how it went: things got started
See chapter 0.2: people you've met for a rundown of NPCS.
The main story
- Giant snake at the party! That’s bad.
- Turns out Erling Sattr (“Saturday”) knew there were snakes living in the public baths, and was expecting something to happen. He was also expecting to take care of it himself, but somebody ambushed him with a magic sleep net and hid him in a corner.
- The group found Saturday and rescued him, in the sense of taking the net off.
- Later on, they used the net to capture the giant snake. Clever!
- This relieved Orian, who was upset to have killed the smaller snakes just because Oska charged in and riled them up.
- Saturday took credit for subduing the giant snake. You all got the sense that it didn’t even occur to him that he’s stealing credit; it was his thrall and his young mountain-elf guest that did it, at his party, so technically it was him that caused it to get done.
- Somebody sabotaged Saturday’s party prank, and Saturday is not happy about it.
- This might be insider Erling House politics, or it might not.
- Rumour: Erling, the head of Erling House, hasn’t been in Malfa for over a century, but it’s said that he’s decided to come back “soon.” Even for an elf he’s old and has a long perspective on time passing, so “soon” could mean next month, or sometime in the next decade.
Oska
- Every non-combat encounter went ridiculously well for Oska. She’s more than doubled her money. Then she charged into combat, technically kind of died, was rescued by magic, and spent the rest of the fight hiding. Orian and Lorenzo are not impressed.
- Offscreen: At the end of the story, post-snake cooldown, Madhu gave Oska a good scolding for rushing into danger like that. If he’s her servant, they have a weird relationship. Both Lorenzo and Orian saw this.
- Speaking of which, Lorenzo and Orian both saw her rip a snake to shreds with her claws, so they know she has claws sometimes. Did her ears and fur also pop out? I forgot to ask for a check to see if she lost concentration during her NDE, but probably.
- Nykomin, the scary-cool older Maver, actually responded to Oska’s advances. Oska’s insight was enough that she can tell Nykomin is more amused and curious than attracted to Oska, at least for now.
- It was Saturday’s magic trinket that saved Oska’s life, so Oska owes him a life-sized favour. This is unbendable Maveren custom.
- Oh also, Oska was approached by another sex worker named Finch, a young part-elf who lives in the Furthermore and clearly wanted to trade information/gossip. Oska stiff-armed her, at least for now.
Lorenzo
- Lorenzo had a bad night. He started out as the sensible one, but didn’t manage well against the snakes at all. He nearly died, and feels almost as useless as the fancy claw lady who came along for some reason.
- On the other hand, he was the one who took the net off Saturday, brought it along, and captured the giant snake with it. So he’s kind of the hero of the day, except for the bit with the other snakes. Possibly somebody should reassure him of this.
- Offscreen: Junah Wade, Saturday’s other thrall, didn’t see the exciting bits, but after things were over she sympathised with Lorenzo and bought him a drink. She assured him that, yes, it’s generally like this with Saturday, but you learn how to handle him.
Orian
- Orian thinks that all of this, the entire city, is extremely sus. The fancy city-elf lady with the claws is super annoying, Saturday is arrogant and self-centred. They don’t appreciate having to kill innocent snakes, either. Lorenzo’s ok though.
- Maybe they feel a bit better about themselves, having been more capable this time?
Other
- The Vacenical Opera Comical was hoping to get Saturday as a permanent patron, but after the snake thing they’re extremely dubious about him.
- Out of nowhere, Nykomin offered to rent a space from Sjolfri House for the opera, so that Sjolfri and Valdas are co-patrons. The space is an unused warehouse in Swallowtail Lane, so they are now the Swallowtail Opera Company. Expect more about them, I like a lot of the NPCs in the opera company.
Parent Plot