Session 39.5: Sharn - Lucy Etiam in Aeri, Cum Crystallini: Home for lost children
Emir and Cissa teleport into a dingy apartment about 30 stories up in the area called “Foundation”, Cissa uses it as a personal terminal of sorts whenever she wants to enter or leave Sharn without being noticed.
Once they exit the apartment and arrive on Foundation’s platform, they are immediately swarmed with fans. After a short “Meet and Greet”, the two politely take their leave and head to the Dragon’s Eyes.
The darkness of Black Arches gives way as they move into the strange light of the Dragoneyes. Little natural light makes it way this far down giving a look of twilight in many places. This visual is largely broken by everbright lanterns and neon shop signs.
The path they are on has a few nice shops, bars, eateries, and the oddly reputable looking window worker...not quite what Emir led Cissa to believe. He motions his head towards an alley where this veneer doesn't extend. It is clear the further you stray from the main areas the vibe quickly changes. Where you'd see a nice changeling window worker on the main path along the alley it would be...far sketchier to put it mildly.
Emir draws Cissa’s attention to the absence of the City Watch, and implies they do "patrol" but only out of uniform...and in the bars and brothels. He then carefully identifies a few individuals at the fringes who maintain order for the Dragoneyes, the 'representees' of the business owners (basically crime/business runs protection for visitors to ensure travelers, tourists, and those who wish for some fantasy feel safe spending coin).
He then takes Cissa to a large open circle featuring a wide canopied tree in the middle. Along the outside there is Chance's Casino, The Velvet Room (Reputable Brothel, and more), what appears to be a two sided cafe + bar... The Mockingbird and After Dark. Lights are strung across the open area to bring some light. Somewhere there is some light music playing.
Through one of the high windows of the Velvet a few changelings dance continually shifting their appearances to show their inate talents. Emir comments about what appears to be an empty window, but actually the worker has shifted to match wallpaper behind them, pointing out their shadow.
Emir eventually takes Cissa through a tower as a shortcut, pointing out places 'they' knew from their youth. A building that is/was a school, area lined with street food stalls, and a small music shop (now closed). He carefully moves his way through the tower looking for something and find its, putting his finger over his lips and has Cissa peak around the corner.
They are in a residential area and there is what appears to be a somewhat squalid playpark but there are some children playing games together. It is some strange version of pictionary. One child shifts themselves to whatever they wish, another describes it, and one behind the person describing is trying to match it. Another group are playing pretend with comic book characters shifting to their favorite hero or villain. A couple what appear to be teens are vaguely watching the kids play but one suddenly shifts into an adult and shouts at one of the children for being too rough before shifting back. Emir chuckles commenting that sometimes personas are shared, but this was just for effect.
Cissa, although knowing her way through the main area, is enamored by Emir’s explanations, his expressions and excitement.
Backtracking a little Emir points out a shrine to The Traveler before cutting back to the main path and heading north, the area quickly becoming more rundown as they make their way toward High Wall.
The two cross a long crumbling stone bridge that connect the two areas and past the towering guard posts that frame the enormous, thick walls. The guards watch them as they pass. Cissa and Emir are met with an increasing stench of rotting food, unwashed bodies and fluids. It doesn't seem to bother Cissa much as she confidently moves into the dark dank area that is High Walls.
As with the Dragoneyes, light does not reach here. When one looks up, you can barely make the sky out at all due to a dank smog that seems to hang in the air. But unlike the Dragoneyes, other sources of light are scarce too. tiny shards of everbright crystals can be seen illuminating the stalls of the run down marketplace. Occasional fires in metal containers seem to be used too. Haggard, tired, angry people eye Cissa and Emir suspiciously as they pass. Observing their "fine" clothes, Emir's beauty and Cissa's radiance. Cissa chuckles and muses to Emir that she used to be able to hide in plain sight here when she wore a hood. She doesn't seem very worried though.
Cissa leads them along the wall. There are actual residences built within it. Tiny rundown apartments stacked on top of each other going up as far as the eye can see into the fog. Makeshift ladders and ropes are used to assist people to move up and down.
Nestled between about five apartments is a tiny arched doorway framing an small wooden door. On the inside of the archway is a grimy plaque that reads "Lucy Etiam in Aeri, Cum Crystallini: Home for lost children". Cissa smiles excitedly. She touches the handle, which glows a little as she opens the door.
It opens onto a small, uninviting foyer. The stone floor is cracked. There is debris everywhere blocking the way onwards. The stairs up are broken and rodents scurry about. The room is colder inside than outside. Cissa tugs at Emir's hand and pulls him along... through the illusion... and into a large inviting, brightly lit hallway.
Cissa calls out "I'm back!"
A tall red skinned telling with gazelle antlers emerges from one of the door. Dressed in brown pants and a light linen shirt, a couple of necklace of beads and feathers dangle from their neck and a few piercings in their ear. They are about a head taller than Emir with masculine features but a soft eliminate voice when they speak.
After a brief greeting with CIssa, the tiefling introduces themself as “Shy” to Emir and gestures for the two to come meet the children.
Shy leads them down the hallway. The walls are painted in murals of a vibrant forest. It also becomes clear that the hallway is a lot longer than it should be (factoring in the thickness of the Wall and the apartments around the orphanage)
Shy opens a door into a very large courtyard. There is a large garden, a playground a small sports field. Busy with various activities are scores of children of different ages and species.
When they see Cissa, she is tackled. After some happy greetings and introductions to Emir, Shy has Cissa join them to meet a new “door stepper”. In the meantime, the kids tell Emir about their lives in the orphanage and has him discuss music, lore as well as responsibility of sharing the truth, transparency and how one needs to change one self to be able to change the world (a discussion he holds with a young goblin named Doovol). Emir also shares the story about what happened in Windshire (a very PG version).
Cissa and Shy eventually return with a baby half orc. Cissa ask if Emir wants to name the name family member. He names it Caelum Kip (as a reference to Eggs). The baby is then handed to the kids for them to get to know him. In that time, Cissa takes Emir around the orphanage for a tour.
The building is most certainly enchanted as there are rooms and spaces where there shouldn't be. The spacious bedrooms. The large classroom. Multiple play areas. Music room. Art department. Science lab. A stocked up nursery with 5 very small toddlers and babies being watched by a kindly looking human man. Cissa takes a moment to hold each baby. Linking many areas are additional secret passage ways, climb or crawling spaces. And any older children they bump into come in for a hug.
After the tour, Cissa wants to leave. Emir finds this very abrupt seeing as the kids are very happy to see her. She explains that staying too long or visiting too frequently can have the kids perceive her as “more than a visitor”. Seeing they are already struggling with separation from adults, she does not want to add to that.
Emir asks about where the kids come from. Cissa explains that they are either dropped at the doorstep, found or come from unstable homes. For children left on the doorstep or found, the orphanage still try to locate the parents. Lost children are sometimes collected but doorsteppers rarely were.
The two go back to the kids and bids them and Shy goodbye. They then teleport back to Cissa’s apartment in Foundation.
