Session 43

General Summary

• There's a crude sketch of the party being distributed to folks around the city.
• The gemcutter's shop has been abandoned by its owner.
• Rubic was at the gemcutter's shop, tracking the Hounds Guild, who he claimed might have LaVista.
• The Thistle Dew is an alchemist's shop run by the Rubymist dwarves. They also seem to manufacture drugs for some members of The Hounds Guild.
• The Hounds Guild drug dealers recognized Kesmet on sight, claiming that he's "The Baker", responsible for a string of murders. The Rubymist dwarves recognized Dwardazik as well. Both groups initiated combat with the party, the Rubymist dwarves turning into gigantic animals (a lion, a tiger, and a bear).
• Kesmet blew up the store, killing the Hounds Guild members and severely wounding the Rubymist attackers.
• Wendi showed up partway through the combat and urged everyone to stop. They didn't.
• Wendi then released some sort of dark tendril attack around her.
• The Rubymist in the blue dress attempted to flee, but was cornered by Dazki.
• Wendi isn't too pleased that she keeps running into the party "rescuing" her from her friends.
• Blue Dress insisted that Dwardazik is a murderer.
• Dazki tried to get Blue Dress to confront Dwardazik directly about it, but when she repeatedly refused to speak with him, he ultimately let her escape.
• Dwardazik carved some sort of insignia into another Rubymist dwarf's arm with a dagger and cut off his beard. Grogery healed the arm back up, claiming that it's probably wiser to not give them more ammo against the Stoneturners.

 

Full Recap

Journey Back to the Gemcutter's Shop

The party disguised themselves for their journey to the gemcutter's shop:

• Dwardazik donned his traveler's clothes, which includes a cloak that can should help make him difficult to recognize from a distance.
• Dazki disguised himself as someone who wasn't there.
• Grogery borrowed a cloak that was oversized for his goblin form
• Kesmet used some prestidigitation spells to change the color of the skin on his face, his eye color, and his hair color.
• Barry copied one of the cloaks from the group and added it to his Hat of Disguise.

  Dazki flagged down a random courier to send Oskar LaVista a message at his house: "In the Docks district, dealing with Hounds Guild. They could be enemies. Let Annu know we're there", in an attempt to throw the search parties off of their actual trail.   On their way, they were stopped by an ogre in Hammertown, wearing a bright orange vest and carrying some large crates. There's a crude sketch of the party that's apparently getting passed around. Dwardazik convinced the ogre that they couldn't be the same group, because there were only four of them.  

Gemcutter's Shop, Outside

After reaching the gemcutter's shop, Dwardazik inspected the storefront while the rest of the party stayed hidden in a nearby alleyway to avoid drawing suspicion. The shop looks like it has been closed since the owner was dealt with, with a heavy chain padlocked around the door. Upon closer investigation, the padlock was just for show.

Dwardazik: It's made to look like it's locked down tight, but that's just for show. Maybe there's someone in there?   Dazki: Well, if we think there might be someone in there, we could just knock.   Dwardazik: Go ahead... we'll watch for your signal.   Dazki: "The signal" will be me going in.

  With no response on the door, Dazki entered, followed by the rest of the party.  

Gemcutter's Shop, Inside

Inside, the shop has been swept clean. Remembering their last encounter here, the group moved to check out the back office room. While trying to remember if anything looks different from the last time they were here, a hollow echoed voice interrupted them, coming from nowhere in particular:

Darkness will befall those who enter upon my haunted lair. Beg for redemption of your soul, mortals! Or begone from here!

  Dwardazik instantly took out his pickaxe and started swinging, while Grogery tried to cast a spell targeting any Undead in the area, worried that this might be a ghost. Dazki was not fooled, pointing out that they were just on the receiving end of the same kind of illusion that Kesmet likes to pull on others. Rubic steps out:

Oh, it's you guys. You're probably here for same reason I am: you're investigating the Hounds Guild too?

  The mention of the Hounds Guild set Kesmet ablaze, and he wanted to hear everything that Rubic had to say about them. According to Rubic, the Hounds Guild are just some drug dealers. He's investigating them "for... reasons".

