Session 6 - Cornering the Alleviator
General Summary
The Plan
Overnight, Krud's ensuing panic attacks from drug consumption result in him being cosmically unaligned from the powers that fuel him, and he shapeshifts back into a regular turtle -- or, rather, a 150 pound alligator snapping turtle. Piers and Talitha return in the morning from their special assignment (freeing a trapped caravan from Hegemony soldiers). The whole group makes a loose plan to take up Alleviator Torrin on his offer, have a discussion, and potential attack if things go badly. And also maybe blow up the Risanna Estate. If need be. Gertie agrees to babysit "Krud the Turtle" while the group goes about their mission. The party travels to Denmali Heights, the rich residential district on the north side of Hatena, and finds the Risanna Estate.The Meeting
There are two guards in front of the estate. After Abbit asks to meet the "Envoy," per the letter of invitation, one guard goes inside to alert the occupants. Several minutes pass. The party is allowed inside. Angelo Risanna, the Governor of Hatena, is on the staircase in front of the entryway. He is a blonde human in his 40s. He looks incredibly stressed. There are two burly guards standing near the stairs. They are asked to wait by the large staircase near the entrance of the house while Angelo disappears into a back room. While waiting, a twenty year old human woman cracks open a side door and asks them to follow her inside. Most of the party does so -- entering a large formal dining room on the east side of the house. She introduces herself as Julia Risanna, the younger sister of Governor Angelo Risanna. She asks the group if they are there to kill her brother or the Alleviator. She stresses how she'll try to take heat of them if either event should come to pass. Angelo is apparently an ambitious man who is willing to bow down to the Hegemony if it means more power for himself, even if it comes at the expense of others. Julia is a domain loyalist, realizing that their city flourishes primarily because the domains and other independent traders. If Hatena were to become part of the Hegemony, no one would have reason to visit it. Julia says that if her brother is gone, she'll attempt to make amends with the other merchant houses, even if it means losing prestige for her family, and keep Hatena independent. Angelo Risanna invites them into the back of the house -- which is a large ballroom being prepared for the upcoming meeting. Banquet tables and seating are being prepped for final positioning. Alleviator Torrin is having tea in the back corner of the room and greets them with a smile. He snaps at Angelo and orders him around like a dog, forcing him to make a formal introduction and then stand between him and the party. The Alleviator is happy they are considering the offer. Abbit asks "what's in it for us?" if they switch sides. Alleviator Torrin says the party will avoid legal trouble from having worked for the Legends Alliance, and he will offer them 7000gp in exchange for Gertie -- who has numerous bounties on her head due to "criminal activity" over the last century or so. If they don't wish to capture Gertie themselves, he'll also accept entry into the Enclave so he can do it himself. He reveals that Gertie is a battlemage from the Chamber of Sages, and was part of Selena's army set to invade Olimandias about 100 years ago (and, if rumors are to be believed, also one of Selena's romantic partners). Piers and Talitha convince Hector to let them speak with Angelo in private. They originally ask to speak outside, but the Alleviator only consents to let him move to the other side of the room.Biscus and Meera's Spy Mission
As this conversation is happening, Biscus and Meera become paranoid that other enemies may be lurking upstairs, so they exclaim that they have to use the restroom. They are led upstairs by one of the burly bodyguards. Biscus goes into the restroom and casts Invisibility on himself. He makes a loud noise and asks Meera to "come help him." She is disturbed. She is even more disturbed when the door seemingly swings shut on its own. Biscus asks her to distract the guard while he sneaks around upstairs to check the rooms. So begins a ludicrous espionage mission where Meera goes back out into the hall and finds increasingly dramatic ways to distract the guard. Collapsing into him, feeling his biceps, asking about his job, etc. Biscus manages to be stealthy enough to open doors and peek inside. Nobody home. He finds a few bedrooms and a study; all empty. When his scouting run is complete, he pokes Meera in the butt and goes back into the bathroom. Drops Invisibility. The two both go back downstairs, and the guard follows. Meera informs the others that there's no one else in the house using Hylian telepathy, which startles everyone but Abbit because she's never communicated this way before.The Fight
Biscus and Meera return, and shortly thereafter, things get tense. Alleviator Torrin says that damaging the water supply is a "mild inconvenience" compared to outright invasion, and that he is actually a man of mercy. The team discerns that he wants to integrate and assimilate everyone against their will for the greater good -- he even says he'd be happy to have a Gerudo (Talitha) on his side in the hope of getting more of them to integrate. Things reach a peak of tension, and Hart flips the table. Alleviator Torrin slides back and draws weapons -- a silvered cane sword and a dagger that is now dripping with venom. Fight! The party largely corners Torrin, who counters with a blast of magic. His bodyguards run into the room and join the fray. Two guards from the front of the estate start to double back to aid, but it takes them time to reach the back of the estate. Piers spends a turn convincing Angelo Risanna to leave town completely, as the public will turn against him once word gets out. Critical success. Angelo flees the room and runs out the back door, fearing for his life. Meera attempts to convince the bodyguard she distracted to leave as well, and while he falters, he chooses to stay in the fight. Alleviator Torrin poisons Hart with his dagger, but remains encircled and takes multiple rounds of concentrated damage. The bodyguards attack from the side and unleash a flurry of melee blows into Talitha, Hart, and eventually Abbit. Piers heals Hart and then uses "Command" on Alleviator Torrin, ordering him to approach. This unleashes multiple attacks of opportunity that nearly kill Torrin. Abbit manages to knock out the Alleviator using a non-lethal attack, smacking him with the pommel of his scimitar and leaving him unconscious and stable on the floor. One of the guards from the front of the estate runs into the room -- Meera headshots him and kills him in one strike with her new Jolt Crossbow. The second guard sees this and flees. Talitha, Hart, and Abbit take considerable damage from the bodyguards, but both guards are eventually overwhelmed by the group and killed.Aftermath
