The Undesirables Act 4: Blood and Silver

The Undesirables head to the dragonborn war summit in the Argentum Bastion.

Afflictions

The morning after Lt. Pip delivered her message to the Undesirables, they woke to find that Gol'rotta had handwritten a list of rules about Fey creatures to prepare everyone for going to her homeland. Suspicions rose immediately because Romeo and Scumbag decided they could trust no one if these indicated how the Fey operated. Vangelis tried to talk them down, causing the focus of the conversation to shift onto him.

Vangelis stated that he was from one of the larger cities in Maracia and had been attending college. Recently he had been blacking out and losing large sections of time, only to come to and be surrounded by scorch marks. Al'durin pointed out that there was a second entity that seemed to take over he had heard called itself ‘The Chorus’. Vangelis seemed to believe he was being hazed as the new guy to the group, prompting Al’durin to say he was in denial. Romeo questioned the secondary entity that had come through Vangelis, causing it to take over the boy’s body to respond. The Chorus explained how they had been created as a countermeasure to the Four Riders, moving from host to host and taking the soul into the collective each time their vessel passed away.

As they wound down, the question of where Gol’rotta was sparked the group to get some of their preparations and shopping done before leaving as the Dragonborn had. Wanting to get his shield enchanted, Romeo headed in the direction of Tariel and Toriel’s Magic Emporium. The strange demeanor the owners presented, seemingly sharing thoughts and speaking for each other, made Romeo suspicious of them, causing him to draw his blade. Vangelis stepped in to assure both him and the owners that everything was okay. Ürsa noted that since they were twins and of elvish descent, they likely had some fey influence making them linked together, he also guessed they might have come to Westfall seeking asylum because twins in elvish society were treated with distrust as it was typically dark elves that had twins.

With tension relieved, Romeo requested his shield be enchanted, Tolliver bought a portable hole and Ürsa bought a few of their mechanical trinkets, one of which was a commissioned moondrop flower that opened and closed with the moon cycle. From there, the group went through the rest of the markets, with Al’durin purchasing an elephant and Ürsa purchasing spices and ribbons to use as fairy gifts.

Back in the Verdant Manor, Molly made everyone lunch and the group dispersed to their rooms to rest. Ürsa walked in on Astrid bandaging herself, which she tried to hide. Pressing her on the matter, he was shocked to learn that he had injured her in his werebear form. As much as she tried to assure him that it wasn’t a bad injury and that it wasn’t his fault, Ürsa panicked and went to Molly for help. Needing something to do, he frantically headed for the door. Vangelis cast Calm Emotions on him to settle Ürsa enough to talk things out. Romeo invited him to sit, which he did, but accidentally directly in the fountain rather than on the ledge.

Ürsa confided that he had hurt Astrid. They had been practicing and training for him to learn to control his werebear form and he had been getting better. Upon realizing the others knew that she had been hurt, he wondered why no one had told him. The others informed him of how Gol’rotta responded to the redactions from Arseny’s journal and that almost everyone had taken her side in the issue. Taking it as confirmation that Astrid’s condition was entirely his own fault, Ürsa called himself a monster.

Vangelis took the moment to disagree. He pointed out that everyone has troubles and that Astrid had chosen to be with him after learning about Ürsa’s and that even if it wasn’t going as well as they had hoped, she was still there. Ürsa let the words sink in and asked Vangelis if he could help. Bringing him to their shared room, with the others waiting outside. Molly confirmed Astrid was doing okay, but seemed to have been having trouble sleeping since she hadn’t used any of her own spells to heal herself. Vangelis was the first to see the numerous scars caused by Frostbane experimentation and he was immediately aware that she was indeed another aasimar, although she didn’t seem to make the same connection, making it appear she was unaware. He went to heal her, but The Chorus was the one to emerge.

