14 - 10/18/21 : Open Secrets

In-game date: 8th of Freyrmond, 3521

“I do not enjoy bringing harm to your city, truly. I simply accept it as a necessary part of doing what I must. I have dreams I must fulfill, and promises I must keep.” - Veszaltyrr Oussndar

The party collectively slept in on the 8th of Freymond, given the intense late morning they had. However, Yilani was visited in her dream by none other than Veszaltyrr Oussndar, just as Lacky had been. In this dream, she found herself in a strange room that resembled the interior of a large pocket watch. In the distant starry skies beyond the room, Yilani could see the form of a massive cog floating freely through the cosmos.
Veszaltyrr spoke to Yilani about philosophical subjects, such as what she would do to change the world, what she would do if her efforts made the lives of others worse, her abandonment of Aapep, and what she wished to happen to her old family in the desert.
Yilani tried to ask Veszaltyrr about his goals and motives. He was quite reticent, but expressed his firm belief that he and Yilani, as well as her companions, would end up as enemies. He also explained that he was contacting them simply to get to know them, believing that even if they were destined to oppose each other, there was no reason that their relationship needed to be contentious.
Veszaltyrr closed their conversation by asking Yilani a favor; he wished to speak to Reilly, whose intellect and mechanically affinity intrigued him. However, she wore a Masquerade pin that masked her mind from outside magical influence, including the dream spell. Veszaltyrr swore to Yilani that he would bring no harm to Reilly during their discussion, and Yilani agreed to at least bring the request to her. The dream ended soon after.
As the early afternoon arrived, Yilani awoke early and made her way to the ground floor to surprise the party with breakfast. Luckily, their prospective head chef, Bepis Flavorburgh was just arriving to train with Lif on opening day. Bepis was accompanied by Piece of the Puzzle, who was studying the halfling chef in order to write his next book, “Puzzle’s Guide to Diners, Dungeons, and Dives”. Yilani asked Bepis to whip up a nice breakfast, and Bepis agreed to make for the party his famous ‘Grand Slam’ breakfast.
The rest of the Red Spirits made their way downstairs one by one and gladly took part in the food before them. Yilani apologized again for her actions; the general sentiment returned to her was that she had realized her mistake and had begun to make amends, and that was enough for the time being.
The party discussed the coming day and their plans. Yilani first delivered the news of her dream visit from Veszaltyrr, which compounded the worries they shared after Lacky’s dream. They expressed their surprise at Veszaltyrr’s calm and courteous demeanor in spite of the many deeds of villainy attributed to him in legend. Yilani also gave Reilly Veszaltyrr’s request to speak to him in a dream of her own by removing her Masquerade pin before sleeping; after thinking it over, Reilly agreed to do so after acquiring some assistance.
They then moved on to the next pertinent issue; what to do with their two captives, Bonziel Ramrider of the Xanathar Guild and Relanu Alshella of the Yuan-ti infiltrators. Bonziel and Raeziel descended the stairs to weigh in on the discussion. Raeziel was still torn on the issue, and Bonziel tried to make a case for returning her to the Xanathar unharmed; she promised to try and smooth over the party’s image with the Xanathar itself, hopefully resulting in them being able to see to their business without Xanathar guild interference.
The party was more interested in the potential rebellion against the Xanathar, however, and decided to have Renaer escort Bonziel to the Masquerade discreetly. Without revealing their ties to the Masquerade, they hoped that Bonziel could be provided with aid for the Ramrider Rebellion. Raeziel seemed pleased with the course taken, as long as her sister was not put in chains.
Relanu, however, posed a greater threat. The party knew they had little ability to prove a yuan-ti plot without implicating Yilani as well, thus making delivering him to the authorities a difficult prospect. None among the party were comfortable with killing the man himself, however, and Raeziel proposed a solution; giving him to Ziraj, a trained assassin, who would be able to ‘dispose’ of the infiltrator discreetly and far away from Troll Skull Manor. The party reluctantly agreed to this course of action, trusting Ziraj to see to the grim task.
The Rat Catchers descended the stairs next, eagerly asking if the fish they acquired was to Yilani’s satisfaction. Yilani motioned to a very well-fed Violet as evidence that they were successful. They gave the party a greatly truncated recounting of their shark-centric adventure, which was initially not believed. However, Raeziel and Bonziel confirmed that there did indeed live a gigantic shark outside of Ramrider’s Retreat. Simply glad for the Rat Catcher’s survival, the party asked them to take a ‘long rest’ and refrain from going to the Undermountain again.
Finally, the party decided to first see to their business with Rishaal the Page-Turner of the Book Wyrm’s Treasure, hoping that he could assist them with translating the strange language on Skeemo’s letter. They were warmly welcomed by Rishaal, as well as his adopted daughter Panic, who was visiting him this time without her daughter Valor in tow. They were also surprised to see that Rishaal had a nimblewright guarding the store; it was apparently given to him as a gift by the folks of the Sea Maiden’s Faire as thanks for treating them well as patrons.
Rishaal was, after some comparison and study, able to determine the strange writing on Skeemo Weirdbottle’s letter was a form of Deep Speech; specifically, it was Abolethic, the rarely-used language of the aboleths. The word was ‘Golorr’, thus revealing the letter’s subject being something called the ‘Stone of Golorr’. Rishaal believed it to be a name, and suggested the party meet with one who studied the aboleths as a hobby; in particular, Lord Victoro Cassalanter, who the party previously met at Lady Haventree’s gala. They would need to secure some sort of invitation or referral in order to enter their estate, however.
