Session 78: Would you like to buy? Yes.

General Summary

Light level is twilight in bastion Dim light Robyn 60ft comfortable 90ft+ disadvantage
Bastion diet - numenor normally veg, grains, fruit; meat is rare and generally the higher ups Xiin gives us map with common written on it Alll the inns in town have been taking supply
Venaki have forward base in the caverns 4 have been lost
Rel wants to go to the shops Robyn says to wait for briefing Go to library first

The bottled alchemist
Meats and treats Open fronted Double archway Main store with shelves of raw and cured meats Baked goods Hempen bags Male drow wearing a green tabard with knives and cleavers in it Butcher Smells of fresh bread and irony meat
The Obol Pile Plain fronted officious looking building, 4 venaki outside Venaki - similar to Illaihan - his was minimalistic in comparison, his was for stealth rather than frontline brawl, guards in bank were sturdy mail, purple trims in dyed leather Some have different coloured trim on right epaulet Assume denotes rank Myriad of weapons, spears, javelins, pikes, halberd - most long reach weapons
Palace is octagonal building Symbol, pair of scales, skull in one, coin in another Two entrances, one on the west and north side Heavily armoued and some ornate armoured guards around the palace 1.5 hours to the library
Rel sees an animal drawing a cart Looks fearsome; beefy size with horns and bone ridges Walking away gently
We’re getting weird looks a group Liv notices we’re being tailed
Rel asks what the creature - no word in common Elekenay - food and working
See guards come up from behind 4 other guards closing in Robyn’s vision limited Liv persuades that we were Liv notices the guards continue following at a distance Stance seems less aggressive than before
Spot the library Houses are much grander in the palace district Library is similar in grandness Double doors on front of the building
See inside is a library Wall to wall shelves of books Long ladder attached to parts of the library Planked runway either side Two layer wall Tables in the centre, cupboards and desk where a female drow is standing and reading a book Building is one big room, no windows
Has books in infernal Healthy collection on Mistress Vekata
Librarian scampers up and down ladders, balance beams across the shelves
Brief history of the imperium
Pushes 3 tomes towards peni 2 accounts, one as a slave tiefling, others tiefling historians Written in infernal
A traveller who documented the surface
Help Liv read the book - most of it in undercommon Several excerpts in elvish that start mentioning the surface People and races that they met Elvish is broken, not conversational, sentence structure is disjointed Talks of creatures as tall as trees Long limbs, lush farmland Crops being tended and cattle being looked after and worked Lush green verdant forests on the horizon Beautiful teal emerald sea List of places to visit and document Skies being ever changing, blue with a beating sun that was oppressive that required shelter Grey rolling clouds and a voice over the heavens of words shouted Talks of water falling from the sky that they didn’t know was possible Strangest thing they’ve ever experienced but the people around it rejoice in it Language as elvysh People were known wyrmari
It did reference a name: Galligil Liv asks about Temple of Kothar
Cataclysm: know the Abyss and Hells invaded jointly, know that one god betrayed and led them
Liv having dreams of green grass fields
Peni reading infernal books Encyclopedia of Tiefling Derived from human bloodlines Infernal heritage seeping into humanity Majority of tieflings are human coloured but genetic mutations of bright colours Tiefling secular Often won’t have a tiefling city but sects within towns/cities Hardy race No homeland No record of their origins or where they began Just realm of infernal Nomadic, settle where they like where they can make a home Generally outlived human counterparts

Weird going from “I am me” to “I am part of a people” Comforting to know not alone Not a freak, or random happenstance Normal
Second book Speaks of a male warden of house palen Not origins of how they were there To author’s knowledge there’s always been tieflings in House palen But they were workers, servants, housed in the back/Palentium slums Kicked out of city to live, bought in to work Growing tensions between tiefling and drow Some prominent tieflings wanting respect (not necessarily equality) Wanting understanding that they are doing work, don’t tread like shit Growing rebellion is House Palen Small scuffles between passionate tieflings and Venaki Had hope for future that voices now being heard And in time they could be respected in this society
Third book Title: Changing of the Guard Dated: 3rd Age of the 9th Generation of the year 624 Details of the most recent Warden and her rise to power And almost immediate changing of this attitude Hiring of Tiefling as Aide as an equal One instance head of imperium showing societal change overnight with this one Tiefling appointment Members of the drow community sympathetic turning slums into oasis like district Schooling being integrated between children Tieflings learning undercommon as an additional laguage
Reading the two books, two parallels, rings close to home Feels and affinity with the struggle
Rel speaks at the librarian Should get coffee from Desert Deals Rel offers coffee Zoraya uses magic to light urn and set it steaming Invites her to get a drink
Warden’s rest is upmarket 2 obol a meal
Looked down upon haughtily here - don’t like it, head back to the Sands’ Heart Menu is the same as early, hearty and simple Particularly since agriculture
Note was left for us at the Sands Heart Briefing tomorrow at dawn Early, sharp Tavern beyond

Speak to Peni about Tiefling He word vomits all the things
Head to bottled sandstorm Every shelf is meticulously dressed Star shaped parchment to decorate it Curved desk in the corner Female tiefling Deep pink skin Blonde bob, silver eyes Horns with antelope like texture Wearing similar pink silk dress similar to Tail is cut halfway down and tied with bows Drala
Alchemical supplies And potions
Can learn alchemy from books, over several cycles
Meats nad Treats Scorpion bites 4 ank for 3 cookies 10 ank for 3 bags 9 cookies Interesting crunch to it like a cracking of shell Tasty and sweet Sugary and wheatiness to it Mushroom bread

Previous: Session 77: To Palen 

Next: Session 79-80: It’s Okay, We’ve Got a Healer’s Kit 

13th Proviso

With no word from Dhaer or instructions yet, we went to the library and also went shopping.

On the way to the library, we're stopped by some guards who ask why we're here.

Peni and Rel explain we're here to help the city; the guards still follow us but give us some space.

In the library

• Peni asks for books on Tieflings and is given three:
• One that's like an encyclopedia of Tiefling
• Second is an account from a slave around the time of the previous Warden (approx 200 years ago)
• Third is titled "Changing of the Guard" detailing the recent Wardens rise to power.
• Liv asks for books on surface gods; not much here but given a traveller account of a drow who travelled the surface before the Catacylsm, written in Undercommon and Elvish. Robyn helps translate.
• Rel chats to the librarian, Zoreya, and invites her to join us at the Sand's Heart if she's that way.

• When we got back, a note was waiting for us in handwriting we didn't recognise, advising of a briefing in the morning.
• Peni tells us all he's learned about tieflings.
• We visit the Bottled Sandstorm; tiefling alchemist, very enthusiastic, but very expensive.
• Meats and Treats for bread and cookies
• General Store for a healer's kit.
• Another night at the Sand's Heart.

Report Date

22 Mar 2021