Session 7: Heists within Heists
Winter 28, 6840 CA
Valia and Havmos continue their conversation with Donnel. Valia decides to skip to the chase and ask him about an Aetherstone. The rumor is that there is one and that it's reportedly huge. A stone like that would have immense power and it seems like the only ones aware of it are the Brass Whispers. The trio conclude that the Swordrunners must know something as well, but it's probably too late to get on their good side. Donnel has a contact with the Whispers that may be able to help - a man named Robbo. Donnel will set up a meeting with them - on the provision that he is made an equal partner in this venture.
Before they can continue this conversation further, a disturbance upstairs seems to catch the interest of the guards downstairs. Up above them, two of the house guards are interrogating a halforc woman that looks a lot like Ursa. Oh... it is Ursa. Swell. Valia realizes she should have never left the children on their own.
The group had almost managed to evade the notice of the guards, but Ursa caught their attention just as the last of her friends made it to the safety of the servant's quarters. They are immediately suspicious of this tall halforc woman walking around with a longsword and heavy maul and with smatterings of blood on her. She tries to explain that she's simply the chef and was looking for the restroom, but the guards are insistent no one is allowed upstairs and furthermore, why is she dressed like a noblewoman and not like a cook?
Ursa attempts to convince them to leave her be, but the guards are having none of it and are planning to take her down to a private room so she can be interrogated properly. In the next room, the group aren't sure about what to do for Ursa. Wally decides to throw down a fog cloud and make a break for it. Run, Ursa! Run!
Ursa doesn't run. But the appearance of a fog cloud has everyone thinking there's smoke and Ursa herself almost panics and thinks her food is burning. With the addition of the two Warforged guards courtesy of the Mayor, Ursa is escorted downstairs. Valia immediately intervenes and demands Ursa be left alone! She really is the cook and these guards should be BETTER at their jobs! And also, she's going to speak to their manager! The guards are flustered and allow Ursa to go, but insist that she can't be allowed to carry around an obvious weapon into the party. Goodbye +1 Longsword. This does not go unnoticed by the Lady of house, Ilyana Norwind.
Ursa and the others meet up in the kitchen to find a flustered Ava who has been trying to cook enough food for a party of dozens of nobles with only the help of two of her kitchen girls after being left alone for the past half hour. She's not happy to see all of them in tattered and bloodied outfits and sends them to go off and get changed while the meal is prepared. By some combination of being pressed for time and flustered over her near arrest, Ursa's feast doesn't go quite as planned. It's good, but not quite the quality she was aspiring for.
During the dinner, Valia has a brief conversation with her brother, although it only appears to be intense glances to everyone else. Arturis is surpised to see Valia at such an important event and even more curious to see some of Valia's childhood friends working in the kitchens. She later gets drawn into a conversation with Horace Irontusk who is trying to talk up his wife as a potential candidate for the next Abalian Speaker. Valia smiles and nods. She's not brave enough for politics.
A toast is made to the mayor and the party returns to the main hall for one final performance to wrap up the evening.
The band has been playing throughout the evening, but this gives way to an intense performance that leaves everyone in the audience speechless. Valia soon notices that not only are these otherwise chatty nobles giving their full attention, they seem utterly enchanted. Only her brother and Gwenlynn Norwind seem unaffected. It soon becomes apparent some kind of magic is at play, because the lead player suddenly gives a rousing speech about the corruption and decadence of Abalus Above and announces his intent to deprive everyone of their belongings. The crowd seems tickled by this.
From the safety of the kitchens, Zed and Wally poke their heads out to watch. They missed the performance and were unaffected. Wally instantly recognizes the lead singer as the Baron of Deepburn. The face is different, but those eyes are unmistakable. The Baron seems to recognize him at the same time and gives a coy wink at the little gnome. Valia is unwilling to stand by and watch and attempts to tackle the bard, but he casually sidesteps her. She looks for help from her brother, but he only walks her away from the conflict since he doesn't see any point in intervening and having to fight off members of the nobility. For good measure, the Baron casts a spell that encloses Valia, Arturis, and Gwenlynn in a magical prison.