Musing that Astrid hadn’t taken care of her own wounds, they healed her before turning to Ürsa. They noted that Ürsa also had a singular mark that matched Astrid’s many. Ürsa asked if there was anything he could do, and The Chorus said that there would be a day that Vangelis would fully merge with them and that it would be quite jarring. They asked him to help the boy, which he agreed to, but he also wanted to know what would happen to Vangelis. The Chorus confirmed that Vangelis would still exist, once his body died for whatever reason, but no longer as an individual and instead part of the collective Chorus. Before everyone turned in for the night, Romeo began a new form of training, allowing others to attack him without restraint.

Crime and Prejudice

The Undesirables woke to Gol'rotta's supplies being delivered. Discussing what they were for and why she needed them, it was revealed that not only was it a gift for her clan to show she was still loyal, but that one of her leaders did not like her and she was trying to smooth her return over. It was then that Pip handed over the orders she had to summon Gol'rotta. With gifts for the clan on mind, Scumbag went out to the markets to search for gifts as well. Coming across a vendor in the market bazaar that was selling magical trinkets, a bag of supposedly magic beans caught his eye. He attempted to palm some of them after inspecting them, but the vendor noticed and caught him. Demanding of the man knew who he was, Scumbag announced that he was part of the Undesirables, to which the vendor replied that he still had to pay for the beans if he wanted them. Squirming free, Scumbag ran, which made the vendor alert the guards, announcing that the Undesirables were thieves.

Romeo had been close enough to hear, as he was picking up his shield from the enchanters. Running back ahead, he wanted to reach the Verdant Manor ahead of the guards to alert the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Scumbag slipped away from his pursuers and hid the bag of beans. With the forewarning, Magnus waited for the guards to arrive. Vangelis used a Detect Thoughts spell to eavesdrop and be ready in case things happened. The guards described the situation and Magnus admitted Scumbag was indeed one of the Undesirables. They went on to further explain that for him to so brazenly steal, it was suspected that Magnus was running a covert criminal ring and using good deeds to cover his tracks. Gol'rotta intervened, showing her letter of summons and stating that detaining Magnus would interfere with her clan and would cause an international incident. As words between her and the guards got heated, Vangelis stepped in when he noticed that the guards had already decided the Undesirables were guilty. The situation slightly diffused, the guards asked Magnus if he would willingly come in for questioning, to which he agreed.
Scumbag would later return to the markets to purchase regular beans to give to the vendor and claim he was returning them. He still denied stealing, despite several witnesses being there to attest he was the one that had taken the bag of beans, but the vendor dropped the charges after inspecting the beans Scumbag had brought back. Returning to the Verdant Manor, he was confronted by the other members of the Undesirables. While still proclaiming his innocence, Gol'rotta, Romeo and Vangelis could tell that he was lying. When the heard that the charges had been dropped, they all went to retrieve Magnus from the prison interrogation room. He was silent and distant, only saying he needed to think when they got back before locking himself in his room for several days.
