SESSION 7

General Summary

Aed

While staying in one of the huts in Aed, Reed has a nightmare recalling his previous experience with the Griffon and how its features also resembled what Ren had described the Aurochs to contain. Once the party awoke they went to the elder who said that they have done more than enough and how he doesn't wish any harm to befall the party. He writes a letter for Carvey to give to Pryce before wishing the party safe travels back to Askr.

Askr

Once the party goes back to Askr they first stop by the outer barracks to give Pryce the elder of Aed's letter. He reads it over and says that he's happy nothing bad happened to the party. He says that he'll send out another group of guards to check out the cave. He says that although he thinks Carvey did a good job, he doesn't think he's quite ready to join the guards and says to come back after he achieves silver rank within the AA. Before the party goes he gives them a small reward as thanks on behalf of the guards. The party then agrees to go visit Ramona and show her the scales. She's impressed by the scales they've received and although she doesn't have any immediate payment, she offers a 20% discount on all future purchases at their shop as well as being the first to try out their prototype when it's completed.
Afterwards they all went to the AA to see if anything new was posted. Upon entering they see Theo cleaning his glass as usual as well as Cedar, Sayri, Broca, and Naru all sitting at a table and drinking together. Broca puts his arms out and Reed jumps into his arms in a passionate hug of brotherly affection. He asks how their quest went and the party explained that they came across piercers. He told them that had their been Ropers even he and Naru would have had trouble with them. After speaking to Cedar, the party learns that he and Sayri are getting married soon. After hearing this Reed begins hatching his plan "Operation Broca x Naru" and calls for the boys to gather round the corner. All of the boys go and huddle around and the operation commences. In order to simulate how Broca acts with Naru, Ren got chosen to play the part of Naru. With Rens sassy acting, and Broca's immediate dismissal once being told no, it became apparent that Broca was a total pushover and gave up at the slightest bit of resistance. At one point Professor Jasper showed up to give in his two cents and to post his newest review up on the board. Once the group finally decided on a course of action for Broca, they all gather their hands in the middle of the circle and shouted "BROCA!!!!" in unison as they raised their hand.
Cedar then wanted to bring attention to Professor Jasper's reviews as he thought they were well written and very entertaining and told Jasper that he continues to look forward to their work. Jasper thanked him and then went back to the bathroom to quickly change identities. The boys get back to the table and Naru asks them what the hell that was all about. Reed tells her it was a bro talk and she just says "Whatever, I don't care in the slightest." as she takes another sip of her drink. Reed tries to read her and comes up with nothing. He gives Broca "the nod" and Broca shows a slight frown.
Ren speaks up about asking if anymore quests were available for the party to take and Reed suddenly remembers his talk with Daisy. He immediately goes to look if she had put up a request yet. He sees that she didn't and loses interest but takes what quest he saw anyway. It was a quest from Celeste at Fabled Fabrics. Theo signs them up for the quest. The party all had stuff to do, so they agreed to reconvene at Fabled Fabrics in a few hours. Before heading out Theo calls Reed over and says that Jessica had requested to see him when he got back and that she would be waiting around in their dorm for him.

Askr (Personal tasks)

• Carvey - Carvey decided to use his free time polishing his weapons and making sure they were in tip top shape for combat.
• Ren - Ren decided to go to the library to return his book "The Seven Wonders of Askr". He met with the librarian again and asked her if she had anymore recommendations. She seemed to perk up a bit after hearing that he's interested in reading. She tells Ren that people can find out so much from books but it seems like nobody bothers to take the time to read much anymore. Ren agrees and asks her if she has anything pertaining to the history of the country. She goes into the bookshelves and comes back with thiccc book called "Emblem Empire Historia" she exclaims that the history of the country is quite fascinating and that it's a very nice read. Before heading off Ren formally introduces himself and asks for her name. She's seemingly caught off guard by this as nobody has really asked her before since they simply come for a book and leave. She tells Ren that her name is Laurelle and says that he's welcome at the library anytime.
• Zenaster - Zen decides to take the time to visit Suel at the bar in the slums "Of Ale and Glory". Once he gets there he notices it's a rowdy bar where fights seem to break out all the time. He notices Suel in a corner shouting and egging on a fight. He gets his attention and Suel seems happy to see him. Zen asks him if he's gotten any more information about the heist mission. Suel says that he's done some more scouting and it seems that the place is more heavily guarded than he first anticipated. He asks Zen if he has a group willing to help out and possibly act as decoys or if they have the skill help with the thieving as well. Zen says that he might have a few people in mind and that he would ask them. Suel looks happy and says that he'll continue to gather more information on the mansion.
• Rowan - Rowan went to Upsy Daisy to see if she had identified the herbs from before. She told him that they were very powerful medicinal herbs. While talking aloud, she mumbled to herself that they were probably from her home.
• Reed - Reed went back to the dorm to check up on Jessica. He knocked on her door and she told him to come in. Upon seeing Jessica sitting on her bed he went to sit next to her and ask what was up. Jessica had received a letter from her father asking her to come home, however she didn't want to. Reed asks why she set out in the first place and she said that she wanted to make her own living without depending on her father or his company. Reed having resonated with her story told her that she should just do what she wants and that he would support her. She thanks him and said that it meant a lot to her. Before leaving Reed had a small request of her, he asked if he could have one of her bullets. She agreed and let him have one. She once again thanked him before he went about his day.

