Chapter 4, Session 6: Whispers, Well-Wishers and Architects
General Summary
It's mine... all mine.As Sigholdt Sofiasson was approached, the Lake Cleaners advised him that The Black-Blooded were liked in The Diamond. However, Cherish Gray was pushed aside as Black-Blooded Sinthrish explained they had noticed Mallus Somnium in the party’s Elementa Team. They had come to warn the party Malus was very dangerous and uncontrollable, and they had been sent to Diamond in the first place to apprehend him. Sigholdt denied such accusations, stating Malus was perfectly stable. Sinthrish in turn stated Malus was a good person, but everything around him was bad and dangerous. It was the reason his parents gave Malus to the Blackblooded - they were working people from Mezzatli. Sigholdt continued to deny the danger, but Sinthrish stated Malus was broken, and that it was no coincidence that the lake monster appeared when the party arrived in the city. At first, he claimed it was a nightmare but Sigholdt corrected him. Sinthrish appreciated the party wished to protect Malus, and agreed he was a good kid, but it was endangering everyone with the dreams that inhabited him. Sigholdt asked if he was ‘normal’ before joining the Blackblooded, but was told Malus had always been this way. They had been studying him, and Sinthrish reiterated that Malus was not safe with the group. Sigholdt dug his heels in here and stated he could not hand over a child, and eventually got Sinthrish to agree to let the party escort Malus to Mezatli. Sigholdt was given a scrying stone so the Blackblooded could track the party and Malus. Sinthrish left Sigholdt alone, but Sigholdt still took a meandering path back to the tavern. Reaching the tavern, he noted some threatening drunk members of The Kae outside. When he tried to chat with them it didn’t go well, so he went inside to speak with Hermione of Vallea. After informing her of the situation, Hermione recognised the Blackblooded were monster hunters and loyal to Mezatli. They were very good warriors that were ‘engineered’ and experimented on by the leaders of the city, and overall were less brutal than The Venator. Hermione identified the stone, learning that it could remove a creature’s ability to resist scrying. Hermione suggested the party send the orb with someone else away from them, and the pair went to tell the rest of the party about the situation. As the party realised the Blackblooded could still scry on them regardless of the rock, they decided to keep going north on their route - not directly heading to Mezatli but still going in that direction. Malus was confused about why they weren’t taking him now, asking if they preferred a peaceful option, or were just waiting to ambush the party? With the party back together, Peregrine updated Sigholdt on Whispering Light(person:7274444e-40fc-4e6e-9a33-09f7b1f36e2f), realising as she told him that @[The Migration of Bloomwilt may have happened because she had asked the Dreams to keep Whisper safe. Sigholdt agreed to use the Shared Dream spell on Whisper to try and speak to him, agreeing to support Peregrine in her endeavour to get her memories back. Hermione added she needed to look for her friend and make a pitstop, but was mysterious when help was offered. The next day, the party headed to the Church of the Diviner. They saw a large proportion of patients with burns like Whisper, but strangely, Whisper had none. There were 37 patients in total. The strange burning disease had started several days ago, and was indiscriminate - it hit citizens and outsiders, young and old etc. The cleric added that there had been a doctor researching the disease, but had died a couple of days ago in his rooms - burned, and was reluctant to say more about it due to superstition. Sigholdt went to cast dream on Whisper as Esmerae went about helping patients, and Hermione spoke to a non-burned patient. On seeing he had a missing hand, she offered to try and make him a new one and was told to go by the Ironclad tavern to find him (his name was Marshall). He admitted he had lost his hand using a homemade hook. After getting his measurements, Hermione proudly returned to tell Peregrine she had made a friend - somewhat misreading the room. As Sigholdt entered the dream, he heard the sound of yelling of a man about to die. He found himself in a stone decrepit building. At one end a ‘humanoid’ that appeared primitive and aquatic with no legs and instead a long slimed tail whilst their arms had no fingers and appeared to almost be naturally stumped, was speared to the wall, warped, twisted and tortured, hanging 2ft off the ground. A young firbolg meanwhile, was strangling another creature. Sigholdt tried to ask what was going on but there was no response or recognition of his presence. The firbolg looked like a younger Whisper, in pain, his eyes having been gauged out. Beneath him, a satyr croaked “Whisper, please” before Whisper killed him through strangulation. Younger Whisper then tore off a sleeve to cover his lost eyes. Sigholdt heard a voice suddenly: “And you knew you took it didn’t you?” Whisper replied: “Yes” “And you knew the foul decision you made” “Yes” “Then do not waver Whisper, we’ve waited long enough, while you ran and prattled your stories. Go to the Inkbowl. Spare none who stop your path. Do this and live. Fail and we’ll take it back our own way” The building caught alight, and Whisper screamed as SIgholdt was kicked out of the dream. Before the voice had spoken, the young Whisper had been repeating “It is mine, now it is mine. The lyars, the lyars, they are mine now. Their inspiration. Their stories…” Out of the dream, SIgholdt told the party everything, and Peregrine thanked him. He also agreed to go into the dreams of another burning patient the next day to see if there were any similarities, and Peregrine decided to stay to look into restoring her memories while waiting for Whisper to wake. Meanwhile, Esmerae went to the jewelled guard to ask about vampire attacks. She learned there were bounties for vampires, and that they came from the Tenated - a new group that had released a very dangerous