Kir Session 18
General Summary
Kul' Jin the stone giant asked the party to fetch two bears for dinner. One for him; one for them. He assured them they bears were just normal bears and it should be no problem. Garus made an Olympic tier jump to unlatch the gate and Vandren pulled it open while empowered by the last dregs of his giant's strength potion. The bear enclosure was split into two levels with caves lining the walls. The bears were nowhere to be seen. So Garus began to explore the caves following one to the upper level of the enclosure. A large bear tackled Garus to the ground and three other bears emerged from their caves. Two were on Garus on the upper level, one engaged Vandren, and the other stalked Jack and Charlotte in the darkness from behind. Charlotte sustained her first injury from a claw attack across the collarbone. Garus, Vandren, and Tem all suffered critical hits from the bears and Vandren fell unconscious. Jack witnessed Vandren fall and somehow prevented the bear from attacking his unconscious form further. Tem cast healing word on Vandren to revive him. Garus dropped from the upper level to escape his combatants and landed squarely on one of the bears below, snapping it's spine. Aegean managed to put the bears on top to sleep while Tem and Garus killed the other creature downstairs. They dragged the corpses out of the enclosure before they could be attacked again.
Kul'jin seeing the group's battered forms and tired expressions offered to go fetch the firewood himself and told them they should rest before dinner. Garus carved some doodles into the stone until Kul'jin's bed. Aegean offered Charlotte his bar of soap so she could clean her wound. She accepted and walked into the dark for some privacy, where she began to speak to herself. She was comforting someone?... Meanwhile, Jack's mysterious telepathic associate started throwing pebbles at him, and spoke aloud to get his attention. Several of the other noticed and saw a rotund fellow with a slick long black ponytail sticking his head out of the central pillar in the room. He rudely insisted they follow him through the stone before the giant came back (Aegean left a note behind so Garus would know where they went).
The man had a house inside Kul'jin's pillar. A magical house; well decorated with plenty shelves filled with books and knickknacks lining the walls. He was wearing red silk robess with silver and black accents. He began questioning the group (Jack in particular) about why they were there, how they found the giant, who were they working for, etc... The group chided the man for being too demanding as he hadn't even bothered to introduce himself before interrogating them. He calmed a little and proudly introduced himself as Ler Berdot, Giant Historian. He had been working on his set up for experiment 6751 and was furious that Jack had interfered with his observation of Kul'Jin. He accused him of working for someone named Harker, as he had been offered the same job to retrieve stone giant's blood, which he refused. Ler said he's heard rumors from Zune Crestree that Harker has been gathering suspicious ingredients under the table. Jack assured Ler that he knows what he's doing and didn't tell him anything else. The party sided with Jack against the stranger.
During the discussion with Ler, Aegean cast Unseen Servant and instructed Shifty to slip a few of the historians books into his bag. Garus enjoyed the spiced cookies Ler had placed on his coffee table, and Tem grabbed the entire platter when they left.
They returned to Kul'jin's cave with many questions for Jack. He nervously apologized that he hadn't said something about his secret mission sooner, but that he had intended to tell the rest of the part about it tonight. He explained that he did indeed work for a man named Harker. He had recently graduated school in Nodro and he was hired to gather odd things and bring them back. Things like tiger's teeth and stone giant blood. Aegean asked Jack if he was sure he wasn't being used by his employer for something shady like Ler had implied, to which Jack insisted he was sure everything was fine.
Kul'jin returned and began to cook the two bears, letting the small beings continue their discussion. Garus pointed out that they shouldn't be upset with Jack because no one else had shared anything about themselves and their potential secrets. Aegean sat down to remove his left leg and took out his wanted poster. Garus exclaimed because he hadn't realized Aegean was missing his leg. He suggested hitting people with it, which made Aegean chuckle and said he had been arrested in Romad for doing just that. Aegean told the group that he had discovered that his former teacher, Irene Reese, seemed to be searching for him. He confessed that he killed her personal guard 3 years ago and has been running ever since, and that he owes her a sum of 85,000 gp for the cost of his education. Vandren states that he probably shouldn't return to Southern Romad because he murdered a man in a bar fight there. Garus said he's killed plenty of fools in tavern brawls and asked if he deserved it. Vandren sadly said "No." Jack said he wouldn't let Aegean's former teacher take his money and he would help watch Vandren when he drinks so he doesn't lose control. Garus points to Charlotte and asks if she's killed anyone. She replied that she's seen death many times. After more questions she explained that she came from Galigonia and she recently left her former employer (and the person that raised her?), Jushur Rhonon, because he was requiring her to do tasks she didn't morally approve of.
Vandren translated the group's discussion to Kul'jin and mentioned the man watching him from the central pillar. Kul'jin was creeped out. The group bullied Ler into coming out of his house and introducing himself to the giant. Kul'jin asked Vandren and Aegean if he should expect an apology. They made Ler give and offering of his own blood, along with some kind of art gift and a story for Kul'jin. Ler gave a long boring account of how he bought the fancy goblet he was draining his blood into. Aegean helped Ler to his feet and escorted him back into his house telling him that he's been given an excellent opportunity to actually befriend the man he intended to study. Jack yells "Hey! He's a person, not an animal!" at Ler before he scowled and returned home.
The party looks to ask Tem if she's got any secret missions or people following her but she was curled up around the platter of cookies fast asleep. Garus bottles some of Ler's blood and stashes it away in his bags. Aegean gives his gold to Jack for safekeeping.
Character(s) interacted with
Kul'jin. Ler Berdot
Report Date
25 Oct 2021
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Comments