Session 16 19/07/2025
General Summary
Tuesday 22/05/2345
Genevieve's
- Garrin shows up mid performance and runs over to G, tells her he’s got some gossip and asks her to dance, she says yes
- Garrin tries to twirl G but doesn’t quite manage (4 dex) but G is able to save it and lead (17 dex save)
- G asks about his day; he tells her that one of the blackthorns came in and had this girl with her and that one of the other girls working there found a potion and it looks like he tried to slip her a sleep potion
- Garrin says the didn’t find out until after the left otherwise he would have done something
- Garrin tries to do a big dance move and pulls it off but elbows Alaric in the face (5 dex), G mouths sorry to him
- M notices an older Human woman in her 50s rifling through a coin purse and walks says she doesn’t have money but she does have a brooch, M says she doesn’t have to give her anything but accepts it and has a quick look over it (arcana 5) and can tell it has magic but will need to have a closer look at it later to figure out more
- M puts the brooch on and feels a little more charismatic (charisma +1)
- M asks the old man to join them and brings his over to the table with everyone and asks him for help getting the townsfolk a bit more prepared to defend themselves as needed, he says he did train many monks at the monastery and asks for paper and a pen and draws a symbol saying to look for that symbol above a building and to send anyone there and he’ll help them out
- M says that their first priority needs to be finding Skylla, that she’s going to ask Todd about access points to the underground tonight. Second priority should be getting the book and then if possible, killing her, but focus on the other two first
- C says she’s not easily pinned down, especially when she can summon the shadow things
- B says he’s working on a plan
- Alaric comes by and drops off some drinks for everyone before sitting in the chair next to M
- As M finishes talking business, her posture starts to slump and she looks like she is struggling internally, K reaches over to rub her back
- M asks if anyone wants to come to The Jolly Jackalope with her and S and that she just wants to grab a bite to eat before they go, J and C say they’ll pass, but K, G and Garrin decide to join
- Garrin slips his hand under the table to meet G’s and see if she’ll hold it, which she does
- C says he’s thinking he’s going to go have a chat with the paladins at The Radiant Hall
- M says before anyone goes anywhere, she was hoping to have a quick chat with J and asks if she could pull her aside, stating that C is also welcome to join and the 3 of them go to C and J’s room
Corvin and Jineyih’s room
- M says “I realise I forgot to check in with you after last night. Everything kind of, you know, there’s a lot going on and I just wanted to check in with you, because I don’t think I asked, where you aware of the conversation that was going on inside your head?” J says that she didn’t hear anything and asks if M thinks one of them prevented her from being witness to it and M says “Yeah, Nayamayi is blocking your memories from you” J looks very serious and gives M a small nod, C looks like he wants to say something but is waiting for M to finish
- M continues “Yeah, it sounds like you experienced some pretty awful things, and I just wanted to say, I don’t know how this all works, I’m not super familiar with having a god suppress memories, but whether or not you choose to remember them is your decision and I don’t want you to feel like you have to do that for our sake. I know what it’s like to live with trauma, and it’s not easy. I don’t know if maybe you could have a talk with Nayamayi and maybe she could tell you certain things, like where Nekros is based or what the plan is. I don’t know if she could reveal some of the memories to you, or if it’s an all or nothing kind of thing, I don’t know. I think whatever you decide to do, having a conversation with her would be a good idea. And again, whether or not you choose to remember is your decision and I’m not going to try and influence that”
- J says “It’s a lot to take in, but I think it’s worth a try, reaching out”
- M then outs a hand on C and ask if he’s alright because he seemed pretty stressed after today, he says “Well, it’s not often you have to witness a kidnapping, I don’t even wanna know what you call pulling a demon out of a child, then having to fight said demon and watching it slaughter and transform everything in its wake”
- M says, “if it makes you feel any better, all of the townsfolk that were turned into dolls are safe” C says he wishes all of them were turned into dolls, M nods and says she’ll leave them to it and heads back out to join the rest
Dining room
- M sits back down at the table and turns to B saying “I have an idea about the Skurth sword, I have no idea if it will work. I was thinking the safest place for it is probably, and I don’t know if it’s possible, but Zaolu’s workshop. I don’t know if you can take it with you when you go to see him but there is has the least risk of doing anybody any harm” B thinks for a moment and says “I’ll see if I can work something out, at least, at any rate, he’ll know what to do with it”
- M finishes her food and for the first time that anyone has seen, takes a moment to compose herself and put on the mask of the peppy and confident bard that people are so used to seeing and says “Alright! I believe we have a smitten Fairy to get to her date. Shall we head out?”
- Alaric frowns slightly and M gives him a glance as if to say “I know, but I can’t deal with that right now”
- The old man says goodby and heads home as does Varuug who has a few things to sort out before closing the house for awhile
- M says, “Shall we away?”
