Session 37: The Divorcees Yearn for the Mines

General Summary

Clocks

Recap

Vinum 14 to Vinum 16, 3033: Year of Darkness

In the morning at the Black Sheep, the Omens discussed how they would approach negotiations with Georgie. Orianna went fishing, scrounging up a fish with teeth that begged in perfect Common for her to save it before the witch's curse sets in at midnight, but she tossed it back in. She also fished up a cube of gears that unfolded like a rubix cube, with something glinting at the center, but despite the best efforts of the Omens, couldn't quite unlock all three layers.

In preparation, they messaged Dorian through Orianna, who said:

Instead of responding, Dorian teleported directly to them, Khorvis in tow. He came ready, a book of paperwork in tow. Khorvis also brought them File #7777 - The Seven Pillars, which confirmed some of their suspicions and leads as far as ROYGBIV goes, and gave them an official title: The Seven Pillars. He summarized it, the file confirms that there are in fact Seven, though it only names one of them, the Blue Veil, which “sleeps” in a city called R’lyeh beyond the Horizon Line. It sounds like the Order sent out an expedition team and it didn’t go well.

He followed up that if they wanted to pursue a lead there, they could start at Ponape, the monitoring outpost the Order did manage to establish to observe R'lyeh. Or they could also investigate Portico and the Gate, as the spirit in the Seuris household had led them to. The Pathfinder records, stored in the Pathways, are in bad shape and Khorvis is frankly shocked that anyone has been keeping them up all these years. He'll try to turn up more for the Omens, starting with the Blue Veil, but he makes no promises. More information can be found here:

Dorian dropped the bombshell that he and Georgie weren't normal exes, but in fact divorced. Married over 22 years, split 12 years ago. A blink in the lives of two elves; both the marriage, and the time it has been since they split. They divorced because Georgie kept stealing Dorian's dig sites.

Negotiations

Negotiations went easily for the two parties once Georgie and Dorian got down to it. But not before it was noted that they had both dressed their best for the occasion, Dorian leaning into the rugged adventurer look and Georgie the cutthroat academic; both had taken everything showers this morning. While their divorce stipulated Georgie couldn't get within 500 feet of one of Dorian's sites, since he hadn't filed a report on the Blooming Grotto, as the site had been dubbed, in over 6 months, he forfeited seniority.

However, the Feywild Clause of the Vox Arcana's bylaws allows for up to a decade of lost time, which would stipulate that the original claimant and the new claimant would be granted equal seniority over a site. While this conflicts with their divorce agreement, both agreed that it would be better to just share the site than to get into a drawn out legal battle over it.

After negotiations concluded, Georgie took them on a tour of the site, which had blossomed since the removal of the Princess of Evil Water's influence. Georgie has Olhydra, or Olly, under control and attuned. Greenery is growing everywhere, and there are even some plants that grow on specific parts of the ruin that illuminate the roads like streetlamps. Only issue is every now and then one of the bunches of plants will animate, like a warrior ant protecting the rest of the colony, and attempt to oust the researchers. One of these would later bring tea time to an early conclusion, and Andy would discover that they can be reprogramed in a sense to no longer see the archeological team as invaders.

They have found many instances of iconography in the town, including that of the Green Regent, an Old World deity portrayed as a woman with hair of moss and leaves and a crown of golden boughs. Orianna thought it sounded like Titania, but was unconvinced. There were also depictions of three interlocking crescent moons, which gives credence to the theory that there used to be three moons. No written media, unfortunately.

The Archeologist Trap

Andy, Anya, and Augustana all got tea with Georgie, who seemed to be as impassioned about tea as Dorian is, while Orianna fished nearby. Amara read her book, getting through chapter two of the Aureliad while Khorvis and Bukra did their best to get some information out of Dorian over beers.

Each group found that the other still carries a torch; originally, they split because from Georgie's perspective, Dorian kept withdrawing into his work, taking assignments further and further away, so she would try to get ahead of him in staking out sites. From Dorian's view, Georgie kept undercutting and one-upping him, so he was trying to get space so they could grow in parallel with each other. Some might say that's easily fixable, but truly irreconcilable differences wouldn't make that much fun of a romantic subplot, hm? That would be dead on arrival.

Khorvis and Bukra are on level. Operation Archeologist Trap is a go.

The Omens decided they would make for the Carthelian estate to finally bring an end to Grandpapa after leaving so long ago. In preparation, they reached out to the Thunderbirds:

As they lifted off in the mortar and pestle, Dorian, Georgie, and Khorvis waved up at them, Georgie standing a little closer to Dorian than you thought she would after your conversations. Bukra, "the one who lifts," tossed up a keg of Strongjaw ale after them, for good luck and to be enjoyed once things at the estate were settled.

Notes