Session 22 Recap:
- Wander read his mysterious letter after a warning from Quiet about the people who delivered it
- The group leveled up after a long rest, regaining their hit points
- The group talked a bit in the morning of Lesotruth 18th, 951 (Iron Calendar) about what their options were:
- Taking the offer from Razodon Goswin to transport the stone to Sanaris
- Meeting Vinn Vinnfeck about his offer
- Going crazy and fighting the dragon Zahast in the swamps
- Going over to the Deadmarch to pursue the Tongue of Istvhal
- Bunkering in Madrioc for a time
- The group split to address the different needs of the party
- Quiet told Wander about a special symbol (an "x" with an arrow pointing upwards) used by those dealing in shady goods. She told him not to tell them she said anything.
- Journey ventured southeast to the Willows to check out the dragon shrine
- She found a peculiar red crystal hanging from the top of the shrine, and seeing no one around, grabbed it and absorbed it into her crystal, leaving a small offering as she left
- She stopped by a claustrophobic bookstore called Turner's on her way to the Spiral Ward, buying a self-help book called How to be Appealing and an adventure novel called Skyfire.
- The frail old lady at the store refused to by the amateurly scribed copy of Cavernous Cravings, and Journey left while the woman tried to explain professionalism to her
- She stopped by the IngrediENT, picking up some supplies for Wander
- Finally, she went by Roil and Boiler's, grabbing two health potions for Grognock and Tyerjon, and getting three strange experimental potions for Seamus
- Phaelnah ventured to the library of the Crooked Climb, searching for answers
- Having nothing but her knowledge of her people and goddess to offer the library, she spent four hours dictating history to a library scribe
- Afterwards, she found a book on the history of the city of Hymathel, learning it is a seat of power in the district of Hymnethas, where Seamus is from. However, being terribly unfocused in her research, she wasn’t able to learn much more before it was time for her to meet with the others.
- For her information, Phaelnah received a library card, and after the research she did, had 9 hours left on it
- Tyerjon went off to quit his job, and did so after finding a new set of clothes as he had to turn his uniform in
- Apparently it’s a “crop top and booty shorts”
- He released all but three of his crickets into the park of Zulen's Rest
- He then visited the Grand Market, where he found a suitable new cage of decent size to house his three pets
- Grognock and Seamus went to Vinn Vinnfeck's store, Vinn's Wares, to buy some healing kits
- Vinn offered Grognock some healing kits for no cost as a sign of good will
- Grognock, after inspecting the kits and finding them of high quality, demanded to pay, and bought three of them.
- They promised to return with the rest of the group to negotiate a contract
- Afterwards, the two made their way to the Grand Market, where they looked around for the symbol Wander told them about
- After searching for a while and coming up with nothing, they found Tyerjon in the markets admiring his crickets
- After more searching, Grognock happened upon the symbol in a knife shop, where he asked the owner for a disguise kit
- Grognock gave up Wander’s name as the person who told him about the symbol, and was shooed away with nothing
- Wander went to investigate some “acquaintances”
- He went to One-Eyed Woody's, telling Woody the passphrase to enter the back
- He drew a symbol on a stone door on the back wall, which dropped away for him to enter
- He met with a red tiefling that introduced himself as Vetraxu
- After introducing himself as Wander, the real Vetraxu stepped out of the shadows, introducing herself
- Vetraxu revealed a number of things to Wander, including:
- He houses a powerful devil that oversees many other devils, named Etarus
- The goal of all these devils working for him is to open a portal large enough to transport his entire prison from the hellish planes to the Material Plane
- She is bound to Etarus, forced to serve him
- She taught Wander a ritual that allows him to see devils
- She has no idea how Etarus’s hold on him was broken
- Etarus wishes to sow discord and destruction into the Material Plane
- Tieflings are used as vessels for their low chance of rejection difficulty in exorcising
- Vetraxu urged Wander to use his unique position to help the devils that were bound to Etarus
- After a certain point, Vetraxu’s mannerisms changed after she found he wasn’t quite so easy to manipulate
- Vetraxu offered to help seal Etarus further away to prevent him from messing with his mind any further, but Wander refused for the moment
- Wander promised to return and discuss more in the future after some thought
- Afterwards, Wander went to the Grand Market, discovering the others failed to get a disguise kit for him. He went to the tent from before, and padded out an illicit order with other things to avoid arousing suspicion.
- Leadbelly stewed in his rage all day
- The group met up later at the Crooked Climb, making their way to Renbedar’s office
- Journey gave Seamus the “experimental” potions
- Renbedar thanked the group for dealing with Chomesfield, and said his favor could be used whenever, but he’d prefer that the group did so quickly
- He expressed his concerns over the direction the Circle of Merchants was taking in regards to the artifacts of Vortek
- Apparently swayed by the words of the leader of the Warriors Guild, Sanguinity, the Circle was motioning to collect the artifacts for themselves to combat the black dragon Zahast
- The group told him of Razodon’s plan to take the stone to the Council of Dreamers in Sanaris, which he was surprised about, but supported, despite his desire to study the stone.
