Chapter 2: Session 1: In sickness and in health

General Summary
Bruce
• The group decided first to meet Bruce. He is staying in Room 15 of the apartment building.
• He seems to be a little paranoid but with good reason. He lets the group take a look at his newspapers.
• It is revealed that these "clones" have worms inside of them.
Character(s) interacted with
• Bruce: A friend of king Charlie
• Mac: The Slugomia who works behind the apartment building desk. It also goes by Slog. Asked the group if it was worth it when they left.
• Hair Ball: The smoker cat who flirted with Kali.
• Donoven: Zettaras cousin.
• Gulerk: The high priests of Athena, was infected with worms.
 
We all decided that we wanted to visit the Black Market so we started our adventure with a visit to Bruce Salvatore since his place was on the way. We learned that he is a cousin of Zettara and a friend of King Charlie. He lived in a poor part of the city in a building with 20 rooms.
At the front desk was Slugomia named Mac who refused to give us Bruce’s room number. Kaliel started knocking on doors first. At the first door she met Hair Ball, a smoker cat who hit on her. We continued knocking on all of the doors until Aiden figured out which room by reading mail boxes (15). After we convinced him to let us in, we noticed his resemblance to the royal family. He is an Apex and armed.
His room resembled that of a conspiracy theorist with the floor covered with newspapers and string connecting different articles throughout the room. He thinks that some of his memory is missing. He thinks that time has either stopped or changed. One paper dated 1232: “King ill – unknown sickness spreads around kingdom.” This is NOT the Great Cold. This disease is a side effect of the Great Cold.
(The paper that Aiden bought last week was from 1435)
Kaliel’s notes:
 
WHAT HE KNOWS:

I think time stopped or changed around this time. Paper is from 1232- the time of silence. (Paper from Aiden 1435).

"KING ILL- UNKNOWN SICKNESS SPREADS AROUND THE KINGDOM"

Bruce says this disease was a side effect of the great cold? Worms- that invade the body. If you pop the worm you become sick. He believes both illnesses were manufactured. Does not know how or who.

1300 - I think what happened when everyone got sick was the worms messing with our brain. They're targeting the frontal lobe- Maia brain blast that this is why people are acting weird.

paper contains autopsy reports

The king was never sick, that never happened.
[11:18 PM]
------
[11:19 PM]
There are two kings- he tells us "see things how they really are" the ink shifts and what Aiden really see is "conspiracy in the capital"

King missing, replaced with doppelganger

Awol is not a king but of some type of royal lineage

Queen is not dead (does not say which one)

trapped because of unknown illness- priestess takes advantage, courts are closed, planet destroyed- is this connected?

Man speaking an unknown dialect knocks on the door- draconic. His neck is snapped after an arguement- he works with Bruce. Bruce pulls off his head and starts digging around it- finds paper. Only fire can stop them.
 
They- everybody is they. Their heartbeat is different, super slow. Other change- the eyes gradually start shrinking until there's nothing left. (The worms have 32 WIS aaaaaa)
 
Whoever is writing the newspaper knows what's going on.
 
He also believes that both the disease and the Great Cold were manufactured. He had a worm extracted from his brains and said that autopsy reports showed that worms were targeting the frontal lobes of the brain. This is why people are acting crazy. In 1300 autopsy reports were leaked.
He also told us that the king was never sick and that he (Bruce) had been one of the king’s knights. He also told us that there were two kings.
Aiden looked at the newspaper (above) again, the ink seemed to move and read” A Conspiracy in the Capital.” (Not Autopsies linked). Other headlines read: “King missing, replaced by doppelganger” Awol is not a king but has some sort of royal lineage.
Also “Queen is not dead” (doesn’t say which one) and “trapped because of unknown illness.
“Priestess takes Advantage, ports are closed, A planet is destroyed. Is this connected?”
(This is Forgotten Realms.)
 
We hid after hearing a pounding at the door. We heard Bruce arguing with him about a found document. After Bruce broke his neck, he stripped him and we saw that he had no genitalia. His eyes looked like Awol’s. Bruce has sent him to a reporter but “they got to him. Bruce removed the head (like a golem) and worms crawled it. I cast “Burning hands” to destroy it.

(is this correct?) We found out that the creature’s heart sounded like Awol’s and that there are different stages of the eyes – They start shrinking until there is nothing left.
 