- K notices that S tends to flit between researcher and a young fairy teen who just wants to have fun and sees her switch to fun mode almost like she's compartmentalising (insight 22) M and G don’t pick up on this (6 & 3 insight)
- S rushes out the door and M follows, catching up to her and saying “I don’t want to tell you not to have fun, I’m not going to say don’t do this, but I do also want to make sure your safe, so I’m just going to say, just let us know what’s going on, and maybe if you do feel like spending the night with him, maybe bring him back to Genevieve’s so at least we know where you are?” S pouts and drops her shoulders, looking up at M with a defeated “ok” and M says “Again, I’m not telling you not to have fun or let loose a little, I think you more than deserve that, I just want to make sure you are as safe as is reasonable and again, I’m not the boss of you, if you go against that, so be it, I’m just trying to meet you half way”
- After M has finished talk, K comes up and lifts S onto her shoulders and takes flight towards The Jolly Jackalope, much to the delight of S
- Before M can follow, she feels a tug on her clothes from behind and turns to see Alaric who says “I’m not going to ask you right now what’s going on, but I thought I’d join you” M says “I’m not saying I wouldn’t like that, but it may not be entirely conducive to the plans I have for the evening. Unless you want to watch me try and make Todd squirm?” He says he would love that and extends a hand to M who takes it and starts to walk with him
- B waits for everyone to leave, finishes his drink and walks out the back door through the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of wine on his way out
- Garrin tells G about this guy who was at the bar that he got weird vibes from, said he was sitting at the bar next to the pretty Elf who was there with the Blackthorn boy
Evening Adventures
The Jolly Jackalope
- K and S arrive first, lurking like gargoyles on the roof, waiting for the others to catch up before dropping down on them
- Before heading in, M turns to Alaric and says, “Please don’t take this the wrong way” and lets go of his hand and walks through the door. Alaric stops, putting his hands on his hips and rolling his eyes with a smile, G and Garrin walk around him and head in
- It’s quite busy, lots of people there having drinks, not many free seats and a small crowd of people doing something they can’t discern
Micarafae
- M sees Kelsin and walks up to him, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek saying “Kelsin! Hope the evening’s treating you well! It seems busy.” he looks puzzled for a moment before replying “Yeah, it’s a busy night, what do you want?” and is giving M his full attention
- M says “Just here to relax after a very interesting day” he says “Oh, you’re here to relax? And you came to me?” M says, “You were the first I saw, so I thought I’d come say hi” He seems pleasantly surprised and asks her if she’d like to come into the back room with him
- M can tell where he thinks this is going (22 insight) and decides to play along for now, telling him to lead the way and waving to the rest of the group
Gwinri
- G and Garrin go to the bar to get some drinks and meet a young looking halfling who is tending the bar and asks Garrin if he is looking down on him, to which Garrin responds, “Not little dude, I’m not” and the bartender responds, “I’m 45!”
- Garrin whispers in G’s ear, asking if that’s still considered a kid for gnomes, the bartender overhearing shouts that he’s a Halfing, but knows it was an honest mistake on Garrin’s part (15 charisma)
- G orders a couple of ales for the two of them and goes to find a seat, the halfing says “Sorry we don’t have any Goliath ale” as a parting remark and Garrin doesn’t say anything, sheepishly following G
Kree
- K walks in with S on her shoulder and asks her to show her where her date is, she flits over the room, finding him and telling K to follow her
- K walks over to Joey who introduces himself and asks S who K is
- S looks up at K and says, “I think I’m gonna go on a date now, is that ok?” K says it is and introduces herself tells them to have fun before parting ways
- Alaric asks K if she’d like a drink and she says she’d love one
Bruzrik
- B heads towards the Blackthorn’s estate, trying to be relatively stealthy without looking suspicious (8 stealth)
- As he walks up to the gate, he sees Jazen talking to a pretty elf girl as they are about to part ways (17 perception). She leaves and walks towards the house, Jazen lingers, watching her as she leaves before turning around to look at B
- Jazen waves and B flips him off in response and Jazen says, “Well that’s just rude” B ignore him and keeps walking towards the estate and Jazen turns to leave also
- B tries to follow the girl, seeing her heading towards the entrance with 2 guards who B doesn’t recognise who are seemingly distracted by the girl
- Other than the 2 guards on the door, he can also see 1 guard patrolling the wall and decides to use Dragon Wings to fly over the wall without being seen (16 stealth)
Micarafae
- Kelsin leads M into the back room where she sees Todd counting money, noting that there is definitely more money there than they would make even on a busy night like tonight (12 intelligence)
- Todd looks up, surprised to see her there, and Kelsin continues walking into the next room. Todd looks back and forth between Kelsin and M and says “Hi” seemingly unsure of what’s going on
- She pops over to say hi, going in for a hug and saying, “Am I safe to go for a kiss on the cheek or are you gonna try make a move again?” He promises no moves, and she kisses him on the cheek, saying “I hope the day’s been treating you well” he says the day has been going well, putting the gold he was holing into his pockets
- She says she will leave him to it and that she should be all good to perform the next morning. Todd says he will make sure the piano is out for her and she asks if he knows when it was last tuned, he says he has no idea and she asks if it’s ok if she comes by early so she can make sure it’s all tuned and good to go, Todd says that’s fine
- Kelsin is rolling his eyes and hurrying M, gesturing for her to step in the room ahead of him, which she does
- Kelsin steps in after, making a mocking face at Todd before closing the door
- M notices the room is very full, there is a desk covered in papers, ledgers, books and things of that sort, noting what seem to be schedules for The Iron Pit and doesn’t seem to be trying to hide it from her, only moving towards the back of the room to lock a safe, then pocketing the key
- M leans against the wall, waiting to see what Kelsin does now that they’re alone
- Kelsin says “So, what can I do you for” M says “I didn’t have anything particular in mind, you are the one who invited me back here” he replies “that is true”
- He reaches under his desk and pulls out a whiskey bottle and two glasses, pouring some into both of them before M says she won’t have any, he grumbles and pours the contents of the second cup into his and drinks
- Kelsin says “Well, you came here to talk, didn’t you? Let’s cut the crap.” M replies “Talk, relax, whatever really” he says, “You’re smarter than you give on missy, what do you want?”