Rubic: The Rubymist dwarves run an alchemist shop called The Thistle Dew. It's really close to here. I don't think LaVista is going to be at the alchemist's shop, though, so you're out of luck.

  Rubic went to take his leave, citing two other places he had to check out, but not before a whispered conversation with Kesmet:

Rubic: Look, it's not like I care or anything, but if you're looking for the Hounds Guild, can you make sure that LaVista doesn't get hurt or anything?   Kesmet: Don't worry. I'll care for you.

  As the party is about to make their way over to the alchemist's shop:

Barry: WAIT, GUYS, DID WE CARE OF THAT GHOST?   Grogery: The only ghost was the friend we made along the way.

  The Thistle Dew was, indeed, just one street away from the gemcutter's shop.  

At the Thistle Dew

Dwardazik enters right in. There are two dwarves, a male and a female. Unusually, they are not carrying any robust weaponry that they could use to defend themselves. There are also two humans, both male, carrying shortswords but with no armor. Noticing that the dwarves have hairstyles that are similar to the Amberfall clan:

Dwardazik: I need some Amberfalls tea, and none of that knockoff shit.   Female Dwarf: Aye, a fellow Amberfalls lad, are ye?

  Then Kesmet and Grogery come through the door, with Dazki and Barry waiting outside. When Kesmet enters, one of the two humans becomes visibly agitated immediately and starts whimpering:

Human 1: Nah, man, keep that guy away from us. None of this is worth dying over.   Human 2: Whaddaya mean, Dagwood?

  Kesmet, leaning into his clever disguise, tries to throw their scent off the trail by pretending not to be the same person, while Dwardazik drops the act and demands to know where Wendi is. In response, a third dwarf, a female in a blue dress, steps out from behind a counter.

Blue Dress, to Dwardazik: Oh, I know who you are.   Blue Dress, to the whimpering humans: Stop pissing in your pants over there and have some self-respect!   Dagwood: Nah man, that's the Baker, man! Haven't ya heard the stories?   Kesmet: Baker? He looks more like a miner to me.   Dagwood: Nah man we gotta get outta here. You heard the stories! He cooked his family, he cooked Mad Dog. Even tried to cook the D-man, bro. Now he's come to cook us. Man, I'm too young to get offed!   Blue Dress: Eh lads, stop pissin in ye pants and have some self respect! Looks like we get to deal with two murderers today! Don't think I don't recognize a Stoneturner when I see one! Or, should I say, a former Stoneturner.

 

Key Combat Moments

The three dwarves from the shop transformed from weaponless dwarves into animal forms:

• The male transforms into a massive lion.
• Blue Dress transforms into a dire sabertooth tiger.
• The other female dwarf transforms into a dire bear. Oh, my, it's huge!

  Kesmet cast a fireball that:

• Immediately killed the two humans outright
• Ignited a pile of red powder, which burned extremely brightly and quite hot
• Exploded a pile of black powder that was, apparently, actually just gunpowder

  Dazki, upon hearing the explosion and ensuing sounds of animals, quipped to himself:

Goddammit, Kesmet, did you blow up another pet shop? Never should've let them go in alone...

  Barry fired an arrow with his bow, through a hole that once housed a window. He missed everything.   Wendi burst through a door in the back, looking very confused:

Wendi: Guys, what's going on out here? I heard a really loud explo-- oh my GODS   Grogery: They're trying to kill us!   Blue Dress, after running away to Wendi: And they are trying to kill us! They hate what they don't understand.   Wendi: Everyone stop fighting. This is not cool.

  After Wendi asked to stop fighting, Dwardazik gave one more attack as he retreated. Kesmet obliged, but not before trying to intimidate the other dwarves into doing the same. Dazki and Barry also chose to skip attacks. Grogery moved away to test their foes' resolve to do the same; sure enough, their foes seemed not to be interested in stopping.   Wendi stomped her foot on the ground, shouting "I said STOP FIGHTING". Tendrils of dark energy erupted from Wendi and battered all creatures within 10 feet of her, inflicting Dwardazik and Blue Dress with some lasting necrotic damage. She seemed confused at this outcome, perhaps intending for the tendrils to strike something else.   Blue Dress escaped to a basement through a ladder under a trapdoor that was hidden behind some junk. She started to gather up a bunch of stuff from the basement, planning to flee through a second trapdoor. Dazki saw her leave the main shop area and, sprinting past all the chaos in the shop, cornered her in the basement and prevented her escape.  