When Magnus emerged again, he called a meeting. He stated that at every location they had been in, he received letters and notices of behavior or questionable conduct and that it was getting hard to ignore, especially when he was arrested in his own home and accused of organizing a covert criminal operation because of it. Several members stood their ground on their actions, and Ürsa questioned why Magnus would believe others before them. Magnus emphasized the strutiny they all were under and agreed that things were not fair for people like the Undesirables and that it had been his goal to change that perspective. Asking if he would be an advocate for them when things got difficult, Magnus assured Ürsa he always would. Romeo responded very well to Magnus and his firm stance of his beliefs, and decided to resolidify their companionship by breaking crab together for a meal, to which he agreed.
Vangelis decided to use a few of the days before departure to spread rumors that the city guard might be racially biased to help cushion some of the public scrutiny. He was shocked to learn that these rumors were already in circulation and that the guilty party was Sir Lance Colburn, the current leader of the Order of the Silver Lance and his more extreme followers. He reported this to Magnus, who was more surprised that it wasn't just the lower class citizens who knew anymore and that it was common knowledge to everyday people. With this revelation, The Chorus would emerge and go to speak to Sir Lance. They greeted each other cordially at first, with acknowledgement that they were both Riftwatchers, even if Vangelis and The Chorus were not currently. They requested Sir Lance leave Magnus alone, but Sir Lance would not listen, citing that the last time he trusted someone with infernal blood their leader died. Even requesting he do so as colleagues, The Chorus could tell the he would not change his stance.
Meanwhile, Gol'rotta went to talk to Romeo, commending him for his new intensive training as it felt similar to her own. Imploring him to leave the mirror with 'Juliet' behind she was worried the Fey creatures might set him loose and that her clan would not trust having it in their home for concern of everyone's safety. Romeo refused to let the mirror out of his sight, saying he thought it would be more dangerous away from him and the rest of the Undesirables. Gol'rotta assured him she wasn't going to force him to do anything, but wanted to make sure he knew her feelings about it. She then turned to 'Juliet', who had been talking in the background the entire conversation and asked him to do a little spin. He did so, seeming amused by the request, and Gol'rotta wrote down the runes from his greatsword before taking her leave.
Before leaving, Vangelis went to Magnus again about the issue with the racism coming from the guards, telling him that it might be beneficial to deal with Sir Lance in some way to remove his power or expose his ill intent. While Vangelis didn't know how, Magnus suggested they help train Constance to prepare her for the upcoming jousting tournament when they returned from the Argentum Bastion, as she had aspirations to use her reward to be accepted into the Silver Lance Academy. Without having the time to do much more, the Undesirables headed for the docks to board the ship that would take them to Gol'rotta's home. Captain Cy'wraithe was not pleased that they were his passengers again, but otherwise said nothing.
On board, the crew member, Mika'nue, asked to speak to Ürsa privately. She revealed that she had been able to tell that he was a lycanthrope and demonstrated that she was as well. Her story was that she had been gored by a frenzied boar in the Miasma Tropics and been cursed. More oddly, she had been a normal bronze dragonborn before and that her albinism spread from the wound point over the years. Explaining how long it had taken to master her form without help, Ürsa lamented that he had a long way to go. When he said that he had been gaining control, but had lost it, Mika'nue shared that she lost control of herself for a while as well, citing intense hunger and her curse demanding to take over to remedy it. Ürsa considered that as a possible factor, again noting that the Aspect of Famine might have had a role in that shift.