The band players proceed to rob everyone of their belongings and make their way out. Before they leave, the Baron apologizes to the kitchen staff with the suggestion they may be implicated for this robbery. He then bows out and leaves. Zed picks up on what that means and suggests they leave immediately. Ava is reluctant to leave a mess behind, so Ursa volunteers to stay behind and clean up. A few minutes later, the charm drops and the crowd is in an uproar. Valia and Havmos choose to make their exit once the barrier drops.
As Ursa cleans up, she is confronted by Ilyana Norwind and two of the guards. Ilyana has good reason to believe that Ursa was involved in some kind of theft. Beyond the curious display up at the balcony, her guards had done a thorough investigation following the appearance of smoke and discovered the mess left in Ilyana's chambers. She presents the magical longsword as evidence, since it belonged to one of her sentinels and was found on Ursa. Although flustered, Ursa continues to be professional and insists that she came upon the sword by coincidence and asks when to expect payment. Ilyana declines to have Ursa arrested, but sends her home without pay and with a warning that it would be unwise to try to skip town. There will be a thorough investigation.
The group return home and share what they discovered. They conclude that the Aetherstone sounds too dangerous to let Havmos have it should they ever uncover it. Zed tries to press Wally for details about the Baron, but Wally seems reluctant to share any details about this person or himself. This raises some suspicion, but Wally insists he's doing it to protect them all. After a long day, the group head to sleep and Valia volunteers to stay up for a bit to watch out for any trouble that might come to follow them.
Valia has another training sessions with her favorite mutts that goes equally as bad as last time. This draws an audience from Abanus Bracemark, who questions her about her connection with what happened to his wife and daughter. Valia admits to it being a kind of sickness and that neither of them were at fault for what happened to them. Abanus does consider this a relief and is concerned about whether his wife may yet still live. He asks for her to check in at MacCalum Asylum where his wife Iseabel had been locked up about thirty years ago. Valia agrees.
Winter 29, 6840 CA
Havmos drops by the next morning to offer them his 1000 gold pieces as promised for a job completed. He apologizes for being late, since he seems to have misplaced his wallet and had to go make a trip to the bank instead. That is odd, but no one has any reason to suspect anything... it's not like there was a robbery last night, right? Right. Nobody remembers anything like that. Havmos offhandedly mentions that no ships are coming in due to something going on with a sea monster. Weird! At least that's not his problem.
The group go to spend some cash. They get their outfits cleaned up and repaired. Wally buys a diamond. Yuri exchanges the hilt on his sword so it's less obviously stolen. Valia buys a potion. Zed pays to have her rapier infused with the aetherstone found in the manor. While at the infusion shop, the group pushes Yuri to go ask Julia Heftwind out for a date, since she has such cute buttons. This all horrifies Yuri, espeically when his awkward conversation suddenly has Valia and Zed jumping in to talk him up. Somehow he lands a date tomorrow night. Julia is excited to see where he's going to take her. Yuri is pretty curious about that too.
They decide to stop at the Wanderlust to check up on Ava and report that Yuri has a date, since he's no longer allowed to have any privacy. Zed goes to check on her mother and finds Limaera a little forlorn after failing to secure the position as the next Madame of the Wanderlust. Having fulfilled her daughterly duties of acknowledging her mother, she goes to talk to Arturo instead. The former sailor is talking with a captain who is trying to gather some able bodies to deal with this apparent sea monster around the lighthouse. Arturo wants to hire the party on at 200 gold per person. Time is of the essence and they'll be leaving early evening.
The group is able to gather their various commissions before setting out. At the docks, they meet up with Arturo and Captain Cynthia Redbrawl. Some other sailors arrive to accuse her of cheating and wish to take her ship as compensation for the loss, but Valia and Zed defuse the situation. Afterwards, Cynthia proudly admits she really did cheat with weighted dice. They board the ship and make way towards Skyhorn Island. The party make light conversation with Arturo until Wally notices that there seems to be something surging in the water. It seems wave-like, but only if waves were vaguely humanoid shapes. Is this the sea monster?