prisoner in Garnet not long ago. Six were seen entering the city the other night - 14 guards had died, 6 were found completely bled out- they’d arrived 4-5 days ago. There was a bounty for 500g per head, with proof. When she asked how to provide proof, Esmerae learned the blood-weapons could stand in for a lack of a body - the party had 2 already! Hermione decided to go and do her own thing, but Sigholdt insisted on coming along, due to the danger she was in, being hunted by assassins. Sigholdt acted as her bodyguard, annoying her as she was trying to be discreet. The pair headed back to the tavern, where Hermione made Sigholdt wait outside. Hermione went to the barkeep, telling her she was there to meet the Architect. After a couple of minutes, she was given a new address and was told the Architect was excited to meet her. The pair went to find the new address, finding it in a very wealthy location of nobility. Hermione knocked and handed over the address card, where she was told she could attend the meeting alone, but Sigholdt had to stay in the waiting room. Hermione threatened Sigholdt for his best behaviour before parting ways. Stepping into the room, Hermione met a woman, 30-ish with white hair and a violet dress. The lady told the Bugbear servant she didn’t recognise Hermione, prompting Hermione to drop her disguise, easing the woman’s nerves. The woman revealed she was very excited and respectful of Hermione’s nobility rank. She explained she was one of the Architects, her name was Erenar Ffim. The Architects saw Hermione’s skills in Graphomancy and felt they were very important for Namarie’s future. They wanted to make a deal and knew Hermione hungered for knowledge. Hermione, for clarity, mentioned her tutelage under Sabria Lilk, but it was no conflict of interest. The Architects wanted her to write a book about her time in The Hidden Isles/her Graphomancy knowledge. In trade, they were offering a more advanced book in return. The Architects were people in positions of power who wanted to bring Namarie into a peaceful future - there were just over 40 around the world meeting every few months. Hermione checked a lot of boxes for the Architects, especially being rebellious Vallean(ethnicity:ec05b26b-720d-4987-a3e7-c3273f0a8a0d) nobility. They could also offer some protection against @[The Woven Providence. Hermione was hesitant to say yes, as there weren’t as many benefits for her and she was reluctant to reveal nation secrets. Erenar Ffim accepted Hermione needed time to consider, and asked her servant to see Hermione out. Meanwhile, SIgholdt waited and cast detect magic, finding magic in the paintings and glasses for drinks - specifically Transmutation. Sigholdt took two glasses, also drinking some wine as he observed the art. As Hermione returned, the pair left. Hermione asked about Hero and Crumble, and if they had souls. Hero claimed to but Crumble was nonsensical. Sigholdt was unsure where the souls came from, as his dreams made them real via the planar forge. Sigholdt then tried to show off the reinforced glasses he’d stolen - they broke immediately. Hermione was very angry about his theft, but she filled him in about the letter and what she had been doing. She spoke about her research and learned Sigholdt had 20 purple crystals from the Venator quest. Sigholdt asked Hermione to try to unenchant something for him - The Ruler’s Slake at the tavern the party was staying in, as it had been enchanted and gatekept from the Kae. Hermione asked if it was better, being wine instead of dirt water, but Sigholdt refused to agree and added he just needed it unenchanted long enough for him and Malus to drink. Hermione claimed it would take a long time to do. After a brief argument, Sigholdt decided to storm into the tavern and drink without paying. As he arrived at the tavern, he grabbed Malus - with Esmerae watching - and stormed to the well. A goblin asked for payment but Sigholst cast ‘hold person’ and grabbed cups before making Malus drink with him. Sigholdt felt nothing, getting very mad, and going to the tavern owner who apologised. She stated the Higher Ups wanted it to be wine, but after some persuasion, she agreed to change it briefly, and the wine became water again. Sigholdt retried the water with Malus. It was gross, and both said they felt ‘something’. Sigholdt was just trying not to vomit, but Malus felt wide awake, even as everything around him grew dim and dark. He looked down and could see glowing ‘veins’ streaking away from the well. He could see locations around Kaechaek all linked up and realised he could see the Path of the Kae. The land had a life to it, it was a living being. Malus can now know where all Omamori Shrines are. Sigholdt pants the goblin and runs from the tavern. Meanwhile, Peregrine went to find the same cleric from before, confessing her missing memory. The cleric agreed to help, casting different spells before offering to try to unlock individual memories as a last resort. Peregrine agreed to it, and the cleric started to pray to the Diviner. Peregrine felt everything go very cold. Closing her eyes, she found herself in a black empty space. The sky was blank and empty. She was floating 30ft in the air, feeling natural and powerful. People below here were gesturing up and shouting in a crowd: “We see you there. You say you grace us but the messages you carry, they never reach it do they? You go up and you come down and every day it’s false stories, falsehood.” Peregrine felt like a performer in front of a hateful crowd, like her display was hated. Looking at her left hand, she built a small flame in her palm. As they yelled, despite her instincts of fear, Peregrine reached out her hand and allowed the people to burn. Her hand did not look like her own, yet she felt it was hers. As she watched the people burn, Peregrine heard a scream and snapped back to the present, in time to see the cleric in front of her burning alive.
- The Kaechaek Party listen to the dreams and memories of [Whispering Light and his dark deeds in the past...
Report Date
25 Aug 2024
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