Askr (Fabled Fabrics)

After the party dealt with their personal business, they all met up at Fabled Fabrics where they met Celeste. After meeting the party she quickly went over the quest and told them about her idea to use spider silk in her newest line of clothing. The party asked if she could sweeten the deal a bit to make it more worthwhile and she said that she could afford to add in a few extra platinum pieces. During this exchange Ren asked why she was in her middleclass shop instead of her upper-class one. She stated that she prefers the clientele in the middleclass district as they are easier to talk to.

Enbarr

Nothing of note happens on their way to Enbarr. Once the party reaches their destination they notice that Enbarr appears to be a small village with a few services available. The pawn shop "What a Steal" run by Rowans friend, Silvia, Giselle's Tarot Readings, and the Enbarr Inn. Rowan was excited to see his friend so he headed on over to her shop first. On the way their, Reed and Zenaster caught the eye of purple Tiefling holding a sign saying free reading in from the the Tarot Reading building. That piqued their interest so they went over to talk to him. He introduced himself as Langris Vaude, and told them that he's doing free tarot readings. Reed and Zen took him up on the offer and headed inside. Inside they see a female deer beastman and a female half elf already sitting getting her fortune told. Langris tells them to take a seat and he begins performing his "reading". Zen notices that Langris sleighted a card but says nothing and lets him continue. He then attempts to learn about their desires through divination magic but gets caught in the act. Reed and Zen aren't having any of this when Giselle speaks up and says that she wanted him to see first hand how it is when his scams fall through and that he should simply to readings truthfully. Langris pouts and begins to stay quiet. Giselle apologizes for Langris and offers a reading to Reed and Zen. They seem to be very skeptical at first and ask her why they should believe her when they had just been scammed by another from the same shop. Caeda speaks up and says that she had just gotten her fortune told and how those two were indeed part of the shared vision she experience. At this time Reed and Zen seem to be a little more optimistic about her reading and agree to take it. Giselle says that they should wait for the rest of their party to arrive so she can do a group reading for everyone.
While this is happening, Rowan, Zen, and Carvey go to Silvia's shop. Upon entering, Rowan runs up and hugs his best friend. He asks her how she's been and she tells them of her previous scam towards Cedar and Sayri. She then asks Rowan how he's been and he tells her about the adventures he's been on since joining the AA. Sayri says she's happy for him and then begins to tell him about the Carny group that they escaped from. They have set up again in the neighboring country and although they don't appear to be doing anything dangerous she's still keeping an eye on them and will let Rowan know if things start seeming fishy. She then brings attention towards the Giselle's and says Rowan should check it out since she knows that's his scam of choice. Rowan thanks her for the informations hugs her once more then the party heads to check out Giselle's. Before the party is out the door Silvia makes a comment asking if Carvey and Ren would like to buy anything. They both happily decline after hearing all about Silvia's scams. She laughs and doesn't blame them then wishes them good luck.
Rowan and the rest eventually make their way to Giselle's. Reed and Zen catch the rest up to speed with what's happening and about the group reading when Ren speaks up and says that it's still fishy. He asks for proof that she's an legit. She takes Rowans hands and begins to perform a divination spell to ascertain his name. Once she correctly has his name they throw a few more questions at her while she's under her own zone of truth spell. The group asks, is she legit she answers "Yes" they then ask if Langris is legit and she answers "No". After this the group is convinced that she is no longer trying to scam them and they agree to the free reading. Before she does the reading she says that she also saw that Rowan too knew how to do Tarot Readings and asks him to join her for the reading. Rowan is reluctant but then agrees and goes to the other side of the table. Rowan then attempts a fake reading but it found out immediately. Giselle laughs then asks him to please sit back on the other side of the table. During the actual reading, the group is presented a shared vision in which they are in the cave full of spiders fighting when suddenly a spider seems to materialize out of thin air and pounce on Reed dropping him to the ground. Reed freaks out and says that there's no way in hell that he's going there. Giselle says that she's a firm believer that fate can be changed and says that now that you know what's coming you and the group should be able to prevent that outcome. The party eventually agrees to try and get more information about the spiders before heading off and Giselle mentions that the mayor might have some additional information. Before Rowan leaves, Giselle casts message and asks him to stay back as she wants to discuss something with him.
Rowan stays back with Giselle and the rest of the party goes to the mayors to get some information about the spiders. He tells them about all the different types of spiders that he's heard about from previous adventurers that have went into the cave. He then informs that party that they can stay the night in the inn to rest up before going to the cave to take down the spiders. The party accepts this and goes back to the Inn to rest for a while. During this time Giselle trains Rowan how to properly do tarot readings as well as help him unlock what she calls his true calling as a spirit teller. She teaches him how to use his bardic prowess to recall tales from beyond of ancient heroes and use that power to aid him and his allies. After many hours of practice he eventually picks it up at a basic level. Giselle tells him to get some rest and go meet back up with his crew whom she knows will be in the Enbarr Inn. Giselle asks that he pass on the message that for a small price she will offer readings to him and his friends whenever they like. Just remember that her readings, although accurate, can be changed by strong wills. She then tells Rowan to go change fate along with his friends and sends him off. Rowan then goes to meet up with his group at the inn where he sees Zen and Caeda performing. He joins in and together they put together a great show. After all of the excitement the crew heads to bed and prepares to take on the spiders the next day.

