Summary
CW: Descriptions of Poverty, Death, Illness, Execution, Capitalism, Government Apathy, Scrying/Spying, Physical Violence/Torture, Workplace Abuse/Manipulation, Genocide, Anxiety/Panic Attacks
Tensions rise. The capital city is rocked by civil unrest, the queen is ill, and the party, already short on allies, continue to have their faith chipped away by Graybone's unsavory actions.
Synopsis
After resting the night in the Ratway, the group departs, incognito, on an early morning "field trip" with Graybone. Unbeknownst to them, as they take their leave, Cassia and a handful of agents in the Ratway are dispatched to apprehend a suspected intruder.
Graybone takes the party to the Royal District of the city where a sizeable demonstration of protesting citizens has gathered outside the gates of the Obsidian Palace, home to the royal family and a number of nobility. The party learns that Queen Claribel Lavandin has fallen ill with a strong and mysterious illness. Rather than sending the queen to the no man's land that is the quarantine zone in the north of the city, as would have happened had she been a commoner, the queen is being afforded every luxury and comfort available with her family by her side. Even more, the queen's sister, Countess Olympia Mallinger, a powerful mage, has been moved into the castle in order to care for her.
Shaken by the display, the party follows Graybone to a noble neighborhood to the northwest called the High District. Graybone makes a show of pretending not to know the party, and insists they're only bothering him for his familial connections in Glimmerbrook before leading them into one of the many impressive manors in the area. Inside the kitchen is another hidden entrance to the sewers. The party is sent on their way, confused and more than a little angry at a lot of people including Graybone.
The party returns to the Ratway to be greeted by Biem who informs them there is someone in 'The Question Box' with Graybone. They don't get much further before finding Clarise in horrible state, plagued by some noise only she can seem to here. The party and Biem are tending to her when a fear-stricken Cassia Cosades comes to fetch them for Graybone.
The party is lead into an exta-dimesional space created by a rope-trick spell where Graybone has been physically brutalizing a bound and blindfolded Brandash Alkite. He had seen the party in the Swamp the day before entering the shack that concealed one of the hidden entrances to the Ratway. He was calling on them to deliver their invitations to the upcoming royal gala.
Alkite narrowly avoids Graybone's axe. In the end, it is Grace's bold words and well-timed casting of Shield of Faith that save him. Alkite is allowed to leave the swamp alive, as he actually hadn't seen the Ratway at all, and Graybone elects to trust Grace's assurance that he wouldn't pose a threat. Although, a scrying spell from Tasha has our cleric and paladin doubting that claim.
Vincent spends some time drawing with Biem who entrusts the roguish bard with a secret piece of information. According to the child, whoever Biem's mom is, she is a 'Never Dancer,' a wizard with something to do with skeletons. Vincent informs the party promptly that Biem claims his mother is a necromancer.
Later, the party is summoned to a war council with Graybone and the highest ranking Swamp Rats with the goal of setting the plan for the gala's infiltration.
Roles and and individual objectives are assigned. Graybone informs the group someone will be going disguised as him while he coordinates the mission offsite. Additionally, staged break-ins in the area Graybone will be performed to solidify any alibi that Graybone was not in the area. Notably, Cassia's role in the mission has changed and she is replaced by another lieutenant. Tasha learns this is because Graybone has blamed Knight-Captain Alkite's near discovery of their operation on Cassia.
The party begins making preparations for the ball. They are determined to find the location of the missing changelings and rescue Jox before it's too late.
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