Session 39 - Debtxamene

General Summary

We’re aboard the White Cap on the way to Sideris. Kestor talks to Ionessa in the rigging and asks her if she knows Zenodoria. She doesn’t, but she knew that the scroll was bad and that Kestor would have wanted to read it. They talk about it, Kestor is basically a little hurt that she felt she couldn’t trust him to make a sound decision but appreciates she was just trying to do what she felt was best. She knew that he wouldn’t be able to resist reading it and felt she wouldn’t be able to convince him otherwise. She reveals she has two more missives from Zenodoria, she wants to burn them (though they could be useful if we wanted to go to Fidigos) but agrees to check with Neo and Xanthos first, who agree they should be burned.
We arrive in Sideris in the afternoon. A lot of the buildings have been torn down. Heromenes is hard at work and a little nervous that we might not let him have first go at the Sidero trees. We’ll get about 100 seeds from a Sidero tree in a year, so we should be okay? Things have been quiet here, Leos is doing fine whittling away, Rhene has been alright too. Ionessa tells Leos that we discovered a big threat and that we freed Kovu’s father. She’s going to miss her family even though it matters that it was her decision to leave this time. Leos missed her too! Kestor talks to Rhene, she’s doing alright but they come across the idea of maybe getting her a spinning wheel so she can take up her old hobby again.
Xanthos checks in with Arsenios. He’s shocked the tree is growing so fast, Helia has been working on it while we’ve been gone. Xanthos goes to check on his baby cousin! Neo finds Helia participating in the ritual to grow the trees, he tells her that he has discovered the rot and that it is wrong, but also that he has found a way to cleanse it without harming the infected. Helia says not all can be cured, maybe if the rot has taken too great a hold. She says it’s not worth studying, it should only be destroyed. Neo asks if the rot is what the Fire-Eater was fighting against; the rot comes in many forms, on land it may not be the same as beneath the waves but its origins are similar. The tentacle creatures are merely the puppets of the rot. The revelations Fytanke gave Acheric drove him from peace to violence, but he was not without flaws of his own.
He tells her about his vision of Acheric and asks to hear more about him, she agrees but those stories will have to wait until another time. We update the town on the threat of the tadpoles, warn them to be careful by the coastline in case the merrow are there. We dole out the construction orders and then Ionessa and Xanthos break up. Jk she apologizes for misinterpreting what he was saying and drawing conclusions and hurting his feelings, but he also admits he was saying some stupid stuff.
He shows her a wooden anemone that he whittled, it has the pearl he got from her farm in the middle as well. It was supposed to be a nice surprise gift, that’s why he was acting so suspicious. It’s enchanted so when you touch it, it lights up! This is the first meaningful gift he’s ever given someone. It might not have been the best time for secrets, she would have liked the gift even if it wasn’t. Xanthos is going to work on his self-image. She asks if he felt happy coming home, he has mixed feelings but thinking about what Sideris can become makes him happy.
We start putting the word out in Cherianto (and the villages between) for laborers and to let the populace know the village is up and coming. We travel there to spread the word, to buy supplies, and to try to free the crew of the Evlogimenos. We pick up a bunch of farmers and laborers in Dromos, including a man and his family whose farm burned down. We visit Bion and get him up to speed on everything (rot, Zenodoria, war) and set up another trade deal for materials by trading goods from the Merchant Republics. He tells us that the weather has been bad over Vas and that many are considering this an ill omen from the gods. We let him know we’ve been tasked by a god to go take care of that problem. There is tension between Eurydia and the Council of Elders. She is having trouble getting things done, the elders are blocking her from moving to war (or whatever else she is doing). The people seem to be on her side, that they consider the elders to be abusing their power. Guess we gotta handle that! There’s also the election in Rheo, which might influence things.
Ionessa asks about an easier way to contact him, he mentions sending stones but doesn’t know where we might find them. He also has heard of (suspected) Fytanke cultists moving through the area. Neo assures him that they aren’t to be feared, but they agree to keep each other apprised of any developments. Bion believes the inquisition in Cherianto has tapered off, maybe because of the war. Afterwards, we go buy an air bubble spell for Kestor to prevent Dexamene’s perfume affecting him, and then we go talk to her! We meet a hobgoblin guard who has never been lost and has very narrow definitions of words and terms, he’s a huge pedant but he speaks draconic inexplicably and confirms Kovu is a person, allowing him in.
We head on in and Kestor makes the offer, Dexamene gets the Evlogimenos’ contract. She asks what we’ve been up to and Kestor gives some general heroics they’ve accomplished in the area. The contact arrives, it’s 20,000gp because of awful loan sharking. Kestor points out these predatory lending practices and calculates a fairer sum, bargaining with her to a different price. Unfortunately she stonewalls Kestor and brings up their old agreement, she makes us an offer in exchange for a lower price. She wants to find an object of importance that has gone missing and needs to be returned to its owner. In return, she would return the price to 7,000gp. A piece of lost cargo on the Aspro Kalepo (it’s the ember). She wants to return it to its rightful purchaser, I assumed this was Dorien this actually isn’t likely the case (Dex would have known Ionessa was involved if she was with Dorien). So there was another person who purchased it? Not Parmenion either. We can’t actually do that contract, so we pay her the full 20,000gp instead.
Well that could have gone better, but at least we got the crew of the Evlogimenos their freedom. We go find them at the docks! They’re obviously over the moon at the news, Eryxo doesn’t even know what she wants to do with their newfound freedom, but they can do whatever they want! She offers her aid to us if we ever have need of her and the crew, we wouldn’t mind them visiting once the dock is built but we make it clear that we will pay them for any work we hire them for. Our first offer is to ferry workers from Cherianto over to Sideris.
The end!

Notes

ヽ(ー_ー )ノ

Report Date

05 Aug 2023