Whispers of Whispers
Valia and Havmos continue their conversation with Donnel. Valia decides to skip to the chase and ask him about an Aetherstone. The rumor is that there is one and that it's reportedly huge. A stone like that would have immense power and it seems like the only ones aware of it are the Brass Whispers. The trio conclude that the Swordrunners must know something as well, but it's probably too late to get on their good side. Donnel has a contact with the Whispers that may be able to help - a man named Robbo. Donnel will set up a meeting with them - on the provision that he is made an equal partner in this venture.
Before they can continue this conversation further, a disturbance upstairs seems to catch the interest of the guards downstairs. Up above them, two of the house guards are interrogating a halforc woman that looks a lot like Ursa. Oh... it is Ursa. Swell. Valia realizes she should have never left the children on their own.
Bungled Burglary
The group had almost managed to evade the notice of the guards, but Ursa caught their attention just as the last of her friends made it to the safety of the servant's quarters. They are immediately suspicious of this tall halforc woman walking around with a longsword and heavy maul and with smatterings of blood on her. She tries to explain that she's simply the chef and was looking for the restroom, but the guards are insistent no one is allowed upstairs and furthermore, why is she dressed like a noblewoman and not like a cook?
Ursa attempts to convince them to leave her be, but the guards are having none of it and are planning to take her down to a private room so she can be interrogated properly. In the next room, the group aren't sure about what to do for Ursa. Wally decides to throw down a fog cloud and make a break for it. Run, Ursa! Run!
Ursa doesn't run. But the appearance of a fog cloud has everyone thinking there's smoke and Ursa herself almost panics and thinks her food is burning. With the addition of the two Warforged guards courtesy of the Mayor, Ursa is escorted downstairs. Valia immediately intervenes and demands Ursa be left alone! She really is the cook and these guards should be BETTER at their jobs! And also, she's going to speak to their manager! The guards are flustered and allow Ursa to go, but insist that she can't be allowed to carry around an obvious weapon into the party. Goodbye +1 Longsword. This does not go unnoticed by the Lady of house, Ilyana Norwind.
The Feast
Ursa and the others meet up in the kitchen to find a flustered Ava who has been trying to cook enough food for a party of dozens of nobles with only the help of two of her kitchen girls after being left alone for the past half hour. She's not happy to see all of them in tattered and bloodied outfits and sends them to go off and get changed while the meal is prepared. By some combination of being pressed for time and flustered over her near arrest, Ursa's feast doesn't go quite as planned. It's good, but not quite the quality she was aspiring for.
During the dinner, Valia has a brief conversation with her brother, although it only appears to be intense glances to everyone else. Arturis is surpised to see Valia at such an important event and even more curious to see some of Valia's childhood friends working in the kitchens. She later gets drawn into a conversation with Horace Irontusk who is trying to talk up his wife as a potential candidate for the next Abalian Speaker. Valia smiles and nods. She's not brave enough for politics.
A toast is made to the mayor and the party returns to the main hall for one final performance to wrap up the evening.
Charmed
The band has been playing throughout the evening, but this gives way to an intense performance that leaves everyone in the audience speechless. Valia soon notices that not only are these otherwise chatty nobles giving their full attention, they seem utterly enchanted. Only her brother and Gwenlynn Norwind seem unaffected. It soon becomes apparent some kind of magic is at play, because the lead player suddenly gives a rousing speech about the corruption and decadence of Abalus Above and announces his intent to deprive everyone of their belongings. The crowd seems tickled by this.
From the safety of the kitchens, Zed and Wally poke their heads out to watch. They missed the performance and were unaffected. Wally instantly recognizes the lead singer as the Baron of Deepburn. The face is different, but those eyes are unmistakable. The Baron seems to recognize him at the same time and gives a coy wink at the little gnome. Valia is unwilling to stand by and watch and attempts to tackle the bard, but he casually sidesteps her. She looks for help from her brother, but he only walks her away from the conflict since he doesn't see any point in intervening and having to fight off members of the nobility. For good measure, the Baron casts a spell that encloses Valia, Arturis, and Gwenlynn in a magical prison.
