Session 9 - "Tricks and Traps" Report
General Summary
Kona 24, 1246
The party continues to explore the Hatchette property, eventually finding a trap door into the attic. They debate going up into it, but eventually Olena stands on Thais's shoulders to shove the trap door open, dislodging the boxes sitting on top of it.
They ascend into the attic, filled with remnants of the family who once lived here.
It's at this moment that the ghost - Amos Hatchette, as they have come to discover - makes an appearance. Blood begins to bleed out from beneath the floorboards and his form solidifies, about to lash out in fear and permanent fight-response, when Aglaia casually puts out her holy symbol and turns Amos away from the group, causing him to disappear with a wail.
He'll be back, but in the meantime the group begins to explore the attic. Mostly boxes of memorabilia, out-of-season clothes, and keepsakes, but Thais and Foenix both notice that under a few boxes a square symbol, burned into the floorboards as if it seared up from the floor (like blood that Amos manifested) and burned into the bottom of the boxes sitting on top of the affected areas.
Foenix is able to notate it as similar to a teleportation circle - but far more organic than arcane. It is Aglaia to realize it has some sort of Infernal origin, but no further information.
What she also notices is a chest in the corner of the room, made of wood dark with age, bound in black iron, and securely closed with locks. She calls Foenix over to attempt to open it, which he does, but not using his thieves' tools. Instead, he twists his fingers and reaches out with magic to carefully unlock it.
It comes free, but as it does, it pulls out a pin to a canister hidden within the chest. It begins to spill out a noxious green gas, which Foenix and Aglaia both get a lungful of - but as Thais runs forward to pick up the unsteady-looking Foenix, the second part of the trap fires off.
A piece of flint strikes, igniting the unstable gas in a massive explosion. Thais's body shields Foenix from most of the damage, but they (and Aglaia) are not left unscathed.
Thais takes a breath to lay her hands on Foenix and restore some of his vitality, while Aglaia offers up a healing word to him to attempt an apology for getting him into this situation.
Amos begins to coalesce again as Aglaia's banishment begins to fade, but she once again reveals her holy symbol and turns him from her. He is this time banished for good - at least, while she's in the house Failure.
The reappearance of the spirit makes Thais reconsider the symbol. She suggests that perhaps Amos, as a merchant of magical and strange antiquities, had been transporting something dangerous (knowingly or unknowingly), and unleashed something (or someone) upon his household. As if in answer to her question, she notices one thing amongst the destroyed chest that Foenix triggered: a large blue coat, unscathed by the blast.
She picks it up and wraps it around her shoulders. Foenix notices and immediately freaks out, demanding that she take it off until he knows what it does (as he has the ability to identify magical items now). Thais rolls her eyes and takes off the cloak, handing it to Foenix.
The paladin has an idea, and looks to Micaiah. She asks if he can help her call Amos back, which the "bard" agrees to.
He plays a soothing, haunting melody, calling out to the spirit. It works, and soon the spectral patriarch begins to coalesce between Micaiah and Thais.
Through her ability to work as an emissary of peace as well as a naturally gifted tongue, Thais manages to keep Amos stable as he tells his tale.
It's meandering and not exactly a complete picture, but Amos retells how a creature broke into the house through the twins' (Trinity and Tristan) bedroom, and even as he tried to defend them, ushering them up into the attic for safety, he was mortally wounded and the creature took them.
He specifically mentions that the children were "taken" and "lost, not dead." Thais commends his bravery and willingness to sacrifice himself for his children's lives. She also persuades him to rest in peace, and so he dissipates, the haunting of the decrepit estate coming to an end.
Aglaia points out, with a know-it-all tone, that Thais forgot to ask anything about the Infernal sigil - or a few other points that would have been nice to now more about. Thais snaps back irritably, but both of them drop it as they glare daggers.
Meanwhile, Micaiah has searched the attic and found his own treasure: Wrapped in a large square of supple dark green leather he uncovers a life-sized wooden owl. The owl is carved out of a single piece of wood, deep red in color, and in place of eyes it has a pair of matching tiger's eyes. The feathers are exquisitely carved, and their edges have been picked out with inlaid silver. The owl's talons are made of silver, and it looks as though it was designed to be mounted on a perch. A heavy pouch is tied to one of its legs with a piece of silken cord, and inside the pouch are a mouse carved out of red-streaked marble, three thumb-sized gold ingots, each stamped with the number "6" and a few coins.
Excited by his find, he encourages the others to explore the basement, which they do post-haste. Micaiah finds a bottle of rosewood vintage, and Foenix a bottle of celestial wine. Aglaia has the worst luck, only finding poorly sealed bottle with fungus and mold swimming within the wine Failure.
Aglaia, in an attempt to distract the others from her wine fiasco, comments lightly that it's a bit of a disappointment that the house is no longer haunted (Olena agrees). She suggests that perhaps people would pay to visit a fake haunted house. Micaiah immediately cosigns this idea in excitement.
But, at the moment, there is no audience nor business plan for this venture, and so instead everyone decides to bed down for the night. Aglaia goes upstairs to the master bedroom and uses her magic to mend the four-poster bed so as to sleep somewhere else than the hard ground. Foenix and Olena bed down in the ground-floor office, while Ali, Thais, and Micaiah rest in the dining room.
Before bed, Micaiah cracks open her wine and pours it into the goblets left on the dining room table (after Thais washes them out with water from her pack). Meanwhile, Foenix takes the time to identify the items they've gathered in the house: the paper birds, pearler's blade, swansong lute, wand of magic missiles, and the newly acquired cloak of protection. The pages of the paper birds are divvied up between the party so everyone has a last ditch method of communication (Foenix at first tries to refuse, using his magic to message Aglaia from quite a distance; he begrudingly takes a page when she asks how far the spell can go versus the paper bird, which can go anywhere on the same plane as the sender). The lute is given to Micaiah, and the wand to Aglaia, as is the cloak. The pearler's blade is kept by Foenix. Thais takes the antidote.
