A New Horizon Sessions 41 - 50

Session 41 Upon their daily investigation of the city message board, the party found one missive addressed specifically to Leigh-la. It indicated that Mercutio was ready to collect the favor she owed. Right on cue, the enigmatic merchant appeared as if out of no where to give Leigh-la her task, which she readily accepted. She also informed the party that once she did this, she intended to seek out the Wandering Sisters and travel with them for a time, but she wished them all a fond farewell (or at least Lir and Zuno at any rate). Before they left, Flea bought out the remaining stock of Mercutio's magic beans, which she promptly planted in a back alley, again conjuring forth a portal to some cursed realm. Flea simply paid a man 10 gp to board up the door and hung a sign in front of the alley before moving on.
The party opted to investigate the missive regarding the "carnivorous ooze situation" in the sewers. They sought out the Crown Mage in charge, Orias. The curmudgeonly wizard explained the situation and offered 1200 gp to the party if they could help them find the "hive" of these intelligent oozes that could take the form of their victims and wipe them out. Before they entered, he also warned that two of his fellow Mages had been gone for over a week now and were believed dead. Were they to encounter them in the sewers, they should assume them to be oozes.
As fortune would have it, they indeed encountered the "missing" Crown Mages, though they claimed they'd only been gone since this morning on a routine search. However, Orias insisted they were imposters, and thanks to a little subtle charm magic worked in, the party wasn't able to come to a conclusive decision. Ultimately, Orias offered the others a chance to retreat and find another way back to base to prove they truly were not hostile towards them, to which they agreed. With that, Orias led the party deeper and deeper into the darkness.
Finally, just as the charm magic was about to wear off, Orias attempted to turn the party against one another, claiming that some had already been replaced. In particular, he goaded Nix and Snips into attacking one another ("see how he doesn't immediately jump to stabbing you?! This clearly isn't the real Snips!"). However, as things got heated, the party simply attempted to disengage and retreat. Not having this, Orias dropped the charade and attacked along with the "guards" in his employ. Flea was briefly dominated and attacked Lir, who held his ground against a swarm of guards. Despite the surprise attack, the party was able to rally, resist a few different beguiling spells, and pushed back, forcing "Orias" to retreat. During the course of the battle, it became clear these were puppets of the ooze.
The party pushed farther into the sewer and found signs of the ooze's main body. They followed the trail until they again encountered Orias, though this time he looked incredibly haggard and exhausted. They came to the conclusion that this was a real person (he could cast spells and bled when cut with a blade) and brought him up to the surface to rest. There, he gave them more information on their opponent: an elder oblex that had turned the sewers into its hunting ground. Armed with more knowledge on their foe, the party prepared to delve back into the sewers in the hopes of finding its lair and purging it once and for all…
XP earned: calculate next session.
Session 42 Before diving back into the sewers, the party was approached by a mysterious, hooded and masked figure who introduced herself as simply "S" and sought to join up with them, as she was investigating instances of "brain worms" and had learned the party had encountered a few different cases that involved them. Ever the chill group, the party discussed it over a quick drink and agreed to travel with her. With that, they popped back into the sewers with a map drawn by the still-exhausted Orias to hunt down the oblex's hive.
As they neared the cistern where the ooze resided, the group was confronted by none other than Zuno. This Zuno claimed to be the real one and was snatched during the party's initial search. The party went back and forth on this for a while as both Zuno's were able to bleed (Snips shot new!Zuno to discover this). However, once the party started testing the Zunos' reaction to fire, the puppet revealed itself by conjuring a hypnotic pattern. As combat initiated, a handful of oblex spawn and more puppets of an adult oblex joined the fray. Despite the surprise attack, the party was able to quickly recover and dispatch the oozes with Zuno taking the very wizardly action of throwing bombs and S stunning the adult and two spawns that remained. From there, they pressed on to the cistern where the elder oblex attempted one last intimidation display; speaking simultaneously through seven puppets in an attempt to scare the party away from its lair. Alas, this did not dissuade the party, who attacked and quickly finished off the wounded oblex.