After this, Yilani described the location in her dream to Panic, seeing as the stars and the strange floating cog were visible. Panic explained that the stars on different planes looked different than those on the Prime Material, and she was only expertly acquainted with the latter. However, she did know a bit about the cog, and explained the lore behind what was called Cygnus, the Rogue Cog of Mechanus. It was said that over a hundred years ago by prime standards, one of the infallible and eternally spinning city-sized cogs of Mechanus suddenly stopped moving. This threw the realm of Mechanus into an unheard of state of disarray, causing Primus himself to eject the cog from Mechanus. The cog continued to float on into the present day, where it travels throughout the planes at the rate of one plane roughly every fifteen years.
The party was unsure about what these two bits of information had to do with Veszaltyrr, but decided to keep them in mind as they investigated further. They then stopped in to visit Fala Lefaliir to see if they had any sort of concoction or tincture that would help Reilly be more ‘active’ or in control of the dream conversation she was slated to have with Veszaltyrr. Fala was able to provide rare, restricted ingredients for a Draught of Lucid Dreamings at rather steep cost. The party then made their way to the Tower of the High Dragon to speak with Solauvaire about the potential threat to the city.
Solauvaire was in the middle of instructing apprentices at the tower when the party arrived, a task which he delegated to the spirit of Xalys Marblewander so that he could speak to the party in his study. As Reilly mentioned Veszaltyrr, Solauvaire reacted with shock and swiftly shut the windows and locked the doors. He explained that while Oussndar was in fact a common drow surname and that there were in fact several drow in the city with the name in Revelmoore alone, it was no coincidence that he bore the name; Veszaltyrr was in fact Solauvaire’s father, a fact Solauvaire pleaded with the party to keep secret.
Solauvaire then explained the nature of his relationship with his father through a series of magical projections of his memories. The first showed Veszaltyrr as a caring father to the young Solauvaire as the two lived alone in the Underdark. Solauvaire seemed to struggle with casting spells, something that Veszaltyrr solved by tracing strange magical symbols on his son’s back. These symbols seemed to bolster Solauvaire’s magical ability. Veszaltyrr explained to his son that it was imperative that he go aboveground and seek apprenticeship with a powerful wizard on the surface, so that he could live a better life than Veszaltyrr did in the Underdark.
The next memory was of a teenage Solauvaire, apprenticed to the previous High Dragon Galder Dezlentyr. The two argued about Veszaltyrr; Solauvaire believed the legends about his villainy were wrong, and while Galder disagreed, he respected Solauvaire’s idealism. Galder then asked to inspect the symbols imprinted on Solauvaire’s back, and found them to contain foul magic disguised behind amplification of Solauvaire’s spellcasting abilities. After running himself ragged in dispelling the powerful enchantments, Galder informed Solauvaire that his father had rigged his body with all sorts of dormant spells designed to mind control him upon activation. Though they were now dispelled, this revelation shook Solauvaire to his core.
The final memory took place four years ago during the infamous eclipse of 3517, during which Galder called Solauvaire and Renaer to the House of Wonder so that they could discuss the eclipse and its ramifications with High Priestess Rydia Margaster. Renaer questioned why he of all people needed to be present, to which Galder replied that the status of his father meant Renaer would one day be responsible for many things. This memory was fractured, which present Solauvaire attributed to trauma and repression. Indeed, the memory suddenly jumped forward to a grim scene with a rampaging balor tearing the House of Wonder apart, with Rydia Margaster unconscious and Renaer tending to a mortally wounded Galder while Solauvaire held the beast back alone.
The balor taunted Solauvaire and cryptically stated its allegiances, which Solauvaire believed led back to Veszaltyrr after so many years. With the last of his magic, Solauvaire launched a powerful spell at the balor, accidentally blowing a hole in the roof of the House of Wonder in the process. The memory jumped forward yet again to Solauvaire holding Galder in his death throes. Galder entrusted the office of High Dragon to Solauvaire, and revealed that the Fang of Aurinax around his neck was an illusion before dying.
Back in the present, Solauvaire expressed his theory; Veszaltyrr coveted the power of the High Dragon and the ability to control the Walking Statues of Revelmoore. However, with his notoriety, he would never be able to walk freely in Revelmoore, let alone become a candidate for High Dragon. Thus he required a proxy, which his son proved to be a perfect candidate. He laced Solauvaire with controlling enchantments designed to fire off when he became High Dragon, and then plotted to assassinate the High Dragon to accelerate the process.
However, Veszaltyrr’s plan hit two snags; Galder came to care for Solauvaire like a son and got to knew him better than expected, leading to his discovering and dispelling the enchantments. Secondly, the Fang of Aurinax had been lost for over a century after the assassination of High Dragon Marblewander, thus making the control of the Walking Statues an impossibility at present. Thus, he was forced to adopt different methods in his quest to take over Revelmoore.
After much discussion, the party then handed over the bloodstone they found and asked Solauvaire to imbue it with his blood. Since Solauvaire’s residence within the tower was an extradimensional space, the bloodstone could be used outside of the tower to locate his nearest living relative; hopefully this would be Veszaltyrr himself, hiding somewhere in Revelmoore. The last favor they asked of Solauvaire was for a letter of introduction capable of getting them an audience with the Cassalanters, which Solauvaire happily provided.
The party decided to call it a day after this, and Reilly prepared for her meeting with Veszaltyrr by removing her Masquerade pin and drinking the Draught of Lucid Dreaming before going to sleep. Upon entering her dreams, she found herself in a strangely beautiful landscape dotted with trees carved of metal sporting leaves of gold and crystal. Miles above her in the ‘sky’ drifted massive gears, and the geography of the location revealed that she was somehow in the Underdark. Just as she made this realization, Veszaltyrr made himself known, and politely greeted Reilly.

