Session 88: Emerging from Khyber
General Summary
- Dooturr had many questions that were addressed to the group, involving the Daughters of Sora Kell, the Harbingers of Aegis, necromancy, the Daelkyr, the Church of the Silver Flame, ancient wars, old dragons, creation myths, and other important and intriguing topics.
- Dooturr also discussed the details of the bombing of the Droaamic embassy in Breland many months ago. It was staged in collaboration with Droaam and the SCS in an effort to stave off Breland's declaration of war against the nation of monsters. It was successful, though there were unexpected casualties. As recompense, skeletons of the SCS were welcomed within Droaam with open arms, and equipped with whatever they desired as offered by Droaam.
- Turning back in time a bit to the end of the white room, Viribus had stopped his habit of religiously working out. It became a struggle for him to stand up, and his clothes started to become a much looser fit on him. It was a very jarring sight, but conversations with N'nchyk seemed to reinvigorate him into restarting his routine.
- Sending Aegoth yielded no response, and Philip could not tell if it was due to a dead receiver or not.
- Nicholas accepted the gracious gift of the Horn of Whirlwind from Ashpin. His armor chugged to full power and crushed it between his gauntlets, sending shocks of electricity through his armor, and began emitting a low hum and had the appearance of lightning filigree.
- Theobald revealed a parting gift to the Crew - the Boon of Aegothiaryss. Before leaving Zyddrydem, Aegoth himself did a great deal of arcane study. Theobald used his work in creating this spell. He had not yet decided on a name for the spell, but chose to name it in his honor to forge his legacy.
- At last, the Crew and their companions part ways. N'nchyk has one last word with Kyro, and tells the Crew he wants them to meet with his old druidic circle, the Still Gleam Circle. Kyro will do what he can, but there is no guarantee they will agree. Viribus makes an offer to aid Nicholas in his quest, but he feels he has already waited long enough. He does accept help from the Dragon's Elite to have an escort to the border of the Mournland. Dooturr and Massimo tell him navigation is extremely difficult - the skeletons that survived got lucky by beelining it in a straight line out of there.
- Dooturr decides on a name for the skeleton nation's capital - Calsalonia. He also decides on a name for the race of his people: The Mourisi.
Exploring Aundair
- The trip through Khyber is relatively uneventful. There is treacherous terrain and some monsters, but you manage to scare them off or dispose of them quickly. Such easy and direct travel in this manner is very atypical, and is the result of Theobald, alongside powerful dragons, working on it for months. Which itself is unusual.
- You emerged from Khyber into the plains of southeastern Aundair, and spot a farm in the distance. Enchanted watering pots wander the fields, while a scarecrow keeps guard - though it occasionally jumps 10 feet in the air with a pained expression. The farm looks old, but sturdy and well-kept.
- Ashpin knocks on the door, with the rest of the Crew hanging back slightly. Dooturr uses his Hat of Disguise to appear identical to Viribus.
- An older human man answers the door, and introduces himself as Hardy Stonesworn. He seems relatively unfazed by the Crew, maintaining the same stern expression while Ashpin speaks to him. He eventually advises the direction of Fort Light, the Thranish temple the Crew must go to in order to free Sir Dain. He says the small but robust town of Marketplace, Aundair is a landmark slightly on the way that they could use.
- N'nchyk makes a composed exclamative mark when he hears the name Stonesworn - it is the same surname as Terrowin Stonesworn, the man the Crew encountered previously in Sharn, whose casino was being run into the ground by the Boromar Clan.
- Hardy says that Terrowin is his brother. With the turmoil in Breland and the pressures of the Boromar, he has been completely run out of business, and has been searching for work since. He plans to return to the farm next month if he can't find any employment. Hardy says that Terrowin went to Sharn with big dreams, but now just wants to sleep. And it was only then that a glimpse of emotion flashed across Hardy's face.
- Ashpin offered the services of the Crew in any way they could assist, and Hardy said that Nelly, his scarecrow, had been acting up. N'nchyk quickly identified the problem, but Bagan proudly elbowed his way in to identify and fix the issue.
- Terrowin sent the Crew on their way with hand-hewn wooden mugs of beer, complete with a twine handle for their assistance. Ashpin quietly left 15 gp on a nearby tree stump, that would be collected by Hardy at a later time.
- As the Crew left, N'nchyk took a horrible sketch of an oak tree on the edge of Hardy's farm.
Marketplace
- The Crew arrived in Marketplace, which lived up to its name - the bustling town was full of shops and vendors. N'nchyk was vaguely familiar with the town, as he had been in it during his Last War mercenary days.
- The first location the Crew entered was the Vault of Verdant Steel, a secure weapons and armor shop that required 10 gp to even enter. It was a fully automated shop, with homunculi throughout, and item displays equipped with the ability to accept the correct payment.
- Inside, Frisian overheard whispers between a gnome and a warforged. The gnome was wearing robes associated with the Arcane Congress, and Aundarian organization dedicated to studying the mysteries of magic and place these powers at the service of Aundair. Frisian heard portions of the conversation, including the words arcane cannon, loom, and mourning blade.
- The Crew quickly introduced themselves to the gnome, who introduced himself as Crampernap Dingtickle, and the warforged as his son L2.
