Kahla Hala
Kahla is a darker coat cat nearing his last life. Kahla is a cat of greater ideals than modern society can sometimes allow. Kahla hates the water and loves his people.
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Log #43692, Session 8
As I continue editing and meticulously going over my notes, I needed the answer to these specific questions.
Zudd-nock’s race: gnome
What is Sam’s goddess’s name? Shantae
What is Shantae's symbol? Scythe or grain. There is a symbol on messenger that would be useful here.
K is an ELF! All this time I thought she was a half-elf. My eyes appear to be failing me in my older age.
Over the 4 remaining days of our trip to Galdere, I set out to accomplish some inner working peace amongst our newer group. Specifically amongst our new drow friend Viravell, the bard Aerilyn, and our cleric Sam. I start by having a true conversation with Viravell. He seems to be all-encompassing of the word gentleman. Raised in a higher-class household (he uses the silverware he brings with himself in his mess kit, drinks finer wine instead of harsher alcohol and beer). He is also very well-mannered. I genuinely mean it when I say that I do not wish to fight him. Not only because I know he could cut us in thirds before I even got a hit in, but because he seems like a genuine man who is just trying to pick up the pieces of his old life and forge a new path ahead. My firm belief is that he got a bad start (trying to help the house that overthrew his family and the other prominent members of Drow society) and is just trying to make the best of it.
From there, I took Aerilyn and her mother, Idris, aside and apologized to both of them as privately as I could. I apologized for harboring ill will towards their family because of the tragedy brought down upon my house by their father's (and husband’s) hand. From what I can tell, they both shrugged it off as if it was not a need to apologize for this. They must have heard something similar in the past several times. If that is true, it leads me to believe that they are both of such incredible character that it somehow overcomes what Mr. Faeyth did, or that they have become numb to the trauma of it all.
Lastly, I pulled Sam behind the bar for a quick peek at my stash of teas. I made sure to offer them to him so that at future times when he is offered a drink, he knows he can make some for himself. I still feel terrible for breaking his sobriety, and I pray I do not cause ill will towards him from his Deity. Which, of all deities, seems to be the most interested in our plight. I’ll admit my reluctance to trust a holy man has proved to be of little use. The man is kind-hearted through and through, valuing a good joke over a spiteful comment. This is not to say that he is incapable of dealing with or producing harm, rather he values joy and health over it.
On the afternoon of the 4th day, we have finally arrived. While I was informed by Borris that the weather in this area would prove to be colder than what I am used to on the coast, I was not prepared for a freezing blizzard. What makes matters worse was that Borris was not prepared for this either. We can land the tavern in a clearing a mile or two from the front gate. We are barely able to see more than 30 feet from our faces. Before we leave the ship and its passengers, Aerilyn and I attempt to cover the ship and hide it as best we can, completely forgetting that nature itself will cover us with a blanket of snow within the day. Proud nonetheless with our handiwork, we attempt to set off. We don’t get more than a few feet from the tavern’s entrance when K stops us, an idea brewing in her head. She has been pondering what we should call ourselves and has landed on a dwarven term for party or group. The symbol is:
Log #43692, Session 8
As I continue editing and meticulously going over my notes, I needed the answer to these specific questions.
Zudd-nock’s race: gnome
What is Sam’s goddess’s name? Shantae
What is Shantae's symbol? Scythe or grain. There is a symbol on messenger that would be useful here.
K is an ELF! All this time I thought she was a half-elf. My eyes appear to be failing me in my older age.
Over the 4 remaining days of our trip to Galdere, I set out to accomplish some inner working peace amongst our newer group. Specifically amongst our new drow friend Viravell, the bard Aerilyn, and our cleric Sam. I start by having a true conversation with Viravell. He seems to be all-encompassing of the word gentleman. Raised in a higher-class household (he uses the silverware he brings with himself in his mess kit, drinks finer wine instead of harsher alcohol and beer). He is also very well-mannered. I genuinely mean it when I say that I do not wish to fight him. Not only because I know he could cut us in thirds before I even got a hit in, but because he seems like a genuine man who is just trying to pick up the pieces of his old life and forge a new path ahead. My firm belief is that he got a bad start (trying to help the house that overthrew his family and the other prominent members of Drow society) and is just trying to make the best of it.
