Session 5 - "Petty Theft" Report
General Summary
Kona 21, 1246
The evening comes quickly, with last minute preparations grimly coming to their conclusions.
The most important one to note is Micaiah, who has taken the hours before midnight to attempt to get his out-of-control spell casting in control, standing in front of a mirror and casting disguise self over and over again.
The same problems once again intermittently rear their heads: claws, feathers, reptilian eyes - all of them appear at one point or the other. Eventually, Micaiah shifts into a form that is merely himself... but with unasked-for antlers that curve up towards the rafters.
He's about to give up and turn away, but then his reflection moves, independently of his own gestures. Micaiah pauses for a moment, before his reflection begins to speak.
It doesn't introduce itself, but it's clear that Micaiah knows who it is. It chastises him for being so frivolent with its gifts, and being ungrateful for where it put Micaiah. It even speaks on Babette, warning that Micaiah should not try to rescue her. That she is right where this entity wants her.
The entity claims that doesn't have anything it wants from Micaiah right now, but simply wants Micaiah to play nice. Then Micaiah's reflection completely disappears, melting away like condensation on a window.
Micaiah takes a moment to breath, then takes out his lute. He begins to play, and before his very eyes, a bit of floral filigree peels off from the lute's body and begins to shape itself until a small sylvan-looking sprite appears. He names it Jonquil - or perhaps its name was known to him already? And asks for it to remain quiet.
It acquiesces, settling into his jacket and turning invisible. Micaiah lets out a deep breath and begins to make his way downstairs.
The rest of the party is already waiting downstairs, and Foenix is busy with a bit of greasepaint, darkening his eyes and the surrounding skin to better blend in with the night. No one in the tavern seems to bat an eye at this work, but they are eyeing up his finely dressed and clearly foreign friends.
He gives them all a hostile glare, the effect of which is immediately ruined by Micaiah accidentally elbowing him in the back of the head as she sits down next to him.
Thais, on the other hand, puts her size and war-glare to good use, and her attempt to intimidate is a critical success: most go back to their drinks, while a woman in white (though it is dirty, ripped, and torn), with a sun medallion hanging from her hip, exits the Bitch's Rest almost immediately.
When she asks about who that woman is, Foenix and Micaiah both speak up: she's a member of the Fellowship of Coeuraraignee (coor-ar-AG-nee) - or the Fellowship of Hope. They are a cult, of sorts: they minister to the most downtrodden in Havre-Ordure with soups, bandages, and blankets, all the while serving the will of the Heart, a mysterious, unknown entity that directs their movements from the shadows.
Seraphine mentions that, in Brillantan, "coeur" means "heart." Foenix is slightly dismissive of her revelation, while Micaiah is more encouraging.
Still, the woman has fled, and there's nothing anyone can do about it now.
The party decides that it is time to make their way to the River District... and their target.
As the party enters the River District close to midnight, they begin to notice puddles of water and workers that are attempting to dry out the flooded district. As they approach the Ilatran diplomat's home, choosing to approach from the back after walking past the home and between the next two houses over, where they find the Diamond River to be completely drained.
Seraphine takes the spare moment of breath before they approach the house to change into an arctic fox, while Micaiah takes a moment to disguise himself as Élodie Roche.
The plan is simple: Seraphine, still in fox form, will sneak into the garden and cause a ruckus. Micaiah, disguised as Élodie, will come around the corner, supposedly looking for her pet fox that has run away. Between the two of them, the hope is that the two Brillantan guards in the garden and any more inside will be distracted by the antics of the two performers and give Foenix the time he needs to find the writ inside Honey Fire's room, which is on the first level and adjacent to the garden.
The plot works, with Seraphine's caterwauling and Micaiah's "fruitless" attempts to control "Nege," "Élodie's" fox, both the Brillantan guards and a hobgoblin and tabaxi guard (both Ilatran, and a surprise to all the party except for Seraphine and Ali, who have seen at least hobgoblins before, but are as shocked as anyone else by the cat-people) from inside are drawn out into the garden.
In the meantime, Foenix has slunk inside of Honey's room and begun to rummage around in it.
Though the original plan was to simply to replace Honey's writ of passage with a fake, the temptation is too great, and Foenix begins to take anything that seems of value: a scholar's kit and stylus from her desk, a jewelry box form her closet, and finally the writ of passage, the only thing he bothers to replace.
The fake they have made is missing the broken wax seal that the true copy has, and so Foenix uses his breath to soften and peel off the wax (only slightly damaging the paper in the process), before attaching it to the counterfeit like a piece of used gum.
