Session 22 – Tragedy is Common

Campaign I, session 22. Previous: Session 21. Next: Session 23.

Session begins with a finalization of downtime in Metrol. We wrap up Singil’s final random event – as she and Athelia are traveling to gather additional inks and paper for her scribing, they see a pair of rich assholes racing their clockwork horses down the street. Carts are overturned, and pedestrians knocked aside, until suddenly one of the automatons stumbles and breaks, sending its rider skidding across the street and a mass of gears and bronze tumbling towards the pair. Athelia is unfortunately unable to dodge out of the way and takes the brunt of the damage. I had decided before session I wanted this to have *some* risk of needing more than just a bonk with a healing staff, so it rolled one exploding d6 for damage.

6. 6. 6. 1. Uh-oh. Athelia was instantly killed, her rib cage collapsed. Singil immediately accosts the rider, who was dazed and bruised, calling for the watch who arrest him. Athelia is rushed to the Temple of Numilvara for a Restore Life and Limb. But tampering with mortality has side effects! She is now extremely light sensitive (fully blind in full daylight, can only function fully in very dim lighting conditions), but has mysteriously gained the ability to see invisible once per day. She also needed an additional month of bed rest.

Dreyfuss and Metri have the rider charged with manslaughter and mayhem, each charge carrying a minimum sentence of 600 gp fine plus public whipping. As a first-time offender, the man is allowed to plead down to the minimum sentence, and as a wealthy patrician, is able to pay triple the fine to avoid the corporal punishment.

After much prayer and consideration, Athelia chooses to continue adventuring as Singil’s hench despite her new handicap. The party agrees to prioritize chasing the rumors of a magical spring in the Shadowmount Forest that is believed to be able to heal the effects of tampering with mortality. They were already planning to head north, so this will be in line with their other goals.

Pash has invested in some mundane clothing, while watching for fluctuations in the prices of more exotic clothing. Unfortunately, the prices remain high, but she still purchases a sizable selection in hopes of currying more favor with the Contessa of Teryk. She also decides to hire Renard, a Changeling Pretender who knows how to cook.

Finally, it is time to move on! The party agrees to set off towards Vedycaer, where they know a wererat magus probably holds a grudge. They choose a path through Vulyar (a relatively isolated market) to learn what the market conditions are like.

Cutting a cross-country path to Vulyar, the characters discover something that is Not Quite A Henge – a set of large stone blocks that have been laid into the ground, with large glyphs and markings on the topside. The characters are able to deduce that this is some kind of ancient waypoint built to help guide the legendary airships of old but are unable to decipher the coordinates. Casino takes copious notes to ensure that they will be able to do so in the future.

They also happen upon an Ironmark Traders caravanserai, where Alwyn is able to sell his cart full of tools for a tidy profit.

After a brief stop in Vulyar to sell a few bags of clothing and learn the general demand modifiers, the party continues on towards Teryk. In a dark and twisted patch of woods, they happen upon a quartet of enormously fat people, snickering and cackling about the “scrumptious delights” they wanted to share. The party beat a hasty retreat and found an alternate path.

The remainder of the trip was not particularly eventful; there were small hamlets, peasants harvesting fields, and the like, but no excitement to speak of. Dreyfuss used some of this time to enter his mind palace and review what they knew about Provost Mentenus, the suspected leader of the wererats in Vedycaer. He was able to deduce that the boss rat had good terms with a shadowy “brotherhood of knives” but was not in league with Lucius Furlan of The Family. Armed with this knowledge, the PCs agreed to “fly casual” as they re-entered, rather than make immediate accusations or pick any fights.

When Pashlatine visits Damonos to catch up on how things are going, he pulls her aside and tells her that her parents have been missing for months. Their carriage was found a few days after their last known contact, and the city watch searched the entire block around that carriage. So far, no bodies have turned up. Nevertheless, Pash’s sister Luli and her new husband Wrogar have been pushing to unseal their Will and continue operating the Levonday estate.

Before making any decisions, Pash wants to converse with Luli and investigate this Wrogar character to make sure no undue pressure is being placed on her sister.

“He’s great, quite experienced! And we decided to hyphenate our names!”

“Which name is first?”

“Ours!”

“Oh good, Levonday-Garg’lesnout is much better than the other way around.”

As far as Alwyn and Renard can dig up, this Wrogar guy is dedicated to his duties, faithful to Luli, and a generally decent, boring guy. So, Pash agrees to open the will, so long as the entire party can be present. Damonos, as the executor, reads out the will – and to everyone’s surprise but his, the entire estate, property, and business is left to Pash! Only a modest stipend is allocated to sustain Luli.

Luli immediately has to contain a meltdown, and insists that the will must be a fake, and is immediately suspicious that Pash may have had a hand in the parents’ disappearance! After being calmed as best as possible, she agrees not to take any drastic action, but is filing suit to challenge the veracity of the will.

As the room begins to clear, one of Damonos’s servants brings pash a letter:

“My Dear Pashlatine,

I wish to express my condolences on your missing family. If it is not too bold or presumptuous, I would like to extend this invitation to a private dinner for two where I might more properly offer my assistance in this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Lucius Furlan”

Pash hastily dictates a response to politely refuse, noting how much of her time will now need to be dedicated to sorting all this out…