Session 32 Report

General Summary

Grissint 2 Snowdeep 834EA
Harthe picked up the now released artifact and put it in his bag. With the treasure secured, the team started discussing the fight and the forms the boggart creatures took. For Pōtiki, a spirit man yelled hateful things at them, telling them they’re nothing more than a tool. For Selestine Ignasia, a half-elven man cried out asking why she left him to die. For Harthe, a red tiefling woman was burning to death and crying out at him, shouting a name that was not his - Arthur - but seemed to jog a memory in him. He had recognised her as his mother. The team speculated that his mother died in a fire on the boat he had told them he had remembered being on that caught fire. The team was then interrupted by a commotion downstairs. The inhabitants of the house were back with some guards. Selestine, shaken by the events of the fight, looked for an alternate escape route, while the rest of the team gathered the boggart corpses and pushed them out of the space to use to bluff the guards. Harthe and Pō successfully convinced the guards that the team had been sent by the city to kill the monsters, flashing The Silver Whisperers badge to boost their legitimacy. The guards seeing that the issue was well above their pay grade, let the party go. The team headed off to retire at Haunui's for the night, where Selestine retreated to her own room immediately and got herself very drunk. The other three continued to discuss the night’s events in another room. Harthe told the others that in the vision of his mother by the boggart, she was holding a scepter, and on the end of it appeared to be another one of the orb artifacts they are looking for. He made plans to learn more about the incident on the boat at the library in Rouvray. He told the story of his previously earliest memory, estimated at about age 4, of washing up on shore in Nuvar after escaping a burning boat and being rescued by an old man named Jerry but he'd always just called him Grandpa. Pōtiki recalled that the Shadow Duke was involved in a coup and murder of tiefling rulers in Stagimsia, and the group wondered aloud if this was Harthe’s family as it made sense given Harthe had previously recalled a memory of being chased out of town with his parents when he was very young. Regardless, the team are excited to have a new lead on another orb, but they decided they first needed to help save Emperor Haley Cleroy. They then all retired to their rooms for the night. Show Spoiler

Pō had a dream

Edden 3 Snowdeep 834EA

When the group woke up the next the morning, they (except Selestine who had still not put on her communication pebble) got a message from Glynna Willowbank that Haley had woken up. Pō noisily woke up Selestine (and another orc gentleman who was staying in the remaining room not already rented out by the rest of the party), who is hungover, and ate a quick breakfast at Haunui’s while Harthe sets up the teleportation circle spell upstairs. Pō told Haunui that they were leaving by magic so not to be surprised that they never come back downstairs and that the rooms would be free to rent out afterwards. Back at the Rouvray Library, the group were stopped by guards who were unimpressed with their unannounced arrival. They showed the guards their Silver Whisperer’s badges to avoid being arrested and the guards let them off with a warning to give advance notice next time, though the group do not seem to take the demand on board. They head to the Cleroy Palace with the intent of seeing Haley but the guards in the palace tell them she is not taking visitors at the moment. They flash their badges again but the guards stand their ground and tell them they should see Tyna Brushgather first. They sent a message to Glynna asking where to find Tyna and she responded that they would meet them at the palace soon. Glynna and Tyna found them and explained Haley’s condition. She had woken the previous night and asked to speak to the group who investigating her illness, later today after recovering a little. Pōtiki was curious about the timing and asked the specific time that Haley woke. Tyna explained that she wasn't there at the time and one of her people were keeping watch. She asked one of the guards to go ask them. When he returned he said it was around 9.30pm. Pō nearly let slip the connection between her waking at the same time as their recovery of the orb in front of Tyna, and Glynna privately advised the group that they should let Tyna know the full extent of what had been going on. Pōtiki was suspicious that Glynna’s feelings for Tyna affected her loyalties, but her intentions seemed to be good and she appeared to genuinely trust Tyna. Selestine, frustrated at not fully understanding the group’s relationship with Glynna and Tyna, asked for clarity. Glynna was respectful of this and that Selestine deserved the full story as well if she was to work with them but noted that the palace lobby was probably not the best place for their conversation laying all the cards on the table. All of them headed to Glynna’s house in order to discuss everything, where Jodi, Harthe, and Potiki agreed to tell the newest member of the party the story of what has happened so far. The group then pulled out their collection of orbs. The first one was recovered in Vanimaldine and is related to the school of enchantment. Harthe is in possession of this. The one Selestine brought from Vikstamas is the school of conjuration. They did not yet know anything about the new one from Nuvar . The team watched Tyna’s expressions as they get the orbs out, but her reactions didn’t seem suspicious and she did not appear to recognise the artifacts. If anything, she seemed annoyed about having been kept in the dark and slightly indignant that the Venturers had sussed out more information than she or her spy network had. Glynna explained to Tyna that there were eight orbs and each was able to amplify magic from the school it belongs to. She was hoping that this orb would be of the school of evocation or abjuration, and that they could use it to amplify a healing spell to cure Emperor Haley. Upon inspection, she found instead that the orb belonged to the school of illusion. They were all confused how this could relate to Haley’s mystery illness. Glynna questioned the process of how the team got the orb, and they explained the inscription that was on the chest and how they had to share their deepest regrets in order to open it. The inscription said in Sylvan, “The stars incline us, they do not bind us. Leave behind your deep regrets and worry not for what you share, the fey will guard your secrets here”. Glynna wondered if the artifact was tied to Haley somehow, and that the warding magic made her sick because it interfered with the artifact. The group also told Glynna that they had yet to investigate Gisir Nicolai Holst as a potential suspect as someone who would benefit from Haley’s death, and Glynna remembered that she was going to speak to Gisir Amnestria Lanlee as well to check on her wellbeing after the party told her about potential traumatic brain injury, but would have to do so later. Harthe then told Glynna that there may be another artifact in the wreckage of a burning boat from 24 years ago, travelling from Stagimsia to Nuvar, and asked her if she would be able to find out anything about it. There was one known survivor. Glynna knows of no fiery ship explosions off the coast of Nuvar so suspected it may have sunk out in the Murilild Ocean, also known as the Murilda Ocean. She then asked if they know who the survivor was so they, and Jodi and Pō describe them as a young, red-skinned tiefling child. All eyes turned to Harthe. Harthe explained what little he can remember - being run out of town with his parents, to a long ship ride, to being on the ship at night and waking up to the fire, seeing the woman with the scepter and artifact on fire, and then waking up maybe the next day, washed up on shore. Almost incredulous, Glynna asked, “Are you telling me that you’re part of the missing royal family of Stagimsia?!”