With the ooze finally defeated, its remaining victims were freed from their catatonic states and the party was even able to pull some decent loot from the oblex's lair. On top of that, they were handsomely rewarded by Orias when they brought word of their victory.
Before they turned in for the night, the party returned to the city message board for new direction, and once again, Snips was approached with a missive ostensibly from Lord Blackwell bidding the entire party to meet him at the Spring Willow, a fancy restaurant in Atherton. Catching S up to speed on their dealings with the Lord, the party made their way there, only stopping briefly to wash away some of the sewer filth they'd accumulated. However, at the Willow, they were greeted not by Blackwell, but the Crime Lord Warren Flint himself. Flint indicated he knew of the party's attack on his drug facility and was offering them a chance to "correct their mistake" by killing Blackwell, burning down his mansion, and delivering his head. As a show of power in response to Lir's push for payment, Flint revealed that everyone in the busy restaurant was under his command. Ultimately, the party agreed (more or less), and they enjoyed a nice meal before retiring for the evening after all trying the magic eggs Flea summoned with a magic bean. Lir, S, and Snips enjoyed a minor strength increase while the rest of the party had their eggs blow up inside of them. Flea then proceeded to summon "The Door" again and had a minor altercation with S when the latter agreed to descend the doors stairs in exchange for all of Flea's money, who in turn only agreed with her "fingers crossed." This did not sit well with S, but eventually, the two settled down.
In the morning, the party opted to pursue the listing of the widow who claimed her husband was killed by a lycanthrope. Along the way, they came across a bank robbery currently in progress. They leveraged their reputation to get inside only to find the Cleric currently attempting to talk down a large man threatening to blow up a group of hostages with a Necklace of Fireballs. Together, they realized that the "perp" was merely a puppet of the enchanter wizard he was holding "hostage." Nix dispelled the enchantment and Snips tackled the man to the ground. Lir pressed him for a motivation, and the man indicated he was simply trying to fund his experiments as the Crown Mages spurned him. With that, the party grabbed some lunch with the Cleric and ended up on the topic of brain worms. The Cleric invited them into his MAP to reveal the experiments he'd been conducting on the matter, revealing the "worms" to be more akin to fungal tendrils that emitted some kind of divination magic. However, their origins and means of spreading remained a mystery.
With that, the party bid the Cleric farewell and set off once again to find the woman who posted the notice…
XP earned: 1,500 each
Session 43 The party made their way to the outskirts of the city in search of the woman who made the posting about the werewolf. On the way, they encountered another party of adventurers (of clearly lesser stock) who had been turned away by the quest giver. The sulking group was only able to say that "they weren't the right ones" as the rationale of the woman.
Undeterred, the party continued on their way and found the woman, who appeared heavily pregnant, was far more receptive of them taking the job. However, something seemed off with her demeanor. The party pushed a bit, with Zuno detecting her surface level thoughts and Flea closely inspecting her for signs of a disguise. Together, they concluded that this woman was magically disguised and clearly trying to bait the party into a trap. Upon realizing she'd been found out, the woman dropped the pretense and revealed herself to be Isabelle Thorn: the widow of the Demon of the Landing. She had posted the job in the hopes of luring the party into an ambush, but even with them catching on early, she attempted to take them on right out in the open. Unfortunately for her, S was too quick on the draw and stunned her before she could do anything. The party attempted to restrain her (so as not to endanger her unborn child), but Isabelle took advantage of this to dimmension door away.
