Session 5: Echoes of the Past
Winter 25, 6840 CA
After being stabbed, Foon yelps that he's been bitten by some kind of bug. When he turns around, all he sees are a bunch of little people gaping up at him. He calls over his brother Yorp and the two of them are suspicious. These people don't look dangerous, but they're not sure that they're part of the organization. The group tries to assure them that they are new and that they need to get by. Foon and Yorp are perplexed by all this, because the little man in the hat told them not to let anyone by. The group tries to be friendly with the trolls, but the trolls are rather adamant about letting no one get by, even if these people are six and not one.
Ursa tries to bribe them with food, but orc-sized rolls are rather small for Trolls. But mushroom-sized gnomes seem right up their alley and Yorp decides this one looks rather tasty. Wally is not at all on board with this idea of being eaten and stings him with his Halo fo Spores. Yorp tries to stomp the gnome until its more edible, but this leads into an all out battle. Wally is able to use his Chill Touch to keep Yorp from healing and Valia lights her sword aflame to slow down Yorp's healing even further. Zed is merciful and only knocks out Yorp. Foon quickly rushes on top of his brother to defend him. What a sweet brother he is.
Valia is able to convince Foon to stand down because they're nice people and they don't want to hurt these two lovable goofs. Foon is persuaded to stand down and he drags Yorp to the side. It doesn't escape the party's notice that the trolls are rapidly healing up, while the party is having to dig into their potions and other healing options to make do. They even heal Bruno, who had ducked out of the troll fight when it looked like it might go badly for him.
The trolls give a rough idea of where the little man in the hat went, but that only leads to a dead end. The group start investigating the area and eventually come upon a desk drawer with a loose bottom hiding a lever. They use that to reveal a secret door that leads into a small storage room. They push open the doors until they find Ezekiel Borden with a gun in hand, pointed directly at the nervous Roph Douglas. Ursa is releived to see her father. Maybe a little angry, but also relieved!
Ezekiel is furious and explains that this so called debt was because he legitimately was providing protection for the Douglas family in the form of Amulets of Proof against Detection and Location being powered by some skilled Artificers. Roph has one, as does his wife and their friend Mirabelle. It all has to do with some archmage that they mightily pissed off in the past. Ezekiel still wants his payment and Roph is willing to give it, but now the party has put Ezekiel in a hard place. The party threaten to end that business relationship in the here and now, so Ezekiel retreats but allows Roph to maintain their relationship if he can pay up. Ezekiel has his own debts to pay, after all.
Roph is thankful to the party, though a little dismayed that everything turned out to ugly. He promises to give Ursa the full story later. Bruno is allowed to go his separate way and the group head back upstairs. Sgt. Angelica is found unconscious courtesy of her Watch uniform and her futile attempts to stop the two fully-healed trolls. They at least didn't kill her!
She reveals that the Swordrunners were trading in Pixie Dust, which is an addictive hallucinogenic. Wally recognizes that this substance was likely made by a Hag, though he doesn't know the specific details. Angelica is happy to have at least found damning evidence and gives the party full run of the place while she collects some members of the Watch. Zed goes around picking everyone's pockets, while a few of the others go upstairs to see what was in Ezekiel's office. They find some coins, some bullets, and a letter from Abner Bagley. The group slit it all evenly - even the bullets.
Back at the Bakery, Roph starts to clean up while he explains his past. He was part of an adventuring group that set out from Thules when he was about Ursa's age. With him he brought Mirabelle the Fighter, Elnor the Bard, and Harry the Rogue. Back then, Roph was more interested in learning magic than he was in baking. They were a modestly successful adventuring group that eventually expanded their numbers when Roph met the Orc woman of his dreams, Nazsnag Dreadfang.
Around the time that Nazsnag realized she was carrying a child, the group decided it was time they made their way back to Thules and put the adventuring life behind them. But they wanted to leave on a high note and decided to investigate a rumor about a huge treasure trove that a band of goblins had stolen from a mage in the Westmarke. The group managed to defeat the goblins and round up the treasure and were well on their way to returning to Thules where they could live like Kings and Queens.