From there, I took Aerilyn and her mother, Idris, aside and apologized to both of them as privately as I could. I apologized for harboring ill will towards their family because of the tragedy brought down upon my house by their father's (and husband’s) hand. From what I can tell, they both shrugged it off as if it was not a need to apologize for this. They must have heard something similar in the past several times. If that is true, it leads me to believe that they are both of such incredible character that it somehow overcomes what Mr. Faeyth did, or that they have become numb to the trauma of it all.
Lastly, I pulled Sam behind the bar for a quick peek at my stash of teas. I made sure to offer them to him so that at future times when he is offered a drink, he knows he can make some for himself. I still feel terrible for breaking his sobriety, and I pray I do not cause ill will towards him from his Deity. Which, of all deities, seems to be the most interested in our plight. I’ll admit my reluctance to trust a holy man has proved to be of little use. The man is kind-hearted through and through, valuing a good joke over a spiteful comment. This is not to say that he is incapable of dealing with or producing harm, rather he values joy and health over it.
On the afternoon of the 4th day, we have finally arrived. While I was informed by Borris that the weather in this area would prove to be colder than what I am used to on the coast, I was not prepared for a freezing blizzard. What makes matters worse was that Borris was not prepared for this either. We can land the tavern in a clearing a mile or two from the front gate. We are barely able to see more than 30 feet from our faces. Before we leave the ship and its passengers, Aerilyn and I attempt to cover the ship and hide it as best we can, completely forgetting that nature itself will cover us with a blanket of snow within the day. Proud nonetheless with our handiwork, we attempt to set off. We don’t get more than a few feet from the tavern’s entrance when K stops us, an idea brewing in her head. She has been pondering what we should call ourselves and has landed on a dwarven term for party or group. The symbol is not available on this entry.
In the excitement of recognizing ourselves as a formal group, Borris goes to a nearby tree and inscribes the symbol on it. The rune itself glows, showing some innate magic within the rune. I’ll have to do some further research on this to see if these symbols could prove useful in the future.
Finally pushing on, we head to town. This is no short feat as the snow covering the terrain is waist-deep even for me. Apart from that, I cannot tell what we are getting ourselves into. The smaller-natured ones have to follow the paths of us larger individuals, lest they become lost in the snow. Past the tree line, we make our way to the front gates of the city and hunker down, trying to figure out how best to go about seeing what remains of the town. I suggest that Cordelia and I try to scout the exterior wall of the city, using a crude climber’s hook made from my prybar and the rope we have on us. The group agrees to this, and we end up scouting a rough idea of what the town looks like.
The building with an X over it has been burned down and is in a charred remains state. Off the left of this drawing would be a rough port of sorts that is frozen over and unusable as it currently stands. By my estimate, when we bring this information back to the group, it is nearly sunrise the next day. It makes no difference to us, as the storm blocks out nearly all the daylight. With no evident signs of life anywhere in the town, we press on into Galdere.
As we open the main gate of the town, Noelani asks her raven (Haefen) to scout out above us as best he can. He comes back quickly, confirming what we saw already and nothing else as the storm is making it hard for him to fly. The first building we investigate is at the top right of the drawing, a tavern called “The Creaking Doe”. In the tavern, there is a single dead elf in the far corner booth. K finds a sealed and full barrel of ale and a few bottles of local wine. We noted them for retrieval later. As we were pushing into the back of the tavern, Noelani and Aerilyn noticed a small store room, with movement inside. K offers to open the door for us, like a doorman at a local rodeo. Once we all are ready, We gave her the signal.
As K opened up the door, 4 large gelatinous cubes spill forth, and combat ensues. I’m truthfully fuzzy on the details, as I was more focused on shoving bolts into my crossbow as fast as I could. In the end, we were victorious. I had to be dug out of a bank of snow and missed the final explosion of the tavern, but we were all safe and unharmed for the most part. As the second building ignites under our guidance in town, we prepare for more danger within the next building. It turned out to be a local blacksmithing shop, whose sign had been destroyed in whatever had laid waste to the town before us. We found 15 Iron Ingots and a silver ingot, which we promptly took back to Mr. Razizz, the expert smith we rescued back in Sgand who was now aboard our tavern. We needed to set up a day camp and rest for a bit, so we set up a small lean-to in town and found out what the other buildings were. They were an apothecary, a general goods store, and a church for an unknown deity. The church seems heavily infested with activity, so may need to tackle that first thing after the snack and light snooze.