Not wanting to leave a clearly unstable woman with newly developed warlock powers and a vendetta against most of the party out to wander, the party pursued her into the wood and found tracks leading to the cave she had initially tried to lure the party too. Within, they were ambushed by a surprisingly stealthy banderhobb: a monstrous, bipedal toad. Isabelle also joined the fray along with a pair of summoned dire wolves. However, the party proved far too much for the warlock and her beasts to handle. S stunned and ultimately defeated the banderhobb despite its bests attempts to swallow Zuno, Lir cut down the dire wolves, and Zuno and Nix ensured that Isabelle was barely able to get a spell off with counterspell. With another stunning strike from S, all appeared to be lost for Isabelle as the party moved to put her down. However, the fight was interrupted by the appearance of the Soothsayer Lucille, who informed the party that Isabelle was under her protection while their "bargain" was in place, clearly referencing the unborn baby. With that, she whisked the wounded warlock away and left the party scratching their heads as to what just happened.
In the morning, the party returned to the city proper and conducted some shopping. Their first stop was Lucille's hut, but the soothsayer proved stubborn in revealing the secrets of her "clients." Instead, most of the party opted to get their fortunes read (all of them cryptic) before continuing on with their day. Later, they stopped by Eqora's Tower to find that it had a new tenant; another Crown Mage called Omari, who claimed that he had inherited the tower after Eqora left suddenly and inexplicably for a new position with a SABRE operative. During this time, they also received a message from Marshal requesting a meeting to discuss a job. Intrigued, the party headed to the Roasted Chestnut to meet him come evening.
Marshal and the Navy Mage Lt. Palmer were already at the bar when the party arrived and bought a round of drinks for the group before getting down to business. The HNS Falling Star wished to hire them on as added security for a simple pick up and delivery mission, promising 250 gp each for the roughly 3.5 week mission. The party pushed for more details, and the pair revealed that they had little else to give as they too were flummoxed as to why such a simple mission required both outside help and the supervision of a SABRE operative. Despite this, the party was intrigued and agreed to sign on. Marshal informed them that they have a flexible departure time of at least a few days, and that the party should wrap up any outstanding business in the city before departing…
XP earned: 550 each
Session 44 & 45 Before taking up Marshal on his job offer, the party had one looming bit of business that was best seen to sooner rather than later: Flint's ultimatum regarding Blackwell. With that in mind, the party set out to retrieve the head of the turncoat aristocrat. They found his manor to be surprisingly well-fortified, and they were denied entry despite being a known quantity. They deliberated for some time over how best to break in but ultimately settled on an aerial assault. With Nix's broom of flying, Snips and Flea were able to utilize their newly silence-enchanted weapons to take stealthily take out the few guards posted on the roof with Sirah quickly neutralizing anyone who survived the first salvo.
With that, they were able to sneak in from the top down and get a lay of the land. Together, they were able to creep through the house without raising the alarm. They found Blackwell's location but opted to see what valuables they could purloin before engaging, as they figured they'd likely need to exit quickly once the alarm was raised. They made their way to the cellar where they found Blackwell's vault. They neutralized the guards watching it swiftly and silently and, despite an arcane ward on the vault, broke in and made off with a hefty haul of valuables. From there, they made their way back upstairs to make their move.
Back upstairs, the party realized that their presence hadn't gone unnoticed. The butler had assembled a large group of guards in the foyer and were discussing how best to track down the intruders; a plan that proved unnecessary as the party decided to just take their chances in open combat and rush them. However, first, Zuno deployed a card from the Deck of Illusions and "summoned" a terrible lich who frightened off the less experienced guards, leaving the party to only have to deal with the veterans, who were able to at least ascertain that the lich was an illusion.
As combat broke out, Nix laid down an area of darkness that split the battlefield in two. Flea climbed up the walls with her Slippers of Spiderclimbing and made sure no one escaped to rally reinforcements (rather brutally, to be quite honest). All seemed to be going well until Blackwell hurled a crystal into the darkness and brought forth a horrible demonic creature whose scent alone was enough to poison anyone nearby. Despite this setback, the party was able to overcome the demon and strike down Blackwell (Sirah was taken aback by how easily he fell). In the chaos, Nix was even able to take the form of Blackwell and convince the butler that this experience had changed him and he was ready to turn over a new leaf as a wanderer. The butler took the opportunity to get the hell out of there.