Combat Outcome

• The two humans, presumably from the Hounds Guild, were killed by Kesmet's opening fireball before they had an opportunity to make a single attack.
• All three shapeshifting dwarves were knocked back to their weaponless dwarven selves.
• The male dwarf was convinced to stop fighting and went to lie down on the floor.
• Blue Dress, heavily injured, tried to escape through a trapdoor in the basement, but was stopped by Dazki.
• The other female dwarf refused to surrender and practically exploded when Kesmet hit her with a lethal fire attack from behind.

 

Aftermath, Group 1

Dwardazik, Grogery, and the male Rubymist dwarf are upstairs. Barry, an equal member of the team, is equally here too.  

Dwardazik: Grogery, you should go downstairs and check on the others. Someone might have gotten themselves hurt.   Grogery: The last time I left you alone in a room with a transforming dwarf, he transformed into a centipede and almost killed you.   Dwardazik: *sigh*. OK, we're doing this. He takes out a dagger and carves a symbol into the dwarf's arm. The symbol resembles a pickaxe. Dishonor upon your clan! The Stoneturners will return this offense a thousand fold. He then grabs the other dwarf's beard, cuts the majority of it off, and throws it on the ground.   Grogery: That strikes me as... incredibly insulting.   Rubymist Dwarf: It is the Stoneturners that have been the real animals the whole time. Ye have been nothing but dogs.   Dwardazik: Us? Who was it that literally transformed into dogs, again?   Rubymist Dwarf: You'll get your comeuppance. We will find you and everything that you love. They will crumble beneath our boot.   Dwardazik: This is just the beginning. War has already been declared on your clan.   Rubymist Dwarf: You have no clan. You are not a dwarf.   Dwardazik: So you claim, dishonored dwarf. Worthless.   Grogery heals away the injury on the dwarf's arm.   Dwardazik, to Grogery: Now you disrespect me?   Grogery: This does nothing to help either of you.   Dwardazik, to Rubymist Dwarf: Hah. A goblin shows you more pity than one of your own kind.   Dwardazik, to Grogery: Do what you will. He is nothing to me now. The memory of the imprint will stay with him.   The Rubymist dwarf slumps down and grumbles incoherently.   Grogery: OK, I get that your clans have some sort of feud thing going on, but I'm pretty sure that the Rubymists weren't the people who sent you out here. That was your own clan, remember? We're all just really tense from fighting and, you know, being exploded.   Dwardazik: The Rubymists tried to assassinate me before, and then all of us just now!   Grogery: I don't care who's trying to kill who right now. Can't we all just stop, sit down, and have a nice reasonable discussion like adults instead of trying to kill each other? Literally, my only job to stop murders from happening!   Dwardazik: But they attacked first!   Grogery: He surrendered, and then you cut up his freakin' arm, dude!   Dwardazik: He is a war prisoner!   Grogery: Mutilating him does nothing to help you, but it makes them angrier at you. When they get angry, they'll just send more and more people after you. We already have that with Kesmet. We don't need more of it. Besides, would you really be so dishonorable as to do a poor job of guarding your box? This is more complicated than a blood feud, and carving up people's arms won't solve this.   Dwardazik: I refuse to betray my clan.   Grogery: Then don't give the Rubymists more ammunition to use against them.   Dwardazik: How am I supposed to prevent them from attacking me, then?   Grogery: You can defend yourself, of course, but don't push it further.   Dwardazik: You wouldn't understand. This offense cannot be tolerated.   Grogery: That may be true, but being merciful with people and having a good self-image is universal.   Dwardazik: I can see that this is bothering you.   Grogery: I just want to try to not make this worse, OK?   Dwardazik: It could hardly get much worse, outlaw.   Grogery: At least I'm trying to do the right thing.   Dwardazik: We have, what, a minute or two before the guards arrive?   Grogery: Then let's hope that Dazki and Kesmet are getting some questions answered down there.