In the excitement of recognizing ourselves as a formal group, Borris goes to a nearby tree and inscribes the symbol on it. The rune itself glows, showing some innate magic within the rune. I’ll have to do some further research on this to see if these symbols could prove useful in the future.
Finally pushing on, we head to town. This is no short feat as the snow covering the terrain is waist-deep even for me. Apart from that, I cannot tell what we are getting ourselves into. The smaller-natured ones have to follow the paths of us larger individuals, lest they become lost in the snow. Past the tree line, we make our way to the front gates of the city and hunker down, trying to figure out how best to go about seeing what remains of the town. I suggest that Cordelia and I try to scout the exterior wall of the city, using a crude climber’s hook made from my prybar and the rope we have on us. The group agrees to this, and we end up scouting a rough idea of what the town looks like (see below).
The building with an X over it has been burned down and is in a charred remains state. Off the left of this drawing would be a rough port of sorts that is frozen over and unusable as it currently stands. By my estimate, when we bring this information back to the group, it is nearly sunrise the next day. It makes no difference to us, as the storm blocks out nearly all the daylight. With no evident signs of life anywhere in the town, we press on into Galdere.
As we open the main gate of the town, Noelani asks her raven (Haefen) to scout out above us as best he can. He comes back quickly, confirming what we saw already and nothing else as the storm is making it hard for him to fly. The first building we investigate is at the top right of the drawing, a tavern called “The Creaking Doe”. In the tavern, there is a single dead elf in the far corner booth. K finds a sealed and full barrel of ale and a few bottles of local wine. We noted them for retrieval later. As we were pushing into the back of the tavern, Noelani and Aerilyn noticed a small storeroom, with movement inside. K offers to open the door for us, like a doorman at a local rodeo. Once we all are ready, We gave her the signal.
As K opened up the door, 4 large gelatinous cubes spill forth, and combat ensues. I’m truthfully fuzzy on the details, as I was more focused on shoving bolts into my crossbow as fast as I could. In the end, we were victorious. I had to be dug out of a bank of snow and missed the final explosion of the tavern, but we were all safe and unharmed for the most part. As the second building ignites under our guidance in town, we prepare for more danger within the next building. It turned out to be a local blacksmithing shop, whose sign had been destroyed in whatever had laid waste to the town before us. We found 15 Iron Ingots and a silver ingot, which we promptly took back to Mr. Razizz, the expert smith we rescued back in Sgand who was now aboard our tavern. We needed to set up a day camp and rest for a bit, so we set up a small lean-to in town and found out what the other buildings were. They were an apothecary, a general goods store, and a church for an unknown deity. The church seems heavily infested with activity, so may need to tackle that first thing after the snack and light snooze.
Log #43691, Session 7
With my full-time need for secrecy unneeded now, I’ve decided to turn one of the guest rooms into my room along with a case file room. I’m using my tried and true method of different colored strings tying together different things I find on our journeys. So far, we have 6 issues at hand:
Higher up’s from Sgand’s evil regime still at large, specifically:
Barrion Caphax
Avril Adams
A roaming powerful necromancer
Drow Army
Orc Invasion
Colder temperatures
Kidnappings of Sgand - tied to colder temperatures?
While all these issues are absolutely threats to my sanity, what drives me truly into a catatonic state is the lack of information the group has on these issues. I’ve asked for permission even to read their journals in hopes of finding a missed clue that can be used to crack open these respective cases. But, understandably, no one wanted their privacy so violently intruded on by one of the newest members of their group. Oh well, guess I’ll have to do this the old way. I’ll see if I can hit up a library at the next town we hover at. From the sound of it, Borris is taking us to his hometown of Galewind in the Glacis Wilds. We will be spending several days traveling, so we all take care of miscellaneous tasks to keep ourselves busy and away from boredom. I ended up spending the first half of the day stringing theories together that I’ve been trying to keep in my head since I had to remove my basement facility. I spent the second half fishing Cordelia out of the ocean with a length of rope, Noelani’s raven, and Urthan’s strength. She barely survived the static field coming off the creature, which was a mix of a crocodile and a fish the size of the tavern.