In the aftermath, the party was able to gleam that Blackwell had come into possession of the demon by purchasing the crystal from whomever had retrieved it from an abandoned cultist lair. What's more, the theory that Blackwell was infected with brain worms proved true. The party was even able to collect samples within glassware from the kitchen, which they hoped to bring to the Cleric later.
With that, the party delivered the head and had a nice meal at the Spring Willow. They were even able to convince Flint's men to let them keep the head for further study, which they promptly put on ice and paid off the owner of the Roasted Chestnut to keep in his ice box with no questions asked. Before departing to hop on the HNS Falling Star, the party attempted to track down the Cleric, even going so far as to put up a notice on the city message boards. Alas, he never made an appearance, and the party opted to depart on their new mission.
Aboard the ship, the party learned a bit more about the mission and the SABR initiative from Rithux, who was overseeing this seemingly benign mission. Ultimately, the party decided that Rithux was cool, even if he couldn't share much more in the way of details.
Along the way to Solace, the party encountered a disabled ship that they ultimately opted to assist. They found the merchant vessel to have sustained heavy damage and was slowly sinking. Curiously, the survivors spoke of the pirates that attacked them bearing odd appearances and speaking in infernal of all things. Despite the unnerving description and conjecture that this could bear some connection to Blackwell and his having both a demon and brain worms, the party and the Falling Star crew were able to repair the merchant ship enough that it could limp to the nearest port.
As the party neared Solace, they were approached by an animal messenger with an unsettling recorded message. What appeared to be a Solace soldier had put out a distress call that they were under attack by orc raiders that had brought a "weapon" that obliterated their fleet in the bay. The message was punctuated by a horrific scream of a terrible creature that Lir, Snips, Flea, and Zuno recognized instantly: the Kraken. It was then that Cpt. Anders revealed that the kind of artifact they'd been sent to retrieve had been discovered only once before, and it was on a Navy ship that was attacked by the Kraken. This was the reason for the heavy security of the mission. Additionally, Rithux was hear to screen both the party and Cmdr. Marshal as potential recruits of SABR. This was to be the first of several preliminary missions together.
Finally, the party made landfall with Marshal at the small harbor constructed as part of the excavation site while Rithux teleported ahead to scout. They found signs of orcish attack, and upon pushing further up the road and into the hills, they encountered orcish scouts. Hoping to get some information out of a prisoner, the party prepped themselves to get the drop on the orcs…
XP earned: 1,500 each
Session 46 The party engaged the orcs and defeated them swiftly, with Lir drawing them together by attempting to talk with them (something they proved quite uninterested in) and the rest of the party launching a stealth attack on the signal word "cumquat." They pressed farther up the road and encountered a larger group that were rounding up survivors of their attack. The party employed the same strategy again, which again proved successful, with the orcs being defeated before they could run off with their hostages. The newly freed survivors gave some context to the orc attack and revealed that the artifact had been taken into the city-proper to prepare for shipment a mere hour before the orcs arrived. This was confirmed by Rithux reporting that the dig site was indeed empty and that he would meet the party at the depot a short ways beyond.
The party pressed ahead to find what appeared to be the orc's main camp, which they had appropriated from the dig site workers; the survivors of whom they had gathered in the center of camp and appeared to be "sacrificing" on impalement spikes. The party watched in horror as the bodies on the spikes reanimated. Before the orcs could "prepare the next batch," they leapt into action; once again deploying the Ambassador Lir tactic.
