Session 30: Spices and Flames

General Summary

Having incapacitated the female archer and destroyed the two statutes, the party investigated the house. Nothing seemed unique or out of place on the ground or upper floor, and the basement contained three rooms off the main storage room. The room with the statues seemed to be used for drying and packaging spices, another small room was cooler in temperature, used for growing plants that required a cooler climate, and the final room was used for making and branding crates and leather packages.   After a cursory search of the house, the party brought the human woman down to the basement and woke her up for questioning. She identified herself as Shar, proprietress of Shar's Herbs and Spices, having a ground-level stall in the market outside the Traveler's Respite inn. She was sullen and angry that her house had been broken into and that her guardian statues had been destroyed. When asked about them, she claimed she'd bought them from a merchant in town, Ro'virr, 5 years ago; he had passed away 3 years ago. She said the words in Vash'atar to activate them was something she had been taught upon purchasing them.   While dubious about her attitude, the party seemed to believe she was a victim, so they untied her, retreating to the entrance of the room to talk about what to do next. Nahlia remained in the room, and called out "No!" as Shar created a purple portal and stepped into it.   Not knowing where she went, the party spent an hour investigating her house and every crate in detail, but found nothing of significance. Believing Nahlia's innocence, they agreed she could return to her home, though Shadow tailed her, trying unsuccessfully to avoid being spotted. Heading towards a lift by Traveler's Respite, Nahlia noticed a market stall was burning, so she ran back to Shar's house to alert the party, with Shadow following her. Viridian was able to put out the fire, but other than a few charred fragments of parchment, the party couldn't find anything significant.   Halting their investigation, the party noticed bright orange-red light and noise from up in the canopy. Shadow and Tamugar ran back to Shar's house, wondering if she'd return. The rest of the party ascended to the canopy, following the commotion to the terrace surrounding the Mender's Garden, finding it aflame, with many Tabaxi trying to put it out. Spotting Shar casting firebolt at the plants, Eirame, Doug, and Alden restrained her, fetching Robassi.    Shadow and Tamugar gave up on watching the house, returning to the canopy and joining the group at the market in time to see a pale blue globe of light appear in the sky above Forest's Heart, barely visible through the canopy. Tamugar thought he spotted a humanoid and one or two snakes inside the globe, but everyone was distracted as a ring of runes appeared on the surface of the wooden platform and the globe disappeared again. Emerging from the circle, a huge red-skinned demon with long claws, an excessive number of teeth, and pickaxe-head-shaped horns on each side of its head stood up on the platform and attacked.   The demon charmed Robassi, forcing him to drive his spear through Shar's heart as she lay prone on the wood, killing her instantly. The party fought off the demon, its immense strength knocking Tamugar unconscious and nearly doing the same to Eirame. As the demon fell, the globe reappeared above the Mender's Garden. This time, the party could see the robed figure, humanoid but with scaly arms, a snake's tail below the robe, and a large number of snake heads, joined together where a normal human's neck would be. The creature hissed something loudly in Vash'atar, pointed a finger at Shar, and a beam of red light surged from the creature's finger, reducing Shar's body to ash before the creature once again teleported away.

Notes

Takes place on YA 2269, The Panther, day 29