They are almost home scot free, when a hiccup appears in the plans: Honey walks in through the door in her bedroom, leaving Foenix to scramble for a hiding spot in her closet.
She is thankfully unaware of the intruder, sitting down at her writing desk without any of her hackles being raised.
Foenix stays perfectly still, waiting for an opportunity to present itself to escape.
Suddenly, a bright light from the garden, casting shadows at odd angles all around the room!
In an attempt to keep the distraction up, "Nege the fox" has leaped out of "Élodie's" arms and begun to run around the garden. The tabaxi guard is quick enough on his feet to almost immediately catch her, even when Seraphine lets out a brilliant blast of sunlight to blind him. Honey is also distracted by the blast, running out of her room and into the garden.
Foenix immediately takes the opportunity, darting out the window and over the garden wall to safety, while Honey talks with "Élodie."
It turns out the two of them know each other, and Honey asks if there are any updates on the robbery of the Roche house, to which "Élodie" regretfully says no.
Honey is fascinated by "Nege," and so begins to pet her as she asks if "Élodie" would like to attend a party at the Vallée family's place the next evening, to which "Élodie" agrees.
Finally, the two disguised thieves say their goodbyes (well, Micaiah does; Seraphine just grumbles in fox form) and take their leave, with Honey giving an elaborate, odd bow to the pair - clearly an Ilatran farewell.
As they join back up with the party and make a casual-but-hasty-retreat, Foenix presents the stylus he picked up to Seraphine. Olena is immediately horrified, as the whole point of this heist and having the fake writ was that so no one knew it was missing. Foenix shrugs off their concerns - though the worry that Olena feels is certainly not abated when they get back to the Bitch's Rest, to Foenix's room, and he dumps out his entire stash onto the bed.
Foenix picks up the jewelry box and tries to open it, but finds the lock has bested him. Seraphine, attempting to be helpful, gives him a bit of guidance and a whispered, "I believe in you."
Emboldened, he picks back up his tools and... immediately breaks them off in the lock (critical failure).
Thais rolls her eyes and picks up her sword, bringing the pommel down on the lid and smashing the entire box open (much to Olena's dismay; someone spent time to make that). Inside is a chain belt made of bronze, with several suns hanging from the links, each embedded with a different yellow, orange, or pink crystal.
Seraphine automatically assumes that the suns are in some reference to the Fellowship of Hope, but Micaiah, flipping through the book on Ilatran lore from the scholar's pack that Foenix stole, dissuades that quickly. Why would a uniquely poor, Orduran cult have a diplomat's daughter as a member? Besides, suns and other celestial objects are seemingly common motifs in Ilatran art. Ali has the most out of pocket answer for the belt's purpose: a chastity belt, despite its loose and ornamentive appearance (critical failure).
Seraphine extends her senses, attempting to detect any magic in the room with them. While she is nearly blinded by the amount of magic coming off of Thais's armor, she also detects a bit coming off of Olena's torc and something small hidden in Thais's shirt. Nothing seems magical about the belt, unfortunately.
As they are examining the belt, Micaiah brings up a thoughtful hypothetical: what's going to happen tomorrow when Élodie doesn't show up for the party?
Most of the crew is in favor of letting Élodie face a well-deserved status as a social pariah, but Olena also points out that Honey is sure to ask about Nege the fox, as Honey was quite smitten with the animal, and Élodie will have no idea what she's talking about.
Foenix points out that besides Élodie looking like a crazy person, there really is nothing tying them to the crime at the Roche estate. Micaiah, Seraphine, and Foenix visited the home earlier in the day, but that really proves nothing. And to then make the logical leap that someone was specifically posing as a resident of a house that was JUST robbed to rob another house was quite a long leap of logic indeed.
Eventually, the discussion is tabled, as while some lukewarm reasons are suggested as to why Micaiah should go to the Vallée party, there is no compelling reason.
At this point, everyone settles down for the night, with Seraphine almost lighting the tavern on fire when she attempts to heat the water in her bath with a careful fire bolt, but thankfully having enough restraint to simply warm her bath and not scorch the tub.
Micaiah stands in front of her mirror, practicing Honey's Ilatran bow. It is awkward and not quite as natural as Honey made it look, but she manages to get the basics down.
Foenix, meanwhile, visits Druk's Junk to attempt to sell Honey's belt. The 100 gold offered by Druk is not enough for what Foenix thinks the piece is worth, and so he instead returns to the inn, to seek out another buyer in the morning.