 

Aftermath, Group 2

Dazki and the dwarf in the blue dress are downstairs, with Wendi right next to the trap door and Kesmet across the room.  

Wendi: Come on, Munchie, we need to make sure they don't murder each other downstairs.

  Wendi has a monkey familiar that she calls Munchie. She goes downstairs; the monkey does not follow. Kesmet follows close behind, getting slapped by the monkey on his way down. Wendi blocks the way, but Kesmet just acrobatically jumps over her, using a spell to avoid taking any damage from the fall.  

Kesmet, to Wendi: I've never killed anyone except in self-defense.   Dazki: Kesmet, you're not helping. "Self-defense" doesn't make the people any less dead.   Blue Dress: You do not understand true honor. You pal around with a murderer, and yet you're perfectly fine with it.   Dazki: Is that any worse than running drugs?

  Dazki asks Blue Dress to talk about what just happened. Both sides seem to be acting on incomplete information, and this could all be cleared up in a conversation. Blue Dress replies:

I will not sit at a table and have a discussion with a bunch of nameless murderers. I have honor.

  Through all this, Wendi is just getting more confused, and quite angry now:

Wendi: I don't understand what's going on here. Why is it that every time I make friends, you guys show up, and it was a "bad idea"? I'm starting to think you guys are wrong, not me.   Dazki: We just came because your sister is worried about you. I don't know what happened after my friends entered. I'm sorry this happened. He sets down his sword and kicks it over towards Wendi.   Kesmet: We came in here because we're also looking for information about drug trafficking crap, and then these guys decided that we would be easy targets and tried to maul us to death. We tried to stop fighting, but the damn bear kept trying to kill me. Also, the bear lady is kinda dead. She tried to kill Dwardazik.   Blue Dress: *sigh* another one murdered by the Stoneturners.   Kesmet: Well it was me, but you guys tried to kill us first! It was self-defense!   Blue Dress: You stay out of this. These are dwarven matters.   Dazki: Dwardazik is our friend. If it concerns him, then it concerns us as well.   Blue Dress: There's no reason to be so friendly towards an honorless, nameless murderer. Your loyalty is going to get you into more trouble than you know.   Dazki: It already has.   Blue Dress: Wendi, I think it would be best if you went upstairs for a bit. Wendi leaves. OK, if you two are going to murder me, then can you just hide my body so she doesn't have to see it?   Dazki: We didn't come here to kill anybody. My name is Dazki, it's a pleasure to meet you, sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Dazki extends his hand toward Blue Dress. Blue Dress leaves him hanging, instead giving Kesmet a long stare. Kesmet returns the gesture.   Blue Dress, to Kesmet: What assurances do I have that I won't get murdered the second I turn my back? Is it true that you're a mass murderer? You sure look like one.   Kesmet: Oh, whoops, this is actually a disguise. Kesmet dispels his illusion, transforming from a red-haired, pale-skinned mage with different-colored eyes into his normal self. It's unfortunate that they were there, but they were Hounds Guild scum. The fire was meant to deter the giant animals trying to maul us to death. This was self-defense: I came in looking for info, and maybe some soothing tea, and got none of it.   Blue Dress: That's because you party around with an honorless murderer.   Dazki: What's with all this "honorless murderer" business? He hasn't told us any of that.   Blue Dress: Stoneturners have always been on our case. They think we're less of dwarves because we seek alternate means to solve our problems. They would have our whole clan eliminated if they could.   Dazki: What did Dwardazik specifically do?   Blue Dress: The Overseer thinks it's a mistake, but there's no way that a mine as structurally sound as that would collapse, conveniently timed to hit us where it hurt.   Dazki: Can you provide proof of this? You've seen it yourself?   Blue Dress: I have the proof, but I'm not fool enough to carry it around with me. Do I look like a spy?   Dazki: You look like someone who believes they have been wronged.   Blue Dress: If you want safety in this world, do not befriend this nameless dwarf. And you, murderer, do what you do best I guess.   