Cavern of Spiders

The group wakes up and heads out to the cave where the spiders reside. Once inside the group sees a bunch of spiders and begins to take them down one by one. During the middle of the fight, just like in the vision a spider materializes out of thin air and strikes, however unlike the vision it doesn't attack Reed. The group quickly takes care of what spiders they can see and begin to start harvesting the silk from the dead spiders. While doing so they hear a roar come from deeper within the cavern. Zenaster goes to check it out but sees an empty room with a massive spider web nest. He nopes out of there and lets the party know what he saw. The party continues gathering silk when suddenly Caeda begins to hear things crawling within the walls of the cave. The party starts going on edge but they don't hear anything anymore. Suddenly a giant spiders bursts through one of the caves walls and begins attacking the party. Along with the giant spider, many baby spiders come from within the walls and start to jump off of the giant one to aid it in battle. After a long fight, the group comes out victorious and it seems that they have changed the outcome of Giselle's vision. The party then continues to gather the rest of the silk and begins to head out, but not before hearing a roar one last time come from deeper within the cave. They decided that the roar wasn't their problem and proceeded to head back to Enbarr.

Enbarr

The group makes it back to Enbarr and informs the mayor of the roar they heard while leaving the cave. He thanks them for the information and says he'll relay it to future adventuring groups to warn them of the potential danger. Tired from their fight, the group then decides to go back to the inn. Reed shows his merchant papers in an attempt to get free rooms and the innkeeper agrees to give him and his friends the room. In the meantime, Caeda, Zen, and Rowan put on a performance again that night. Caeda and Zen screw up completely but Rowan just barely manages to save it. Silvia laughs at how terrible the performance was and then Rowan laughs and agrees with her. She tells them to not give up at it and keep trying to get better before she tells them goodnight and to have safe travels. After a night of good sleep the group then travels back to Askr once again. They make it there with ease and agree to stop by the dorm before going to Celeste's to bring her the silk.

Rewards Granted

100 gp from Pryce as thanks from the guards for checking the cave out.
20% discount on all future purchases at Forged from the Heart as well as the first to be able to try out the prototype armor.
38 gp total from both performances by Caeda, Rowan, and Zenaster

Missions/Quests Completed

Carvey's Culling of the Moonlit Cavern - COMPLETED-ISH
Redefining Fashion - COMPLETE

Report Date

13 Feb 2021