Portraits

The Red Spirits

Reilly Springs - A young, anxious satyr artificer and inventor, who has fashioned for herself a magic suit of armor that grants her impressive combat capabilities. Now free of the debt that hounded her, Reilly is committed to supporting her friends as she sets down roots in Revelmoore. She has taken to spending time with Fala Lefaliir, the serene gardener and proprietor of Aelbwynn’s Crown. With their help, Reilly has prepared for a meeting of the minds with the insidious, yet amicable Veszaltyrr Oussndar.

Brooke Acropora - A charming water genasi and a native of Revelmoore, who supports the party with his keen intuition concerning the fanciful and fascinating goings-on of the city. Brooke moonlights as a contributor to The Targe, a broadsheets publication that seeks out the most interesting and sauciest news scoops of the day. Currently, Brooke is focused on ensuring that Troll Skull Manor becomes an unforgettable spectacle to its visitors, but part of his mind continues to be occupied by his tryst with the mysterious Zelem Corvo.

Megumi Sakane - A diminutive kitsune rogue and a traveling merchant, who has fallen in with the party during her quest for wealth in the City of Splendors. Kind-hearted but quite avaricious, she uses her small size to her advantage as she sizes up individuals for valuables and wealth. She has revealed to the party that because she made a deal with Asmodeus to save her wife’s soul, she must ritualistically offer 500,000 gold coins to the archdevil by the end of the year, or her soul will be forfeit. She has invented a new persona for herself; the mysterious masked thief, Karma.

Yilani Deniz - A severe, perceptive Yuan-ti Pureblood druid who once masqueraded as a human refugee from Khemit in order to gather information on the wealthy and powerful of Revelmoore on behalf of a Yuan-ti cult of Aapep. After coming to love the city and her new friends, Yilani has turned her back on her people and helped to drive them out of the city before their nefarious plans could be enacted. Yilani has resolved to prove the loyalty and dedication of her new self to her friends, and exemplified this in her dream-talk with Veszaltyrr Oussndar.

Lackadaisical - More commonly known as “Lacky”, this charming young tiefling woman is the daughter of the famed ex-adventurer Fomalhaut the Financier. She moonlights as a lawyer and represents members of less-than-legal enterprises in Revelmoore, including members of the Black Network. Along with Yilani, Lacky has joined the Black Network, and has also aligned with Solauvaire’s newly named Revelmoore Rangers.