To be noted here, our resident smith and weapons expert Zudd Nock did not waste a single minute as he coated several items in the raw silver that the ghost pirates gave us yesterday. I personally had my rapier and a dagger coated in silver.
At the end of the day, as I was finishing going over our immediate threats in the Free Realm, I eventually drifted off to sleep covered in my notebook and miscellaneous papers. Then, I began to dream.
I am seeing a man in armor in a shack, he doesn’t seem to notice me. He appears nervous. Suddenly, there is a knock at his door. The man goes stiff in fear and anticipation. He produces a dagger, grasps the handle firmly, and opens the door. As he does so, thousands of spiders flood into the room, seemingly extinguishing the light around him. In the doorway now stands a single Drow. The man says nothing and follows the drow. As he leaves the shack, I can see the entirety of the interior is covered in webs.
I awake in a somewhat furious stupor. At first, I sit in my hammock and ponder what on earth is giving me this … vivid dream? I’ve overheard the others talk about dreams, but they seem to be of a more religious inclination. So why in the gods’ names am I having one?! I have never followed any god before! So what is giving me this vision? After my brief attempt at recollecting what I witnessed, I decided to start writing it down in my logbook. It raises more questions than anything at this point, but I am worried that one theory of mine is becoming more likely. Supposing the individual in armor was Barrion Caphaxath, one of the corrupted leaders of old Sgand, why in the hells is he meeting with a drow? Are the drow part of the prince of ice’s scheme? I must take more vivid notes next time I have a dream, and see if there is a way to capture the dream for further analysis when I awake.
Log #43690 - Session 6
Log #43690 (Session 6)
Mr. Corzel and I are chatting and exchanging alcoholic beverages. I offer him some of my finer Whiskey on hand, while he made me a mixed drink. It smelled of berries and had a vodka-esque base. It was a very stiff drink, but still enjoyable. We seemingly connect over our drinks. He is trying to make his way in life as best he knows how. He gave us a lot of Drow history here - all of it has made its way into my Journal for reference later. As he finishes laying all this intense information onto us, the entire group was now sitting around him in awe of his life’s story. Cordelia and Urthan both seem to break through to him on a personal level, and he agrees to stay a week with us and give us a trial run as a more permanent home. At the end of this week, he will either kill us all in combat or join us for the long haul.
We continue heading north and eventually encounter a strange mist that seemingly nullifies all casted magic. Thankfully, the runes on the ship work just fine. We continue heading North. After a few hours of travel, we enter into a powerful storm that eventually all converges into one super-powered water tornado over a full kilometer in diameter. It nearly destroyed this hunk of floating debris we call a ship and our home, but we made it nonetheless.
Shortly after the storm, we encounter a ghostly rain and soon after, a ghostly pirate ship! However, this crew did not crave violence, merely merriment and song! I show off a little of my known shanty singing, and we earn ourselves a bit of raw silver in doing so! We party ways with the barely present yet merry crew and continue in a more NEE direction. Our master smith onboard volunteers to silver a weapon for each of us, should we encounter more … effervescent characters again.
We are able to get a full night’s undisturbed rest, during which I find me having a dream. I find myself in a tight room or space. I find myself being thrown around again by an air elemental all …. Evening ….. Long…. I hated it.