Kona 22, 1246
At breakfast the next morning, everyone discusses where to go next. Most are in agreement that getting paid by the Glowbugs for the writ is the best next step, and that they will make a decision from there.
Micaiah cautiously brings up Babette, and wanting to rescue her and her sacrifice from the debutante ceremony - though most are very suspicious with the idea of a "coming of age" ceremony that would involve killing another person.
In the background, there is a whisper as fate takes a turn, becoming darker invoked.
The party finishes up breakfast, heading to the Gold and Glitter, a pawn shop run by a yuan-ti woman named Genevieve, who is most displeased to see Foenix darkening her door again. Seraphine steps in to try and mediate, especially when Genevieve is suspicious of the origin of Honey Fire's jewelry that Foenix produces to sell to the shop. Seraphine claims it as her own, given as a gift, rather than what Genevieve originally suspects (and would be right about): the item was stolen. The half-drow's claims to want to get rid of it because it came from her bitch of a grandmother smooth Genevieve's metaphorical feathers, and she offers 180 gold for it, which is accepted.
Thais and Seraphine browse the store for a bit longer, eventually coming upon a spell scroll of minor value (toll the dead) and a love potion (philter of love) respectively. Neither of them choose to take the item, and so with nothing but the gold in their pockets, they leave the store.
As they walk, Micaiah asks if anyone else has plans for the rest of the day. Most say that they do not, which leads to him suggesting that they all go to the theater. Even the crickets are silent in response, until one by one with hesitance and reluctance the party agrees to go.
"Lovely!" Micaiah beams, turning to lead them back to the upper city and is immediately knocked onto his back by a crossbow bolt.
The others look up in alarm to see a gathering of men and women in tattered clothes with a variety of weapons on the rooftops. The ones with crossbows line up another shot, the elf of the group striking Olena with deadly accuracy success. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the humans of the attacking force, who both miss Thais and Ali by a mile failures.
Thais, seeing the crossbow bolt shatter on the rocks by her feet, stands and presents her holy symbol to the human who attacked her with a barking word of rebuke. The holy flames curl out around his body, and although he's quick to jump back, the flames quickly overcome him and he collapses, dead.
A gnomish adversary leaps out from the shadows and grabs Micaiah's arms, forcing them above his head as he cries out in pain, while an orcish combatant - also on the ground - pegs Seraphine with a crossbow bolt to the leg.
Up on the roof, the human woman in white that the party recognizes as the Fellowship member who they saw yesterday makes a gesture with her hand. A spectral sword appears in the midst of the party, swinging at Thais's head. Thankfully, the paladin ducks out of the way and the spiritual weapon wooshes harmlessly over her.
Seraphine grabs the potion of healing in her bag and drinks it quickly, then runs over to Micaiah's side, where she is still struggling against the gnomish Fellowship member. She puts her hand on Micaiah's arm, where a glowing wave underneath her skin coalesces at the tiefling's throat.
Micaiah opens her mouth and a gout of dragon's breath fire douses the gnome - who ducks her head and takes only the scarcest of injuries - before ordering Jonquil to attack. Unfortunately, the familiar is still very new, and completely misses any attack on the gnome failure.
Olena lets the arrow in her shoulder fuel her rage as she runs for the building that the woman in white sits on top of and roars in fury as she jabs her lance up at the woman. The point of the lance digs into her leg and the woman screams, backing away from the ledge.
Meanwhile, Foenix has stepped back into the shadows, waiting. Watching for an opportunity. The dragon fire from Micaiah does it, and he sneaks up behind the gnome and takes out his daggers. They don't just slice into the gnome - they carve into her, taking off her arms at the shoulders and knocking her to the side success. In shock, the woman in white screams out the gnome's name, but it's too late. She's dead, and Foenix knocks her to the side to grab for Micaiah.
Thais, still holding her holy symbol, lets out a breathless prayer to Syria to bless Seraphine, Olena, and Foenix, then lets the symbol drop to her waist as she grabs ahold of the windows and lintels of a nearby house to climb up it and meet their attackers head on. She makes it to the top - barely - before they see her.
Ali takes a shot on the elf, hitting him in his leg. Then they knock another arrow, this time nicking the elf across the cheek when he curls down around the knee in pain.
The orc rushes forward, grabbing Micaiah's arms again and this time he produces manacles, binding the spell caster's ability to harm them. Then he begins to run away, dragging Micaiah by her bound arms further into Havre-Ordure.