- M says, “I told you, it’s been a hell of a day, and I just needed to unwind” (15 persuasion) he drops the act a little and says “You wanna relax huh?” M nods. “And you don’t want to drink?” she says no, and he says, “What do you want then?” then leans back in his chair, putting his feet up on the desk
- M asks him if he’s got any good gossip, he replies “Gossip, is that what you want? I’ve got tonnes of it, what do you want to hear first? Apparently, there’s some demon clown” M interrupts him and says “Oh yeah, we killed that today. I stabbed it in the throat”
- Kelsin seems genuinely shocked, saying “You killed it?! You?” M affirms, Kelsin says “You and what army? How did you kill it, don’t you just sing?”
- M leans forward over his desk and says “Oh I can do so much more than just that” he says “Why do I get the feeling you’re not going to show me tonight” M responds “Well, it depends on what you want to see”
- Kelsin chuckles and says “What other juicy tidbits do I got, what is worth it for you? Oh yeah, let me guess, did you kill shark people today?” M says she was part of the group that fought them, Kelsin says “Gods. Alright, ok, how about; there’s a new guy in town, he can teleport” M interrupts to ask if she’s talking about Jazen, Kelsin replies “Geez! Ok, well why don’t you tell me some juicy gossip” and pours himself another drink
- M says “Well, I assume you know of Master Shall Blackthorn?” Kelsin says “Everyone one knows of him yes. Doesn't really come by here though, not often. I’ve heard he attends the pit fights though, but don’t see him inside here that often.” M continues ”I have it on good authority that he is a man of interesting... appetites”
- Kelsin says “I may have heard that too. He likes um... Well, I don’t wanna say, but uh, he likes to dilly dally in people who don’t... what’s the word? Can’t do anything about it?” M gives him a nod, and he adds “Not the kind of business I like to run. I don’t touch that”
- M says “Apparently, he’s absolutely repulsed by melted chocolate. But only melted chocolate” Kelsin tries to subtly grab a pen and paper to write that down (sleight of hand 7) but M notices him do so (perception 10) and she sits on the edge of the desk commenting “Is that a new one for you then?” Kelsin responds “Maybe you are good for something”
- M says “Ok, how about this one? Have you heard about Lady Vaeloria” Kelsin perks up and M continues “And that she fell in love with the man who buried her husband?” Kelsin grabs another piece of paper and begins to write that down also while saying he definitely knew that one. She looks at him, then at the paper and then back to him and raises an eyebrow
- M also noticed that he spelled “Vaeloria” wrong and corrects him which he grumbles about
- Kelsin covers his desk with a big sheet of parchment and says “Well, you didn’t just come here to do this” then gets up and walks around the desk, getting right up close to M and says “You know, I have another room I could show you”
- M looks at him and says “Oh yeah? Tell me, what are your intentions in showing me this room then?” He responds “You can’t guess?” and walks towards the door she says she wants to hear him say it, He says “Come on, you know, like... Come on, you need it don’t you?” and gestures for her to follow him out the door. M doesn’t move from the desk
- Kelsin gets frustrated and says “Well, at least leave then”
- Todd gets up and walks into the room, positioning himself between the two of them, trying to gently lead M out of the room, but shoving Kelsin back into his office and says, “I think we’ve had enough of that” M follows but stares Kelsin down
- Todd Tells Kelsin to cool down and shuts the door
- Todd tries to catch M’s attention, making eye contact with her and says “Hey, he’s kind of an asshole” M says “Oh, I know” Todd says “Right...” and M adds “I just happen to enjoy fucking with assholes” pauses and then says “Hm, phrasing. Forget I said that. But yeah, I know his type”
- They hear a knock on the door, followed by Alaric asking if Micarafae is in there, she says she won’t be a moment. Todd asks if that’s her boyfriend and she asks if he’d be jealous if it was, he responds with a very unconvincing no, and she puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him a look as if to say “sure”
- M says “Hey, there was one thing I wanted to ask of you while I was here” Todd asks what it is and M continues “Remember that girl, the day we were attacked, the young lizard girl?” he shifts uneasily and says he does remember her.
