Session 9

Arson Is Always an Option

WARNING: To those who have sensitivity to bodily harm, you may wish to skip the first paragraph of the section "The Locked Room". The summary is that Ish'Mael needed to sacrifice a small portion of his physical self to gain the key through Bom's blessing.

Date: Wednesday, 12th of February, 2020
Attending Players: Ashara, Embra, Ish'Mael, Victalyassa
Time 2.5 Hours (Total: 26 Hours)

Game Time 4th of Sowmeadow, 5:30 PM
To
4th of Sowmeadow, 6:30 PM
Game Locations: Iosha's Shop in the Western Waters of Enderfaso

The small sack of food that Urvo had fell to the ground, spilling the contents across the ground.

"Wha...wha..."

"Strangest damn thing. The guards say that it was only Iosha's that burned down. It didn't touch the buildings it's built into."

Urvo turned to the a'yapi man that had paused to watch the guards that were pulling down the debris. He shrugged and smiled down at Urvo. "She probably left a burner on. Alchemy is so dangerous."

The man continued past Urvo, who only sank to his knees. "I'm dead. She'll kill me. Literally. How did this happen? I'm always so careful."

One of the guards stepped from the debris, holding a few metallic pieces. He went to toss it with some more debris before seeing spotting Urvo.

"Was this yur shop?" the man said with a distinctively western accent. Urvo turned to him and shook his head. "No no, I worked for Madam Iosha."

"Damndest thing. Fires t'only touched 'er shop, nay others. We think'un twas this contrapt'ion," the guard held out the metallic piece. It was a large chunk of Iosha's private furnace. It was always warm, some form of infernal ingredient that kept it running, but it shouldn't have been on. Iosha had been gone just under a week."

"Does," Urvo had to swallow hard to get the words out. "Did anyone see anything?"

"Eh?" The guard was confused. "'Twas an alkamy accident. T'obvious.

"Right," the guard turned back, tossing the metallic piece with the collection already on the ground. Urvo's mouth shook as his voice whispered out once more. "Just an accident."

— Iosha's Shop in the Western Waters of Enderfaso

Session Recap

Session recap was quite brief this time around, with very little being gone over. The PC's were informed that new drinking rules were found and would be implemented, but had not been formalized yet into the VTT used to play. It was also recalled that Ish'Mael, being half-elf, should not have been able to be magically put to sleep, though this was not going to be retconned as it would have little impact to the story. With so little to cover, the session began.