The elf and human on the same roof as Thais both produce their weapons and strike at her, but neither hits. She simply gives them a burning glower of one who has killed hundreds, and their blade arms falter.
Meanwhile, the woman in white attempts to safeguard some of her companions, giving the orc running with Micaiah as a hostage sanctuary before attempting to burn Foenix with sacred flames as retribution for killing her friend. He dodges nimbly out of the way, and she demands in anger why he would defend "the enemy."
Seraphine attempts to stop the orc with a spell, but the woman in white's magic is strong. She grits her teeth as she instead casts it up at the elf, and his body begins to wither (and bloom) in front of Thais's eyes before dropping dead. She only manages to somewhat wound his human companion.
Micaiah, in desperation, calls for Jonquil to attack the orc, but Jonquil is also not able to overcome the woman in white's shellwork. The sprite instead turns to attack her directly, but its bite seems to have no effect on her. Micaiah lets out another dragon's breath, which the orc cries out in pain as it licks across his body, but he does not stop moving.
Olena, still enraged, climbs to the top of the building that the woman in white is standing on, and approaches quickly. The woman's eyes are wide in fear as she tries to back up, but Olena closes the distance quickly and knocks her unconscious with a single blow between the eyes with the butt of her lance.
Foenix, knowing something of spell craft, knows that if the orc lashes out at him that the pacifist spell protecting him will end. So he takes a leap, leaving himself open to an attack from the orc. Unfortunately for him, the orc is also aware of the nature of the spell - and Foenix's bait attempt. He lets the moment go by without a strike and so, in frustration, Foenix smashes his lantern at the orc's feet, letting the flames join those already burning across his flesh and lighting the Fellowship member on fire.
On top of the roof, Thais calls down to the orc, commanding him to drop Micaiah. The compel is too strong for him to resist, and his arms fall, freeing Micaiah from (some of) his bindings.
Ali takes the opportunity to drag Micaiah back, and using their training in battle strategy flips Micaiah behind them, putting themselves between Micaiah and the orc.
It seems that the fight has gone out of everyone left, as the last human and the orc both scatter, with the human running along the rooftops and the orc dropping down a level and darting away. Thais lets her prey (the human go), and the party slowly gathers together.
Foenix picks the lock of Micaiah's bindings, releasing him, and Seraphine uses some of her magic to cure Olena's wounds. Thais drags the woman in white - still unconscious - into a nearby abandoned building, where she uses some of her own magical talents to bring the woman back from the dead of sleep.
While the others pull the dead bodies into the building to hide them, Thais interrogates the woman. Her name is Orator Anna Kelsie, from the Fellowship of Hope. She and the others who attacked them were attempting to take Micaiah, a clear Brillantan, back with them to repay some of the sins done unto the poor to him.
Seraphine is outraged at this logic, but Foenix cuts her off. He doesn't care that they were attempting to take back an eye for an eye, no. He's angry that they attempted to take one of his people, and warns her that they are off limits.
Anna catches sight of the bodies and breaks down in tears, even when Thais attempts to somewhat lift her spirits with the comfort of their passage into the next world. It does little good.
Seraphine also attempts to help, and though she does not expect what she gets, her magic caresses the bodies, putting them to rest with the scent of oranges and a black feather that births from the very earth. It reminds her of the spell magic of the Black Roses...
Thais heals Anna as much as she can, and they take the bodies to one of the dumps that leads straight down into the lower, sealed off city. They begin to dump the bodies as Anna continues to sob, the only sound except for the sickening thunk of the bodies hitting the ground somewhere deep, deep below them...
Rewards Granted
- Honey Fire's writ of passage
- a scholar's pack (with an Ilatran book of lore)
- an ornate stylus (14 gp)
- a bronze chain with several suns hanging from the links, each embedded with a different yellow, orange, or pink crystal (240 gp)
- FOR SERAPHINE ONLY: Access to the spell bless the dead.
Character(s) interacted with
- Orator Anna Kelsie of the Fellowship of the Heart
- Honey Fire, tabaxi daughter of the Ilatran diplomat
- Druk, orc proprietor of the junk shop Druk's Junk
- Genevieve, yuan-ti proprietor of the pawn shop Gold and Glitter
Notes
Quotes of the Session
Aster: "And that's where we'll take our ten minute grape."
Thais Argyri
Paladin (Oath of Redemption) 7
18
13
16
10
11
18
Foenix Stolnent
Rogue 3
Arcane Trickster 4
14
18
19
18
13
13
Micaiah Louvre
Warlock 7
7
18
14
12
15
20
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