- M says “Lunae’s got her, and we seek to find her, but the problem is, we’re not the most familiar. We know that she is being kept underground and I know that there are underground tunnel networks, So far I know two of the entrances” Todd says there are two more in the pit M asks if he can mark them on the map for her and he does, marking roughly where The Iron Pit is under Ravenswood and the entrances and tunnels he knows of
- Todd says “This is kind of like, a tunnel I suppose, that leads into the underground, you know, the one that’s like, maintained by the monsters? I’ve never seen them, but I hear that they clean when no one’s there, so there’s really no reason for anyone to go” M says she was down there earlier, and it was pristine
- M thanks Todd and he says, “See you tomorrow?” M replies “That you will. And you probably stepped in at a good time, I was about to pull a dagger on your brother”
- Todd says “I kind of overheard most of it, so yeah. Still love him, I think” M pats him on the shoulder and says “Alright, I’m actually going to go relax now, I just wanted to fuck with him for a bit. It was fun”
- M heads for the door just as Alaric opens it to see what’s going on. He offers her his arm and says, “Shall we” and they both walk out into the bar
Gwinri and Garrin
- G and Garrin approach the crowd to see what’s going on and see an impromptu dance off. Garrin asks what’s going on and someone in the crowd says there was a really cute couple earlier who were dancing together, and they decided to carry it on
- Garrin cracks his knuckles and dials in and tries to pull off some cool moves and does a pretty good job (dex 12) G claps for him
- Someone else elbows into the circle and challenges him, completely smoking him (20 dex) but he’s just having fun and not bothered by being outdone
- Garrin goes back to G and tells her how cool that was
The Jolly Jackalope (regrouped)
- M and Alaric make their way over to the crowd to see what’s going on
- M looks at Alaric and asks him if he dances, he says “I think we could blow them all away if we did it together” M says he read her mind and he retorts “And you didn't even have to detect thoughts” M smiles and winks, giving him bardic inspiration and they move to the center of the circle
- M leads him in a lively swing style dance, he takes a moment to catch his footing but eventually gets into the swing of things and the two of them blow everyone else out of the water (M 22 performance, Alaric 10 + 6 dex)
- G and K both clap enthusiastically for them
Bruzrik
- B sees the elf girl, who he recognises as the girl that Garrin described earlier, walk up to the guards, seeming pretty friendly with them and is able to get by them and decides to follow her
- She heads through the building, out into the courtyard and head towards one of the smaller towers where it seems like the servants stay
- He lets her enter then goes to the door to try and listen to what’s going on
- B hears two women talking to each other, one asking about where the other has been and the second describing her evening having snuck out
- B decides she’s ok and leaves her to it, heading towards the main building, trying to spot where Lord Blackthorn’s quarters would be, singling out a larger tower and heading towards that
- He spots some guards down the hall and a staircase beyond them leading up, getting the impression that each floor will be similar and that this is where the Blackthorn family probably reside
- B notices windows on all exposed sides of the tower, he heads out one of the windows and flies up the side of the tower to the top window and sees two guards
- He descends one floor, seeing another two guards as he peers in the window and opts to throw a Bottle of Noxious Fumes at them
- Both guards manage to avoid becoming poisoned (con save 16 & 17) but are coughing and sputtering, inside the cloud of fumes
- B hears one say to the other that they need to check on Master Shall and the other tells him if they open the door, it’ll let it in to his room before both heading off, leaving the door unguarded
- B heads back up to the top floor, sees one of the guards from downstairs run up and tell the two guarding the door to tell them what happened before they decide one of them will stay up there and the other heads with the first back downstairs
- B heads through the window and reaches for the remaining guard (double nat 20 athletics) who is initially able to escape his grasp as they exchange blows (nat 20 athletics) but B is able to get the upper hand and throws him out the window
- B heads to the staircase, and uses thunderwave to collapse the ceiling over it
- B then heads to the door only for Lady Elira Blackthorn to open it and see him
- He grabs her by the neck, moving her out of the room and setting her down before saying “I am going to go have a word with your husband, you stay out here, you do not do anything and I will leave you unharmed, but the moment you try to warn him, I am not responsible for what comes next. Am I understood?” she gulps and nods (13 intimidation vs 6)
- B points to the end of the hallway and tells her to wait there and she complies
- B then turns and enters the bedroom with his sword drawn and sees Lord Harren Blackthorn asleep in a large bed, taking up most of the room and snoring loudly and wonders how Someone could ever fall asleep beside him
- He closes the door behind him and approaches the bed, putting his sword to Harren’s throat which still doesn’t wake him up so B elects to punch him in the face
- Harren’s eyes go wide as he assesses the situation and opts to play along, understanding the predicament he is currently in, and B puts a finger to his lips and Harren nods
- B says “Your guards are not going to be able to come help you, if you scream, no one is here to save you, if you fight, my blade is already at your throat, and I will cut it. You are going to answer some questions that I have, is that understood?”
- Harren says “I’ve never screamed in my life, but yes, I will answer your questions”
Micarafae
- Micarafae finds a seat in a relatively quiet corner and sits down
- Alaric approaches with two drinks in hand and says, “I’s really nice out, do you want to sit outside?” M says “Yeah, why not” and he goes to hand her one of the ales and she says “Oh, I don’t drink”
- He looks around quickly, finds an older couple and says, “This one’s on me” and places the cup on the table one of them responds with how kind he is
- M says “Thank you though, I appreciate the thought”
- The other woman at the table asks what about hers and he gives her his drink as well then walks outside with M
- The two of them find a bench with a view of the river and both take a seat
- Alaric looks at M and says, “I think I know the answer to this, but is everything alright?” M replies, "Depends on your definition of alright” He sighs and says “That’s true. Normal is different for... us... more you guys” M just nods
- Alaric leans back, hand behind his head, looking at the moon and says “I don’t think it’ll always be like this. You know, maybe not tomorrow or a week from now, but things will quiet down. I have a good feeling about that”
- M says “That might be the first time in my life that things are quiet”
- Alaric stands up and offers both of his hand to M and says, “Come here” M almost tentatively takes his hands. He says, it’s ok, I’m not going to bite”
- M says nothing and raises an eyebrow, and he says, “I mean, I do bite, in a different context” and smiles at her, she smiles back
- Alaric pulls M in (14 vs 4 athletics) and uses what he learned from her earlier to lead her in a simple dance
- M leans into him a bit but seemingly still a little reserved
- He attempts to calm her down by swaying gently with her, she does a big sigh and leans her head against his shoulder, and he reaches a hand up to hold the back of her head
Gwinri
- G is starting to visibly tire and slow down
- Garrin seems like he still has energy to do stuff, but sees G is starting to feel it and says “I can walk you back, I’ve got one more crazy story to tell you” G says she needs to hear it and Garrin says goodbye to K and S, G also waves and K waves back, wishing them a good night
- They both head out and G noticed M and Alaric dancing together a little bit down from the Jackalope (20 perception)
- Garrin blurts out “Remember that girl I was talking about, the one at the bar?” G says she does, and Garrin continues “yeah, the one who got drugged right “She was talking about the Minotaur lady, she knew her or something! Isn’t that nuts!?” G says “That would have been interesting to know earlier. Yeah, that is nuts”
- Garrin says “I don’t know how it slipped my mind. Well, I kinda do” and gestures to G with a wink and then says, “But the craziest thing of all, remember that weird vibes guy, he knew the Minotaur lady too, what was her name again?”