- While Viribus stared down Crampernap, Dooturr led L2 away to play a game of chess, as Crampernap was not eager to discuss what he had been telling L2. Dootur proceeded to use his Hat of Disguise to appear as Crampernap. L2 had told Dooturr his father spoke of his research all the time, so the disguised Dooturr told him to recite what he had been told, as a test, of course. Philip stayed out of it, perhaps pretending to browse the shop's selection.
- L2 spoke of arcane cannons equipped with the ability to bind and cast spells, or even bind elementals. He spoke of The Loom, an eldritch machine that weaves raw arcane energy into persistent spell effects over a region. He spoke of the Mourning Blade, a weapon that channels raw Mourning energy — capable of disintegration, reality-warping effects, or opening rifts to unknown planes.
- Dooturr won the chess game - a Scandinavian - in which L2 fought quite valiantly, but was greatly outclassed.
- The Crew proceeded to leave Crampernap and L2 quickly.
- The next location was Myst and Measure, a House Cannith-run magic item shop, staffed by the snooty and proper Finley Tushington. The Crew browsed this location quickly.
- While traveling the streets of Marketplace, the Crew received a mixture of looks. Dooturr in particular received an equal balance of scathing and wondorous looks - in an arcane nation like Aundair, people could appreciate all manners of magical anomalies. The Mourisi are some of the most spectacular living anomalies in Eberron.
- The Crew received a House Sivis note from a small, albino-skinned individual. It was a note from the Grand Arbiter of Breland, Andropov Karl Makarovich, imploring the Crew's aid in investigating the highest levels of Brelish rule. Viribus had previously escorted the Grand Arbiter through Sharn as part of his first bodyguarding work. (The handout is available in Roll20.)
- In the general marketplace, Viribus purchased breastplate armor, and N'nchyk obtained 250 gp worth of agates.
- The last stop for the Crew was The Winking Willow, the most prominent tavern in Marketplace. It was staffed by Tamsim, a half-elf intent on making herself very comfortable around the Crew - who she knew by name. She gave N'nchyk a drink called Gore, made of fermented pig's blood and cane sugar. She requested he get a drink for Viribus as well, and she prepared for him a Devil's Blood Whiskey.
- The Crew secured a booth, but not one enchanted with a ward of silence. The windows of the booths were enchanted with a modified form of scrying to show its viewer a wistful location from their past. One thing Frisian saw was his and Maleakos’ favorite tree in Bluevine that overlooked a nearby valley, which contained a river that would be illuminated red and gold with the sunset. Many tavern patrons also report seeing their ex's house.
- Quickly after they had settled, Tamsin rushed over with a drink for each - it compelled them to answer a personal question, or suffer temporary madness.
- Bagan was asked to choose a fuck, marry, kill amongst the Crew. He chose fuck Frisian, marry Viribus, and kill N'nchyk, though he was under the impression that Frisian is a tiefling.
- N'nchyk was asked what really happened in Droaam regarding the Crew these past few months.
- Frisian was asked if he had ever been in love. He said yes.
- Viribus, who Tamsin had been heavily eyeballing a significant portion of the time, was asked who amongst the Crew was most likely to betray his friends. When he didn't answer, Tamsin was deeply disappointed and turned her attention to Ashpin.
- Ashpin was asked how they knew the pope was a fallen angel. He gave a long, convincing story, but Tamsin concluded that they guessed.
- Dooturr was asked what he remembered of the Mournland.
- Philip was asked how he met his wife.
- The entire Crew was able to see a ghostly performer on the stage, going ham on the lyre, though many other patrons did not seem to notice. After some prodding, Tamsin said the ghost was her former lover - a Cyran poet whose fate could be easily presumed.
- Before she left the Crew's presence, as Ashpin was not exactly matching her advances, she said she'd feel remiss if she didn't fill the heroes of today about some rumors she had overheard - something of a cosmic disturbance. Some stars had been disappearing in the sky, and others were flickering colors never seen in the heavens before. Additionally, a new star has appeared in the sky, and it seems brighter than all the rest. There have even been reports of individuals that have seen horrible visions when trying to study the new star.
Notes
Available magic items:
- Arrow of Slaying (undead / humanoid): 5,000 gp
- Glamoured Studded Leather: 3,000 gp
- Sprig: 3,500 gp
- Duskcrusher: 25,000 gp
- Pariah's Shield: 4,000 gp
- Quickstep Chaps: 2,000 gp
- 2x Spies' Murmur: 1,500 gp each
- Helm of Brilliance: 17,000 gp
- Potions:
- 8 Potions of Healing: 50 gp each
- 3 Potions of Greater Healing: 150 gp each
- 1 Potion of Stone Giant Strength: 1,000 gp
- 1 Potion of Fire Breath: 300 gp
- 1 Potion of Lightning Resistance: 125 gp
- 1 Potion of Invulnerability: 2,500 gp
- Arcane Propulsion Arm (1,500 gp for Dooturr, 1,750 gp for N'nchyk)
- Horseshoes of a Zephyr (4,000 gp)
- Gauntlets of Flaming Fury: 2,200 gp
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