Session 6 - "New Horizons" Report
General Summary
Kona 23, 1246
We pick up the next day after the fight with the Fellowship of Hope, in the Bitch's Rest, where Micaiah is just waking up. His eyes, only blearily opening up, focus on a section of the wall where the baseboard is slightly pried back from the wall. Then he notices it: something wrapped in linen and a letter. Pulling back the baseboard more, he retrieves the item and letter, but keeps both to himself as he descends the stairs to join the others for breakfast.
As they sit and eat, Foenix comments that Micaiah needs to get new clothes that will allow him to blend in more with the people of Havre-Ordure. Micaiah laughs a bit at this, saying he can just disguise himself with magic, but Seraphine says that would be a bad idea. In fact, it is eventually decided that everyone needs new outfits to bled in with either Brillante or Havre-Ordure, whichever one they, at the moment, stick out like a sore thumb when running around with.
Micaiah also takes the moment to thank the others for rescuing him from the Fellowship, which most of the party simply shrug nonchalantly about.
After breakfast, the party heads to an Orduran market, and Micaiah purchases a brown-on-brown-on-brown outfit to blend in with the undercity.
Then, she leads them up to a Brillantan shop in the district of Gracile called Maquillage to get them dressed up in fancy clothes.
The yuan-ti attendant does her best to style them all, eventually ending on:
- Ali: a black velvet frockcoat, brown trousers and waistcoat.
- Foenix: a black satin frockcoat with matching trousers and custom buttons and buckles with his "house crest" (fudged on a sheet of paper and handed to the attendant).
- Olena: a powder blue gown with quilting that hides subtle embroidering in sparse quilt-squares of flowers and berries and a bodice that is made up of fuchsia purple and the same powder blue panels.
- Seraphine: a plain, cream-colored gown with no ornamentation except for faux-pearls as a sort of trim on the front-most hems, where the gown would be closed over the corset and stomacher.
- Thais: a riding outfit with a forest green cropped jacket that has gold ribbons creating a forest scene with hidden sparrows and florals along the hem, and matching trousers with leather panels sewed in on the inner thighs to protect the fabric from wearing out too quickly under friction.
The gowns all follow the fashion of 18th-century French fashion, while the frock coats follow the fashion of early 19th-century French men's wear.
Seraphine, being the first to get fitted, sneaks off while the others are still working with the frazzled attendant.
She finds her way to the Tenebran Cemetery, and to one of the Black Roses attending the gravesites there. She asks the Rose about the strange experience she had yesterday, and what it could mean. The Black Rose says it was a calling from the goddess, but Seraphine doubts it. She has no room for a deity in her life, having already dedicated herself to the protection and worship of nature itself. But the Rose insists that that is not enough to stop Laravelle from calling out to her, and offers to show Seraphine where she can ask for guidance.
Agreeing, Seraphine is taken to a large "mausoleum" in the cemetery that is actually the temple and barracks for the Roses.
She sits in a back row and attempts to pray to Laravelle, to ask what the Lady in Black wants from her. Another Black Rose pauses by her side to ask her if she was there to pray for someone who had died. Seraphine says no, but someone had died in close proximity to her recently.
The Rose, in return, asks if she had attempted to comfort or lay the body to rest in any particular way. Of course, Seraphine says that she did - that's the whole reason that she was here: to ask why she was able to cast magic normally reserved for the Roses and their care of the dead and grieving. The Rose then reassures Seraphine that she was given that gift because she was kind, and did the right thing - even for someone she didn't know. The Rose even gifts Seraphine a dark - almost black - rose as a symbol of comfort and camaraderie.
Though their conversation, as the Rose departs, leaves Seraphine suspicious, as she did not give her name, nor any details about herself to the Rose. Yet the Rose knew her name and that she was raised by an only parent. Her attempts to get a peek at the Rose's skin indicate that it may be Xen, but she's not sure.
As Seraphine rejoins the others, they notice the rose clasped in her hands. All of them are highly suspicious of Seraphine's actions, but none question her further. Only Micaiah notices how bothered she is by the entire debate.
The party, donned in their new finery, travels to the White Lace Tea Room to meet with the Glowbugs. Upon entering, they are seating by the frazzled gnome proprietor, who seems to be maitre'd, chef, waiter, and busk boy. As they sit and await their rose tea (ordered by Micaiah en masse), the talk of the table turns to coffee.