This battle proved much more difficult with the orcs having a sizable numbers advantage. Lir absorbed a number of heavy hits and Sirah was swarmed by the reanimated thralls. She was briefly knocked out by the onslaught, but was miraculously able to get back on her feet and retreat to a safe distance. Otherwise, a persistent barrage of spells and bullets from the rest of the group eventually whittled down the orcs and their zombies, who appeared quite willing to fight to the bitter end. They were able to take one of the shaman alive, however, and prepared to question him when he awoke, taking a short rest themselves in the process. The rescued survivors again expressed their gratitude and specified where the artifact had gone. What's more, one of the archaeologists present appeared to have gone quite mad, allegedly after touching the obelisk. Ever since then, he has been muttering nearly incoherently to himself. Snips was only able to make out one clear word in his ramblings: "Culling…"
XP earned: 1,800 each
Session 47 The party questioned their captive and learned that his tribe had been "hired" by an "uppity elf wearing a circlet," pointing towards none other than Mul as the culprit. They also learned that the orcs were working with Neogi, a presently considered extinct race of creatures from the Underdark that the orcs themselves had wiped out decades ago, and that impalement spikes were called Serpent's Teeth and were being used to create thralls for a currently unknown process. Ultimately, at Sirah's prompting, the party let the orc go (though Zuno took a potshot at him as he fled. He missed, but this does call into question the moral development of the young boy).
Pressing on, the party encountered a patrol of the previously mentioned neogi who were overseeing another set of Serpent Teeth. The party got the drop on them and found that the zombies the Teeth created could be more easily eliminated if dealt with while still on the spikes. All the while, they still received no response from Rithux via the communication crystal.
Rithux's radio silence became clear when they reached the depot area: something or someone had decapitated the dragonborn. Nearby, the party encountered a depot worker (they had met some of his colleagues hiding in a supply shed further up the road who had bid them keep an eye out for him) who had witnessed the final exchange between Rithux and Mul himself. According to the worker, Rithux relaxed around Mul, who then cast some sort of screaming spell that caused Rithux's head to burst. Mul then verified the Atotakan artifact's transport to the city via the depot's shipping manifests and returned down the road to Solace. Quick as they could, the party followed in his footsteps with the hope of catching up.
The trip down the road proved quick and uneventful, though the party again heard the cry of the kraken in the distance as well as a fresh plume of smoke rising up from the city accompanied by an ominous boom. Within the city limits, they started to encounter small skirmishes between orc raiders and members of Solace's garrison, but they didn't encounter true resistance until they made it to the city walls, where the orcs had fortified the gatehouse. Fortunately for them, their attention was drawn by two creatures, that Zuno identified as weretigers, attacking a nearby patrol. The party seized the opportunity to sneak attack the remaining orcs and pushed through the gates towards the city center.
Finally, they encountered a literal path of destruction carved by the kraken and their goal, the Atotakan Obelisk, sat precariously in the middle of a town square not far from the keep. The square was crawling with orcs, and what's more, they were setting up a number of gunpowder barrels with the intent of destroying both the artifact and starting a major fire in the city center. Once again, they deployed Ambassador Lir while the rest of the party took up positions, save for Nix, who took the form of one of the previously encountered orcs and stepped in, pretending to be intoxicated, when the orcs made their intentions to kill Lir clear. The orcs paused just enough for her to "stumble" through their gunpowder trails and "spill" an Alchemy Jug full of water on the central point of the orcs' gunpowder lines. With that, the whole host of orcs and the party leapt into action…
XP earned: 900 each
Session 48 The party leapt into battle with the orcs. With Marshal calling into artillery from the Falling Star, they were able to mop up the rank and file fairly easily. However, Nix found herself surrounded and took some heavy blows from the orc chief, and before the party could reach her to stabilize her, she bled out. Fortunately, the party was able to quickly whittle away the chief and the berserker, and thanks to Marshal conveniently having a scroll of gentle repose that Zuno could cast, they were at least able to preserve her until they got back to the ship. With that, it was just a matter of retrieving the artifact, which the party felt compelled to touch. Upon doing so, it exploded.
The party was subjected to visions of rampant destruction and chaos at the hands of tentacled, parasitic monstrosities. The visions concluded with an island shrouded in ash and fog. When they came to, they were back in the sick bay of the ship, all of them feeling strangely rested (including Nix, who had been revived by the ship's physician). They all got their bearings and agreed on a plan of action: they needed to report what transpired to the Assembly Council, specifically regarding Mul's involvement with the orcs.