Instead they were confronted by Invaldor, an Orc Archmage who claimed the treasure was stolen from her. The group surrendered what they had gained, but Harry Stickyfingers tried to hold back some rings he found. Ivaldor was able to sense them in his presence and turned on the group. They fought back, but in moments Elnor had been rapidly aged to an old man and Harry was lying on the ground stiff and lifeless. During the encounter, Mirabelle and Nazsnag were hit by a magical spell that resulted in Mirabelle's echo forming and would later seem to be the reason Ursa created one as well.
Elnor used a Teleport spell to get the group to safety. Over the next month, they did their best to keep escaping Invaldor's notice while trying to reverse Elnor's condition. He eventually succumbed to old age, but Roph was able to make contact with Ezekiel and so gain the Amulets that allowed them to hide from Invaldor. They've remained hidden ever since. Roph never told his wife or Mirabelle about the extent of his deal with Ezekiel, because he was worried that Nazsnag would have done the very same thing Ursa ended up doing.
Ursa announces she's moving out and needs some time to think. Roph urges her to think hard about whether or not she wants this adventurer life. It's all fun and games at first, but eventually you just come back broken.
The group make their way home late, late at night. Valia rushes off to reunite with her precious puppies, but they're not in the basement! The group start searching around for them until Zed hears scratching on the floor above and the sound of a piano. The group make their way upstairs and discover the two dogs happily sitting on the floor as they listen to the piano being played by none other than Abanus Bracemark.
Wait didn't you move on? Abanus explains that he tried, but it didn't seem to take. He doesn't mind living alongside the party if they don't mind him (but maybe keep his bones in the backyard or something). Since he seems to be good with dogs and it's technically his home, the group agree to leave him in peace. After their long, long day of adventuring they take a long rest. Again.
Over the next few days, Zed settles the debt with her old landlord. Valia tries to train the dogs to be better behaved, but they don't seem to be listening to her now that they have a ghost daddy. The group is determined to make the Manor into a nice home to live in. Valia collects the lumber they need to rebuild while Zed locates some affordable furnishings they use. Ursa and Yuriel do most of the heavy lifting to make it all come together. Wally finds a doorknob for the house. It's old and mysterious. He's helping!
Valia follows up on her invitation to meet the Watch Commander and goes to the Watch Hall with Zed and Yuriel in tow. While there, Yuriel is greeted by Captain Merle Skullstinger. Merle was Yuriel's trainer back in the Knight's Academy and he's been eager to try to get Yuriel in the Watch and live up to his full potential. Yuriel insists he has a totally cool and real job doing mercenary work. He can set his own hours! Merle maintains the offer is always open whenever he wants to get a real job.
Valia meets with Commander Dasan Briggs to deal with her own invitation into the Watch. The two of them greet each other with mysterious meaningful looks that Yuriel and Zed don't understand. He is eager to have a Maralys in the Watch, but Valia declines. Dasan is understanding, since her siblings had all previously declined his offer as well. Valia is eager to help out the city and offers to do any freelance work the Watch may have. He recalls a deadly giant Crocodile in the sewers, but he's doubtful that Valia and her friends are prepared for that kind of battle. Instead, he suggests they look to Lt. Booth and Sgt. Angelica Steele for jobs.
After a few days of hard work, the group celebrate by going to the Wanderlust for a well deserved lunch. Ava is there to happily greet them. After some friendly banter, Havmos catches up with the group with exciting news. The caterers to his aunt's gala were closed by the Health Department! He is eager to have Ursa do the catering, since she's some kind of chef or something. It's the perfect cover for their heist! Ursa nervously agrees even though she's more baker than fancy caterer.
He extends the group 30 gold pieces each to buy themselves some appropriate attire for the gala. Valia will attend as his date, owing to her being a fellow noble. Ursa can bring Zed and Yuriel along as her assistants and Wally can also be there. They will also have the asssitance of Horatio Dartlip as well. The group will need to get to it! The gala is in honor of the Mayor's fifty year long tenure, so they'll need to look nice if they'll be rubbing elbows with some of the city's wealthiest and most powerful individuals.
They have three days to prepare until the party on the 31st night of Winter.
