Session 28: Star Curtain Gaming, A Place to Sleep and Tympi's Return!
General Summary
Star Curtain Gaming
The session began with the lot of you hanging out in a tattoo parlor and enjoying some chili. DAN and Kaswink had returned from their missions out in the city, and those that wanted to see visions of their home had done so. You crossed took a few steps away from the door towards a mysterious building with a statue of a firebreathing dragon above its door. A couple of eadarling dressed in some casual clothing with a matching patch of a black rose with neon green thorns walked in ahead of you and Kaswink followed them inside. The rest of the group was quick to follow, and soon you were all inside a friendly looking establishment with some rather unpleasant, stagnant air. The smells of sweat and soy sauce greeted your noses, a flickering fluorescent light, the Eadarling that walked in in front of you were seated at a nearby table playing a card game, and another Eadarling was seated behind a counter reading a book. Card games, board games, graphic novels, comic books, nerd paraphernalia all decorated the room and you as player's would recognize this as a hobby shop or local game store of some kind.The shopkeep eventually stood up to introduce herself and welcome you to Star Curtain Gaming. Her attitude was fairly...uncaring at first, but it slowly evolved into something more excited the longer you all interacted with her and her annoying regulars. Frode hoped to find something for his kids to enjoy, and while the shopkeep was trying to help him with this the unfortunate criticism of one of the regulars continued to interrupt her as he insisted that something called "GAME" is the only game to play. As Frode searched for the perfect and simplistic game for his children, the rest of you browsed and found some items of note. Particularly, a box of cards which turned out to be an authentic Deck of Illusions in a collector's box with lots of cool monster illustrations on the cover. Namina's eyes were drawn to the chess sets. There was a regular one, a special Dorcha vs Aotrom version where all the pieces are frogs, and a "The Gates Special Edition Chess Set" which had 10 different Chess sets inside representing the 10 "Gates" of this realm. She ended up purchasing this though it was one of the more expensive items available. Some Graphic Novels were also spotted that spiked interest. Harsh Days Vol. 1-3 detailed the supposed events of Croak's history according to this author, and The Endless Night was about a period of time where the sun stopped rising and it was only night. Along with the chess set, some decisions were made about what other games might be enjoyable on long trips. You all ended up deciding on Avant Garde, and the shopkeep, due to the large amount of items being purchased, through in a free copy of Pranks!
Frode ended up purchasing a simple bag of marbles for his kids, and the lot of you were about to depart when an unusual shirt was spotted hanging on the wall. The shirt was made of Horse Hair, and Frode recognized it as a holy relic of Ilmater: The Hair Shirt of Suffering. In exchange for getting the regular to stop preaching the gospel of "GAME", she agreed to give it to Namina whom then gave it to Frode. Kaswink also gathered some information about the Prison Cell Bar she had been carrying around, though she was mostly just told to go find Dorcha. To purchase all these items, you all traded some stories and carved up some bones into dice and figurines. Namina painted the shopkeepers aura as well. Frode also traded a spear that he had been carrying with him. Information was also learned from this shopkeep about stables outside of town that host all manner of amphibious mount. Apparently adventurers use them to go into the swamp and explore. There are also those that apparently get a weird kick out of almost dying, thrill seekers of some sort.
A Place to Sleep
After leaving the hobby shop there was another issue, DAN had wandered off into the big city alone. Though, conveniently enough, they were almost immediately found while the rest of you were looking for Dorcha. You also found Her relatively quickly, Her tall frame and star-filled garb visible from a couple blocks away. From each of your perspectives she was a little over twice as tall as you, though her posture and attitude was gentle, cool and calm as well, almost like an older sister. She answered your questions, what little questions there were, and provided some insight into Kaswink's unusual item. She looked it over in a similar way to the shopkeep, and she explained that, yes, it is very durable. Though, beyond that, it seemed to be incredibly good at keeping things "in" as a prison cell would. It seems to be capable of sapping the strength of whatever tries to damage it, meeting its attack with an equal amount of defense (or more). This ability seems to be not only sapping what strength a creature damaging it has, but it also affects the environment to some degree. Not too long after this, a lack of questions led Dorcha to turning and walking away without much of a farewell.After your encounter with Dorcha, plans were made to find a place to sleep and a private place to open Logren's Gift. While you were discussing amongst yourselves you were interrupted by the drunken announcement of an Eadarling asking if you needed a place to rest. He seemed quite intoxicated, though advertised a placed called "Arlech's Casino" to be the best place to gamble and sleep in the city. You were all a bit skeptical, thinking it might be better to just sleep in a smaller inn somewhere, but the drunkard was pushy enough convince you. Plus he mentioned that the suites have massive bathtubs which was beneficial for Namina. Finding the Casino was easy enough as it is the largest building in town and the brightest. Not to mention the sign plainly labeling it as a CASINO.
Inside you saw slots, poker tables, craps tables, roulette tables, all sorts of games being played by a large variety of different Eadarling. A couple mothlings were hanging out as well, and a front desk seemed like the place to go to rent a room. The front desk attendant, Ghe, was dressed in the usual casino uniform of black pants, white shirt, red vest and seemed to be fiddling with something under his desk when you arrived. His expression was nervous, filled with anxiety and constantly kept his eyes closed as you bartered for a room. Kaswink offered the head of the Vine Beasts she had butchered earlier, the clerk was impressed and accepted this offer. He seemed to have a long list of things that this mysterious "Arlech" would like to have. A drawing of Logren along with a poem was provided as well. Hysteria traded a story of the "wall" that protects the swamp and when they revealed their bloody hands, Ghe fainted. Most of the stuff bartered was left on his person, but you did take the room keys he was about to hand over from his unconscious body.
