After a night of drinking and dancing at the Blue End Galleon, The Deep End awoke in varying states in the many hammocks in Cali's Cabana. After receiving permission from Cali – who heading out to train for the Namakan Games – Moira prepped them a bit of breakfast, which helped at least a small bit with the hangovers.
Straight to business, the party headed to the guard complex where they reported Lyra's activities and general location to the guard, who promised to send some guard units to investigate. Although they support a healthy dose of "chaos" the Selló River's health appears important to the health of the city.
The party received the monetary reward for turning over Captain Lyra Malark to the bounty hunting office. The board posted on one wall of the interior had multiple bounties posted, most of which sponsored by the temple:
- Pirate Captains Porysis Sozsatos, Francis Morgan, Madame Hai Rong, and "Meera"
- A crudely drawn creature with elongated limbs, claws, and reptilian legs.
- A fugitive from Eredet – more information pending.
Stopping by the Temple, the party asked to see Erwin, who appeared to have found a hobby in fixing things around the Temple. It turns out that a lot of things seem to break when you have priestesses and acolytes prone to "controlled" bouts of chaotic magic surges. He suggested that – given that the technological trickle from the Neg'Varos Bay hasn't fully reached the south – the party draft a letter and send it to the technical institute at Nacheevi as well as the University in Eredet. If the party can pay, a graduate engineering student may accept the offer, but undergraduates are often willing to take unpaid positions.
The Deep End spent much of the rest of the morning strolling about the city on a mild shopping spree. They found a store housing some higher end fashion collections (Ottica), but ultimately ended up purchasing basic swimwear from a more affordable store down the way (Ocean Outfitters).
While Newt, Rani, and Moira continued to Chaos Reigns, the Widow took a detour to look at some shoes. The Widow questioned a poor attendant in Dock Marina. Obviously, a shoe store should keep incredibly detailed records on who they sold specific models of shoes to! Clearly, shoe stores are the key to fast and accurate investigations of nefarious crimes! The clerk promptly informed The Widow that the store was closed... odd... there seemed to still be people shopping inside.
At Chaos Reigns, Bella Five took several tattoo requests, promising to have sketches ready in two days – you can't rush true art after all. To lower the cost, blood was donated. Moira bought a ring with an anchor and floaties carved into it, choosing to not know its capabilities in exchange for a discount. The Widow learned how to make a blood potion and then requested a completely random common level tattoo from Bella Five.
Despite it being the hottest time of the day, the party hit the beach. Moira built a sand castle for an hour while Newt attempted to learn how to swim with his wings... turns out, water is a bit heavier than air. His wings have never been so sore. Rani enjoyed burrowing beneath the sand only to emerge to scare some poor children. Invoking the principles of chaos, Rani seemed to walk away from each jump scare. The Widow simply relaxed, but felt a familiar warm presence applying sunscreen... pale skin tends to fry. Curious about the ring, Moira swam out and promptly sank. Newt failed to haul her out, but Moira managed to walk ashore, only to sink again on her second try. But, it was all worth it when she realized that the ring gave her a
chance to gain a swimming speed of 40 feet.
Rani returned to the Temple in the afternoon to visit Zephus. He seemed incredibly happy, enthusiastically showing Rani his work-in-progress showing the priestesses at a picnic overlooking the great statues of Goddess Bay. Zephus was more than happy to suggest art supplies to Rani for the swarm, taking care to recommend products that would work well with little insect legs.
As the sun set, the Deep End split up. Rani sampled some food – calamari and blood crawler legs and fried fish, to name a few – and then ended up on the Siren's College Square to enjoy some performances from the bardic students there. The Widow chose to stay in at Cali's cabana to brew potions. Upon returning from training to find the Widow there, Cali offered to help as she's dabbled in potions before.
Meanwhile, Newt and Moira masqueraded as a tourist walking her dog as they headed towards the noble townhomes. With guards out front, Moira approached pretending to be drunk, confused, and lost. After proclaiming that she had "drowned earlier that day" and then loudly and obnoxiously burst into fake tears, the guard was so concerned that he began escorting her to the nearest drinking establishment – Carmine's – keeping himself between the canal and Moira.
With the distraction, Newt managed to land on the roof and make enough of a ruckus for a tiefling to pop his head out. Callon Von'Della led Newt into his room, seemingly taken aback at meeting someone who looked almost exactly like him: horns, wings, cloven hooves, and a faint odor of brimstone. Callon offered to set up a meeting with his mother, Lady Von'Della. Although Callon knows nothing about any fiends and why they might be interested in Newt, perhaps his mother does.
Having arrived at Carmine's, Moira noticed a cool, invisible, black bird with red glowing eyes outside. To appease the guard, she walked into Carmine's, dropped her disguise, and then immediately walked back out. However, her curiosity regarding the bird got the better of her and she waltzed up to Carmine behind the bar. After asking about the bird, a hulking blue dragonborn claimed it was his. He seemed intrigued by Moira's naivety, buying her a couple drinks and chuckling at her questions. Moira seemed to only get more excited when he introduced himself as Diavolo... the Executioner.
Newt arrived shortly thereafter, freezing as the large, familiar figure of Diavolo loomed over him.
Funny... according to his contacts... Newt and Erwin, supposedly, seemed to arrive in Varoona around the same time...
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