Troll Battle
After being stabbed, Foon yelps that he's been bitten by some kind of bug. When he turns around, all he sees are a bunch of little people gaping up at him. He calls over his brother Yorp and the two of them are suspicious. These people don't look dangerous, but they're not sure that they're part of the organization. The group tries to assure them that they are new and that they need to get by. Foon and Yorp are perplexed by all this, because the little man in the hat told them not to let anyone by. The group tries to be friendly with the trolls, but the trolls are rather adamant about letting no one get by, even if these people are six and not one.
Ursa tries to bribe them with food, but orc-sized rolls are rather small for Trolls. But mushroom-sized gnomes seem right up their alley and Yorp decides this one looks rather tasty. Wally is not at all on board with this idea of being eaten and stings him with his Halo fo Spores. Yorp tries to stomp the gnome until its more edible, but this leads into an all out battle. Wally is able to use his Chill Touch to keep Yorp from healing and Valia lights her sword aflame to slow down Yorp's healing even further. Zed is merciful and only knocks out Yorp. Foon quickly rushes on top of his brother to defend him. What a sweet brother he is.
Valia is able to convince Foon to stand down because they're nice people and they don't want to hurt these two lovable goofs. Foon is persuaded to stand down and he drags Yorp to the side. It doesn't escape the party's notice that the trolls are rapidly healing up, while the party is having to dig into their potions and other healing options to make do. They even heal Bruno, who had ducked out of the troll fight when it looked like it might go badly for him.
The Dad-Napper
The trolls give a rough idea of where the little man in the hat went, but that only leads to a dead end. The group start investigating the area and eventually come upon a desk drawer with a loose bottom hiding a lever. They use that to reveal a secret door that leads into a small storage room. They push open the doors until they find Ezekiel Borden with a gun in hand, pointed directly at the nervous Roph Douglas. Ursa is releived to see her father. Maybe a little angry, but also relieved!
Ezekiel is furious and explains that this so called debt was because he legitimately was providing protection for the Douglas family in the form of Amulets of Proof against Detection and Location being powered by some skilled Artificers. Roph has one, as does his wife and their friend Mirabelle. It all has to do with some archmage that they mightily pissed off in the past. Ezekiel still wants his payment and Roph is willing to give it, but now the party has put Ezekiel in a hard place. The party threaten to end that business relationship in the here and now, so Ezekiel retreats but allows Roph to maintain their relationship if he can pay up. Ezekiel has his own debts to pay, after all.
Roph is thankful to the party, though a little dismayed that everything turned out to ugly. He promises to give Ursa the full story later. Bruno is allowed to go his separate way and the group head back upstairs. Sgt. Angelica is found unconscious courtesy of her Watch uniform and her futile attempts to stop the two fully-healed trolls. They at least didn't kill her!
She reveals that the Swordrunners were trading in Pixie Dust, which is an addictive hallucinogenic. Wally recognizes that this substance was likely made by a Hag, though he doesn't know the specific details. Angelica is happy to have at least found damning evidence and gives the party full run of the place while she collects some members of the Watch. Zed goes around picking everyone's pockets, while a few of the others go upstairs to see what was in Ezekiel's office. They find some coins, some bullets, and a letter from Abner Bagley. The group slit it all evenly - even the bullets.
The Truth Comes Out
Back at the Bakery, Roph starts to clean up while he explains his past. He was part of an adventuring group that set out from Thules when he was about Ursa's age. With him he brought Mirabelle the Fighter, Elnor the Bard, and Harry the Rogue. Back then, Roph was more interested in learning magic than he was in baking. They were a modestly successful adventuring group that eventually expanded their numbers when Roph met the Orc woman of his dreams, Nazsnag Dreadfang.
Around the time that Nazsnag realized she was carrying a child, the group decided it was time they made their way back to Thules and put the adventuring life behind them. But they wanted to leave on a high note and decided to investigate a rumor about a huge treasure trove that a band of goblins had stolen from a mage in the Westmarke. The group managed to defeat the goblins and round up the treasure and were well on their way to returning to Thules where they could live like Kings and Queens.
