The IRS Session 6: Home Before Dark Report

General Summary

Picking up where we last left off, Gen sits brooding in the monastery. Finally growing tired of fruitlessly pouting, she heads to the worship room, meeting with the church's seer to hopefully make sense of things
Gen is led to the church's broom closet, being shown a spider's web which represents Visku's weave, while the seer explains all the similarities between both. This however, goes a bit over Gen's head, as she was more looking to pledge an oath to the goddess herself than listen to metaphors
Gen is gifted 2 balls of yarn, one representing her journey, while the other representing the roadblocks to said journey. She is told that upon tying knots in (and between) these balls when appropriate, she may gain more of an understanding of her journey of faith
Lastly, Gen is gifted a set of robes of colorful string known as a quipu, donning the already-knotted string uniform to complete her right of passage
Afterwards, Gen is still extremely confused, as she expected to see a greater change in how she felt, as well as her powers, but feels nearly the same as she did earlier that day
Cal and Nessa then head from Bügendmend Hospital to their date at the Clover Cuisine, with Cal still totally oblivious to the fact that it even is a date
As the two sit down, very awkward conversation between the two fills the air, as they both recount their pasts to one another for the first time
The two are about to enjoy a romantic candlelight dinner when Cal realizes something, questioning "is this a date?" to Nessa. Nessa responds that she was trying to be as clear as possible with asking Cal out
Now that the air is clear between the two, they begin to enjoy eachother's company, as well as the atmosphere of the bar & grille. Enjoying mock-Promatican cuisine, the two talk about a range of topics, from Nessa's college life, both of their aspirations in life, as well as their compatriots
Nessa invites Cal to dance, and as the two dance their hearts out in a beautifullly-coordinated display, they communicate with their actions much more than they could communicate with words.
Nessa is then surprised by a spur-of-the-moment kiss from Cal, ending the date off much better than either of them could have expected
As this is happening, a second dinner is had by Eight and Gen, who met not just 30 minutes prior in the church of Visku
The two drink some, more expensive drinks, while stuff their bellies full of fried fish, and just have a good time talking of their days as well as their struggles with the other IRS members.
Eight also shows an interest in Gen's memory stone, putting her prized daggers on the table in order to touch the stone and feel its power
Much to Gen's guesses, the stone rejects Eight's touch, nearly knocking her out with its overwhelming power
Eight focuses in on a drinking contest happening at the bar, and after the two split up with Gen bound for the church once more, Eight follows the drunkards to attempt pickpocketing
Eight is successful in snagging a small coin purse, heading afterwards to both Cal and Nessa's target location, the Noirdremj wing of Bügendmend Hospital
As all of the party (minus Gen) arrive at the hospital doors right before curfew, they enter as they are invited in by the church's Minister
As the IRS walk between the pews, they spot Rizzo lying in a hospital bed with fresh stitches in his chest from the previous day's injury, plotting his revenge on the bandits who wronged him. Eight splits from the party to "tend to Rizzo", using this as a guise to scavenge for materials
The Minister is about to gift Cal a letter from Abbot Nijer before the member of "Her Eyes" walks through the door
Clad in all black and brandising quite a few weapons, the member of "Her Eyes" pulls out a scroll to list their church's demands for the Reinvigorated Spirit's visit to the church next month
The Minister as well as the party are apalled at the extraordinarily-extravagant demands of the priest, with the party poking great fun at the black-clad man's asks
As the member of "Her Eyes" cools off in the corner from being butthurt, Cal updates the Minister on the situation of her sect and the recent bombing of their sanctuary
The Minister reveals that the bombing likely stemmed from an unknown subsect of Noirdremj's Hunt, as they wear a crest boasting three claw marks, shocking both the Minister and Cal
The Minister hands Cal the letter meant for his Order, with the letter discussing the following

One survivor made it out of the explosion to report the attack on the sanctuary, whose identity is currently unknown to the party