The potions of healing picked up earlier are also distributed: "Trinity" is given to Foenix, "Tristan" to Ali, and "Lilah" to Micaiah.
Micaiah takes the lute and begins to tune it up, and Ali joins her to help.
Micaiah asks Ali with surprise how they learned to play, and Ali admits that their dad taught them. They also say that they don't know if their dad still even plays - or if he's alive or dead. Micaiah suggests that sometime they should play together, which Ali hesitates to agree to. They eventually confess that they aren't that good at it, but that doesn't seem to dissuade Micaiah.
As they rejoin the others, Micaiah immediately hops on Thais and asks her if she has any siblings, attempting to bond with the Cactsian. Thais says that, while she doesn't have any siblings, she has a cousin that is like a sister to her. Micaiah observes that she thought that Thais was an older sister, because she's so protective of the group. Thais says that she is a protective person by nature, and so she tries not to think about her cousin too much, as she can't be there to protect her anymore and the helplessness is overwhelming when she dwells on it. Then she walks away, one hand going to touch her clavicle over her clothes.
Micaiah turns her questions to Aglaia, asking her about her goddess, and Aglaia tells Micaiah that she enjoys the individuality and personal nature of worshipping Venebri. She also tells Micaiah a bit about genasi, which fascinates Micaiah.
Meanwhile, Thais steps out onto the back porch to find Foenix sitting by himself. She sits down next to him, allowing a beat to pass before she finally asks him what happened at the theater. Foenix sullenly says that both the dragon and him (gesturing to his brand) are proof that the Brillantan have no respect for life. While Thais agrees with him, she asks if he will please ask the group before going off on his own again and causing trouble. He says that there shouldn't be any trouble going forward, showing off his arcane ability to disguise himself.
They are silent for a bit, then Foenix mentions that he's worried about Seraphine. He tells the story about a Brillantan noble using his torture (after being kidnapped off the street) as entertainment for a party. Thais listens quietly before taking off the bandages on her hands and showing her own brand of a gauntlet gripping a crown. She tells him that it's a brand of loyalty to a god of domination and subjugation, and that the people who worship him are not nice people. Foenix asks about the Roches - if they were dangerous. Thais laughs. No, they were pathetic, insignificant people who were absolutely being manipulated by those that the god did favor. She almost felt sorry for them.
Foenix thinks for a moment, then takes his goblet of wine and wanders up to the chasm that Seraphine disappeared into. Solemnly, he tosses the goblet and its contents into the chasm as a final goodbye before heading inside.
During the night, the first watch of Olena and Foenix is interrupted by Micaiah's distressed mumbling in his sleep. They approach cautiously, but Foenix refuses to wake him up, suggesting that Micaiah was just having a dream of being forced to wear an ugly dress. Still, Olena picks up a piece of rubble and (lightly) tosses it at Micaiah to wake him up. Micaiah stops mumbling, but doesn't move, so the two head back to the foyer to continue their watch. Unbeknownst to them, Micaiah is awake, staying quiet and still in the dark.
On their watch, Aglaia and Ali play dice. It's a landslide victory for Ali (though how could it have not been when they're using loaded dice). Aglaia notices in the distance of the ruined city a small fire - a few miles away Success. She suggests that it could be the missing Glowbugs, but it's too far away to investigate right now and Ali is unable to orient themselves in the dark to see if it's in the same direction as they'll be heading in the morning.
Heading back inside, they begin to talk about the party's group dynamics, with Aglaia challenging Ali to stop putting up a front to keep people away. Ali finally opens up about their dad abandoning the family and (under Aglaia's relentless questioning) that they are not only wanting to confront their father about the abandonment, but also to prove that you can adventure, then return back home at the end of the journey.
The last watch of the evening is Micaiah and Thais, and Micaiah makes coffee in the kitchen. She piles the rations on a real plate from the dining room before serving it to Thais, which she thanks her for.
Micaiah sits down next to her, and while Thais eats she reads Queens Without Honor. After she finishes eating, Micaiah asks about Seraphine's departure, which Thais tells her about. Micaiah thinks she catches grief on Thais's face, but doesn't question the paladin on it. She does, however, reassure Thais that she's not alone anymore.
During the evening, while she's sleeping, Olena travels again to the forest of her ancestors and meets Rishar, the White Bear with a large dire wolf - even larger than an elephant. He introduces it as Ólmr the Savage, the spirit that more aligns with Olena's path. It demands her agreement to fight without mercy and to defend fiercely, which Olena does agree to - though she does amend her promise to only fight without mercy against the "worthy," which does earn a growl from the wolf.
Still, Ólmr presses the pad of its paw down on a large fallen black locust tree branch until it embeds itself like a thorn, letting the blood flow freely. It bids her drink of the blood, which she does, and as she accepts the covenant with her ancestors, she awakens in the derelict home, morning coming quickly....
Rewards Granted
- Cloak of protection
- Dark green leather (1 gp)
- Wooden owl (70 gp; the tiger's eyes are 15 gp each on their own)
- Marble mouse (4 gp)
- 3 gold ingots (6 gp each)
- Rosewood Vintage (170 gp)
- Celestial Wine (200 gp)
- 6 gp, 20 sp
Character(s) interacted with
- Amos Hatchette
- Rishar, the White Bear
- Ólmr the Savage
Notes
Quotes of the Session
Aglaia to Foenix (with delight): "You're so tiny, I just want to put you in my pocket!"
Micaiah: "Has anyone here heard of asbestos?!"
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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