A nearby elevator, an oddity for those of you that haven't been to Esther, brought you up to the top floor. This elevator opened to a small foyer with a nearby door leading to the suite, seems its the only room on this floor, impressive. The room itself had several beds, a fancy bathroom with a big tub, lots of opulent furniture and decor. Now in the privacy of this room, it was time to open the gift from Logren. As the twine was released, a very faint glow caused the butcher paper the gift was wrapped in to appear slightly purple though didn't provide much light. A small voice was heard "Oh, Finally-" though it was cut off by the shouting of someone outside. Two rough voices demanding that the trespasser leave immediately and a familiar voice saying that they knew you. The gift was put on hold temporarily as the door was opened. At the end of the foyer were two burly guards and the Page of Swords. There was little debate before this previously lost ally was let in and the guards were dismissed. The Page explained that after you went into The Old Woman's Cottage things got weird, and they found themselves elsewhere in the forest with no choice but to continue searching for clues. They had "news" that Ilven had apparently experienced the same fate as Tympi, and they wanted to go investigate that area. You explained that you were there for that and can't exactly return to that camp right now.
Namina tried to open the gift again, and as the paper was removed you were able to see that the gift itself seemed to be a mostly empty jar. The glass was tinted a dark gery though still very much see through, and a very dim purple light was also seen sparkling inside. More discussions were had about this, and as it was about to be opened another interruption was heard in the hallway. This time the guards were mostly confused by the presence of whatever was out there, and an elderly voice with an accent not too unlike Hysteria's own was heard. The foyer was once again inspected, this time to reveal Blüdswurth.
Tympi's Return!
Blüdswurth, an old woman dressed in a cacophony of colors and styles, entered the room and began her insane ramblings. It took a great deal of persuasion to get her to try to explain who she is as she literally climbed all over Kaswink and kept insisting that it "is difficult to explain". This woman seemed to know everything and nothing. She offered to explain what she sees in each of you, the way you are different, but she needed to touch your faces. Frode was very much against this, as was DAN, but Hysteria and Kaswink allowed the unusual woman to do her magic stuff. When she examined Kaswink she asked unusual questions like "Can you breathe?" and when Kaswink confirmed that she could, this woman seemed confused saying that "Well, sometimes you can't? And sometimes your lungs are really big! It's weird When she examined Hysteria she apparently didn't see anything in their past, just "Wood". You were all confused and skeptical of this person, and Frode continuously brought up that she should not be trusted as she is likely a Fae trick.Meanwhile, Namina snuck into the bathroom. Her distrust of this person stemming from the madness coming from her mouth and the fact that her aura was constantly changing. As she sneaked into the bathroom to investigate this jar some more she saw Blüdswurth's aura detach from her body to wave at her. Creepy! She was finally able to inspect this jar in peace. She started to hear words coming from it, though they were distorted, far away and constantly cutting out. “Please-my-you-hear-outta-lon-been-listen-me.” As she looked over the jar it continued looping, some more words would sometimes make their way into the looped phrase including things like "been so long" and "gotta let me out" and other creepy portions of some larger phrase. As she started opening the jar it became more clear what was being said. “Please, yes, oh my god, I can tell you can hear me! You gotta let me outta here. It’s been so long since anyone but her has been able to listen to me.” And then the jar was opened, and Namina saw a small purple comet moth at the bottom of a jar. A blinding flash of light later and she was face to face with Tympi, the one you all had been searching for, but she seemed to be exhausted, disoriented, and supposedly going blind.
Outside the bathroom, discussions over Blüdswurth were still continuing, but the bathroom door opened and out walked Namina and Tympi. Tympi was still visibly in pain, though the room had gone mostly silent as she found a place to sit on someone's bed. Frode seemed skeptical of her, with all the Fae trickery going on and the suspicions brought up by Hysteria it was reasonable to have some doubt, especially since the person you had been searching for just suddenly showed up. The Page was unusually silent, and Tympi continued to complain that she couldn't see very well. it was brought up that it is nighttime, and they're in the city, maybe that's why? But she claimed she could normally see just fine. She asked for her Lantern which Namina quickly produced, and as she was about to utilize it she looked over at Frode. She asked if there was anything she could do to earn his trust, even in her exhausted state she still was focussed on the concerns of others. She offered to do what she could, and Frode had several complaints including "Being in the city of sin and lights" and "Being near Blüdswurth". The session ended with Tympi grabbing her lantern and blinding the entire room.
In-Game Date:
Nurend 18, 308
Acquired Games
Pranks!
The Gates Special Edition Chess Set
Avant Garde Acquired Books
Harsh Days Vol. 1-3
The Endless Night Acquired Items
Hairshirt of Suffering
Nurend 18, 308
Report Date
09 May 2022
Primary Location
Related Plots
Related Characters
Pranks!
The Gates Special Edition Chess Set
Avant Garde Acquired Books
Harsh Days Vol. 1-3
The Endless Night Acquired Items
Hairshirt of Suffering
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