During transit, Nix finally opened the Efreeti Bottle she'd been carrying around for months now. Fortunately, the efreeti within, Khera, was amicable to chatting and indeed, rather grateful for being released "after a century." In fact, Nix and Khera struck an agreement: in exchange for releasing him from his current contractual obligations to act as a servant thrice, he would let her keep the bottle and channel some of his power into it, effectively forging a warlock pact.
Days later, the party arrived at the artificial island city of Threshold. On the way to the Council Chambers, they took in some of the sights, including the enigmatic Custodians; bug-like creatures who only occassionally spoke in an alien, clicking language. They also encountered a pied-piper-esque figure "escorting" a pack of tiny velociraptors out of the sewers. The party attempted to talk with him, but he made it clear that he could not stop playing. Snips contemplated shooting his pipe, but opted to refrain from such a course of action.
Finally, at the Assembly Council Chambers, the party first encountered a Bluecloak, Uraka, near-begging his supervisor to give him a little more time to pursue a lead on Mul. He then pressed upon the party to succeed where he failed and convince the Council to do something. Unfortunately, this was not so easily done. Despite some impassioned arguments from Sirah, Nix, and Lir, the Counsellors seemed retiscent to turn on their agent and dismissed the hearing on the grounds of insufficient evidence. The only bone they threw, though, was keeping the door open for further submission of evidence. With that, the party powwowed with Ambassador Grymm (who had argued on their behalf to the council) and settled on two leads to pursue: The Bluecloak Uraka and a representative of the Confidence Exchange. Additionally, Snips made it clear that he wished to speak to the Karrera Counsellor…
XP earned: 2,000 each
Session 49 The majority of the party opted to track down Bluecloak Uraka and see what he had turned up on Mul while Snips and Marshal split off to go check in with the Confidence Exchange's broker to see what intel they might be willing to trade. They set out for the Bluecloak HQ, stopping briefly to investigate the sounds of someone chiseling away at a wall in a nearby alley where they found a man called Avery Goring "proving a theory." His chiseling (with Sirah's aid), revealed multiple layers of distinct structures built atop one another, with a marble material lying beneath the Atotakan metal. Goring posited that this meant the Atotakan likely did not build Threshold and rather "inherited" it like the current Assembly kingdoms.
At the Bluecloak HQ, Lir was able to schmooze the executor enough for him to reveal that his guardsman, Uraka, had gone AWOL (which Zuno charmingly misinterpreted as having gone to "a wall") to continue his investigation even though it had been concluded. He pointed them towards Clementine's Medical Clinic in the lower wards of Faenya's Arm. Conveniently, this was close to the neighborhood that Flea's old Hellfire Legionnaire comrades had been seen after botching a drug deal with an establishment called the First Star. The party had earlier seen wanted posters for the pair, and Flea, for the first time since embarking on this journey, turned down a bounty opportunity as she felt compelled to aid her fellows.
The party made their way towards their objective, though not before taking a trip to the Emperor's Emporium to peruse the shop of wonders. There, they sold some magical items they had no use of and picked up some new, exciting gear (and drooled at the even more powerful artifacts with price tags far outside their means). Catapulting her to the second smartest member of the party. ost notably, Flea acquired a headband of intellect, They also encountered Rowland's Troupe, the adventuring party they met in an Atotakan ruin that had, at one time, "owned" Snips. They had with them a new party member in tow to replace their late-bard and were selling a magical drum (again, because their bard was quite dead, by their own explanation). Nix also tried to flirt her way into a discount with the plasmoid proprietor, but this appeared to be ineffective. They also encountered a group of triton proselytizing the end times at the hands of the "Deep Dwellers." Lir hoped to quell their fears by siting his encounters with a kraken, but this just seemed to rile them up more as the Bluecloaks escorted them off the premises.