Log #43689
Log #43689,
We have stuffed this old tavern full of seasoning, cleaning supplies, and beer. I’m hoping we can stretch these supplies longer than the month it normally takes to use it all up. I’m worried that I have forgotten and left behind my people. I know what we are planning to do will be for the better of the realm, but still. I’m hoping my siblings and folks are looking down on me with encouragement and respect in their hearts. Gods know I have not exactly been a straight and narrow kind of cat. While we leave this city, my connections, and most of my past life behind, I can’t help but feel like I’m abandoning my most recent life's work. But not a half-hour later I find myself perplexed for a whole different reason. After we set sail in the sky, setting a NE towards Borris’s hometown of Gille, we discover we have a stowaway in one of our cupboards! A drow assassin by the name of Viravell Corzell was hanging from a bedroom closet’s floor by his fingernails. The bigger problem was that Mr. Corzell had tasked a wind elemental with following us, which took the moment of our finding of Mr. Corzell to launch a very successful surprise attack against me, knocking me fully unconscious.
I’d like to take this moment and remind myself that being forced unconscious still sucks and I need to get better at avoiding it. Moving on…
After we disperse the wind elemental, we attempt to have a conversation with Mr. Corzell, who has taken on a very relaxed mannerism around us. Even taking the time to assist K in developing her skills further via a coin-based toss and catch a game. It should be noted that his background is rather unsavory, but I’ve recorded those notes in my notebook for further research in the future. Long story short, he would kill us but is choosing peace for the moment.
The Scratching post #43687
I’ve realized 2 things since the fight ended:
NEVER LEAVE THE CLERIC ALONE IN A TORNADO
Never face off against the new guy, Urthan. He’s a beast with his ax.
I tried to pull Cordelia aside for a quick conversation about my concern about the blood bath we were a part of, but Sam overheard us. He started to ask questions about why I am a rogue, arguably one of the more notorious classes for getting our hands bloody, if I don’t like killing or looting? Well, I told him I would tell him in due time, preferably away from listening ears. With the promise of storytime and free drinks, the group headed back to my tavern.
To be fair, I fully have to trust these individuals it seems. The very fate of the world seems to be in the balance of their shoulders. I feel like Cordelia and I can help them. So, after conferring with my friend, we agreed to join them on their quests going forward, and I began telling my life’s story. I only hit the highlights honestly. Born in Sgand along the coast to a fishing father and a loving mother, wayward lifestyle led me to seek coin at every opportunity, wayward consequences of being turned on by my old crew and spending a long time in prison, being set free and helping my folks for a spell, the attack on Sgand that killed my father and maiming of my sister, and how I turned from there to be a beer seller by day, information seeker by night.
Of the many reactions I received, 2 were noticeable to me more so than the typical heartache on my behalf. Sam seemed to actually connect with the story a bit more than I expected. Perhaps there is something he needs to deal with there? Will he ask for the group's help with it? Urthan was the other one that caught my eye for a lack of expression. Did he seem… aware? Yet unbothered by it. Is he just a stone-faced man? Or, is he holding back for some other reason? Only time will tell.
After the storytime, Cordelia was playing a bit with the blue tiefling Aeirlyn. The two of them seem to have one creative mind for music. They work and interact well together. After the pair had filled the air with songs, Sam pulled Aerilyn for a quick aside. He was voicing his frustration after remembering she had handed him alcohol and not told him it was alcohol. I feigned ignorance as the conversation got a little louder than intended, though I am now aware of my unintended consequences of serving him wine. I’ll keep this in mind going forward though, and see if I can stock the bar with something other than alcohol. Maybe juice or tea? I’ll do some research and come back to this in time.
As the conversation concludes, we all make our way to bed. I thankfully didn’t have any customers this evening, so I just shut the tavern down and was able to get a full night’s rest with zero issues. This is something not to be taken lightly with this group apparently….
With morning comes my standard practice of letting our local waffle wizard in. His name is Bart and he’s done a great job for me over the years. Cordelia is up shortly after me and starts prepping the meats for breakfast, as I already prepped the coffee when I awoke. The others awoke and come downstairs in due time, sinking into the first full night’s rest most of them have had in a while. I pay Bart and we part with pleasantries. I sit back down to a LOT of questions about his life, how he does his work, and other comical questions about him. I inform them of what I know, and it results in a few good laughs. A great way to start our day.
It was promptly thrown to the side as Aerilyn dropped some information the group already knew about. Apparently, there is a drow army amassing beneath the earth, and they have started taking large sections of the map for themselves. Aerilyn voices concern for her mother, who lives near the capital of Sgand, Gere. I voice several concerns with this sudden drop of impending doom and am met with Sam informing me that he won’t tell me how he got this information (apparently he found out first?), only that he trusts the source. While I’m not happy with the initial drop of it, the information seems good enough and we discuss what to do with the roughly 4 main issues of our world they have been mixed up in.
