Dareth Lion'el was invited into the Orc Bandit Camp by Grumakk, due to his rather persuasive nature and a little bit of luck. The two had an enlightened conversation, and Dareth, against all odds, actually managed to convince Grumakk to not only stop their war band's banditry, instilling a desire to become a wandering bard with the other orcs becoming his groupies and employees, but also convinced him to return the Cobalt Dragon's Violins in exchange of recommending the Bard's College to work with him. After stuffing the crates of violins into Sooty's overall-pocket of holding, the party turned around and eventually made camp.
At the end of the night, Dareth, who was holding watch, was ambushed by Ranzokk Hand-Hammer and his loyalists, who were more than peeved that the Agate Seekers didn't hold up their end of the deal to get rid of Grumakk, and a fight ensued. The party, with a few close calls in Dareth's case, managed to deal with Ranzokk and his orcs quite well, covering the forest floor with their innards.
3 days later, the party returned to Svantmiirik to meet with professor Nax Skyscale. After not finding him at the Bard's College, the party asked around, and seemingly, he went to the Plutarch Greens, one of the parks of the city. Going there, the party quickly found him sitting in front of a statue of a Kobold and a Dragonborn, seemingly holding weapons into the sky, back-to-back; the kobold's face had eroded significantly, and the dragonborn-part of the statue had been vandalized, defaced and partially destroyed, making it unrecognizable. Sooty managed to hear Nax mumble a little something as he wrote something into a journal of some sort, before Dareth shouted out to him.
After discussing what happened, and warning Nax not to hurt Grumakk and his... band... troupe... entourage? when they enter the city, the party returned the Cobalt Dragon's Violins to Nax, who, with the help of Volk Lesnoy, managed to stash them away in his own bag of holding for the time being. He then asked the Agate Seekers if it'd be fine if they're given their rewards in the opening ceremony of the Founding Festival at the weekend, with the party, some reluctantly, agreeing. As a gift for the meantime however, he gave the party a letter of recommendation for the Bard's Rest Inn, where they could stay over the next few days for free, as well as some tickets for the Serenity and Soul Spa and Bathhouse to relax a little. The party, against Sooty's wishes, agreed to go there, while Mikhail was, at least for a short time, taken in by Nax, who wanted to ask him a few questions and test a little something, as he seemed to notice something about him. It was promised he'd catch up with the party a bit later on.
At this bathhouse, mostly staffed by white Kobolds but also the occasional Elf or Half-Elf, the party actually managed to relax quite a bit, with most of the party getting the all-inclusive treatment, with massages, baths, Pet-Grooming for Zora's dog Maya, and even a stitching-replacement, hand-wash and bead-polish for Sooty, which he was quite happy about. Philomena Snapdragon and Zora then decided to take on a bubble bath in the jacuzzies, having a riveting conversation, while Volk and Dareth decided to go to the steam baths, where they met Balbera Soaptail, the Bathhouse Drake owner of the establishment, who uses her breath weapon to make the steam. Dareth wasn't really able to deal with the heat, and the two proceeded to have a strongly worded argument wether hot dogs are sandwiches or not.
One relaxing bath and sauna later, the party then went to the spa's café for some coffee, tea, cake and light foods to enjoy, looking forward to the festival in just a few days.
SESSION END.