- G tries to file that away in her brain because it seems important but ultimately will need Garrin to help her remember (history 6 & 18 with advantage from Garrin)
- The two arrive outside Genevieve’s Inn and says “Well, I had a really fun night” G says she did too and Garrin bends down and goes in for a kiss which G returns
- Garrin gets very red in the face and stutters out “Well, uh, have a good night” and takes a step back, waiting to see what G does (3 charisma)
- G says good night and starts heading up to her room
Kree
- S walks up to K and says, “I promise I’ll be back in the morning, but I think I’m going to go to Joey’s” K asks if she knows where his place is, S says no but that she trusts him. K asks if S minds if she follows her just so someone knows where she is
- S gets a stern look about her and says to K “I am an adult, and I can make my own decisions. If you want to follow me, that’s fine, just make it so that I don’t see you. I don’t want to know you’re there” (21 persuasion) K says she understands
- S heads back to Joey and he waves goodbye to K
- K wildshapes into a cat and follows them back to Joey’s house
- He lives on the other side of town, near to the Lumber district, in a small place above a shop
- K climbs up to a window and has a look inside, remaining unseen by them (17 stealth) and sees a few types of long bows, a small chest, light on furnishing with only one seat by a table
- She also sees a lot of betting slips for The Iron Pit strewn about, some torn up, presumably in frustration. (21 perception)
- K also accidentally catches them both tearing off their clothes and hurriedly jumps down and heads back to Genevieve’s
Micarafae
- M looks up at Alaric and says “Ok, two truths and a lie, go!” He replies “Two truths and a lie huh? Ok, um, I once got into a fist fight with Giuseppe, I would jump in the river right now if you told me to, and I’d really like to kiss you tonight”
- M ponders for a moment before saying “I’m going to say that the lie is that you got into a fist fight with Giuseppe” Alaric says “Oh, no, he actually beat me. I was impressed to”
- M says, “So you wouldn’t jump into the river right now if I asked you to?” He leans in closer and says “Nope” M responds with “Good”
- M says “So, my turn then?” he nods, and she says “I have met the thing, my first kiss was with the boy I thought I was going to marry, and I have never been on a date”
- Alaric scrunches his eyes as he thinks and says “You haven’t met the king” M replies “I have, he summoned me by name” Alaric says “Huh! I gotta take you out on a date then. Once the craziness is over of course”
- M says, “If it will ever be over” he gives her a half smile and says, “It has to end, right?”
- M sighs, looking up at him and says “I feel like, as long as my ex-husband is alive... it’s not going to stop. I literally have an assassin on my tail” Alaric’s face drops as he thinking about what she said and says “I’m willing to help you, if you’ll take it”
- M looks up at him with genuine curiosity and asks him how, he says “I’m a resourceful guy, and I have friends in high places. Maybe not as high as you guys, now that I think of it. I would do what I can to help”
- M says she appreciates it, and Alaric adds “A lot of people in town like me” M says “I don’t blame them” Alaric lets out a relieved breath and asks if M wants to head back
- M pauses for a moment and looks at her feet and says, “Can I admit something?” Alaric steps closer and says “Of course”
- M, still looking at her feet takes a deep sigh and says “I have been questioning a lot of stuff about my life the last few days. Honestly, I kind of, for the longest time, thought there was something wrong with me, because I’d never felt something for anyone. I don’t know what it feels like to be in love, to have feelings for someone.” Alaric seems like he’s trying to find something to say, but doesn’t get anything out
- M continues “When people talk about kissing their special someone and they talk about feeling butterflies or sparks flying, I thought they were lying, and then I thought there was something wrong with me. And then we get here, and I meet Xeranova, and suddenly I feel like I might feel something” It starts to dawn on Alaric what M is trying to say
- M says, “And I felt like maybe I was starting to figure something out about myself.” M then reaches into her bag and pulls out the book she got from the library; “So You Think You Might Be Queer” and shows it to him, he looks at it and says, “You really have been thinking about this, haven’t you?” M replies “Yeah, and I was starting to think “ok, maybe that’s it, maybe I just like women, and I guess I’ve never considered that” and I was starting to feel pretty confident in that.” She looks up and meets his eyes for the first time since she started talking and says “And then there was you...”