The band players proceed to rob everyone of their belongings and make their way out. Before they leave, the Baron apologizes to the kitchen staff with the suggestion they may be implicated for this robbery. He then bows out and leaves. Zed picks up on what that means and suggests they leave immediately. Ava is reluctant to leave a mess behind, so Ursa volunteers to stay behind and clean up. A few minutes later, the charm drops and the crowd is in an uproar. Valia and Havmos choose to make their exit once the barrier drops.
As Ursa cleans up, she is confronted by Ilyana Norwind and two of the guards. Ilyana has good reason to believe that Ursa was involved in some kind of theft. Beyond the curious display up at the balcony, her guards had done a thorough investigation following the appearance of smoke and discovered the mess left in Ilyana's chambers. She presents the magical longsword as evidence, since it belonged to one of her sentinels and was found on Ursa. Although flustered, Ursa continues to be professional and insists that she came upon the sword by coincidence and asks when to expect payment. Ilyana declines to have Ursa arrested, but sends her home without pay and with a warning that it would be unwise to try to skip town. There will be a thorough investigation.
Home at Last
The group return home and share what they discovered. They conclude that the Aetherstone sounds too dangerous to let Havmos have it should they ever uncover it. Zed tries to press Wally for details about the Baron, but Wally seems reluctant to share any details about this person or himself. This raises some suspicion, but Wally insists he's doing it to protect them all. After a long day, the group head to sleep and Valia volunteers to stay up for a bit to watch out for any trouble that might come to follow them.
Valia has another training sessions with her favorite mutts that goes equally as bad as last time. This draws an audience from Abanus Bracemark, who questions her about her connection with what happened to his wife and daughter. Valia admits to it being a kind of sickness and that neither of them were at fault for what happened to them. Abanus does consider this a relief and is concerned about whether his wife may yet still live. He asks for her to check in at MacCalum Asylum where his wife Iseabel had been locked up about thirty years ago. Valia agrees.
Morning Errands
Winter 29, 6840 CA
Havmos drops by the next morning to offer them his 1000 gold pieces as promised for a job completed. He apologizes for being late, since he seems to have misplaced his wallet and had to go make a trip to the bank instead. That is odd, but no one has any reason to suspect anything... it's not like there was a robbery last night, right? Right. Nobody remembers anything like that. Havmos offhandedly mentions that no ships are coming in due to something going on with a sea monster. Weird! At least that's not his problem.
The group go to spend some cash. They get their outfits cleaned up and repaired. Wally buys a diamond. Yuri exchanges the hilt on his sword so it's less obviously stolen. Valia buys a potion. Zed pays to have her rapier infused with the aetherstone found in the manor. While at the infusion shop, the group pushes Yuri to go ask Julia Heftwind out for a date, since she has such cute buttons. This all horrifies Yuri, espeically when his awkward conversation suddenly has Valia and Zed jumping in to talk him up. Somehow he lands a date tomorrow night. Julia is excited to see where he's going to take her. Yuri is pretty curious about that too.
They decide to stop at the Wanderlust to check up on Ava and report that Yuri has a date, since he's no longer allowed to have any privacy. Zed goes to check on her mother and finds Limaera a little forlorn after failing to secure the position as the next Madame of the Wanderlust. Having fulfilled her daughterly duties of acknowledging her mother, she goes to talk to Arturo instead. The former sailor is talking with a captain who is trying to gather some able bodies to deal with this apparent sea monster around the lighthouse. Arturo wants to hire the party on at 200 gold per person. Time is of the essence and they'll be leaving early evening.
The group is able to gather their various commissions before setting out. At the docks, they meet up with Arturo and Captain Cynthia Redbrawl. Some other sailors arrive to accuse her of cheating and wish to take her ship as compensation for the loss, but Valia and Zed defuse the situation. Afterwards, Cynthia proudly admits she really did cheat with weighted dice. They board the ship and make way towards Skyhorn Island. The party make light conversation with Arturo until Wally notices that there seems to be something surging in the water. It seems wave-like, but only if waves were vaguely humanoid shapes. Is this the sea monster?
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