The Order are to investigate a company in Khudaldaa's Ustgelt which produces silver bars that brandish the same markings seen on the attacker's crest

The Order are holding a funeral service for the deceased Abbot in 12 days' time at a known location to the Order in Khudaldaa's portion of the Gaineamór Desert

After reading the scroll, Cal asks for supplies for his journey ahead, with the Minister gathering healer's kits, spare potioner's components, as well as a couple of basic maps for Bambai, Id Duudakh, and Khudaldaa
Cal and Nessa poke at the member of "Her Eyes" even more, with the frustrated man stepping outside to avoid any of the violent outbursts he was threatening
Eight follows the man outside, clearly not reading that he wanted to be left alone, and attempts to overpower him after being threatened
Unfortunately the encounter goes South quickly, as the "Her Eyes" member avoids Eight's leg sweep and they wrestle together on the ground
As this is happening, Nessa and Cal look for Eight, and end up talking to an actively-dying adventurer man in the hospital's hallway who shows a necrosis eating his leg away
The old man mentions he was looking for the fabled "Gravedigger" artifact, but his journey stopped short thanks to sprung traps in the Amidrakh Temple, leaving him in the state he's currently at
Cal heals the pain in the man's leg, with the necrosis remaining still, afterwards heading off to find Eight once more
They reunite, including the wheelchair-bound Rizzo and head back out from the church
On their way out, the Minister stops Cal, examining his hand closely. She whispers to Cal that "your power stems from something much greater than all of us. A deep-laidened power which has attached itself to you", which comes as a major shock to Cal, but leaves so many more questions than answers
Everyone heads home and sleeps. Cal tries to talk to the malding Gen, to no real avail
Nessa dreams of spending a comfy night with her old college friend Willow, while right next to her, Cal dreams of a dark and damp cave inhabited by some sort of creature
Waking up the next day to the knocks of guards on the church doors, the IRS are greeted by Corporal Ench and his batallion, who gives the party their reward (35 Silver, as well as some Arcsthetics and an Enchantment) from the previous day's deeds
Ench also mentions that they are looking for help in detaining/slaying The Vantablack Phantom, a murderous thief rumored to stalk the city's streets at night.
The party agree to help Ench out once more, and head out to continue their days. Rizzo, joined by Gen, installs a set of Arcsthetic Arms and the both of them find the supposed hideout of the bandits who robbed Rizzo the previous day
Nessa sets off to busk in the city streets once more, as well as post her information in a public space to reach her friend Willow in the future
Lastly, Cal spends the day trying to process all that happened the day prior. Nessa, the source of his powers, as well as the mission the Abbot entrusted with Cal, all compete for Cal's mental spotlight

Campaign

Lines Drawn in the Sand

Protagonists

Gehenna Malabolge

Chaotic Neutral Kalashtar (Enchanter's Apprentice )
Paladin 4
War Cleric 1

31 / 31 HP

STR
8

DEX
14

CON
12

INT
10

WIS
19

CHA
17

Dain

Chaotic Neutral Dwarf ()
Artificer 6

49 / 49 HP

STR
18

DEX
10

CON
15

INT
16

WIS
13

CHA
13

Rizzard of Oz II

Politicaly Incorrect Custom Lineage (Fey Lost)
Rouge 3
Warlock 1

39 / 39 HP

STR
11

DEX
12

CON
17

INT
10

WIS
10

CHA
18

Nessa Sarkas

Satyr (Noble)
Bard 2

19 / 19 HP

STR
11

DEX
17

CON
14

INT
16

WIS
14

CHA
18

Cael Malos

Chaotic Neutral Air Genasi (Apothecary)
Monk 4

43 / 43 HP

STR
13

DEX
18

CON
17

INT
10

WIS
18

CHA
15

Report Date

02 Jun 2024

Primary Location

Bambai

Related Characters

• Minister Ühksen