Tall one - a necromancer of impressive power going through the land.
Lolth - a drow army is amassing under the earth and is in the initial stages of taking land for themselves. They serve a queen named Lolth, more info could be found there.
Orcs are raging near the mountains to our southeast. A low problem concerning other issues at hand.
Colder temps have been hitting the free world as a whole it turns out. I figured it was just going to be a bad winter, but nope. This party has gathered that there is an issue creating it further North.
The group decides to tackle the fourth issue first, as it seems to be linked to my investigation of Sgand citizens disappearing in the night and being sent out on ships headed into the ocean. We’ll need to work quickly though. The Drow army is closing in quickly. To prepare for our journey, we decided to gather coats and magical gear that can handle the colder weather. To do this, we need to head to Gere, the capital of Sgand that was recently taken over by the Mordrin Theocracy.
We make our way to the base of the city and are stopped from going into the upper city by some Mordrin guards. We (mostly) succeed in our lies to get past the guards, and are eventually granted access to the upper city. We handle our business effectively (Sam is an expert negotiator) and soon I find myself in the middle of a high-end weapons shop owned by a Zudd Nock with the men of our party. He’s a wonderful individual, who is absolutely ok with selling wares at a slight markup to go around the Mordin security issues. I like him. During this interaction, Borris blurts out that he apparently knows of some runes that can cancel out wild magic. Interesting tidbit.
Borris also blurts out that we are trying to find better weapons because the Drow are headed this way. Zudd immediately starts selling out his shop and will be traveling with us Northward. We will figure out how, when, and for how long in the upcoming future.
We later meet up with the girls and find out Aerilyn’s mom is in town, is protected by the local guards due to her last name and her husband. I wonder if they are still somehow together? The good news is I won’t have to wonder long, as we are headed to the jail now to speak with her.
The Scratching post #43688
Aerilyn begins talking with her mom and it gets awkward for me quickly. So while she is having a heartfelt moment, I spend the time going over old notes and compiling them in my new leather-bound and locking notebook. I’m super excited about it. But enough about that;
Three names to keep an eye out for in Sgand, specifically Gere where we know about them. This is after an interview with Orson.
Orson Kaylock
According to Sam, there is a cult in the North that is sacrificing people for something sinister in purpose. Intimate details are unknown at this moment.
Currently being held nearby as he was captured when the Mordrin Theocracy took over Sgand and eliminated the old regime.
Barrion Caphaxath
Male elf and Captain of the Sgand guard.
6’3” with long black hair
Wears heavy armor - may be magical.
Left headed South East when Mordrin invaded
Works for the resurrection of an “old love”. No idea who they are.
Avril Adams
A literal shadow. No one knows what she looks like.
Part of her working for the Sgand government was the promise to slay all enemies by uttering their name.
Once duties were finished, whatever those duties were, these three would be given their rewards. They made these deals with an entity named C R Y O M A X - do not put this name on anything you wish to keep, as it covers the item or person with a layer of ice. Safe passage is “relative” according to Orson. No idea what this means. We will find this entity further North, specifically at the Coldest glacial North pole. To be noted, this entity is the prince of ice.
After Aerilyn has a lengthy conversation with her mother, we eventually meet Razizz, a goblin from one of the southern kingdoms that knows how to create runes that enable things to fly. Nice guy.
Sam ends up dropping off supplies to some local guards that are heading somewhere near the Shuibai dynasty the pirate kingdom. He is working with the theocracy to deliver a care package to her. He also mentions a curse on an artifact that is highly deadly.
With the shit going on in the world right now, we need a roaming fortress that can be highly defensive and accommodate a large gathering of people. The tavern will work well for this. After working with Razizz, Cordelia created a brand that we can use on every plank of wood in the tavern to allow it to float when Razizz casts his spell. We will need to work on its defenses, insulation, and storage before we take off though. Our crew is growing larger by the day, and we need more to fully staff the tavern. But in the meantime, maybe I should consider re-naming the bar to … the flying fortress of fun?
