Booze receives a scroll of telescription from Torel Illary who invites him to the The Silver Night for a casual catch-up, so the party decides to go together. Using either magic or actual clothing, most of the party dresses up to fit into the ostentatious crowd in the tavern. Tyrell quickly makes his way over to the group and catches up with Booze. After chatting with the party, he returns to the tavern they are staying at. On the way back to the tavern, Huski and Tyrell chat about the Orphanage in Nicodranas and asks if something can be done to help the children. Back at the tavern, Tyrell joins the party in a couple of rounds of a drinking game before heading back to the Silver Knight.
The party rest only for Rujo to turn into a werewolf. Using the 'shock collar' Booze and Huski are able to paralyse him, however, not before alerting Zee (Zameia) Dusk and Rascar. Once Rujo settles, Rasc tries to remove a curse that is interwoven into his soul however it hurts Rujo so he tries to hide in a pocket dimension, not without Rasc following him in. The boys talk and after a short period of time, they emerge from the demi-plane and act as if everything is all solved.
The next morning the party sleep in, so they quickly make their way to the Adolar Estate to meet with Nizaq. On the way there Huski and Rajo talk about the conversation that Booze and Rascar had.
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Zee turns invisible once the party gets to The Crescents to avoid being seen and grabs Rascar's hand to help lead them through the city. The party get to House Adolar and Nizaq explains that he is still waiting for his pawns to come into play. He then goes on to ask about the party's involvement with Applebeech and the cultists rumoured to be there. The party explain that they found a 'flesh hole' that with the help of a bronze dragon, they may have slowed the spread. Nizaq goes on to explain that in total 4 small trading settlements have been affected thus far by similar happenings, with one, in particular, affecting their own trading settlement called Urktown. There are currently blockades in place to prevent the spread of the 'disease' however as the party explains that they are in a race against time, trying to stop the rise of Mother Horse Eyes Nizaq grows even more concerned. He processes for a moment before giving his opinion on the precarious position Lost Claws finds themselves,
"The Catalyst are incredibly dangerours... though I believe they may have something to do with this coming of this Mother Horse Eyes you speak of..." - Nizaq Adolar
He then takes a small sample of each of the party's blood, as a guarantee they won't do anything untoward. With the blood taken, and his safety more or less guaranteed, Nizaq details House Adolar's dealings with the Catalyst.
Nizaq explains the below:
- The Catalyst has been a long-time user of House Adolar's trade routes and transports
- When the steam stopped in Port Damali (bringing the city to practically a halt) all 7 noble houses tried to find a solution, as it would garner their house overall power over the city
- Sardarm Khulud came to House Adolar about an item, saying that it offered "...great power..." and is a "...powerful key..."
- Though this sounded far-fetched, the House decided to take the risk and allow/fund Sardarm to collect the artifact
- Erhad Adolar as the next in line was granted control over the trade deal, though this caused him greater stress over time. Believing this to be down to stress, his erratic behaviour did however cause concern to his parents.
- Erhad, not trusting the Catalyslist involvement in the dealing decided to collect the artifact himself. This is when the murder happens...
Nizaq shows the party Erhad's journal, found among his personal effects. It shows Erhad's erratic thoughts becoming more disturbing the closer it got to the deal, leading Nizaq to believe that Mother Horse Eyes is the reason behind his child's demise.
Notes about the Artifact:
- In Erhad's notes, it was said that this artifact was the size of "a child's coffin"
- The artifact that was meant to be delivered is still missing
- Was said to burn the sailors that touched the crate the artifact was in
- Was collected from Xhorhas
Nizaq believes that the Catalyst is at the hand of the murder and rise of Mother Horse Eyes, however, he is unsure as to how or why. Despite his concerns, he does however offer an introduction to the Catalyst via one of their contacts. The party politely decline as they come to realise that if the Catalyst is out trying to collect artifacts, perhaps they know about the ones they are currently after. With this in mind, the party decide to ready the ship as quickly as possible so they can get to Darktow to collect the next artifact. As thanks, Nizaq gives the party 5000 gp as thanks for their help thus far.
The party step outside believing Zee to have turned invisible, they start to look for her not knowing she stayed behind in Nizaq's office. Zee look's at Nizaq curiously and asks him if he knows Father Dusk, as they have an uncanny resemblance. Nizaq goes on to explain that they are in fact cousins, and Father Dusk belongs to one of the minor noble houses of Port Damali mostly known for their devotion to the Sunfall Sanctuary. Zee pries more and asks about Father Dusk's family. Though not quite remembering their names, Nizaq explains that he has a son called Nathanial, Nathan... Nephrous and had a daughter called Zoe...Z.... Zameia. Apparently, the family had gone through quite a hard time, but have started to pull through and are doing better now. Zee is completely blown away and is quickly brought back to reality with a knock on the door as the party realise that she may have still been in the office with Nizaq. Zee thanks him for his time and quickly leaves, avoiding any questions from the party as to why she stayed behind.
Now all together, the party make their way towards the Coliseum and stops by some sideshows to help pass the time before they board the ship tomorrow. Rujo tries the Greasy Hog contest which he does well at though he does not win despite his best efforts. Huski tries a game called What's that smell which he does incredibly well at, taking the win in record time. Zee, wanting a distraction, tries the cup game and takes an easy win from some old lady.