- He gives her a slight smile and says, “I didn’t mean to complicate things” M shrugs and says “I don’t mind. I’d rather those kinds of complications”
- Alaric’s smile grows bigger and says “I know where I’d like you to end up...” he looks at the book and back to M “...But I would never try to change who you are. I want you to choose me for me, for everything I am and everything I can offer”
- M says “That’s the other thing. I don’t... I don’t know what I want, what I need. I have been in one relationship in my entire life, and now my ex-husband has an assassin trailing me. And I am learning that I have a whole lot of trauma that I need to unpack and trying to do that in the middle of everything that’s going on here, and I just, I don’t know how much of myself I can give to someone else right now”
- Alaric gets right up close to her and looks right into her eyes, saying “I would do anything to get you out of this, whether you believe that or not, I understand”
- M meets his gaze and says “I would do anything to keep you out of it. I don’t want you to be at risk because of me”
- Alaric goes in to give M a hug, and as he does M says “So, you definitely did want to kiss me?” He replies “Yeah, but after all that, I feel like it should be your choice now”
- She puts a couple fingers under his chin and pulls his face towards hers and kisses him, feeling for the first time the butterflies and the sparks she once thought was a lie
- He starts talking to her saying “Tomorrow, do you want assistance with whatever you have going on, or do you really want me to stay out of it?” M is too busy replaying the kiss in her mind and for the first time he sees her blushing and smiling and quietly says “Huh, that’s what that feels like”
- Alaric Grabs M’s hand and says, “Let’s go back” as he does M says, “I can’t make those decisions for you, if you want to help, then I’m not one to say no” He replies, “I know, but you’re worth it” She kisses him again
Bruzrik
Harren’s Room
- B asks Lord Harren why he is working with Nekros, Harren says he doesn’t know that name
- B says “Really, because it seems that your men coincide with everything he does” (8 intimidation) Harren says “No, they don’t” B feels like he’s telling the truth (insight 1)
- B asks, “Why have his men been impersonating town guards and guarding the gate?” Harren says “Our stores were ransacked, funnily enough it was old the old armour that got stolen. We recently got new designs and more improved leathers, things like that. But all of the old armour is gone. We have our people looking into it.
- B is inherently distrustful of everything he’s saying and attempts to threaten him again to see if he’s being truthful (intimidation 14)
- Harren gets flustered and says “Why do you keep putting me in league with this man? I swear I’m telling you the truth!”
- B says “Something stinks in this city, and you, as one of its most prominent noblemen are at the heart of it. I don’t care if you are willing or even without knowing, you are in the center of this”
- Harren replies “Well, you are correct that my family runs this town and ever guard in here reports directly to me, but I’m telling you, the things befalling this town are not my fault”
- B recalls what M has said to him about the Blackthorns and says “Fine, you might not know what’s going on, but you are involved in some way, I will get to the bottom of it” (21 intimidation)
- Harren seems like he’s hit something of a limit and in almost complete disregard of the sword to his neck, beats his chest and says “None of my organisation has anything to do with a man named Nekros. The only person who has come to us in the last few days has been the Minotaur. She said she was going to set up a meet and we never saw her again. She was supposed to come today. Is that who you mean?”
- B disregards his question and says “If that’s the case, then I have one final question, for you. Does the name Riordan Zawisza mean anything to you?” Harren leans forward into the sword, enough to draw the slightest bit of blood and says “I know him. He’s a prick!”
- B says “Well, on that, we can agree. Do you know where that rat is?” Harren says “Well, someone reported him being in the pit the other day, but other than that, I haven’t heard from him in months. He came through Ravenswood, had his business with the other noble house, and went on his way”
- B says, “He had business with the other nobles?” Harren says “Yes, which is quite strange, the don’t normally take many visitors”
- B asks where he went and Harren says “I heard he went south, if we are discrediting the rumour that he was in town the other day”
- B grabs Harren by the hair and pulls his head towards the blade and decapitates him, he tries to resist but is unable to (strength 15)
- B throws his head to the ground and moves back to the door, blocking it with furniture so that Elira doesn’t have to see her dead husband
- B slams both fists into the floor in front of the door, breaking through and causing the falling rubble to block the door as he lands (20 strength)
Shall’s room
- B sees two women, holding each other as they cower under a blanket in the corner of the room and gets the impression that they are as scared of Shall as they are of him, having just burst through the floor in front of them (15 perception)
- Shall Blackthorn is in another corner of the room, holding a dagger pointed at B with a shaking hand
- B attempts to kick the bed at him to pin him to the wall, but upon making contact find the bed frame to be made of steel, barely making a dent, but hearing a loud clanging sound as though something metallic is affixed underneath
- Shall calls out “Who are you?!” B raises his sword at him. Shall, though obviously afraid, takes a step closer to B and says “What do you want? Why are you here?”
- B activates Dragon Fear and shouts “Silence, boy! I will be asking the questions!" (16 intimidation) Shall says nothing and takes another step forwards
- B advances on him, sword still extended, and Shall steps back all the way until he’s pressed against the window
- B says, “I’ve had words with your father, now I have questions for you” Shall grabs his sword with enough pressure to draw blood from his hand but does not attempt to move it in anyway, only watching B with wide eyes
- B says “What does the name Nekros mean to you, boy?” Shall says Nothing, I don’t care for men. Unless they have something worth selling”
- B is getting something of a deranged vibe from shall, but feels that he was telling the truth (9 insight)
- B goes to look over his shoulder at the girls and Shall moves the sword, carving an X into his chest and says “If you’re going to hurt me, hurt me.” (2 perception) B says “Don’t rush to your death so quickly, boy.”