Prisons

After fleeing from the praetora's chambers, Aerefract, through Romeo, debated where to hide until things cooled off. Gol'rotta managed to call out to him and get him to stop running. Begging him not to go into the forest alone with the mirror, she offered her house as a hideout for the time being. He settled in with a vantage point on the door, ready to attack anyone that entered.
While most of the Undesirables enjoyed the competition that Tolliver had set up, the remained spectators and allowed the other clans to mingle, noticing that it was helping to break down their stiff demeanor towards each other. Ürsa walked with Astrid around the Argentum Bastion instead, still deep in his thoughts and emotions. Astrid was noticeably agitated, admitting she felt drawn somewhere but didn't understand what it meant. Their wandering brought them to the face of the mountain, where they noticed a prison built into the stone. It contained three prisoners, each in a different cell. Two elves, one of which appeared to be a strange color in skin tone, and a dragonborn. Looking at the elves first, Astrid became fixated on the younger girl, noticing that their eye colors matched, making them suspect she was an albino dark elf and the possible thing she was drawn to. When Ürsa asked the guard what their crime was, he said that they had been captured while skulking around the Argentum Bastion's border, and since since they were at war with them, they were being held for questioning. Noting they looked starved, Ürsa confirmed with the guard that the elves weren't being fed so that they'd be more compliant during questioning and that it had been under the orders of Praetor Kal'bortaash. He convinced the guard to look away so that he could slip some of his rations to the elves.
In the final cell, Ürsa found Pip. She was laying on the ground and was unresponsive. The guard informed him that she had been caged and shackled by cold iron, a metal toxic to fey creatures. The praetor had ordered it under the claim that she could be a changeling and that the touch of it would get her to drop her disguise. While the guard seemed sympathetic, changeling or not, and had tried to give her water, it was clear he was uncomfortable going against his orders. Ürsa went and informed Gol'rotta, who immediately marched back to the guard and demanding the key to the cell. He told her he had been specifically told not to give it to her, so she instead went and found Praetora B'lanna. It was clear she was unaware of what had happened to her sister and demanded the key from the guard as well, which he gave to her willingly. They freed Pip, and when Vangelis offered to dispell any magic to prove she wasn't a changeling, Gol'rotta insisted that it had already been proven many times before and that her reaction was because she was allergic to cold iron after having been lost in the Feywild for two weeks, making her feytouched.
Gol'rotta carried her away, while the Praetora was escourted back by her Praetorian Guards, looking shaken and ill. That taken care of, Vangelis offered to help Ürsa and Astrid so that they could converse with the elves. He cast the Tongues spell, allowing them to understand and be understood. Through the conversation, they learned the younger girl and the male were siblings. The girl was Valira, who had been selected as a sacrifice by her mother for their goddess to earn her favor. Her brother, Gellex, had been trying to escape with her to spare her life before they were captured. They had no interest in the silver dragonborn or the war between them and only wished to get as far away from Uathilderen, their home, as possible. Tolliver asked if she had always been pale or if Valira had ever been bitten by anything. Gellex insisted she hadn't, but that even under punishment of death, she had desired nothing more than to look upon the moons. The Undesirables asked if they knew Ayache, causing Valira to panic. She knew of an Ayache Noc'reus, one of three sisters rumored to be seeking the destruction of Uathilderen.
Meanwhile, back in Gol'rotta's house, Romeo began muttering to himself. The stress of lugging around the mirror and 'Juliet's' constant whispering in his ears had taken a toll. He repeated Aerefract's tenents to himself mainly the first two. Don't run, and Fight strong things to get stronger. When he decided to confront 'Juliet' directly, the devil began to goad him, telling him that he couldn't succed without him. Romeo insisted that the Undesirables were strong enough and that they had defeated one of the three Riders already, only for the erinyes to taunt him about the fact that Muzu had to die in order to do so, asking if Romeo was willing to go through that three more times. He then started talking about how Aerefract was not truly his ally, pointing out the spreading mark along the kobold's neck, he even reminded Romeo that Gol'rotta suspected the dragon was connected to the Rider of Pestilence and that he was a hidden enemy. He offered to make a better deal with Romeo, promising to remain friendly and to slay and devour evil souls.
This drew Aerefract out, for the first time letting Romeo remain aware of the conversation. He claimed Romeo as his and that 'Juliet' could not have him. 'Juliet' smugly pointed out that he had been trapped for 10,000 years and that it should be reasonable for him to want a proxy, since he himself had only become confined less than a decade ago. The dragon threatened the devil, saying that if he were able, he would come and end him himself. This only got the fallen angel to further mock him, calling him weak for being unable to teleport or even fly to their location to back up his words. In his anger, lightning started crackling around him and struck the mirror, cracking it. Continuing to goad him, 'Juliet' kept prodding sensitive topics and mocking them both, proving effective mostly because... in a way, he was right. Romeo tried to wrest control back himself, but was unable to overpower Aerefract's will. With another crackle of lightning, the mirror was struck once more. It shattered, releasing 'Juliet' back into the world of Malgrave. As he took a long pause to breathe in the smell of the realm, Romeo attacked, causing a thin trickle of mixed silver and black blood. 'Juliet' smiled and said the two of them were going to have fun later. With that, he teleported away, and was gone.

Player Characters
Ürsa
Vangelis
Romeo
Al'durin
Scumbag
Tolliver Brambleheart
Gol'rotta