Session 13 Report

General Summary

The party had left off following the head caretaker and priest in charge, Huatuo into the temple courtyard. The High Elf lead them to a small building, about the size of a shed, and minimally furnished. He explained that due to the nature of the topic, he was taking them to his own personal domain, elaborating on how all High Elves had the ability to create small personal domains for themselves, all loosely connected, and in an area that was extremely close to the realm of the gods. After transporting them there, he led the party to some seats and began to discuss Lauran. Soup briefly interrupted the encounter, prompting a scolding from Huatuo. The party told him how Lauran was a terrorist and conducting horrible, unethical experiments, asking if there was anything Huatuo could do. He remarked how the High Elves long stopped concerning themselves with Lauran after his exile, but he could try to petition the elders of the High Elves for action. He also used his magic to try and locate Lauran's whereabouts, telling the party that Lauran was located far to the west, most likely across the country. The party thanked him, and he told them they were welcome to come again, and he would send letters with updates to Donovan's address as Fanna asked.   The party left the courtyard, passing Guiying as she was sweeping the altar room. She asked the party how the conversation went, then after a moment, realized they knew Michael and asked them to tell him she said hi. The party was curious how she knew him, and she explained how they met when he was younger, when he was more serious and less laidback. This was before he went on an overseas trip to Leferin, which took place about 10 years ago. She showed them a picture of him before he went on the overseas trip, where his appearance was more akin to the traditional garb of Lingguo's religious figures. She also explained how he took in Anahe only about a year ago, and it came as a shock to her and everybody that knew him: Michael had explicitly said before that he didn't want to have children, as he didn't want them being put in danger because of his profession.    The party then made their way towards main street, where they witnessed a large puppet show taking place. Brooks hopped onto Fanna's head to get a better view of what was going on. After shouldering their way through the crowd, they arrived just in time to see the climax of the play. Once the crowd split, the party debated on what to do next. Brooks saw Michael and Anahe in the distance, with Michael in the middle of a conversation with a group of adventurers similar to the party.   The group walked around the capital some more, and eventually came across a park where kite battles were taking place. Fanna and Amanti decided to fight each other, Fanna taking the Phoenix kite and Amanti taking the Ice Queen kite. After an exciting battle, Fanna emerged victorious, cutting the thread of Amanti's kite and sending it flying. A group of people from the crowd who were kite runners split off to chase after the kite, but Brooks, using Fanna as a launchpad and sending them hurtling to the ground, grabbed the kite from the air. The angry kite runners ran after the party, who eventually bumped into Michael, Anahe, and the group of adventurers from before: An aarakocra, a half-elf, a dwarf, and a water genasi. The two groups exchanged greetings, and the party found out this group of adventurers had known Michael for a few months longer than they had, meeting him when he saved them from a monster that had been possessed by a fearsome ghost. They then went off to go to the kite battles on their own.   Now that the other adventuring party was gone, the party told Michael that Guiying, the woman from the temple, said hi. He confirmed how they were good friends, and made plans to visit her once he was free. Fanna, trying to unnerve Michael, then changed their face to look like Michael's from the picture Guiying showed them. Michael merely stared at them expressionless, before laughing and clapping his hands, joking about how "he wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes" back then. The party offered Michael the kite they had obtained from the kite battle. Anahe looked at it and expressed interest in having it, but didn't want to be a burden on Michael. He assured her it was fine, calmly taking the kite and putting it in a bag of holding he had in his jacket pocket. He then went on to explain the Legend of the Kite-Flying Festival to the party, which left Fanna in tears, crying into Brooks'. Michael supplied Fanna with tissues to stop this. The session ended here, with Michael and Anahe separating from the party, though not before the party overheard Anahe express worry that they knew something of Michael's past.   The party stands in the middle of the city. It is about early afternoon. They have a few hours to burn before going back to the Ginkgo Tree Park to have Michael give them the charms he promised.