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Renaer Ambermantle - The estranged son of Dagult Ambermantle, the previous Open Lord of Revelmoore. A skilled fighter and a man of noble standing, Renaer has expressed his fondness of the party and his desire to continue his association with them. Despite facing almost universal distrust from the city’s nobility, he has a few friends in high places. Following his second rescue by the party, he has decided to remain close by their side. Despite his differences with her, he escorted Bonziel Ramrider to the Masquerade politely like a gentleman.

Violet - A strange purple cat that was purchased by Brooke at the Old Xoblob Shop. For all intents and purposes, she seems to be a completely normal cat; save for the fact that her fur is a deep shade of violet. She told Brooke her story, revealing that she was once a human adventurer that was polymorphed into a purple cat by Halaster Blackcloak, the Mad Mage of the Undermountain. She appears to be more than happy with this situation.

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Veszaltyrr Oussndar - The mythic founder of the Black Network, who was thought to have disappeared over three-hundred years ago. An imposing, well-spoken dark elf with a left arm made entirely of brass, he radiates magical might even in visions. The party has discovered that he alone was responsible for the splintering of the modern Black Network, and he now leads the Scions of Black Hearts sub-faction that seeks to return the organization to the old ways. In his surprisingly calm and civilized dream-talk with Yilani, he explained that he believes conflict with the party over his mysterious motives is inevitable, though he expressed disdain about the assertion. He is eager to speak to Reilly, and convinced Yilani to convince Reilly in turn to remove her mind-shielding Masquerade pin so that they could speak during her dreams.

Solauvaire Oussndar - The current archmage of Revelmoore, having assumed the position after his predecessor’s death four years ago. When asked about Veszaltyrr Oussndar, Solauvaire asked for the party’s faith and secrecy as he revealed himself to be Veszaltyrr’s son, and walked them through magical projections of his memories. The Fang of Aurinax, the powerful artifact that hangs around his neck and acts as his badge of office, has been revealed to be an illusion due to the real item’s disappearance over a century ago. Because the Fang is required to command the Walking Statues of Revelmoore, Solauvaire believes that if anyone were to learn of this, it would spell dire tidings for Revelmoore’s defenses.

Lif - A poltergeist and the former proprietor of Trollskull Manor. His spirit has remained in the manor, and he has befriended the party during their efforts to restore the tavern into working order. Lif is now serving as the tavern’s bartender and its primary source of ‘atmosphere’, and is also handling the training of new hires before the grand opening on the 10th of Freyrmond.

Nat - A mute human girl and the ‘fighter’ of the Rat Catchers, an ‘adventuring party’ made up of three homeless urchins. Nat cannot speak, and communicates through an invented sign language made up of broken Thieves’ Cant symbols and gestures. Her companions proudly announced their defeat of the shark Obliteros to the very bewildered party.

Jenks - A human boy and the ‘wizard’ of the Rat Catchers. Jenks carries around a stuffed owlbear ‘familiar’ and keeps a bag of ‘spell components’ on his person, and is fiercely protective of his ‘spellbook’. He and his companions proudly announced their defeat of the shark Obliteros to the very bewildered party.

Squiddly - A tiefling boy and the ‘rogue’ of the Rat Catchers, as well as their fearless leader. Squiddly bravely leads his companions out of trouble as often as he leads them into it. Squiddly wears a fake eyepatch, which doesn’t help his aim with his bow. He and his companions proudly announced their defeat of the shark Obliteros to the very bewildered party.

Piece of the Puzzle - A “world famous” tabaxi “author” and “wizard” who has traveled the world and miraculously survived to pen many tales and guides to all sorts of subjects. He has returned to Revelmoore following a suspiciously short book tour, and is once again hovering around the party and their adventures. His current literary subject is Mr. Bepis Flavorburgh, a halfling chef who will soon be working as the head chef for Troll Skull Manor.

Bepis Flavorburgh - A boisterous, portly halfling man that worked as a cook before being fired for over-spicing the food. He was saved by the party from a cult of Asmodeus, and is now slated to work as their head chef (taking it easy on the spice this time, of course). By Yilani’s prompting, he served up his signature ‘grand slam’ breakfast for the gang.

Raeziel Ramrider - A duergar rogue and loan shark, who works as the Doom Raiders’ Master of Coin. She loaned Reilly a sum of gold at an exorbitant interest rate, but the debt has finally been paid off. Now a wanted fugitive thanks to Skeemo Weirdbottle’s betrayal, she is now hiding in Troll Skull manor under an assumed alias. She has learned that her family, which she abandoned years ago, is planning an insurrection against the Xanathar. This revelation has left her conflicted over her pride in her family’s legacy and her oaths to the Black Network.