- B believes he doesn’t know anything, and remembers M telling him that Shall is a piece of shit, but gets the feeling that killing him right now might mean that there are other girls he can't get to and that there might be more to this situation, that killing him may be signing the death warrants of others and while he is scared, he seems more than willing to self-sacrifice (16 intelligence)
- B tries to figure out if he would be able to carry both girl and Shall, deciding that he could probably manage it if both the girls were willing and Shall was knocked out
- B goes to take a swing at Shall, but he raises the sword to his own neck and goes to drive it in, causing B to have to pull away (10 vs 23)
- Shall then kicks off B, breaking the window and falling back out of it
- B jumps out of the window after him, folding his wings in to decrease air resistance so he can catch up with Shall, grabbing him and spreading his wings again before they both hit the ground
- B holds him by the throat and starts to squeeze and Shall laughs before passing out
- B unfortunately notices that Shall seems to be really enjoying it (nat 20 perception)
- B throws him back in the window before going in himself and approaching the girls, saying “If you come with me, he can’t hurt you any more” (24 persuasion)
- they both turn to look at Shall and then back to B and start to walk over to him
- B can see that they are both not wearing anything and takes some clothes out of his pack to give to them so that they at least have something to wear, even if it is comically large on them
- He can also see that they are both bruised and marked
- One of the girls tugs on his arm and says “You have to find my contract” B puts his hands on her shoulders and says “I swear by my own life, I will free you from this, no matter the cost to myself.” She says “It’s not just me mister, I don’t know how many of us there are”
- B says “Once I have a chance, I will find out just how many people he’s enslaved, and he will suffer for each and every one of you.” The girl says “If we could just tell his father what he’s been up to, he would help us” B replies “Don’t worry, it’ll be handled”
- B looks under the bed and finds a variety of knives, restraints and other such items suspended from the underside of the bed frame.
- B has gone of the girls climb onto his back and takes the other in one arm and grabs Shall around his waist with his other hand before climbing out the window and takes flight in the direction of The Radiant Hall
- As he flies he hears a voice from below saying “What is wrong with you? Dragging women across the sky?!” and looks down to see Jazen (nat 20 perception)
- Jazen notices who else is in his arms and shouts “Is that the Blackthorn boy?!” B shouts back “None of your god damn business” Jazen shouts back “Rude!”
The Radiant Hall
- As he flies in B sees C out in the training yard talking to Kael and he yells down “Incoming!” and they both jump out of the way just in time for him to land
- Before he lands B just dropped Shall then lands gently on the ground beside him, carefully letting the two girls down
- Kael runs towards Shall and C towards B asking “What’s the situation Bruzrik?”
- B points at Kael and says “Lock that son of a bitch up!” Kael goes from about to heal Shall, to grabbing him and dragging him towards the stairs to the dungeon after looking at the girls and B covered in blood and piecing together the situation
- B makes sure to shout to Kael that he needs Shall alive who returns a nod
- Once Kael has taken Shall inside, B turns to C and says “I had a talk with Lord blackthorn today” C replies “Oh? By talk, do you mean...” and gestures to the blood all over B
- B pulls out the bottle of wine he took earlier, bites the top of the bottle off, spitting it out before downing the bottle in one go
- C goes to say something, but B holds up a finger, telling him to wait and he does
- Once B finishes the bottle he looks back to C and says “It did not go well. But I did find out his son, might be a piece of shit” And gestures at the two girls he rescued before continuing “These two maidens are going to need to stay here for a while, at least until I can find their contracts”
- C gets a very serious look about him and says “That kind of situation” B replies “Yes. Long story short, the gentleman that Kael dragged inside and I are going to have a very, very long conversation. And if I don’t get the information I want out of him, I might just let Kael do what he wants” C says “Understood”
- B looks at C and says “So, tomorrow is going to be a very long day” and C says, “Aren’t all these days long?”
- B turns to the girls, kneels down and says “If you go in there, there are other members of my order who will clothe you in better clothing than what I have to offer and feed you, but you will be safe here” The girl who spoke to him about the contracts earlier says “Thank you so much mister” and heads inside
- The second girl comes up to him, holds his hand, and speaking for the first time says, “What’s your name?” B quietly says, “My name is Bruzrik, maiden” She smiles, gives him a kiss on the cheek and says, “I will always remember the hero Bruzrik” and runs inside also
Kree
- K hears someone say, “Is that a cat? Hey kitty kitty!” (25 perception) and looks up to see Jazen crouching down beside her who says “I haven’t seen a cat in this world yet. You look just like the cats from my first world” and puts his hand out to call her over for pats
- K approaches him, playing along as he scoops her up in his arms holding her little kitty paw and nuzzles her says “Oh, you are just the cutest cat” K says “Oh thank you” and goes out of wildshape, leaving Jazen, who was about to kiss the cat, instead kissing K on her cheek and then yells, jumping back with a start.
- Jazen collects himself and then recognises K and says “Oh, I remember you. You’re that lady I saw earlier today. You were the nice one” K replies “The others a pretty nice too, we’re just on edge today”
- Jazen says “Well, I mean if anyone gave me a chance to explain myself, I’d have loved to be of assistance. Did you know your friend was flying through the sky tonight?” K asks which one and Jazen says “I don’t know what they’re called in this world. Draconid, Dragonkind? He was carrying two women and a man. I don’t know what his deal is. I may have called him a bitch, but he was rude first, twice!”
- K says “I’ll ask him next time I see him what was up with that, but he was off doing his own thing tonight, while the rest of us were out. I’m not too worried, he means well” Jazen says “Well, if you’re not worried... Do you know where I could get a giant wooden horse?”