Per Bruce:
The worms are doing the cloning
The worms are sentient
Their wisdom is 32
 
Bruce thinks that whoever writes the newspaper know what is going on. The newspaper is written in art magic and he gave us special glasses to that we could read:
• 1232: The King comes down with an unknown illness.
• 1300: Autopsy reports are getting leaked.
• 1306: What is going on in the castle?
• 1320: Time makes no sense.
• 1325: Castle on lockdown. Prince Clyde is missing.
• 1330: Pregnancy rates drop by 45%
• 1331: Pregnancy rates skyrocket by 110%
• 1400: Children are not aging; babies go missing.
• 1441: W. General is shut down by order of the queen.
• 1500: What happened to Zettara?
• 1503: Lilac missing for where about go to 45 Timmer St.
• 1515: Media blackout.
Bruce told us not to let anyone know we are on to then but doesn’t tell us who “them” are. He then told us to go.
Kaliel’s notes:
As we duck away we stumble into a house- running into the home of one of the former priestesses.

The priestness (Golurk) says the sickness was implanted in the castle right after the young ones went into the time chamber.

When Lilac took the throne- Queen came into the picture and she was different than her. Athena denounced Lilac, Lilac turned angry. Queen turned into something that corrupted her nature. After her brother went missing- Clyde. She was not the same. They were twins,

Then she was sent down the stairs and was tamed. Lilac was used?

Princesses weren't supposed to be here?

Kaliel has been poisoned by worms thanks to the priestess who was fighting them.

They attempt to gain info and also somehow know that Kali has a girl she's into (leak?)

We tell them to commit die.

A new goddess says "no worms for you"- and yeets them out of her body.

We destroy the worm bois and a house explodes. Purple eye boi and guard guys arrive- they're friendly.
 
Purple eye boy is cousin to Zetarra- Donvan. Purple eye thing means they were appointed to guard the children. WHICH MEANS THEY WERE INFILTRATED.
 
When we left the building to head to the Black market, we saw a guard with purple eyes and since I can’t run fast, I stupidly cast “Invisibility” on myself. We all ran and took shelter in a house occupied by an orc who said she would hide us. She told us that she had been one of Athena’s priestesses at the castle. Her name is Gulerk.
Kaliel asked her what had happed at the castle. She told us that Athena’s statue was destroyed but that the destroyers couldn’t touch the pieces so they are still there. She told us that the sickness was implanted after the young ones went into the time chamber until August deems them ready to be released.
She said that August is a witch and that Lilac is under the queen’s thumb. First Lilac took the throne and then August. Athena denounced Lilac. The queen tainted Lilac’s nature while trying to turn her into something she wasn’t.
Lilac is not the same since Clyde went missing. He is Lilac’s twin. She fell down the stairs after Clyde disappeared. She thinks August is finished with Lilac.
After she tells us not to bring the princesses back into the capital, she drops a worm onto the floor. She is fighting what the worms want to do to her. Someone cast “hold person” on her and she exploded into a nest of worms as she yelled at us not to trust anyone. Meanwhile Kaliel was infected but an unknown goddess helped her to throw them up. I cast “Lightening Bolt and destroyed the nest of worms.
The house exploded!
Keliel grabbed me to start running but we were stopped by the guards. They are on our side! They are what is left of the castle guards. The leader is Donovan, cousin of Zettara.
Go to black market- there was apparently a massacre there. People wearing yellow responsibile- killed 100-150 of the people. Pushed past wards and everything.

they took a little bit of everything- anything that related to magic

people in yellow appear to be another group

When we got to the Black market I couldn’t go in because I had never been there before so didn’t have a pass. It didn’t matter because we were all stopped. The entire market was hacked by folks wearing yellow and every vendor lost merchandise. We think that there is another group afoot.
We head to 45 Timmer Street.
Kaliel: - Once we cross the bridge to the street on the other side we hear a parade, they're celebrating dungeoneering. Robert is on a parade float.

We see a man in yellow heading to him and remember he head a death threat against him- we go to help him.

Kali yeets foam sword, Aiden rolls for bird and we all prevent him from dying (Percy the pigeon aquired)

We then save him by kidnapping him!

And he's a werewolf

We grab him some good shoes, he comes with us on mission and goes incognito.

he's leading us to Timer Street because he's been there and knows the newspaper mystery man.

Notes
• Bruce knew the group was with Zettara before they even said her name.
• Athena "disowned" Lilac, and Clyde is her twin.
• At one point, Lilac took the throne, but the queen did something to her, and she was never the same.
• Donoven is Zettaras cousin.
• Purple eyes mean the person was knighted.
• Aiden got a pigeon named Percy.
• Lambert runs the newspaper, Rob knows him.
45 Timmer Street is where the newspaper office is. Robbie wanted to know if we were going there because Lambert was supposed to interview him.
 
Robbie is not very bright. He was an unwanted child.