Ziraj the Hunter - A tall half-orc man that carries around an absurdly large composite bow. According to Davil, he is the most talented assassin in Revelmoore. Originally a huntsman by trade, he moved to Revelmoore with his childhood friend Fala Lefaliir. The two were in a romantic relationship for a time, but Fala broke things off over Ziraj’s criminal affiliations and activities. Like Raeziel, Ziraj was made a fugitive by Skeemo’s betrayal, and is now laying low in the basement of Troll Skull manor. He intervened during the fight against the Yuan-ti infiltrators in Brandath Manor and kept the party from almost certain death.

Bonziel Ramrider - Raeziel’s older sister, and the middle of Don Ramrider’s three daughters. Unlike her younger sibling, Bonziel remains a member of the Xanathar Guild along with her father, elder sister, and many cousins. Temporarily detained by the party after rescuing her from Yuan-ti infiltrators, the party has decided to help her and her family’s coup against the Xanathar by turning her over to the Masquerade, and she has been taken to them by Renaer Ambermantle.

Relanu Alshella - A Yuan-Ti infiltrator that replaced Renaer by way of the secret Yuan-Ti conspiracy to infiltrate Revelmoore. He expected Yilani to come to his aid, and was taken by surprise after noticing her hesitation. He was subdued by the party in the following combat, and was left in the care of Ziraj the Hunter. The party was unwilling to dispose of him themselves, but was also unsure if he should be handed over to the authorities for worry of explaining the situation; they instead handed him over to Ziraj, who successfully ‘disposed’ of him quietly and off the premises of Troll Skull Manor.

Rishaal the Page-Turner - An aging golden dragonborn librarian and astrologian who owns the Book Wyrm’s Treasure, a book and scroll shop. Rishaal was once a professor of astrology at the esteemed Brighthollow Academy in Darnagal before leaving following a disagreement with the headmistress. He identified the writing in Skeemo Weirdbottle’s letter to be Abolethic, and referred the party to Victoro Cassalanter, a learned wizard with a particular interest in aboleths.

Panikkaria “Panic” Vel - A tiefling more like a moth than a devil, this charming Druid once adventured to save her beloved from a terrible affliction, but now happily resides with her recovered wife as an astrologian and teacher. As the First Seer of the Seer’s League, an order of mages and spellcasters in the Frostgale Taiga, Panic rarely leaves her home of Aspencove; however, she has come to Revelmoore with her family to visit her wife’s noble relatives, as well as to check in on her adoptive father, Rishaal. She educated the party on Cygnus, the rogue cog of Mechanus, when it was described to her.

Fala Lefaliir - A serene wood elven individual and the owner of Aelbwyn’s Crown, a multifaceted store that functions as a florist, apothecary, and greenhouse. They have befriended the party, especially Reilly, and gladly helps them when asked. To this end, they supplied Reilly with a Draught of Lucid Dreaming, which Reilly hopes to use to influence her impending dream-dialogue with Veszaltyrr Oussndar.

Galder Dezlentyr - The spirit of one of the former High Dragons of Revelmoore. He was Solauvaire’s predecessor, and passed away four years ago in a demon attack at the House of Wonder after serving as High Dragon for over a hundred years. The party witnessed both his instruction of Solauvaire and his demise at the hands of a balor in the House of Wonder. He seems to have a close, almost fatherly relationship with his former student.

Xalys Marblewander - The spirit of one of the former High Dragons of Revelmoore. She was Galder’s predecessor, and was assassinated by an upstart noble family over a hundred years ago. She has a negative opinion of Brooke and brands him to be rude. After her assassination, the Fang of Aurinax was stolen and its known location lost.

Agneyastra - The spirit of the first High Dragon of Revelmoore. She was the companion of the gold dragon Aurinax, and conquered the rampaging walking statues hundreds of years ago. She speaks very little, and chooses to instead observe the goings-on of the Tower of the High Dragon.

Rydia Margaster - Known commonly as ‘The Seer’, this aasimar woman is the High Priestess of Jamboor and the head of the House of Wonder. She is a friend of Solauvaire and guards a two-way portal between the Tower of the High Dragon and the House of Wonder. She was present in one of Solauvaire’s memories, and nearly died fighting the rampant balor summoned by Veszaltyrr during the eclipse four years ago.

Ar’ginoth, the Chained One - A raging balor, one of the strongest demons of the infinite layers of the abyss. He was summoned by Veszalytrr Oussndar during the eclipse four years ago to assassinate High Dragon Galder Dezlentyr in order to force Solauvaire’s inheritance of his office, believing Solauvaire was still under his control. Solauvaire’s memory of his fight against Ar’ginoth was fractured by trauma and repression, and he could not recall how the balor was precisely defeated.