You see, Foenix is quite fond of the substance, and Ali is from Karasi: the birthplace of the drink. So he has quite a lot of opinions. Micaiah and Thais both drink it as well, while Olena does... not. In fact, as they speak, both she and Foenix are appraised of the exact methods of creating coffee, and Foenix muses aloud if they could potentially get coffee plants and grow it themselves, though Seraphine doubts that the climate of Brillante would allow for much sustainability.
Meanwhile, Thais has used her loud voice to comment on how, back home, many bakeries would make biscuits and cookies in the shapes of glowbugs. Her inelegant, but direct code gets the gnome proprietor's attention, and when he arrives with their tea, there is a folded napkin on the side of the tray closest to Thais.
Unfolding it reveals a message: "finish drinking your tea, then ask to tour the gardens."
The party does so, and is taken out to view a three-tiered garden: the lowest tier of the concrete structure housing flowers, the middle tier having shrubs, and the highest tier having a single tree with flowers and bushes surrounding it.
The gnome takes them around the back of the structure, where there are steps carved into the side and down beneath it, ending in a door. The gnome lets them in, and upon entering they find themselves at a table, with an unknown wood elf woman sitting at the other side and Wickett, the strange aasimar with the ever-shifting mask sitting across from them.
The elf woman introduces herself as Fawn, and after some negotiation with the party she eventually pays them 205 gold for the writ of passage. Wickett reacts with outrage, saying that that amount of money could feed their entire guild for months, but Fawn does not respond to her cohort.
Foenix asks if they have any other work that needs to be done, and at first Fawn is reluctant to hire them, pointing out that their thefts in the River District (and sabotage) have not gone unnoticed. But Foenix and Thais manage to convince her, and she eventually tells them that a (once safe) passage through the undercity for her people has recently led to two Glowbugs going missing. She is willing to pay them to clear the passage once again from whatever is down there.
The party agrees, then Foenix offers to sell her the deeds to the Roche properties. Fawn refuses, saying that there's too much heat - and besides, they have little use for them. Instead, she points them in the direction of Jonathan St. Claire, who may be willing to pay for them. He spends many days at the Imparadise Baths, which the party has already passed by many times in Gracile.
The party decides to check it out, and so head to the bathhouses. It's easy enough to get an audience with St. Claire, who is in the middle of entertaining a young human woman who works at the baths. He is a half-elf, missing the lower half of his legs (starting right above the knee), and is a bored, lackadaisical prince of hedonism with too much intelligence for his own good - so it would seem.
As a quick note: the party is in various states of undress within the bathhouse's walls: Thais, Seraphine, and Ali are naked and unashamed by it, while Micaiah and Foenix are both wrapped in bathrobes. It is important as well that Micaiah casts disguise self on herself to APPEAR nude - and to enhance her body somewhat.
He is easily able to deduce the countries of origin for most of the party, and also the revenge they took on Élodie Roche (both personally and professionally: charming her to mar her own appearance and robbing her residence). Jonathan finds them all to be the most interesting thing that has happened to him in quite a bit, and so is willing to pay 750 gold for the deeds to the Roche estates. For houses and property, quite a low price indeed - but for Jonathan to do anything with it will be quite the court case, and so the price is deemed fair by the party.
They finish up their conversation with Jonathan and head back outside, where Olena (who refused to go into the bathhouse due to her illness and while Micaiah pressed her to come with, Seraphine and Thais were able to convince her to drop it) and Chihiro have been playing fetch for what seems like hours.
After discussing next moves, Micaiah suggests they spend the rest of their time in Brillante in style, taking in the culture by seeing a show at the theater. This time, everyone agrees, and as they walk away together, a fell breeze begins to blow [Make It Worse invoked].
Rewards Granted
- Tide Turner
- 955 gp (205 gp for the writ of passage, 750 gp for the deeds to the Roche properties)
Character(s) interacted with
- Fawn, elf Glowbug
- Jonathan St. Claire
- Wickett, aasimar Glowbug
- Xen/Laravelle?
Notes
Quotes of the Session
Thais (to Micaiah): "Where would we be if we didn't have you to tell us to take our elbows off the table?"
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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