I’ll keep working on a name. Will loop the rest in on this as soon as we have a free moment.
The Scratching Post #43686
Do you know what's the worst thing? Having a crew of newbies to the secrecy industry dropped on your lap. Do you know what's a great way to give yourself a headache? Stay up all night to protect them from a shady elven lady who you know is up to some shit, and fail. So, I try to reset myself and start fresh by grabbing an infamous cat power nap. I'm in my room underground, trying desperately to drown out the sound of the conversation outside my room being held by the crew of adventurers we adopted and Cordelia. I finally start drifting to sleep, when Cordelia barges in and shakes me awake. She needs me awake, so she is going to grab a "wake the fuck up" potion from The Burning Eel, a local brewery of magical drafts not too far from our tavern. The Burning Eel is manned by no other than Acoris, who I've purchased several of the concoctions through in the past. The trip shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, so Cordelia wants me to watch the males of the group and connect with them while she takes the females and does some brief shopping.
Begrudgingly, I agree. Rousing myself from what brief slumber I had, I walk into the main room with all my notes on the wall. I see the girls gathering belongings and getting ready to head past the bush. I also notice the halfling male, who I can confirm is named Sam, studying my notes in rather rigid detail. No worry to me, because I have to trust him, but curious nonetheless. I am aware that Sam is a religious individual, following a god of the harvest, so what interest does he have in the goings-on of Sgand? Does he know something more than he lets on? I'll see if I can pry it from him in the future. I know the blue tiefling, who is confirmed to be named Aerilyn Faeyth (Yes, she is the daughter of the Mr. Faeyth I've been searching for on and off for several years), does have a mother in town and grew up in Sgand's ports. After several silent minutes, the gnome with too many shoes (Borris is his name, still trying to confirm it) suggested we spar upstairs. While he does seem to focus on two things at all times, shoes and combat, I will say he is relatively professional on both fronts. Wanting to gather information more than show my hand, I allow them both to spar in the main dining area while it's closed for the day.
Notes from the spar are brief but useful. Sam uses a mix of his god's blessing and his scythe to control things on the field, prioritizing control itself over a group and sporadic moments of combat to the true chaos battle can offer sometimes. Borris, the gnome, prefers heavy swings on one single opponent until they fall. He is deadly at close range but doesn't seem to offer much at any range beyond that. Sam has many options for any range but seems to prefer a mid and close-range.
After a round or three of this, I know the girls should have been back by now, so I suggest we go look for them. The other two agree, and we gather our things and head through the front door. No sooner had I locked the front door and secured the closed sign, did Cordelia shove a potion into my hand and ask us to follow her and the girls. Bewildered, I drank the potion (trusting it to be the one necessary) and we followed them. Along the walk, the girls filled us in that while Cordelia was shopping for the potion, she struck up a deal with Acoris. If she gathered several certain flowers, she would be able to get reimbursement for the potion. After a long walk, some friendly conversations, and a killer headache later, we were outside the city _______ proper and were able to go about the hunt for the dark flowers we were after.
Remember how I said Borris, the gnome, focuses really well on combat and shoes, and not much else? It shows. As we were searching, he rushed right into the middle of these flowers, which turn out to attack you mentally, and suffered greatly for it. Thankfully, the flowers need to touch the skin to inflict damage. So, we were able to rescue Borris and bundle the large number of untrampled flowers for Acoris. Fast forward about an hour back into town, I stop by my favorite writing shop and spend 2 Gold on 2 large bound books for overall notes, a scroll for finalized notes, and a portable jar of ink with a travel quill. We then run into a newer adventurer on his lonesome named Urthan, a half-orc. While I'm talking to him, Cordelia and the rest exchange the flowers for several potions (8 battle brew potions, 2 bath potions for myself and K, and a morning brew which I lovingly refer to as Wake the Fuck Up).
