Quest Start
Loose Threads: none, unless you count that no one bothered to tell the kids that the plushies were eaten
Participants: Dretal, Amber Cassidy Claie, Alyssa Cassidy, Bhitzaoji Ocitra
Locations: First Landing
Full report: Amber
An Elven maker of magic toys named Shinjo recruited Dretal, Amber Cassidy Claie, and Alyssa Cassidy (a.k.a. Rose) off the streets of First Landing to recover three rogue kaiju plushies made as prizes for the First Landing's First Annual Lunar New Year Tournament, animated by too much magic and left to run amok in town for three days (despite having pulled off a person's arm), blaming his apprentice for this. After some extra interrogation and a few insults from Amber, the three learned a little more about the Unknown gems powering the plushies, and were given a pamphlet with info about the kaijus, which served as patterns for their magic. With no leads on their locations, however, the three left to see if anyone in town had spotted them. (Bhitzaoji Ocitra tagged along after investigating the noise of Rose's test gunshot.)
Their first area of investigation was the Thamaturge's shop, following reports of mysteriously defective magic items in the area. A search of the apathetic storekeeper's shop led to the discovery by Bhitzaoji and Rose of the Queen Vorgozen plushy, which had been feeding on the magic, and was very quickly shot and slashed to death (though not before sickening Rose a good deal in return, prompting a short break).
They then moved on to the residential area, subject of rumors about agitated pets. Amber, of all people, took the initiative in asking citizens: first a wholly unhelpful man with a dog, then a very talkative Pixie boy, who was happy to elaborate about the bizarre occurrences and point her to a shy Gnoll girl named Marlie who had been close to one of the incidents. Despite her reservations, Amber managed to speak with and calm the girl, who guided her (and indirectly the rest of the party) to an alley near her home. There they spooked an alley cat, causing the King Mogaru plushy to emerge from the clutter and breathe powerful flames which singed Rose and downed Amber before she could react, though the doll was quickly torn apart by the party in turn. Rose's attempt to stabilize her wasn’t successful, but Dretal kept her alive until Marlie returned with a drunken Unknown healer (named Yongbi), who healed the two injured women before passing out in the alley.
After a surprise hug from Marlie to Amber, the group went on to search for clues on Lord Varklops, the last batch of rumors involving several mundane plushies going missing. After a wholly unhelpful visit to the Arena (on the logic that the Varklops plushy might want to cause trouble there) and an investigation of the Blacksmith and Bakery (on the logic that it could be lairing in "volcanoes", i.e chimneys), they learned from the Unknown baking family and the Unknown and Unknown blacksmiths that it had indeed been present in their chimneys, but had also flown away towards the residential area after being chased off by the latter (displaying a surprising grasp of language in the process). It was followed by a Unknown boy who had begun buying guns to seek vengeance on it, and perhaps aided by those who worshipped the destruction wrought by the real Varklops.
Dispirited, the group nonetheless thanked them for free information and foodstuffs, before traveling back to the residential area, where they encountered the Halfling, Timothy Ventura, interrogating another child on the missing plushies. Their arrival allowed the child to escape, and they interrogated Timothy in return, learning that he’d begun a list of suspicious houses on his quest for his sister's missing plushy. After intimidating him into handing the list over, they left the obnoxious lad to his own devices. Rose led the way to a house of former cult members, whom she politely inquired about the plushy too, offering to exterminate it after learning that the patriarch of the Unknown family had sheltered the creature and begun to regret it after renewed pressure from his family. In the attic, the plushy Varklops offered a fearsome response to their challenge, immediately downing Dretal with a critical bite and bathing the rest of them in flames and force. Though the former bandits were left in bad shape, Amber convinced Rose not to run, and the battle turned around once the three remaining adventurers could surround the plushy, confusing its three heads and giving Bhitzaoji plenty of time to bait its attention and revive Dretal. At last they defeated the creature, though at the expense of Dretal needing to treat Rose's wounds, and the group was served dinner and given a few magic items by the family in return for their work.
Returning to Shinjo, the party demanded proper payment for their troubles (to include Bhitzaoji despite being "hired" after Shinjo had left in a huff). Rose and Dretal briefly blackmailed the miserly man for payment in exchange for not revealing his misdeeds to the nearby Grand Judge of the tournament, only for the man to double down, his workers to rebel and reveal his great personal riches and abusive management, and Amber to tell the judge exactly what they’d been through. After receiving their share of the redistributed wealth, the party left Shinjo to his judgement.