We start as the party heads towards the temple to Ilvia, the underworship of rot and decay. Aphid stops to commission a basket shaped like a house with a stained glass roof, which will be ready in three days.
Mother Maria welcomes them to the temple, awash in dark watercolors and covered with a veil. She brings the group below ground to a space that looks like a cottagecore morgue (make a wisdom saving throw). Ivy curls up into the rafters, cold fills the air, cabinets line the back wall, and tables are laid out with small workstations. Mother Maria asks to see the Thornguard seal and instructs Mother Isabel to assist them in inspecting the bodies. Mother Isabel gestures and four cabinets open. Forms wrapped in ivy-patterned canvas float out to rest upon the table.
Zenith starts ritual casting Detect Magic. Meanwhile Jack and co. investigate the bodies. They find cards that note basic details about them:
- Luiza Romanovna, tiefling, four years old, Died Night 5th
- Gerard Oxenbrigg, dwarf, 7 yrs old, died Night 10th
- Fiona Freemason, quarter fey, 10 yrs old, died Night 13th
- Mya Saysanasy, half-orc, 8 yrs old, died Night 17th
Mother Isabel uses a slate to write that all of the victims died by dawn on these dates. The backs of the cards list cause of death as question marks. Jack does not find any subtle needle marks or wounds.
Mohr asks Mother Isabel what she thinks happened.
Mother Isabel uses the slate to respond: Not sure, likely magical, no sign of poison.
Mohr: Have you tried to Speak With Dead?
Isabel: Did it with the first three, haven't had a chance to do it with the most recent. Children remember pain and then nothing.
Mohr: Can we be there?
Isabel: Sure, Mother Maria will be able to do it tomorrow. Typically perform ritual at dawn, but can wait for your arrival.
Zenith finishes his Detect Magic spell. He can detect Gentle Repose on the bodies, the magic keeping the air cold. He also manages to detect faint Enchantment magic from a simple but powerful spell.
Head to dinner, just barely on time. Grandmother gives a look but lets it pass. Aphid is seated next to Grandmother, nearby is Lance Goodryngton, Aphid's etiquette teacher. Aphid informs Grandmother that they are working a case in the city. Grandmother doesn't seem the most enthused about this, noting that Lukot Tailors and Apparrel donates to numerous causes, but that she won't stop Aphid if he feels the need to do more. Grandmother welcomes the crowd and announces Aphid's glorious return as well as his imminent departure.
Aphid's siblings Nym, Hosta, and Viburnum all chat with the group happily, the table buzzes with good food and honey mead. Jack accidentally gets Zenith very drunk by pouring his mead into Zenith's cup when Zenith isn't looking. Aphid bungles some table manners and the rest of the group copies him. Lance the etiquette guy doesn't say anything but murmurs something to Grandmother on his way out. The group beds down in the manor that evening.
Jack asks his patron about the red hand symbol. Avarice pops up once Jack goes to sleep. He says that blood is demon-y in general, but by itself it doesn't have any significance to do with any major demons. It is associated with minor imps, but they don't typically get as crazy as deaths. Avarice's guess is that when the Red Hand first started, they were going for an imp motif and are now really sticking to the bit. Jack asks about his contract and Avarice is like uh did I have homework? He says that the time for Jack to fulfill his end of the bargain is coming soon.
In the morning, the group works together to open the mysterious box that Talasea dug up at the Dragonstone. They get the protective metal plate off to discover a series of dials with symbols on them: snowflakes, flowers, suns, leaves. They look for traps and determine that if the box is opened without opening the lock, the magic on the box is dispelled and the contents are destroyed. Further experimentation indicates that they have three chances to open the lock. They think of the prophecy and use that to put the symbols in order: Summer, Spring, Winter, Autumn. The lock clicks open. They open the box.
A scrap of paper materializes within the box. An elegant, old fashioned handwriting scrawls across it:
unknown:
hello?
Tal writes on the other side of the note: Hi!!!!! Who are you???
He closes the box. A moment later, a slight vibration shivers through the box. A new scrap of paper now rests within.
unknown:
Who are you? Where did you find this?
Conversation happens, I'll transcibe it later lol. Gist is that the unknown writer says they are the One Left Behind and that one of the group already knows how to find them by another name. Ends with the unknown writer saying that the "she" who left the box was the writer's wife and Jack remembering the story of Cielaveskarraron and Wynonina and the group on their way to the temple to Ilvia.
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