- K says “Not off the top of my head, but at the same time I’m curious as to why” Jazen says “Well I wanted to send a gift to the blackthorns, but your friend may have beaten me to the punch. That is seemingly the trajectory of where he came from” K says she’s sure there’s a few woodworker in town he could ask but she’s not from around there so doesn’t know
- Jazen says “Well, once again, it was really nice meeting you, and it’s Jazen Milano” K says she’ll remember that as he heads off and she walks back to Genevieve’s
Genevieve’s
- M and Alaric are sitting in the dining room chatting when B walks in covered in blood
- B doesn’t notice the increased familiarity seemingly shared between the two (3 perception)
- B walks straight to the bar and grabs another bottle of wine, Giuseppe sees him and says “That’s crazy, I was looking for a missing bottle of wine just like that!” B makes eye contact with him as he puts the bottle in his mouth and pulls out the cork. M looks at Giuseppe and tells him it’s best to just leave B to it as B continues to make eye contact as is downs the bottle
- M stands up and walks over to B and says, “What in the hells have you been up to?!”
- Alaric stands up, intending to give M and B space to talk and goes to tell Giuseppe to go home
- M quickly messages Alaric telling him to not leave yet, he looks confused, knows it’s M but looks around trying to discern how she did it, she messages again and simply says “Magic” he replies, “Not a ventriloquist?” M says “Not that you know of”
- B is still finishing off the bottle, but focuses his gaze on M.
- Once he’s finished, he says, “I had a conversation with Lord Blackthorn this evening” Her eyes go wide, and she replies “You did what?! And judging by the amount of blood on you, it wasn’t just a conversation”
- B looks down at himself, almost presenting his bloodied state to her and says “He wasn’t particularly responsive to my requests”
- M starts using prestidigitation to clean the blood off of him as they talk and says “Oh, ok, and you... killed him?”
- B stares admiringly at the blood on his hands and says “He told me he didn’t know who Nekros was, but he did admit to being a little too involved in the local politics and I decided for the good of the city that perhaps the trees needed some pruning”
- M, realising what that means, puts her head in her hands and says “That means Shall will now be the head of the house...” B says, “Oh, don’t worry about him” M responds with “Do tell?”
- B says “Let’s just say, I may have locked up a little birdie in The Radiant Hall and Kael is tending to his every want and need as well as the needs of two delicate flowers that he had in his possession”
- M pulls out a notebook, flicks to a certain page and places a tick next to one of the lines then turning it and holding it up to B to allow him to see it’s a list of rumour about Shall Blackthorn, that she has placed the tick next to the rumour that he essentially keeps women as slaves
- M also comments on the fact that one of the rumours on there is that he has a room full of cheese that he meditates in every night, B just stares at her, mouth slightly agape
- M says “He’s a weird guy. Awful, awful man. I unfortunately have hands on experience with him”
- Alaric pops his head around the corner and says “I’ve actually heard the cheese one, but I have to say one thing about it. Apparently, they hire a cheese chiller, it’s like a wizard who uses ice magic, it’s crazy” Then goes back to what he was doing
- B holds his hand out to M, inviting her to take it, she places her hand in his and he holds in gently, saying “Tomorrow, I’m going to go have some words with him. If you would like to be there” M interrupts to ask when tomorrow and B says “Whenever your heart desires, because right now he is in The Radiant Hall, so whenever the hell you feel like”
- M mentions what her plans for the next day were, trying to find when she might be able to, but says she definitely does want to be there and that she would love to get her hands on him for once
- B says “If it makes you feel any better, I plan to break half the bones in his body to find out the information that I need”
- M asks if he got anything about the elf girl he was seen with today, he says not yet, and M adds that she heard he was seen dancing with Jazen
- B mentions that he did see Jazen walking the girl to the gate and M asked how she looked, remembering the sleep potion found at their table and B recalls that she seemed fine and lively.
- M says, “If she was doing ok, then I don’t think Jazen is someone we have to worry about” B takes a deep breath and says “You’re right, despite the fact that I just don’t like the man, he has given us no reason to distrust him or to believe that he is a problem, but do not expect me to get along with him”
- “M says “He’s certainly interesting and I hate to say, but I want to talk to him. I’m a bard, I’m in The College of Lore, I met someone who has, not just... how many portals did he say? Like this is the fourth world he’s been in? I didn’t ask him any questions, what is wrong with me?!”
- M looks at B and says, “Do you want to know what I meant when I said I have hands on experience with him?” and as she’s speaking gestures for Alaric to come join them so he can hear it too
- B takes a deep breath and places a hand on M’s and says “Yes, because I need to know how much I’m going to pay him back” Alaric steps into the room as he’s saying this
- M says “I got off fairly lightly, from what I’ve heard... So, my wonderful ex-husband liked to leverage me in deals, y’know, sweeten the offer, getting them to agree to something he wanted them to agree to. It was never anything more than a more salacious private performance, but that’s more to do with Aenara not letting that happen and not any restrictions that Blen put on the encounter. So, Blen was trying to make a deal with Lord Harren offered the same deal he does to many people, and Harren said that he wouldn’t take it, but that his son would. He, as far as I can tell, is aware, at least a little bit, of what was going on”
- B interrupts M, looking her in the eyes and says “I want you to tell me what is your favourite organ, because I will pry it from his body. You just say the word, and I will make him suffer. He’s already earned his hell, anything extra I can just add on to his price”
- M just nods, obviously carrying a lot of emotional weight and B asks if he can hug her, and she just puts her head on his shoulder and cries. B leans in and whispers “I will make him pay for everything he’s done”
Report Date
19 Jul 2025
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