Hart is furious due to his near brush with death and gathers the bodies outside. He wants Alleviator Torrin's body as well, but the group objects, saying he should go back to Gertie. Hart and Meera get in each other's faces and try to out-intimidate each other -- Meera wins the challenge. Hart leaves Torrin. He dumps the black powder barrel onto the bodies outside and leaves a trail around the estate. Though he does put black powder in Torrin's mouth as a final insult. Meera loots the bodies and recovers the following from Torrin: A dagger of venom, a hat of disguise, a silvered cane sword (functionally a rapier), and a mysterious blue stone with a mouth carved into it. The rest of the group checks on Julia and give her a situation report. The guard who fled is in there with her. She thanks them for their efforts, and she recommends leaving the area quickly. She'll cover for them. Hart takes a barrel of grain and dumps it out. He stuffs Alleviator Torrin inside it for transport. Per new tradition. He also drops a match and ignites the black powder, sending a pyrotechnics display around the side of the house, ultimately igniting the bodies of the guards he left behind the estate. Meera takes them down some back alleys to return to the Alliance enclave, trying to avoid detection.Violence on the Docks
As they return to the port district, they hear cannons going off in the distance. The armored ships that originally blockaded Hatena are now faced with a new squadron of vessels with blue sails -- combat ships from the Forsaken Fortress, which includes the ship that left Hatena on the group's first day in town. The Fortress vessels and the Hegemony ships exchange violent fire back and forth. The group also hears magical explosions near the enclave. They find Reclaimer, a few other locals, and a young Hylian woman doing battle with Hegemony troops. The also see a flying snapping turtle trying to swim through the air -- a rope is tied around him to keep him from floating off. The rope's other end is tied around the waist of the Hylian woman in combat. She is wearing Gertie's clothes. Wait.... she's Gertie? But young? Huh. Reclaimer is wearing heavy armor and finishes off a Hegemony knight. Gertie sends a fire bolt into the back of another soldier's head as he attempts to flee. Young Gertie leads them back into the enclave once the threat is gone. She says that her magic isn't overly stable in her old age. Krud flying was an unintended side effect of a spell she used. Likewise, her appearing roughly 25 again is also a temporary side effect of a wild magic surge. Abbit will be taking his turtle back now, you horrible babysitter! Abbit subsequently carries Krud around like a balloon. Biscus tries to flirt and Gertie shuts down his advances and all others preemptively. Gertie confirms that she was indeed a battlemage with the Chamber of Sages and part of Selena's army. And that they used to be an item. She's fought the Hegemony for decades, sometimes killing their officials. She recommends that they don't try to cash in on her bounty. She still has some Fireballs left in the tank. Gertie is able to identify the stone they got from Alleviator Torrin's body: A Sending Stone. It can send a telepathic message across infinite distance, but only to the person who has a paired stone. Probably Torrin's handler or boss. The group is very curious, but decides not to use it. The group takes a short rest and Gertie pays them for the Alleviator: 5000gp. Gertie has some other assignments of lower priority.- Shana Icecrest, the leader of another Hatena merchant house, needs someone to escort her granddaughter to Sornaiid to the east.
- She has vital documents that need to go to the Glenien enclave in the nation of Roslen, to the west.
- There are some assignments around town that can always be done.
- Or hell, you all can join the Fortress as sailors or work for the Labyrinth to fight devils, or do whatever you all want.
Private Meetings
Meera asks Piers to reveal what he knows about her condition, and so Piers tells Gertie that Meera is Officially Undead(tm) according to his powers. Meera reveals to Gertie that she has been having visions of past lives -- or past events. She's not overly sure. She mentions that she's seen Selena in some of these visions, as confirmed by Kassan, and Gertie also seems to agree after hearing that one of those visions was being stabbed by a spear. She also mentions heads exploding as a result of some spell, and that Chikara was capable of doing this. Gertie confirms that the spell "Psychic Scream" was one of Chikara's signature moves in battle. Meera then reveals that when she saw the spell happening, it originated from her. Gertie sincerely hopes that Meera hasn't been saddled with any of Chikara's memories, and seems to have an unpleasant opinion about the old Queen of the Labyrinth. Gertie has no idea what could be causing this. She says that most elves reincarnate and can reclaim some of their lost memories, but it doesn't work like this at all. This is something totally different. Maybe heading to a big city will help -- where they could potentially find specialist mages. Meera and Piers then catch up at the bar.Winding Down
Everyone goes drinking at Wavebreaker, which is mostly empty because of the loud naval battle happening in the bay. Krud floats around the bar, still held onto by Abbbit. They do musical and entertainment performances, per their tradition. The group does competitive backflips with mixed success. It seems like the group is largely in favor of staying together! Hurray! The group discusses what they'd like to do next. Piers wouldn't mind seeing the Lost Woods again if they head for Sornaiid. Biscus makes the case for Glenien so he can track down his old friend-turned-rival: Delenos Montgomery! They also seem on board with heading to Glenien, but will stick around town for a little while longer for some shopping and final errands.Rewards Granted
- 5000gp (split 7 ways)
- Dagger of Venom
- Hat of Disguise
- Silvered Cane-sword
- Sending Stone of mysterious origin
Missions/Quests Completed
- Found and eliminated Alleviator Torrin!
Report Date
28 Dec 2020
Primary Location
Comments