Session 17: Liya Takes Our Blood, and Quell Explores Her Backstory

We have fish leftover from breakfast, because Jade made sure to cast prestidigitation once every hour to keep it cold. We also cook up rice and dried vegetables that are provided by the temple for guests. Jade flavors it for us too, after an array of confusing answers about which flavors we prefer, and it ends up smoky. Quell is confused because the color does not match the taste.
 
“The fish is shiny on the outside.” -Wulf
 
Jade has a different mask on than before. She changed the gold one out before dinner, and now she’s wearing a raven mask that leaves her mouth exposed so she can eat. Wulf is intrigued and can’t stop staring.
 
After we eat, we go to find Liya. She’s in what looks to be the main temple, with some other people eating dinner. Nuru waves us in and says Liya is still “ticked" at Nuru, but will speak to us. Apparently she wasn’t supposed to bring us up this way, and now there’s a political mess because of it. Wulf is told to just not say anything while we talk to her.
 
Liya takes us to a small room in the back to discuss the pearl. She asks to see it, saying that the nightmares the child has been having have been about ghosts and drowning. Liya understands the way to destroy it, and agrees to do so with a price. She wants a favor, and a vial of Cali’s and Wulf’s blood.
 
“I mean, I guess I’ve got extra.” -Wulf
 
The favor is to deliver a package to the first outpost we find, without opening the package. The people there will take it to the final destination. She is very vague about why she wants our blood, claiming to be interested in things she can understand. Cali is very unnerved, and Liya says she does not intend to use blood magics to harm us, and seems to be telling the truth. Cali asks for it in writing even so, that neither Liya nor anyone else will use this blood to harm or scry on them. Liya says that she cannot promise that they won’t scry on our current dealings, but will not in the future. She does put this in writing, sworn by mother desert and the oaths of her ancestors, written in traders cant, and then signs her name.
 
Wulf happily cuts himself open and pours it into a vial. Liya wraps his arm very tightly in bandages. Cali delicately pricks their wrist, and allows Liya to bandage their arm when it’s done. Jade donates 10gp, as does Quell, and Wulf tries to give Liya 50gp, which she declines, saying he already paid his price.
 
After we hand off the pearl, we all follow our cult leader Quell to the other guest house. There are dwarves glaring at us. Jade wanders around, reading a bunch of stuff about the monastery. Quell tells Cali that there’s an elf the dwarves don’t seem to like, which is why she’s sending Wulf to investigate. Cali suggests that the elf might be pretentious, and is then incredibly surprised to learn that Wulf is half elf as well.
 
Wulf introduces himself to the grumpy dwarves and tries to join them for a drink, but they don’t want him to. One of the dwarves berates another for almost agreeing. Quell casts message to tell him not to mention the crystals we have.
 
“We already was there.” -Wulf
 
Wulf offers to help the dwarves with something, even offering the party’s services, and the dwarf leans in close and whispers to him in Schildling:
“There are things that cannot be fought, there are things that cannot be outrun. They do not realize that yet, but there is nothing you can do to help us.”
 
It seems that they’re going in the same direction at the same time as us, so we’ll end up traveling as a group. We will meet up with them tomorrow morning and leave together. Quell casts message a couple of times asking what the dwarf said, and when he finally comes back to the group, she reminds him that he can reply! Wulf is very confused at how to talk in his head and out loud at the same time.
 
He tells us about the conversation, and that they seem resigned to die.
“Well, that seems promising.” -Cali
“…No, it does not.” -Wulf
 
Cali and Wulf both find out that each other knows Schildling. Quell tells Wulf he did a good job, and goes to talk to the elf, followed by a less than stealthy Wulf. Quell turns around and tells him to go talk to Cali. He tucks his metaphorical tail between his legs and runs back to Cali to talk more about Schildling. Quell compliments the elf lady’s purple fish, and they talk about Quell needing to pay attention to her dreams and listen to her “lady heed”. This elf can see the future, and rambles about prophecies.
 
Quell asks about why she was sent away, and the elf tries to see for her. “I believe they thought to keep you safe…” It seems like Quell’s parents were being chased by something dangerous. She can’t tell if they are alive or dead even now, or if Quell will ever see them again. She says that there was betrayal, but she’s not sure if they were betrayed or if they betrayed Quell. She says it’s most likely that they died very soon after Quell last saw them, though that is just opinion.
 
She says to be careful of the villagers in the mountains where we’re headed. They wear masks there, and “masks hold their secrets”. Quell is very confused.
 
“Orchids around them, poisonous everywhere.”
 
She says there’s a woman in the barrens with red eyes who walks through the dreams of those with the second sight. She also wears a mask. Quell is reminded of the mirror, when she saw a woman with red eyes and a mask, and she tells the elf this.
 
The elf tells her not to be so lonely, and Quell says that her new friends are all very different from her. “Most people are different.” Quell asks about Egil, and the elf says she’s met Egil but not here. He was with the caravan in the past with a child, and was kicked out by the leader because he thought the attacks had been because of Egil. The elf insisted on staying with him instead, and they traveled together through the desert, her and Egil and Stein or Steer, or “whatever his name was.” She helped take them to a village that healed the child and was protected by whatever had been following them. She hasn’t seen him since then, aside from in visions.
 
The elf lady says she is here every summer, and she and Quell hope to see each other again, and wish safe travels. Quell tells us a bit about the prophecy she received, which could be hers or someone else’s: “Carry this, will you? Beware the two-headed mare. The eagle is the first to fall, but I fear the scavengers rejoice, the ice fox and the raven. Blood comes for us all, and darker yet behind it.”
 
Wulf goes over to talk to the elf lady after Quell comes back, and introduces himself in terrible elven. They have a conversation, and she warns Wulf to not accept any crowns. She also says to “keep her safe,” referring to a girl we will find on our travels.
 
Wulf repeats this information to us and we have a conversation about what counts as royalty. He insists that he is not an heir.
 
Wulf and Cali go to drink-and-think, and Quell goes to find Jade, who wandered off before we went toward the dwarves and such.
 
Jade sees a face in a mirror while she’s alone, who speaks to her, frustrated that it’s been so long since Jade has looked in one. “You should reach Tagate soon,” she says, proceeding to instruct Jade to “look for Kierzi at the docks.” She will get further instructions in no less than 10 days. Jade informs the face that there’s actually a change of plans, and that she “picked up their trail” and will be headed in a different direction. She tells the face about the ice crystals, and the face is impressed, saying she is a better agent than originally thought. The face disappears, and Jade starts writing a letter to Dominic, her surrogate wizard dad, saying she’ll probably be gone longer than expected.
 
Cali and Wulf bond over drinks and their past, in Schildling. Quell finally does find Jade, and has a conversation with her.
 
EOS