be able to use any weapon in existence, even two handed great axes in one hand! Such is the way of the Onion Knight. The heroes crawled up to manor with their belongings. Charles Hippo found a comfortable place to relax in the garden. They were greeted by a guardian at the door of the inn, who, after giving them an odd look, let them pass without further questions.

The Inn of Oddities

Inside Jessa spoke to Gimble, proprietor of the Gryffonspire Inn. Gimble is a dwarf raised by gnomes, who believes that he also is a gnome. Jessa told him of what happened, and he quickly offered the party shelter for the night, no charge, including a drink pass for them to relax in the tavern. Gervil spoke to a pair of gnome scientists, arguing about solutions to the "un-natural" disaster occuring throughout Tol Tivikh. The surface is at risk of cratering into sink holes due to large cavernous spaces expanding underground, and pillars of Ice and volcanic rock are being used to hold the ground up above. Gervil was asked which method was better. Aetha was served a round of ale for the party, but received a cryptic note from the bartender in the process, that "some guests are not guests." Amelia Ignus joined the heroes in the tavern and brought Mechayla along. Suddenly, the armature began gently shaking, and Amelia found a message inside the armature's processing engine. It read, "Dasha where are you?" The heroes, nervous as to what the message could mean, sent Mechayla to the room for it's safety, and theirs. Suddenly, the heroes heard a scream from outside the tavern, but when some of them ran out to investigate, noone was in danger, and the guard hadn't heard the scream himself. All they found were discarded spell materials, the likely source that something was going on behind the scenes. Jessa enjoyed a drink with Aetha and Gervil, loosening up slowly with the assurance that she was safe and sound. She tugged on Gervil's arm gently, and buzzed happily knowing the heroes were there to protect her. Zanuriel moved over to a table where a rambunctious young girl was steadily wearing on the patience of her guardian, who seemed a respectable noble from Tol Tivikh but was given the task of baby sitting a young woman of affluence on a trip abroad. The young girl wanted to put a kick me sign on Gimble, and Zanuriel agreed to help. With the assistance of Gervil, they made a magical kick me sign that satisfied the trickster's desire for fun, but kept Gimble from receiving kicks from the entire tavern.

The Boys on the Prowl

Zanuriel and Azriel decided to walk the grounds to look for threats and friends alike. They noticed a large windmill gently turning near the edge of the plateau, but they realized that there was no wind. They inspected the windmill to see that there was metal underneath the wood, but they'd have to break off the outer wood layer to see further. Azriel and Zanuriel spoke with Jala, jungle huntress, who was very harsh on merchant zanuriel. A woman of nature with no need for commerce turned a friendly hello into a joust. The conversation ended when Jala received a message from a crow, bidding her farewell to the heroes. Soon after they discovered Monsier Bigby in the hot tub. They joined in for some revelry, Bigby sharing some of his private stock spirits with the heroes, and mentioned that his one item in inventory, a pair of stealth shoes used to disguise the sound of your footsteps, had been misplaced somewhere in Gryffonspire. After saying goodbye to Bigby, they inspected a golden statue, oddly out of place for the scenery. They discovered that a magical signature was connected the statue with all of the windmills at the corners of the plateau.

An Unexpected Dance

Jessa and Gervil continued getting to know each other. Jessa heard music outside and raced out to the terrace to join in the dance. Gervil obliged, and after performing well, saw Jessa through a lovely time in the magic of the evening moonlight. It was hella romantic. Aetha assisted in the musical performance, but was met with some unexpected hostility from a songstress, who at first, wasn't happy that a non staff member was leading music. Aetha explained the situation, which softened her tone. She said that there is more to this inn than meets the eye. She had been here for just a few months. Gervil took the opportunity to slip his Dreamer's Ring onto Jessa's finger, who participated willingly and accepted the ring.

The Night Turns Darker

After the dance on the terrace, Gervil ran into the Inn and snuck behind the counter to read the ledger. He discovered that someone had ripped out the two pages of current guests! Only the page containing the heroes recent arrival was still recorded, meaning that the pages were likely ripped out before they had arrived. A strange gnome ran into Azriel and Zanuriel outside, and was hostile to their advanced. He took some items from them and dashed off towards the inn. While Gervil was snooping, Aetha returned to the bar for another drink. She was joined on the stool by an odd gnome, dressed like a jester, who knew her name. He said that he was a representative of the gnomish assassins guild and that she should join his organization. In fact, Aetha's name had been spreading secretly on the winds and heard by assassin orders all around the world. He said that she should comply, or else she might put her allies at risk, including Jessa! He produced a blue owl key, identical to her own, to signify that they weren't safe in their rooms even if they were locked. Aetha struck back, charming the gnome into giving away more information about who was inside the inn. It turns out that there were representatives from five different assassins guilds here, both on assignment and interested in recruiting Aetha before the other guilds did. The gnome assassin also revealed that the true name of The Mysterious Snake, member of the clan of the bronze serpent, is none other than Shalas-Kahn, Death Devoured. The gnomish assassin revealed that the sisters near the terrace, the ones that saw the dancing earlier, were one of the 5 guilds present. Gervil took to action and pushed them off the cliff! Fall damage is OP in D&D and the fall likely killed them.

The Wacky Wizard

Zanurial and Azriel discovered a hexagon of stones! Azriel, taking the advice of the strange drunkard in Union, placed his curiously small banana in the circle, and poof! They were greeted by Tabooki, one of the Wizards 4. Tabooki collects oddities, one of which is bananas. He accepted the offering by upgrading 1 of Azriels items to a higher power level. The heroes outside noticed an orc chopping wood. In the wood pile there lay an abandoned armature, just like the ones the construct in the hidden armature facility told them to look out for.

Finding a Way Out

The heroes all retired to their rooms to figure out what to do next. Three asassins remained prowling the inn, they couldn't be safe until they had dealt with them. Will our heroes survive the Griffynspire Inn? Will the Dream Dive into Jessa's dream reveal why the fallen Dream Thieves had visited the Manor? And could they discover where they were headed next? Find out next time in our next episode of DREAM THIEVES!

Campaign

Dream Thieves

Protagonists