Session #9: A Sigil State of Mind...

General Summary

Okay, I’m writing this in my journal first thing, so we don’t forget - we HAVE to test whether Søren’s eyes can move independently of one another! Wouldn’t that be so cool? Then, he could be the ultimate perceptive person at watch time (or at the very least have a fun party trick). Now that I’ve logged that, back to our trek. We were returning back to the portal in the Ironside Mountains when we came across the dead bodies of both the Mercy Killers and Gith’yanki we’d come across a few days ago...It seems Søren’s tipping off of their location did not have positive results. I found a trail of blood leading away from the gory scene, and we decided to track the person who had fled. It ended up being a Mercy Killer, who the Mordninsamman in our group quickly interrogated after we dispatched a pair of Chimeras. Fun fact: Chimeras come in different forms and can blast people with not just fire, but also water. Wonder if there are any other varieties? The one common thread between them is they’re all pretty nasty - one of them tried to flame broil the baby Owlbears! We took the Mercy Killer with us, but that was almost to our detriment. Once we teleported to Sigil, Yalkulash met us on the other side of the portal with a retinue of giant bodyguards, demanding payment for the refugees we brought with us. Thankfully, we were able to convince him that some of the faction members could repay their debt, but Søren still had to fork over the funds he received from the Mercy Killers. At least the money went to good use… I wonder if the baby red dragon is okay in the mountains? We let Taz know it was still out there, and we deduced it must have found refuge in a nearby wyvern nest. I know Søren and Clarity aren’t big fans of the being, and maybe they are right about its nature. However, I can’t help but feel that leaving it to fend for itself in the mountains is the exact way to make someone not trust the world, and maybe someday turn against it. We didn’t even leave the Mercy Killer to that fate. Maybe Taz can be the baby dragon’s friend? One can hope… Once their passage had been secured, our Cavern friends quickly dispersed throughout Sigil, off to find new adventures. That only left the question of what to do with our pseudo-prisoner, Sanbalet.
We all agreed to destroy his spell book, as it was likely corrupted by the Duke. When I asked if he had anywhere to go, he revealed that he was a member of The Rift Walkers, which is a group that unites residents of the two Material Planes, as well as other planes throughout the Inner Planes. He claimed they had a strong understanding of The Bloom and were interested in protecting it. He offered us the chance to join its cause, if we so desired, especially considering mine and Doc’s origins.
I can’t say the offer wasn’t tempting. He assured us that the organization’s leaders, Erin Fyzandi from Cerilia and Thiernax from Toril, were very reasonable (and not as questionable as himself). Ultimately, I came to the decision that I need to follow my gut that the Outer Planes has certain answers my people need, but I do hope I hear news of at least some of the Ethereal Echos joining this organization. The Rift Walkers sounds exactly like what the Forum and my Haruni hoped the Alliance would be for the Verdan. Sambalet made his way to hide out at the Green Gauge within the Clerk’s Ward, while we ventured toward Echo’s establishment, the Hands of Time. Søren handed over the Telstang we found in exchange for Echo’s agreement to take contracts from the Assembly. We also traded some Cold Iron for 500G, which is a pretty penny for something that makes Doc so sick (would be kind of funny to see what it did to the Prince of Song though).
We also had him look at our Ignium and give some recommendations regarding our other items and needs. He recommend we visit Aalek’s Oddities to ask about our weird stones and what to do with the Ignium. The New Market Satyrs may have an idea of how to replicate my lute (though it would require magical wood). We then checked in with Riggs, who told us he’d need 3-5 pounds of Harmonic Copper for an auto-loading crossbow. He was able to craft a lute string for me though! I still need to go pick that up.
We made our way to the Lady’s Ward and came across a place called “My Forge.” The owner is a super cool minotaur named Tavrat Chol who’s also a member of the Doomguard, which makes total sense if you think about it. He gave us some more recommendations regarding materials, and also said he would sell us Orichalcum for 250G per pound. Apparently, if Søren can get his hands on some Obsidian from Nyx, it would help his grappling - super rad!
I gotta come up with some designs for a custom battle instrument - I’ll also need to find 25 pounds of the material I want to use. Our next stop was Tivuum’s Antiquities, as Clarity had some portal keys to deliver. Tivuum was especially intrigued by the two scythes we found, requesting those as payment along with the one we borrowed to the Ironside Mountains. We ended up keeping the Warforged head key, which activates a gate in Automata to Mechanus, as well as the Tiefling head key. Clarity identified it as going to the Endless Maze, which is the lowest layer of the Abyss, while Tivuum identified it as going to the gate in Plague Mort which takes entrants to the first layer of the Abyss. The Temple of the Abyss in the Lady’s Ward may have more answers for us on why that is.
I asked Tivuum before we left whether it’s possible to turn raw materials into portal keys, which he said he had the ability to do. With confirmation that making other portal keys was possible, most of us agreed that we never wished to return to Tivuum’s establishment: he was such a cony catcher.
Imel was so excited (and I think slightly shocked) to see us return, and with his special cheese delivery! He was very happy with the amount we were able to procure and even let us sample a bit - BOY, that’s going to be the star dish of the cheese festival, for sure!!! Imel was gracious enough to answer some questions for us as we started to consider what to do with our rose. As we conversed, one thing became clear: we needed to choose the Faction (or organization) that most aligned with our beliefs and values. Attempting to shoehorn our way into a philosophy wasn’t going to cut it, even if we did have a pretty fancy gift to convince them of our entry.
It’s looking like our party will be a bit split when it comes to Factions, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just means we might have to get creative in how we join these groups, with some of us starting from ground zero and doing it the old fashioned way. At least Imel has confirmed he will assist any of us that wish to join the Cyphers.

Report Date

03 Feb 2022