Esterson Session 7, Beach Episode
General Summary
During the Night
A Shared Dream
During the night, the party has a shared dream about dolls made of string. One falling to its death after its teacher died…
Sen’s Awakening
The party is also awakened by Sen and Remus arguing about being within Esterson Hall again and to prepare meeting up with Emoru again.
In the Morning
Emoru and Sen meet after breakfast. Hesitant at first, they eventually worked up the courage to reminisce about the old times, remembering what made the other great. They realized neither has hard feelings for the other. So, Emoru forgave Sen.
Maedhros and Antharine were met with Welma and Festus in private. They were mainly being prepared for the upcoming Radiant Festival, a celebration for the Kingdom of Ardentry being founded.
The Radiant Festival!
Pretzel Eating Contest!
The party heard Inquisitor Arnsley Dorian intimidating a carnie, believing that the game was rigged for him to lose. Terrified, the carnie simply setup the game again. With Arnsley winning, he got himself a Kavalni plushie. Darwin, Altor, and Johan manages to convince Vicar Delkrum, Arnsley’s dwarf assistant, to join in at a pretzel eating contest as a last hurrah before taking on a diet. The also sign up themselves, waiting for the right moment.
The party also managed to trick Arnsley into getting in a dunk tank.
“Vicar! I’m drowning! Help!”
Have you tried standing up, sir?
The Inquisitor then gets his footing, standing up, “Oh…”
When the contest came around, Darwin had cleared his stack of pretzels first. He was hailed greatly by a large crowd. Even Arnsley Dorian and Vicar Delkrum drank with him.
A Date within the Festival
Antharine and Maedhros notice that some members from the Order of Candescence also showed up. Anthell, Antharine’s brother, being one of them. Meeting up with Master Amlen, Antharine’s mentor who set her up on her Trial of Praxis back in Ridgewater, happily greeted the two.
When asking him about Anthell, Amlen grew worried. He told the story for Maedhros about how inferiin had attacked the Luminous Monastery. It was a tough fight as Anthell and Jera, his mentor, fought all they could. In the end, Jera had died in Anthell’s arms. She had hid her struggle in fighting so that Anthell and the other students wouldn’t lose morale. Ever since then, Anthell has not taken her death lightly…
The two of them met up with the cold, distant, and bitter Anthell. Antharine was keen to open up to him but Anthell was dismissive, envious of how she still had Master Amlen while Master Jera was gone. Maedhros saw similar warning signs from he met Sen…
Hoping to not let the night get in their way, the two of them danced the Whimsical Waltz. A dance notorious for being flirtatious. With great skill, Maedhros carried greatly where Antharine was lacking. A kiss was snuck in the end. Welma and Festus applauded in the distance.
A Tragedy in Bound
When night fell, the clocktower lit up. It gave both Antharine and Maedhros a terrible suspicion of what was to come…
“What’s wrong?” Johan asked.
“My brother’s going to fall!” Antharine replied.
As Anthell ascended the steps, the familiar gaunt figure from the dream was seen playing a guitar. The rhythm became faster and faster the closer he got to the top. The party threw everything to reach him, stopping at the top of the tower. Anthell was then safely brought down to the ground by the party. Reluctantly, he agreed to stay at Esterson Hall.
Returning to the Hall, Maedhros provided Antharine a moonstone. It is custom where he is from that is a sign of commitment. Antharine happily accepted the gesture.
Character(s) interacted with
- Sen
- Emoru
- Albert Mayhew
- Arnsley Dorian
- Antharine
- Anthell
Session Scripts
The following scripts were used incase anyone would like to reread:
A Shared Dream
You dream an odd thing. A tall and lanky gaunt man sits in a chair as its long fingers strum a guitar. Beside him is a puppet show. The spotlight shines down on two yarn human figures: a smaller one and a larger one. The littler one is found as a tiny knot when the larger one walks in. It picks up the little one, winding more threads and string to help it move around. The littler one, being grateful, hugs the leg of the larger one. The larger figure hugs back. It then moves the little one back a bit to show it how the needle and thread work so it may know the inner string.
Happily they were at the moment, the two look separate ways as their attention is caught elsewhere. With little warning, the puppeteer’s gloved hands come out with scissors and a string is pulled from the larger figure’s heart and is snipped.
When the little one looks back, it’s in grief. The spotlight shrinks down to purely focus on the little one, looming over the larger one, yearning to be taught more. With no response, the little one then wonders in the dark, bumping aimlessly through the silhouette objects on the stage somberly with no direction.
A second spotlight shines on a tower. The little one then follows, climbing up to the top of it. It looks down to see the steep drop down. Heaving a sigh, it pulls string tethered to its heart, tying an end to a railing.
It steps up onto the platform, with arms spread out to embrace oblivion. The little one then teeters forward then free falls off the tower. By the time the little one hits the ground, the knot that is its heart, rips out and hovers above the cavity, gnarled and frayed.
The guitarist plays the last few notes as the curtain draws into darkness.
Emoru Forgives Sen
”I forgive you,” Emoru says, with a teary smile, “I know you didn’t mean it”
Sen also smiles, “That’s all I ever wanted to hear from you for the longest time… Thank you…”
”A thanks? From you Sen?”
He chuckles at the thought, “And, that’s the only one you’re getting out of me.”
Emoru folds her arms, ”I don’t know. These two years seem to have changed you a lot.”
“Changed? I’d sooner outdrink Welma than say please.”
Emoru shakes her head.
The two of them sit there in silence for a moment, smiling at each other.
With great surprise, Sen gives Emoru a massive hug, lifting the avian’s feet off the ground!
Remus and Welma cheer, “Welcome home, Sen,” as Festus pops a champagne bottle.
Sen looks at Remus, “Come here you old oaf, it started with you after all!”
Remus smiles, then runs up forming a group hug with the two of them.
“Welma? With your size, there will always be room for you!”
She rolls her teary eyes, “Still with the sense of humor, darling!” The halfling then hugs his leg.
”And Festus,” Sen calls out, “We can’t forget about you…”
”It would be an honor to join, sir.” The blether walks over, embracing the rest of them.
It’s bittersweet to recall how it closely resembles their first group photo. You see them all smile and cheer, swaying a bit as they embrace as one. They may not all be there but it’s about celebrating who is there, isn’t it? At least another Stray has come home.
The group stops as Sen looks at the newcomers, “This never would have happened if it weren’t for you,” Sen of all people, extends a hand out to join them.