Instead they were confronted by Invaldor, an Orc Archmage who claimed the treasure was stolen from her. The group surrendered what they had gained, but Harry Stickyfingers tried to hold back some rings he found. Ivaldor was able to sense them in his presence and turned on the group. They fought back, but in moments Elnor had been rapidly aged to an old man and Harry was lying on the ground stiff and lifeless. During the encounter, Mirabelle and Nazsnag were hit by a magical spell that resulted in Mirabelle's echo forming and would later seem to be the reason Ursa created one as well.
Elnor used a Teleport spell to get the group to safety. Over the next month, they did their best to keep escaping Invaldor's notice while trying to reverse Elnor's condition. He eventually succumbed to old age, but Roph was able to make contact with Ezekiel and so gain the Amulets that allowed them to hide from Invaldor. They've remained hidden ever since. Roph never told his wife or Mirabelle about the extent of his deal with Ezekiel, because he was worried that Nazsnag would have done the very same thing Ursa ended up doing.
Ursa announces she's moving out and needs some time to think. Roph urges her to think hard about whether or not she wants this adventurer life. It's all fun and games at first, but eventually you just come back broken.
Dadnapped and now Dognapped?
The group make their way home late, late at night. Valia rushes off to reunite with her precious puppies, but they're not in the basement! The group start searching around for them until Zed hears scratching on the floor above and the sound of a piano. The group make their way upstairs and discover the two dogs happily sitting on the floor as they listen to the piano being played by none other than Abanus Bracemark.
Wait didn't you move on? Abanus explains that he tried, but it didn't seem to take. He doesn't mind living alongside the party if they don't mind him (but maybe keep his bones in the backyard or something). Since he seems to be good with dogs and it's technically his home, the group agree to leave him in peace. After their long, long day of adventuring they take a long rest. Again.
Building our Home
Winter 26-28, 6840 CAOver the next few days, Zed settles the debt with her old landlord. Valia tries to train the dogs to be better behaved, but they don't seem to be listening to her now that they have a ghost daddy. The group is determined to make the Manor into a nice home to live in. Valia collects the lumber they need to rebuild while Zed locates some affordable furnishings they use. Ursa and Yuriel do most of the heavy lifting to make it all come together. Wally finds a doorknob for the house. It's old and mysterious. He's helping!
Valia follows up on her invitation to meet the Watch Commander and goes to the Watch Hall with Zed and Yuriel in tow. While there, Yuriel is greeted by Captain Merle Skullstinger. Merle was Yuriel's trainer back in the Knight's Academy and he's been eager to try to get Yuriel in the Watch and live up to his full potential. Yuriel insists he has a totally cool and real job doing mercenary work. He can set his own hours! Merle maintains the offer is always open whenever he wants to get a real job.
Valia meets with Commander Dasan Briggs to deal with her own invitation into the Watch. The two of them greet each other with mysterious meaningful looks that Yuriel and Zed don't understand. He is eager to have a Maralys in the Watch, but Valia declines. Dasan is understanding, since her siblings had all previously declined his offer as well. Valia is eager to help out the city and offers to do any freelance work the Watch may have. He recalls a deadly giant Crocodile in the sewers, but he's doubtful that Valia and her friends are prepared for that kind of battle. Instead, he suggests they look to Lt. Booth and Sgt. Angelica Steele for jobs.
After a few days of hard work, the group celebrate by going to the Wanderlust for a well deserved lunch. Ava is there to happily greet them. After some friendly banter, Havmos catches up with the group with exciting news. The caterers to his aunt's gala were closed by the Health Department! He is eager to have Ursa do the catering, since she's some kind of chef or something. It's the perfect cover for their heist! Ursa nervously agrees even though she's more baker than fancy caterer.
He extends the group 30 gold pieces each to buy themselves some appropriate attire for the gala. Valia will attend as his date, owing to her being a fellow noble. Ursa can bring Zed and Yuriel along as her assistants and Wally can also be there. They will also have the asssitance of Horatio Dartlip as well. The group will need to get to it! The gala is in honor of the Mayor's fifty year long tenure, so they'll need to look nice if they'll be rubbing elbows with some of the city's wealthiest and most powerful individuals.
They have three days to prepare until the party on the 31st night of Winter.
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