Kesmet: Where did this reputation of "ruthless murderer" come from? I only killed in self-defense. One of us was going to die anyway, I'd rather it not be me. Allegiances, honor, whatever... I just don't want to die! I don't know or care what Dwardazik did, you tried to kill us! What do you know about the Hounds Guild?   Blue Dress: Those two lads can bring in a bit of money once in a while. Alchemy can be used for other purposes, of course.   Kesmet: We're not going to kill you or anything, unless you happen to trip over a table and hit your head, or something, and then we get blamed for that too. In fact, Dazki, I'm going to go upstairs. If she does happen to... trip and fall and hit her head on a table... then sorry, but you'll be the one who gets the blame. Not me. Kesmet exits.   Dazki, to Blue Dress: You've said a lot here about Dwardazik. Let's go upstairs and hear his side of things.   Blue Dress: I'm not wagging tongues with a former Stoneturner.   Dazki: We could go around all day, or we can go upstairs and hash it out with him like adults.   Blue Dress: I'd rather be disemboweled by a smelly elf.   Dazki: Is there nothing I can say or do that's going to convince you to go up there?   Blue Dress: If I go up there, it's to murder the betrayer of the Rubymist clan.   Dazki: So, if you go up there, it's to murder? Just like him? Is that what you want?   Blue Dress: She thinks about it for several beats. Aye. I will ruin myself to better my clan. It's a noble cause.   Dazki: If I let you go, we will never see you again, right?   Blue Dress: Are you threatening me?   Dazki: No. If I let you go, do you swear that we will never deal with you again?   Blue Dress: As long as you are palling around with that false dwarf, I cannot guarantee anything. He draws trouble to him. If I must be that trouble, then I will oblige.   Dazki: *sigh*. I'm not going to hurt you. I have no reason to. But I also don't want you hurting my friend. Can we please just make a deal? You can go, and you leave the Stoneturners to their business.   Blue Dress: I'm not interested in lying to you. I will avenge my clan and their honor.   Dazki: Aren't there better ways to do that? I thought being a dwarf is all about doing the right thing, even if it's not the easy thing.   Blue Dress: You elves are long on tongue and short on mind. You don't understand honor. Should I just allow the memories and lives of my clan just wither into the stone for no reason? For malice? Do you not care of your ancestors?   Dazki: Of course, but we honor them with our stories, retellings, paintings, even our family recipes.   Blue Dress: That's a bunch of frilly bullshit. To a dwarf, our family line is sacred. What we do, who we are, it's in our blood passed down through generations. I represent every Rubymist that has ever been, that is now, and that will ever be.   Dazki: And were the Rubymists murderers or peacemakers? If they were peacemakers, then prove it and make peace. If they were brutal murderers, then I guess that's what you are too.   Blue Dress: We are not cowards, if that's what you mean. We have been persecuted for generations because we think differently and we do differently. They will never understand that, and so they must pay for their actions. Now are you going to kill me or what?   Dazki: No, I'm not going to kill you.   Blue Dress: Then what, are we going to have a tea party down here? Because right now we're having a philosophical debate, and I'm not in the mood for that while there's a murderer upstairs.   With a sigh, Dazki steps off the trapdoor.   Blue Dress, mumbling to herself: So long-winded. No wonder it takes them 10 years to build anything. She exits through the trapdoor.   Dazki goes back upstairs.   Kesmet: So, did she... trip and fall and hit her head?   Dazki: No.   Kesmet: Holy shit, did you actually kill her?!

Rewards Granted

The party has reached level 8.

Created Content

There's a dwarf in a blue dress from the Rubymist clan who seems to know about Dwardazik's story, namely, the alleged murder and his exile from the Stoneturner clan.   The Hounds Guild, or at least some of their low-level drug dealers, appeared to have been working with alchemists from the Rubymist clan, before they were instantly vaporized by a fireball from Kesmet.