Chapter 27: Equal Oppression for Everyone

General Summary

This chapter begins on the 10th of Arel in a small town called Allium. After meeting Linn downstairs (and her departing) went and settled in for a nice sleep. However, their dreams were interruped when Wesley decided to pull them into a dreamscape study and talk to them. After introducing himself to the new party members, he chastised Lenihlra for leaving and perhaps thinking that her contract with him was over. He told her that she had been involved with starting a war and he had convinced his mother to leave them alone. Should she, and her companions, continue to do as he asks, they will remain safe. He told them to, as soon as they arrive in Arnsholdi, they should find a way to spy on the two Luthyra family members there. They agreed and he returned them to their dreams. After waking up they discussed Wesley and some of what he had done to Aqia and Leon before collecting some cash from Captain Hanna (2001 gp and 4 sp). They also traded around several of the items they had aquired with Aqia taking the Shades of Night, Lenihlra taking the Ocarina of Inspiration, Leon taking the Chef's Knife, and Jacquora keeping the Travelling Hole Punch. Jacquora decided to partake of her potent Halfling Pipeweed and learned some of the consequences of the drug. Finally, they all were invited to go to breakfast at the canteen below decks. While they were enjoying a hearty breakfast they were approached by another passanger aboard the ship, a human man in his mid-40s with somewhat attractive qualities. He introduced himself as Barry Bertoia, owner of a small mining outfit in Arnsholdi. He expressed how impressed he was with the party and invited them to stay at his home should they ever reach Arnsholdi. After breakfast, they returned quickly to Allium to see if they could do something with the strange onion they had found aboard the abandoned ship the previous day. In searching they were able to find an ancient gnomish man who traded a sack of his specialty spicy onions for the string of strange onions. The man, named Gary Garlic, was definitely odd and for sure will never crop up in this story again. Finally, the group set on their way south. Several days passed and the group found themselves above deck on starry night and discussed their opinions on the empire. It was decided that the empire was definitely not good, but they were only outright oppressive towards magic users, thus the title of this chapter was born. They also talked about their thoughts on the war and a little bit about where they were from. Finally, several weeks later on the 6th of Ruvaen, they arrived at Bellindola, a bustling town at the mouth of the glacial Dola River. The Itumere Mountains were visible as a distant smudge on the horizon. Unsure of what to do, they went to the Blushing Panther and rented two rooms. Jacquora also purchased some bolts and Leon commissioned a map to be made for them of the Southern Cost of the Ventbonear Bay (pronounced Vent-bahn-ear) by mapmaker Conrad Dewfoot. Jacquora also made a stop at the Bounty Hunter Guild house and found a bounty on some missing pigs in the area. There was brief thought about stopping at a large gambling hall called the Celesta Casino, but they ultimately decided against that and attened the Open Mike night at their inn, named in memory of local comedian Mike. The next day, they set off and talked to the farmer, Farmer Green, about his missing livestock. He blamed the nearby Pinkerton Farm for taking his prized hogs, but he had no proof. While receiving a tour of the farm, Jacquora got the sense she was being watched and noticed that two of the pigs seemed to be looking at her. After receiving their tour, Leon jumped into the hog pit to try and find the pigs, but all he could sense was that there was something magic there, but he didn't know where. After jumping out, he cleaned himself off using magic, which was noticed by the farmer. He spoke to Jacquora about how he was not okay with that sort of behavior. After he left, the group explained the dangers of using magic out in the open to the young magic user, who had never really experienced the outside world and the dangers that using magic out in the open could cause. The group was able to locate some tracks and surmise that they were porcine in nature, but that some of the pigs appeared to be walking on two legs. It was then that Jacquora again noticed the pigs staring at her. She barrelled towards them but they were able to quickly disappear into the group of pigs again. The group decided to follow the tracks as far as they could that day and followed them eastward towards the mountains. Near the end of daylight hours, they set up a camp to see what would happen along the trail that night.