The Locked Room

The group sat around Sleepy'Mael as the half-elf wiped the grogginess from his eyes. The group contemplated giving up on the door, as the lock was clearly too sophisticated and magically defended, but a tickle in Edgey'Mael's arm pulled his gaze down. He recalled his moments with Bom, and noticed the strange key-shape in his arm. Taking the very dagger he had tried to pick the lock with, he cut open his arm to get the key. The party, astonished, pulled back, while Ashara grabbed him, questioning why he was attempting to end his life. He declared he had the key in there and begins digging further. After several painful moments, he pulls the key free, his arm bleeding and barely functional. Grabbing a Potion of Healing, he poured it on the wound, sealing it, but not fully recovering the damage he did.
Standing, Ish'Arm'Killed showed the key to the group, who were more worried about the method of obtaining the key than impressed by him having one. Victalyassa openly says that she isn't sure if Bom is worth worshiping if her gifts come in this form. Unfazed, Ish'Mael turns to the door and opens it, opening to a sweltering warm room filled with more alchemical ingredients, a desk, a strange distillation device, but more importantly, two animated guardian statues that were already primed for intrusion.
Combat: First Round
The first statue, primed for combat, rushed forward, swinging at Missed'the'Meal, but narrowly misses the sorcerer who lifts backwards into the air, winds swirling around him, as he launches magical missiles into the statue. In the flight away, the statue gets another chance to strike, connecting with Ish'Knee's leg, causing significant pain. Victalyassa, with her battleaxe, and Embra with her rapier, try to damage it, but their blades only slide off the stone, shooting sparks around. Ashara, unaware of the second statue, dashes past the first one, overcoming it's strength with her own athletic prowess as she overruns it. Seeing the statue, her strategy changes immediately, and she turns toward the shelves next to her, attempting to quickly grab them and check at the statues to draw their attention. Though she doesn't successfully hit any with her haphazard attempt, she does draw their attention. The second statue, with only a single target, moves forward and slams its stone sword down into her, causing significant pain.
Second Round
Though the first statue's attention is pulled toward Ashara, it takes a swing at Victalyassa before moving. The blow is distracted and poor, leading to a miss, before it breaks away. Ishmael lands then dashes into the far corner of the room. As he finishes repositioning, he sees the construct standing over Ashara and casts Lightning Lure to pull it off her. Unfortunately, it misses from his momentum in running in. Victalyassa, following Ish'Neil, rushes in, but focuses her attention on the first statue, cracking into a joint in the creature, crippling it slightly. Embra follows suit, but her rapier, despite connecting, cannot seem to damage the stone structure. Ashara, now pinned in a corner, lashes out with her sword against the first construct. Her blade is unweildy, and the blow fails to hit. The second statue repeats its strike again, hammering down on Ashara's neck, adding more damage to the aasimar.
Third Round
The first statue slams its blade down into Ashara, wounding the woman even further. It begins turning towards Embra, who had just attacked its back. Ish'sees'all, spotting the wounded point on the second statue, focuses on his inner magic, empowering his Magic Missile and launching it at the statue, shattering chucks of its back off. Victalyassa, following through, rushes up and continues to beat into the weakened point. The construct, though now beginning to break apart, is still functioning. Embra, with no luck on her side, still cannot strike against the statue that is before her, but is still determined to help her comrades. Ashara meanwhile, is forced to pull a potion up from her belt and consume it before focusing on dodging the constructs. It pays off as the second statue takes a swing, missing by a wide margin before it turns to character that is actively destroying it.
Fourth and Final Round
While the first statue is swinging at Embra, ultimately missing, Ish'Squeal points his fingers at the second statue and releases his last volley of magic missiles at the statue. The head crumbles as it falls, inactive. A thankful Ashara seeing only Victalyassa standing above the crumbled construct. Victalyassa, now freed of the construct before her, turns towards the first one, but can get a good hit as she repositions. Embra, determined to help her comrades, helps Ashara take the final blow, opening up the strike for Ashara to cut down. Thematically, with the swing of her katana, one of her chaining runes wraps around the neck. She kicks the body forward, and the statue is decapitated, falling to pieces before the group.
Return to Exploration
Ashara is thankful, though hesitant to convey it. The group is simply happy they came out of the combat as whole as they did. The group converge onto the table in the room, noticing several alchemical ingredients, including a jar labeled "Basilisk Glands", before focusing on a crate of empty bottles with a letter on it. Embra reads it aloud, mentioning that the author, a Vax Sorrow as she does. The name sets Mad'Meal off, who runs over and kicks one of the non-functioning constructs in anger. Ashara rushes over, calming him immediately, insisting that he must be focused on the now.
The group discuss further what they find in the room, noting that Basilisks are known for petrification and that the cult seems to have some sort of focus on turning to sand or stone. They leave the room, going back to the first brewing room that was unlocked and turn to collecting items from it. Embra bends down and tries to unlock one of the chests on the back wall but accidentally sets off another magical trap, getting an Acid Arrow to the chest. She turns away, yelling in pain and swearing off locks, as its the second one that was trapped. Victalyassa gives her a shot of her rum for the pain as they swear at Iosha and her shop. Ashara concludes they should just finish examining the building and burn it down.

Upper Floors

Agreeing to at least explroe the upper floor, the group heads upstairs. The first closed door they see, Ashara kicks open, the effort being so easy the door slams against the back wall then against the frame once more before slowly swinging open. The first room they walk into is just a sitting area with access to the balcony over the outside street, but another door sits before them. Not wasting time, Ashara kicks at this second door, knocking it wide open and setting off an Alarm. The group, unhindered by the loud noise, walk into an empty bedroom that appears to have been unused for at least several days. Despite the unuse, it is clearly not abandon.
The Alarm eventually fades out as the group explore the surroundings. Lish'Maei goes to a desk on the eastern corner and sees an opened journal. The contents reveal that the Basilisk Gland is important to the potions, that Iosha is working with a "cult" to the Deus of Sand and Change, and that she is interest in reveng on a Druidic Circle known as Gaia's Blood. Other details include that she has a supplier in Orvadah, though she has gotten the attention of a "den mother".

Leaving in Flames

The PC's look around some more, but converse about their findings thus far, finding nothing new in the process. They argue back and forth about what to do now, and ultimately conclude, to the dismay of some, to burn down Iosha's shop. The group collect to leave, Ashara heading toward the back to start a fire. On a Nat 20, she creates a perfectly controlled fire. The group then slip away before anyone notices.
The group heads back to the Cobalt Shield's Hall, where they left Mr. Ed and their wagon. As the session was a little over-time, the roleplay was skipped over, allowing the PCs being allowed to stay for the night after their service to Vanier.