Arrival at Ramulai--Hazlan

General Summary

Rose knew that the drill for "something weird is happening" was to ask Vanya, so she just looked at him and waited for him to explain the purple sky. Vanya explained that Hazlan was a horrible magocracy that was constantly trying to push the boundaries of magic, so this probably had something to do with that. You saw peasants mining for various unnatural, oddly colored or glowing substances--Vanya recognized alchemist's fire, which definitely isn't supposed to come from mines--and Rose's spellcraft check suggested that the very substance of the earth had somehow been changed through transmutation magic. You found some strangely mutated trees with eyes at their bases and hideously colored mud at their roots, and when Rose used her scepter to cast speak with plants, all they could say was "hurts" and "burns." She asked if they wanted to die, and they didn't seem capable of understanding the question, so she put them out of their misery since all they seemed to be able to do was feel pain.
At that moment, Vanya heard an odd whispering sound coming from Rose's backpack. You dug around in it and found the scroll of mage hand that Thornroot had given her (reminder here: Curing Thornroot--Barovia ), whispering "kill you all, kill you all, kill you all..." You could understand the sentiment, but you couldn't exactly have it whispering that the entire time you were there, so you wrapped it up in blankets to muffle it.
You arrived in Ramulai and tried to sell back your mountaineering gear. You sold back most of it, but when the merchant touched the heatstones, she recoiled and said she wasn't allowed to handle them, babbling about how good and just that law was while glancing at a corner of the ceiling. You followed her gaze and saw a stylized golden eye painted there.
You got a room at the inn and discussed ways to have private conversations, settling on writing for the time being. You searched the city's various bookshops for a copy of the Tome of Bindings and were smugly informed that there aren't many conjurers in Ramulai; the substances mined there are more conducive to transmutation. The bookseller who told you this pointed you toward her sister, @kour, who had business with a conjurer in Sly-Var.
You went to see Kourdara, and she confirmed that she had just crafted an item for a conjurer named Iskander and needed someone to deliver it for her. She tried to smack you down with a lesser geas and was quite impressed when it didn't even come close to working because you're too high level to even need a saving throw for that nonsense anymore; it also worried her, though, because now she couldn't compel you not to steal the item. You checked the wooden box that held the item and saw that it was a brain inside a crystal orb, and when Vanya looked resigned rather than covetous, she relaxed. She offered you your pick of first-level scrolls and potions in exchange for making the delivery.
As you left, the wooden box began to whisper: "kill you all, kill you all, kill you all..."

Rewards Granted

You each get a first-level scroll or potion of your choice Brain in an orb in an evil box!

Character(s) interacted with

Kourdara

Related Reports

Previous session: Putting Jezra to rest--Barovia Next session: The Stone Forest--Hazlan

Report Date

25 Sep 2022

Primary Location

Hazlan