The next morning, after eating a simple breakfast provided by Lorin, the innkeeper, the party heads out to see if they can get some more answers or help about the situation in the Starfall View. They stop by a bounty board to write down some leads that might land them some gold if they should need it, then head towards the river in order to pick up the armor Gaia bought the day before.
As they pass through the “night-life” of the city, with several people drinking and enjoying their “evening”. Suddenly, a young looking drow bumps into Raenerys harder than expected, so she immediately checks her belongings, finding to her horror that the Bag of Holding is missing. The man continues walking away, hurriedly now, so Raenerys takes off running after him, shouting for him to stop. The others turn around, seeing her run off, so Miryks tries to entangle the man with vines, forcing him to stop. Quill has jumped up onto a nearby table, while Gaia has taken to the skies.
Catching up to the man, Raenerys demands that he returns what he took from her, but the man feigns innocence, throwing his hands up in the air, smirking at her. She looks around, and spots another man, clearly related to the first one, carrying something beneath his cloak, looking back at them, smiling. Raenerys points to him, demanding he stop, and when Gaia notices this she flies straight towards him. Quill casts a time lock spell on his jacked, stopping him in his tracks, while Raenerys fetches some guards.
As Gaia swoops down to the other drow, Quill joins her, and he demands that he gives back the bag. He also feigns innocence at first, but after Gaia forces his hands apart, the bag falls down, picked up by Quill. The two guards that Raenerys has brought back seem to know the two thieves well, being on first name basis with both Lorzim and Ulzar. The thieves apologizes, but points out that people often take what they want, and the guards agree, saying the party should be more careful with their valuables. The thieves are taken away, and when the party says they would like to talk to them, the guards state that they can come by the jail.
They briefly discuss how to repair the bag of holding as they walk over the river to the blacksmith, Kith, picking up her armor. While they’re there, Kith repairs it with some needle and thread, and afterwards, Raenerys opts to carry it beneath her robes to keep it safe. They bring words from Nestra, his cousin, promising to give her his regards when they return.
Not wanting to head straight into the lion’s den unprepared, the party opts to head to the wizard beyond the lake before confronting the problem with the Starfall View and Petra. Miryks walks in front, heading to the docks, as they all charter a crew to take them across, paying a hefty sum per person. As they sit down on the barge, while the workmen, a mix of orcs and drow using their paddles to pick up speed, Quill, while looking back to the shore, spots a tiny figure with a big, blue eye gathering some water in a bucket, before scurrying off, much to Raenerys’ annoyance.
𐡸
After a few hours of travel, the barge escapes the darkness surrounding Starfall Basin, with the drow crewmembers putting on hoods to shield themselves from the sun. A small village comes into view, with a tower to the east of it on top of a hill, presumably the wizard’s tower. The party heads to shore, looking around to see if there is anything of interest around, but apart from a temple, there is little other than a potion shop. As the one in Starfall Basin was closed, they head inside to see if they might find some useful concoctions.
An earthly smell, mixed with rot, greets them as the door opens. The interior of Maude’s Mystical Mudra’s are dimly lit, with a sickly green glow emanating from a cauldron behind the counter. The lady, presumably Maude, standing in front of it, turns around, greeting the party with an eerie smile. They barter with her, asking for a recipe for a potion of stamina, as well as what else might be of use to them.
Maude brings forth a proposal, first looking at Raenerys, saying that she has something very interesting for her, only asking for her lock of hair, or a rose, but Raenerys does not like the situation, so she walks to the door, but stays inside. Maude laughs, saying that it is her loss, but waves away her rudeness on account of Raenerys being the youngest of the group.
The others are intrigued by Maude’s proposal, prompting her to produce four stones, one for each member of the party. She explains that the stones can let them use any weapons to their fullest potential, allowing them to use their strongest abilities to wield them. Gaia is intrigued, but the others decline. All the hag asks is a favor in the future, which Gaia agrees to, after Quill is rejected, offering to accept the favor to let Gaia have the stone.
With the transactions completed, having bought the recipe and some potions, partly paid for by a shaving of Gaia’s skin, the party departs the creepy shop, heading across the river, up the hill, to see if they can learn anything from the wizard himself. As they walk, they ask how old Raenerys is again, as Maude refers to her as the youngest, but she repeats what she said last time, that she is almost 300 years old. Quill has an existential crisis for a moment, but manages to snap out of it.
As they approach the tower, they find it to look rather pleasant from the outside, with a little garden surrounding it, giving off a very welcoming atmosphere. Quill walks up to the door, knocking on the door knocker, which after a few seconds causes the doors to open, revealing a large interior, much larger than the exterior, with an ominous voice beckoning the party to enter.
A middle aged infernis stands behind the counter, who introduces himself as Kreel, the name they have heard around and about, welcoming them to his humble shop. He asks them what he can do for the party, gesturing around for his various treasures that he have gathered from his travels and trades. The party goes straight to business, asking about something that can help with the situation in Starfall Basin, but Kreel himself is unfamiliar with the problems, and when they start to speak of the vat with the strange bile within in the basement of Starfall View, he provides little of use, but suggests getting a sample of it in order to find an antidote, if there is an infection they worry about.