Down in the lower wards, the party also made stops at Sarrin Sternfall's forge and Carric Farmoon's workshop to upgrade some components and buy some new weapons. Finally, they made it to the clinic Uraka's boss mentioned. Indeed, a commotion could be heard from inside. Zuno sent in Weasel!Mike to investigate and saw a group of goons threatening the attending physician and Uraka himself lurking in the shadows, poised to strike. The party sent in Ambassador Lir in an attempt to diffuse the situation, but the thugs liked their odds of a 6 on 1. They liked their odds significantly less when the rest of the party and Uraka leapt into action. The goons quickly surrendered, and Flea capped the leader as he attempted to run, as is her MO these days. Uraka caught the party up to speed on the lead he was following, and the physician revealed that those men had come to intimidate her into silence regarding a changeling who visited her clinic the other day claiming to have damning evidence against a certain SABR agent…
XP earned: 700 each
Session 50 The party followed Uraka to the Cockatrice, chatting about Mul and Uraka's investigation along the way. Upon arrival, they schmoozed their way past the bouncer and made their way into the crowded night club. It was determined that they'd likely need to track down Gawaine Redman, owner of the tavern and until-recently informant for the Confidence Exchange. The club proved to be under heavy watch and guard, but the party settled on Nix taking the shape of a server who they witnessed bringing drinks into the back offices. They achieved this by Nix first posing as a new-hire to get details from the boy and Sirah then distracting him by acting the part of a rampant drunkard while Nix took his place and infiltrated the backrooms. There, she deposited Zuno's familiar to remain behind and scope the place. In this way, they learned that Gawaine had sent the changeling elsewhere and that he was expecting payment from Mul once she was taken care of.
With that, the party snuck their way into the backrooms by way of an alleyway entrance, which they were able to access thanks to Nix posing as Gawaine himself and insisting that the alley guards scram. Inside, Flea deployed some of her new artificer abilities to create a stink bomb that flushed Gawaine and his friends out of their private room. One of his attendant guards then left to clear a booth for them in the main room, as they were unable to locate the source of the smell. Zuno and Lir, waiting invisibly by the door, simply locked the door behind the guard, leaving Gawaine and his friends just under the protection of a solitary wizard. With that, they moved in and quickly incapacitated the group.
Gawaine proved easy to question and informed the party that he had arranged for a "meeting" with Pakallaqi, the supposed head of the Confidence Exchange, for the changeling. But this was a trap, as it would be Mul's men that met her there to recover whatever information she had on the SABR. The party rushed to the ambush location and arrived just in time to see the changeling confronting Mul's men.
Fighting broke out as Zuno messaged the changeling, warning her of the goons' intent. The archers in the balconies above targeted the changeling first and the party rushed to incapacitate them before they could kill the changeling. It was close, but she survived (being briefly downed by a volley of arrows but brought back up thanks to Sirah's healing hand). What's more, the reinforcements that were on their way were dispatched by Marshal, Snips, and the orc shaman Jol who arrived at the Cockatrice shortly after the party left.
With that, they brought the changeling, Zam, back to the Haedian Embassies and learned what dirt she had on Mul: During the battle of Solace, she took the form of an Elen'nar bladesinger to blend in with those that were apart of the invasion. Through a series of developments, she ended up being handed a missive directly from Mul to be delivered to Matriarch Amathil Tyrtryn, a prominent figure in Elen'nar society. Zam took the missive and ran, but was pursued by Mul's agents. With the decoded missive in hand and corroborated by Mul's personal seal, the Assembly Council had no choice but to acknowledge Mul's wrongdoings and strip him of his SABR position. In the same turn, the Council also enrolled the party (plus Marshal) into the ranks of the SABR initiative so that they may pursue Mul themselves. With that, the party considered where to focus their efforts, as Mul's message had given them three distinct leads to follow…
XP earned: 1,000 each