Session 30: Confessions of a Pact-Bound Baroness

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General Summary

After collecting Calloway from the Coast Guard Mansion, the party brought their findings to the Captains of the City Guard. Captain Gherd, who had previously been assigned "watch the Baron" duty, begrudgingly accepted Emelia's explanation that the item she stole from Castle Iverfort was important. Likewise, Emelia begrudgingly didn't mention her new hunch that secret master Gherd has been Ixul’ichl’d all along.

During the debrief and planning session with the Captains, more theories were discussed. DM Note: Obviously don't take any of these as canon.

Was the lack of an entry in the ledger for this year indicative of a ritual or somesuch that wasn't properly performed?

Does the Baron have a second altar, potentially in his home, where he is attempting to perform this year's offering/ritual/whatever it is he does?

Did removing valuable objects from the altar make things worse? (It couldn't have been the start of everything but things in town did worsen while the CG was in the Domain of Decay)

The plan was made to confront Baroness Altunka. Leaf, finally keeping his appointment to train Klaus, asked the lordling to ask his mother for help. At a meeting in a private room at The Lodge, the Baroness allowed herself to be questioned. She seemed to be as forthcoming as she could. Calloway subtly used Detect Thoughts to further improve the intelligence gathered, which includes:

Info About Her Partner

The offerings at the altar weren't a part of Altunka's pact. She had no part in it and doesn't know how it works or its purpose.

Altunka seems unable to confirm that the Baron is her partner in the pacts; when asked directly, her mind slid over the question.

She doesn't know much about her partner's pact, but she guesses that his reward was power, respect, and worldly things.

She claimed that her partner was allied with Ylmyo-Aldon before she was.

She said multiple times that things weren't going the way they were supposed to; the pact was supposed to give YA a foothold on the Material Plane, but not start an invasion. She thinks her pact is intact but her partner's pact must have been broken. She hopes that the if the pact were mended the damage could be reversed.

Altunka's Pact

She has not yet found a way to get out of her pact, and there are things she cannot tell them.

Her intent was to lead her people out of isolation. She hadn't expected Port Shimmerly to be so successful and pervasive; no continental in hundreds of years had permanently settled there she didn't expect it to work so fast.

The sacrifice of Dominhall Amanita was a part of her pact. More Info

She didn't choose him, but was told who to get. She doesn't know what the Amanitas had that her patron needed, but she does know he was meant to be a conduit for something she called the Mycotic Nexus. Whatever YA needed from Dominhall, apparently Jaysennia has it also. There was speculation that their family had some connection to the Mother of Soil, especially given the family heirloom Writing Machine that looked organic in a similar fashion to Agarica. She doesn't know how Jaysennia got Dom's things (they were supposed to have been in the Domain with him), how Dominhall escaped or how Jaysennia ended up so deep in the Domain of Decay.

She thought that they could probably get Jaysennia out if they found a suitable replacement for her as the Conduit.

She doesn't know much about Chelor in terms of actually finding him -- only that those who claim to have done so after being hopelessly lost in the caves of Lient'roc.

She confirmed the existence of three of the books Emelia had previously been attuned to, and that they were used to communicate with Ylmyo-Aldon.

She spent a lot of mental energy maintaining control of herself and what she said. SNTR-1 got the impression that she wasn't lying to the them, but she might be lying to herself about some things.At the end of the interview, she asked the CG (especially Leaf) to keep her son out of it, and she went to go spend some time with him. The CG decided to talk to the Captains before they decide to confront the Baron.

TLDR:

The Coast Guard confronts the Baroness. Key points:

The altar & offerings are her partner's.

She sacrificied Dominhall.

She can't tell them much about her partner or his pact.

She thinks the Grey Cap incursion is due to her partner's failure to maintain his pact.

Bookkeeping:

In-Game Date: 12/1

Report Date

15 Jan 2024

An Inventory of Things Unknown

What's the deal with the Gith in Agarica?

What's going to happen when the Coast Guard trips on "Gut"punch?

Is it possible to free Chelor and have the apocalyptic return affect the Domain of Decay instead of the Material Plane?

Next Steps

Talk to the Captains

Confront the Baron?

Do drugs?

DO BOTH AT THE SAME TIME???

Release Chelor?

Profit????