Realizing that there is little help to be had about their situation, they make the most of it, wandering around to look at his various wares to figure out what can be useful. They end up buying a small sprite that will help Miryks fight, a ghostly blade for Gaia, a box which will provide various consumables once per rest for Quill, while Raenerys hands in her old scepter for a new and upgraded one.
The party tells Kreel that they saw his notice on a bounty board, asking for body parts of exotic and dangerous animals. They produce the tongues from the basilisks they killed some days ago, which he examines, but they are in poor condition, having not been preserved correctly, yet he still offers to knock off some of the cost of the wares they’re buying from him for them, but if they can provide more of the body parts, he will pay handsomely. Quill asks what the items are for, to which he reveals that he is trying to make a “catch-all” potion to help against most ailments, but he needs samples of dangerous beasts to do so. The party thinks this is a noble cause, and will keep an eye out.
New items paid for, along with a new book for Quill, the party departs, heading back to the docks and has the same crew bring them back to Starfall Basin. It doesn’t take long before twilight creeps over them, as they are once again under the darkness of the town, much to the drow’s relief. Quill decides to make a quick sketch of the little creature that they saw by the shore when they departed, the one Raenerys is looking for, showing it to the sailors. They tell them that they see it around from time to time, and that it gathers supplies, sometimes in a shop, paying in full, but they don’t know where it resides.
Getting back to Starfall Basin, Quill shows the sketch to some street urchins, asking if they know about it. They confirm that they do, having chased it a couple of times, but it always manages to get away, referring to it as Nibblet. Quill mocks their poor chasing skills, causing them to flip her off and leaving, not even wanting a coin for her insults.
Raenerys heads to the nearest grocer to see if they know anything about Nibblet. The elderly gnome shopkeeper with poor eyesight says that they know of them, but don’t know where it makes its home, but they do come by once or twice a week to buy supplies, paying in full, before leaving. Raenerys asks that the shopkeeper tells Nibblet that she would like to speak to it, but the shopkeeper can’t promise anything, although they will relay the info, telling it to head to the inn if it wishes to speak to them.
As some time has passed, they head by the local jail to see if the two thieves might be able to provide any insight about their situation, but as they get there, they only meet a grumpy guard reading a book, rudely telling them that the thieves have been released on their own recognisance, much to the party’s annoyance. The guard threatens to throw Quill in jail for acting rudely, so the party leaves him to his book, although Quill briefly considers spoiling the ending of the book for him.
𐡸
The party heads back towards the Starfall View, wondering how they are going to approach the situation. They think they need to get a sample of whatever is in the vat, even though they figure that it is some type of bodily fluid, but it might be what they need to make an antidote. Gaia is half way through the door, wanting to just do it spontaneously, but the others grab her arms, stopping her before she can enter, telling her they need a better option. Quill offers to disguise herself as a rich traveler, someone Legion might decide to kidnap, and worst case, causing a distraction, allowing Miryks to enter unseen.
Miryks beastshapes into an insect again, returning to the window leading to the cellar, but finds that it is locked, blocking the path. She returns to the others, and they figure that the best way for her inside would be through the hatch leading down, but with the inn filled with people at all times, it could be risky. They decide to go for it, Miryks beastshaping into a spider, sitting on Quill’s shoulders as she disguises herself. They walk inside, after Raenerys uses her magic to peer through her eyes.
Walking inside, Quill is greeted by the owner, Petra, who seats her near the large windows overlooking the falls. Miryks jumps off, sneaking across the floor towards the kitchen, managing to avoid detection. She spots the hatch, and starts making her way over to it, hoping to find a crack big enough to squeeze through.
Petra takes Quill’s order, a medium-rare steak, with some nice wine on the side. Petra returns after a few minutes with a bottle, giving Quill a sample in her silver chalice. Raenerys can only look through her eyes as Quill downs the drink, immediately realizing her mistake, as she feels something try to take hold of her, but she manages to resist, luckily. She hides her nervousness, telling Petra that it is delicious, and that she would like a glass.
Miryks in the meantime, has managed, through effort, to squeeze through the opening, finding herself in the basement, alone. She reverts out of beastshape, and does what she was unable to last time, fetching a glass bottle, opening the vat, grabbing a sample, replacing everything as it was so that nobody can tell what has been disturbed, then beastshapes again, making her way back up from the cellar.
Quill’s steak is ready, and is brought over. She fake-samples a piece, and when Petra walks over to ask how she is finding everything, Quill remarks that it is the best venison she’s had in a while. Petra gives her a flat stare, correcting her mistake, before both of them turns over to the commotion in the bar, where one of the employees lets out an annoyed shout at a “spider”, and is about to stomp it with his feet. Miryks can only look up in despair as a boot is about to come down on her, potentially exposing their plan.