- Seeking a way to disguise Seamus, Renbedar took the group to the Lucid Dove, as Avelos the Learned apparently owed him a great favor as well
- Avelos offered up a particularly valuable amulet that would physically transform the wearer into an exact copy of Princess Turica La’suras of the kingdom of Xelofas in the Komakian Dynasties.
- The amulet has an important stipulation that is cannot be removed for 24 hours after putting it on, or the wearer will suffer an extreme effect
- Satisfied with this option as a way to disguise Seamus from the Collector Knights, Renbedar promptly left as the group soon followed suit
- Wander bought 30 gold of gold dust from Avelos
- As it approached late evening, the group went to the Estates to meet with Razodon and got past the guard, Bierd Volum
- The group finally came upon the gates to Razodon’s estate, which was guarded by a pair of tiger statues on the gate pillars
- Entering the opulent mansion after spotting a figure in the window, they were escorted to a meeting room by a gnome servant
- The gnome served tea, which nobody drank
- After a time of waiting, Razodon entered the room, and began to discuss a number of things
- Firstly, he address the issue of entering the tournament, which was a honey trap perpetrated between Razodon and the Madrioc Commission in order to glean more information about the demon Yyk Sen
- Razodon shared what he learned about the demon so far, including:
- She is a demon that originated from Atavar.
- She is very old, originating from a lower plane where she was once part of a large, sentient mass of flesh, the demon Hraxzharik
- She has seven crystal hearts, all of which were taken from the larger demon she was once a part of. Each one is a magical conduit that can store magical energy, and houses a part of her power.
- She can split beings off from her form, but they become mindless without a heart.
- She was summoned to fulfill a contract by a lover that was scorned. On the completion of the contract, she was freed into the world, around 500 years ago
- She apparently was in a relationship with an evil demigod some 300 or so years ago
- The group shared with Razodon what they knew about Yyk Sen
- Moving to the matter of transporting the stone, Razodon offered them an advance of 1000 gold, and 4000 when the job was complete
- The rest of the gold would be stored in a magic extradimensional chest, which would unlock when they met the parameters he set forth
- The group could keep the chest after the task was done
- He said the Council would likely also be grateful, and perhaps could be obliged to offer them a favor or two
- He told the group to talk to his contact in the Council, Deowyn Centhos
- The rest of the gold would be stored in a magic extradimensional chest, which would unlock when they met the parameters he set forth
- The group accepted the deal, and told Razodon to have the stone by midday the next day. Journey asked him to procure more bags similar to the one with the stone in it.
- Wander convinced Razodon to bump the forward payment up to 1300 gold
- Journey later explained to the group that they could stick rocks in the other bags, and every morning they could choose a random bag so that they wouldn’t know if they got the stone or not
- Grognock had a hard time wrapping his head around this
- On the way back to Rest Assured, the group stopped by the refugee tents along the Western Canal
- Phaelnah met with Lyria Hwindelwen, who was distraught after the loss of her husband, Advar Birchkiller
- Phaelnah attempted to console Lyria, and offered to attempt to send him a message
- Somewhat averse to the use of magic, Lyria declined, saying her hope was the only thing keeping her going
- Phaelnah said some particularly cold things about Kradva, which disturbed Lyria somewhat
- Journey met with Merin Lavelle, who informed her William had stayed behind to help others escape
- Merin told Journey about the events that occurred; Ventrex Caustar, fighting the Rain Knight and the Storm Knights, began to kill the townsfolk and raise them from the death to bolster his numbers. This brought the conflict into the middle of town, where the chaos laid waste to everything.
- Merin offered a map she had made with William of Sanaris to Journey
- Merin told Journey she was heading north to assist in the rebellions against the House of Azdragast in Pallam
- She asked Journey to keep an eye out for someone who could literally turn into a sword, as apparently he was important to the ascension to the throne
- Wander talked briefly with some dwarves
- Grognock and Wander failed to find the Rope Man
- Phaelnah met with Lyria Hwindelwen, who was distraught after the loss of her husband, Advar Birchkiller
- On the way back to Rest Assured, Phaelnah received a particularly brutal attack from her corrupted arm, finally able to witness the being that had somehow latched onto her.
- Her corruption advanced further, crawling its way across her neck and chest, turning some of her hair on the right side black.
- She gained a dark knowledge of more abilities her dark patron could afford her
- She became very hungry
- Back at Rest Assured, the group ordered drinks, and Wander cooked a nice vegetarian meal for Phaelnah
- Grognock wandered off to the curtain to pursue certain pleasures
- He also stopped by Leatherbound, picking up a copy of 4 Foot High and 1 Foot Long
- Everyone else went drinking in the streets, and became interested in magic tattoos
- Finding that the tattoo parlors in the Curtain didn’t deal in magic, they went over to the Spiral Ward instead
- Finding the price too steep, the group instead just went back to Rest Assured and drank the night away
- Grognock wandered off to the curtain to pursue certain pleasures
Memorable Moments
Tyerjon is a “thick dragon”