Codename: Sleeping Alley, Report the Seventeenth

General Summary

We met Alley Sleepers in the cloistered ring of danger, staring deep into the Boonfire and receiving visions. Why so many visions, a curious reader may ask. Well, because it is the month of Vision and D&D be like that sometimes.

The Visions

Each of our brave adventurers received a vision seemingly tailored just for them:
Grex's Boonfire Vision
Hama's Boonfire Vision
Aletha's Boonfire Vision
Rieta's Boonfire Vision
Svo'Kool's Boonfire Vision

A Deathly Premonition

But there was also another vision, one each of them shared. They found themselves as defenders of a fallen city, the broken and battered rubble piled around them. Invaders came streaming through the breach in the walls, the smashed gate. They were in the fight of their lives, because it was the fight for their life. A brutal combat then commenced with the Sleepers putting up a valiant, but ultimately fruitless, last stand.
Each of them greeted death in their own way. Grex the Indomitable's last thought was that this is all because of our need to enact civilization. If it wasn't for cities, we wouldn't be in this mess! Svo'Kool, yet again fixated on the small details, spent his last moments wondering if he could juggle the various bits and bobs that surrounded his place of demise. Aletha of the Flintclaw raged against the dying of the light, as vengeance upon those that have done rank violence to her clan will never be hers. Rieta got meditative in her final breaths, remarking that death is both required and inevitable, but still very sad. And Hama vu Farlight, staring into the deep red sun that shone overhead, remarked that it is a cruel irony that he should meet his end during the day.
Luckily, that was just a vison. Perhaps of a future--that city did look remarkably like Riverskint--but not yet the present. Each of our champions reacted variously to their deaths. Aletha promptly vomited all over the place, remarking that "vengeance is an illness." That's kinda her whole thing, so we'll see how that goes. Grex felt the need to sharpen his skills as he has no wish to die yet. Rieta, deeply unsettled both by death and the broken quill of her personal vision, needs to reach out to her monastery post-haste.
But first, to business.

Smallcastle

The Sleepers are in Nineboons to meet up with "Smallcastle" , who apparently has a lead on both The Worm and The Crescent. So it was to Hullmost Home to see a man about some apples. They met Smallcastle in the snug, and, after some pleasantries, got down to Brass Lamb brass tacks. There's something brewing in The Snakeghost desert that involves both The Worm and the Crescent and maybe both of them together. Information about this is not readily available, so the Sleepers need to head down the River Cyster to Kinhall and see what they can uncover. This is likely going deep into Worm territory, so they should be careful.
The gang said, yeah, sure, okay. But what if we did something first--a small detour--to maybe safeguard against us being immediately killed by The Worm, who apparently watches our every move?

A Small Detour

That small detour was a big plan--let's kill Olddom Zethergyll. Well, not really, but let's seem like we killed him. First, it'll get some heat off of us, especially if a few of us "die" in the process, and second, it should help fulfill Svo'Kool's mission from The Worm, which was all about Zethergyll assassination. Smallcastle was intrigued, so a very elaborate plan was hatched which involved heading up to New Drekhold, convincing some guards that Zethergyll was holed up in Drekhold, and then some crafty illusions and some not-so-craft explosions to make the whole thing stick. And it did! Zethergyll is dead! Holy shit! And some of the Sleepers with him. Wow. A surprising turn of events.

To Kinhall

With Zethergyll dead, and Hama being inordinately excited by that, it was time to take ship to Kinhall. Smallcastle told them to seek out a sloop called The Persistent Crown. They did so and found it piloted by a vedalken named Oplizor and guarded by the Black Sash Sisterhood, with the intimidating Angmar Mistsplitter in charge of that squad. The journey itself was relatively uneventful. Upon arrival in Kinhall, Oplizor asked them what docks they wanted to disembark at, as that could have significant impact over their stay in this rough and tumble town. They chose the docks at Hubbub's Drift, overseen by The Burnt Lions, the second most powerful gang in the town.
We'll see what that choice gets them during our next session.

Missions/Quests Completed

Operation: KillBreeze, which was the "assassination" of Olddom Zethergyll

Character(s) interacted with

"Smallcastle", apple aficionado and Brass Lamb fixer
Oplizor, pilot of The Persistent Crown
Angmar Mistsplitter, Black Sash Sisterhood mercenary

Report Date

17 Jan 2021

Primary Location

Nineboons

Secondary Location

Kinhall