A Tyrant's End Report
General Summary
The party reaches the port town of Falas, causing all to breath a sigh of relief. The five day journey feels as if it's taken a month or longer to achieve.
They split up to look for supplies, which Zela takes offense to ("I bought so many bagels!"). Still, it is worthwhile to look for non-stale pastries to round out their collection, so the group separates.
Zela, for her part, has used her disguise self spell to appear as a small child, and Ommi as her stuffed teddy. She wanders about the docks and stalls on Ripple Row, eventually coming upon a kindly fisherman, who offers her a fish. She takes it, scarfing it down quickly. The kobold suddenly notices how many eyes are on the party, how many mouths have turned down to frown.
She scurries off, not sure what to make of their expressions, and catches up with the others, who have discovered a whole other problem: the ships that they hoped to charter to Aberella are sitting in the dock, rotting away. Seemingly for almost two years, by one estimation. They board the boats, looking for the crew. The captain. No one. It's as if these ships were simply abandoned one day for no reason.
When they ask the fisherman, he's oddly tight lipped about the whole affair. But he does express sorrow that they are now trapped here like everyone else. When they ask why or how, he insists he can't tell them.
Frustrated, the party leaves, regrouping on the edge of town. A fog bank has rolled in, and when Alynn uses detect magic on the fog, they receive a strong sense of evocation magic. It unnerves the party, and they decide to send Alynn's android, Patent, into the mists first to confirm if it's dangerous or not. They watch with baited breath as Patent walks out fifty feet, calmly turns around, and returns. They all breathe a sigh of relief but for a moment before they realize that Patent's silvery surface is covered with pock marks and bubbling metal: acid.
It is too late that they realize that Kash has taken their momentary relief as a sign that he can run out into the fog. He soon learns from his mistake and comes limping back, the acidic mist eating into his skin and turning it red and raw.
Zela throws Ommi up like a falconer, crying for him to be free. He takes her word for it and begins to swoop up and away. Zela, realizing her mistake, teleports the pseudodragon back to herself. The dragon hisses and paces around her shoulders, affronted. Strangely, though, Ommi seems unaffected by the mist - not even being able to see it when Zela asks him about it.
Any further questions are cut short when they see a mob in the distance. Torches, pitchforks, and yelling. As they get closer, they see a handsome young man dragging the corpse of a savagely beaten elderly man. The crowd cheers as the young man climbs the steps of the gallows in Jacobs Square, and the party watches in horror as the body is strung up on the gallows and solemnly set alight. The crowd erupts once again with joy, and the party stands agape, not knowing what to do. But... Alynn feels some magic lift from this place as the last vestiges of life leave the body of the burning man.
Kash runs back out to the edge of town, only to see that there is no more fog holding them captive. Upon reporting back, Zela suggests that the young man is to blame for the magic. Indeed, that he is the cause of this towns troubles.
As the townspeople retreat to the nearby tavern to drink and celebrate, Alynn cuts the body of the man down. Its clothing smolders, but the body is unburnt, much to Alynn's worry. They begin to examine the body, first looking for a vampire's fangs, but the teeth are normal. Why, then, would this person be celebrated in their defeat?
The fire on the clothes flares up and Mola acts quickly, throwing out a ray of frost to extinguish the flames. A nearby villager scoffs, yelling that Mola should have "let the bastard burn." She then tells them all the story of Devona - the wizard who's body the group crowds around, and how he was the source of their misery.
Devona had come into the town almost two years ago, and enchanted the land to not allow anyone who entered the town to leave again: his personal subjects. He also charmed the people to be unable to speak of their entrapment in any way, leading to confusion and terror when his agents would steal the townsfolk back to his manor for who knows what purpose.
Jorwith, the handsome man that had been seen with Devona's body, was a hero of the town - their golden boy. He had amassed a group of resistance fighters to besiege Devona's home and kill the wizard. He was their deliverance.
Having learned this information, now Alynn looked upon Devona with more reverence. Now their worry was not that Devona was some monstrous creature, but that he was not truly dead. They attempt to drag the body into a nearby alleyway to examine, but are once again stopped by a townsperson who refuses to let them move the body, for fear that they are agents of the wizard's. Alynn sighs and agrees to examine the corpse out in the open, against their better judgement.
They lean over and carefully prick Devona's thumb, letting the blood flow and watching for the rhythmic bursts of blood that indicate a still-beating heart. When it doesn't come, Alynn sighs in relief, slumping to the ground.
The party decides to have Mola attempt to dissolve the body with acid, just in case. Mola, an accomplished alchemist, admits that he needs a chemistry lab to complete the acid making process. Mola is comfortable with breaking into the only magic shop in town - The Botanica Magica - but Kash stops him. Kash suggests simply asking the owner for the use of the shop, which Mola reluctantly agrees to.
The two enter into Wandering Star Tavern, where the revelry at the death of their oppressor has made the tavern itself oppressive: hot, crowded, and loud, eventually Kash manages to find the person they're looking for: Indra . Indra is polite, but upon learning that the two are looking to use xir shop to create highly caustic acid, categorically refuses to allow it. Xe explains that xir lab is not made for such things, and xe's worried about the volatility of such creations. Eventually, though, Kash and Mola convince xim to help, under Indra's supervision (which Mola is none too happy about).
As the three leave, they hear some noises nearby. Turning, they are shocked to see the creatures stumbling towards them. Zombies!
Character(s) interacted with
- The fisherman
- Indra
Alynn Agethe
Lawful Good High Elf (Far Traveler)
Artificer 6
Artificer 6
35 / 35 HP
STR
10
10
DEX
12
12
CON
10
10
INT
18
18
WIS
16
16
CHA
16
16
Mola Aubert
Variant Tiefling (Variant Tiefling)
Sorcerer 1
Sorcerer 1
16 / 9 HP
STR
9
9
DEX
11
11
CON
16
16
INT
10
10
WIS
10
10
CHA
17
17
Kashmeel Mazigh
Neutral Good Kalashtar (Cloistered Scholar)
Fighter 6
Fighter 6
53 / 53 HP
STR
20
20
DEX
14
14
CON
16
16
INT
19
19
WIS
12
12
CHA
13
13
Zela the Liar
N/A Kobold (Quandrix student (Draconic Learner))
Warlock 5
Warlock 5
45 / 45 HP
STR
10
10
DEX
11
11
CON
14
14
INT
9
9
WIS
14
14
CHA
18
18
Report Date
28 Oct 2022
Primary Location
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