Session 19: Cold-Blooded
General Summary
Three days pass and the lingering effects of Amelia’s high finally wear off. We opt not to set out on a two week journey as we still have some business in town, so we go after the local treasure that TT’s black market connection was giving us a map to the night we all opened our third eyes with the help of strange fluids. The treasure is in a small town called Bishu and in order to get there, we’ll need to cross the border of two countries so we have Julius cook us up some passports and head out. Owkbanok can’t join us as he’s left to train the new crew some more, so we take Tonari in his stead.
The border is protected by strange, albino humanoids and when we ask around, people tell us they came from the caves. Along with them came vicious, translucent beings; but said beings have become a rare sight because the pale ones had killed and chased most of them off. While the pale ones are unsettling, people like their presence as it means safety to all of them. With that information, we all keep our eyes peeled once we get back on the road, but all we manage to spot are a trail of caltrops. We bring the carriage to a stop and find tracks, following them into the woods while leaving Tonari with our ride. As we step into the woods, a black bear roars loudly and rears up to attack us, but I quickly calm it down and have the bear join us.
Upon reaching the carriage, both it and Tonari are gone and as we start off to chase it down, a fellow ranger drops from the trees above to try and subdue Cayde. Revenge for me “charming” his bear, which he wants back badly, but no matter how hard he tries, the bear likes us more. We grapple and interrogate the ranger until he cracks and tells us we’re gonna want to seek out people that go by the name Ambry and Orchid, and with more prodding, we get him to tell us where Tonari is. Our buddy’s beaten and tied up in a ditch nearby and upon freeing him, he’s beyond pissed. He demands to know where those two are and ends up beating the ranger into unconsciousness.
When we wake him up, it’s only for our next horrific act against rangers. Tonari roundhouse kicks the bear, killing it instantly and the ranger screams out in agony as his companion is lost. We ask where Ambry and Orchid are again and he motions to the direction we were headed in. Not wanting to waste a good pelt, I skin his bear to give this man further trauma and once Amelia’s wall of skeletal arms fades and drops the ranger, he immediately flees. We decide to let him live for the time being and once in Bishu, we rent some elks to ride to the hideout and get Tonari’s shit back. Our attempt to get in goes wrong as Amelia’s nearly electrocuted and with so much electricity coursing through her, she quietly retreats to the tree with Tonari to wait it out.
TT dispels the trap by throwing a rock at the door, wasting the magic’s last charge and with somebody calling out that they don’t have any magic left, Tonari takes that as “go”. He kicks the door down, TT following after while disguised as a bear, and the rest of us follow suit. It doesn’t take much to kill Ambry and Orchid, but with them dead, there’s no feasible way we can squeeze the carriage out. Tonari collects his gear and we all evacuate the cave as Amelia raises our former targets as exploding zombies. She blows a hole through the wall with them, giving us enough space to get the carriage out and back to Bishu we go.
The map we got from TT’s friend leads us to a graveyard. Specifically to a grave that reads; "Long live the memory of Billy Isaac Jean. May his soul rest in sweet peace.“. We debate over whether or not this is a riddle or a clue to something bigger, but come nightfall, we dig it up without another second of hesitation. Inside we’re treated to drugs, alcohol, and lots of gold. As well as a note that reads; "Four tunes all sailing, Many go shore alone.”, but this means nothing to any of us. So rather than take the note for the future, we toss it back into the grave and leave Bishu with our loot.
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