Urthan is on the hunt for some easy coin and has landed his eyes on a bounty sheet for an older colleague of mine. poor guy is only worth 30 Gp. As Cordelia and our adopted children are coming out of The Burning Eel, Urthan spots the target heading into an alleyway. Urthan takes after him immediately, and we all chase after him to help him out. The target seemingly traps himself in an alleyway. Now, I don't know why, but we started snapping our fingers together in a pattern as we entered the alleyway behind him. The target was taken aback by this, but still sprung the trap we walked into.
Combat ensues at this point, and BOY HOWDY does these folks know how to throw down. things were happening so fast that I have no good notes on any one particular person's fighting style beyond they all love the sight of viscera and blood. The combat was short, only about 30 seconds honestly. No one from the opposing side survived. Cordelia found a magical scroll with a wax insignia of a lobster on it. I found 19 Gold, and have added it to my purse.
I'm looking forward to that bath potion and a good night's rest.
The Scratching Post #43685
As Cordelia and I were taking a breather from the bar, which in hindsight was a poor choice as we left it completely full of customers, we stumbled upon a hell of a sight. Dwarves from the Mordrin Theocracy funneling out of a portal in the middle of the alleyway. Kahla was taken aback and immediately hid in the shadows nearby. As Kahla studied the dwarves, several other non-dwarf creatures came through:
A halfling, with a scythe attached to his back. (Sam Talbot - a cleric?)
A gnome, with an axe fit for an individual 4 times his size. He has 5 pairs of shoes on at the same time. (Borris - fighter? Barbarian? Weird either way)
A half-raven, half-woman mix. She seems very worn down. Has a raven on her shoulder. (Noelani Bizrel)
A blue-skinned tiefling, musical instrument strewn across her back. Maybe a flute? Cornelia will be a great way to get to know her. (Aerilyn Faeyth - Possible connection to Mr. Faeyth?)
A female referred to as K multiple times. Possible nickname? (K is literally her only name)
As they are pushed through the portal on a floating rock (which btw, what in the hell is the importance of that?), the portal closes and the dwarves are rushed by.. More dwarves? All seems to be friendly, but tense. Maybe a time crunch on the portal? A head dwarf comes through. He reveals himself to the party as Gross Uck, a head priest of the Mordrin Theocracy. After brief introductions, he invites them into the city to be fed and get rest.
Seeing a moment present itself, I emerge from the shadows with Cordelia close behind me (she really has learned to read me over the years, clever girl). I forgo an introduction in the name of protecting myself and myself, but identify my inn and that it is a safe haven for their kind. Kahla has never seen a member of the Mordrin Theocracy up close and personal before, so while Kahla is mesmerized by the people who are freeing his city, he still needs to get to business and keep these people safe. Kahla informs the head priest of where the bar/tavern is located and instructs him to let 2 guards follow at a distance. The priest hesitantly agrees, and the party follows Kahla and Cordelia to the tavern.
At the tavern, Kahla realized his mistake of leaving patrons unattended. Judging by a few tankards, we were gone for only 30 minutes, which was 30 minutes too long. Kahla immediately launches into pouring more drinks and reclaiming the time lost. Cordelia entertains the guests, both new and old, with her lute. We sit the newcomers in the corner. Unfortunately, the halfling (who revealed the name of Sam to me, unknown if this is his code name or, gods forbid, his real one) revealed they had jumped through a portal a little too loudly.
I noticed a full elf with blonde hair take notice of it. I make a note of everything about them from that point forward and go about my business pretending to not have heard it. Kahla prays he was successful in deceiving her, but alas I don’t believe I was.
The night was thankfully less active than normal. I finished serving the existing customers and sent them on their way. Cordelia sent the new folks into one of the rooms for rent and, literally, crammed in there with them. Although it was pretty funny watching them spill out from time to time. The elven woman ended up renting a room with us. I spaced her away from where I planned on letting the others rest for the night. The one named K helped me clean up the bar in the hopes she could talk to me later. On one paw, I feel horrible that this is their first introduction to our city. But on the other hand, I know it has to be this way. As the last customer left the bar, I guided K into the kitchen under the verbal guise of doing dishes and started to try a conversation in Dwarvish. No luck. Thieves Cant; no luck either. She tried to speak in a different language to me which I didn’t understand, so no dice there. I eventually just let us whisper in common to get the point across of all we have been dealing with here. I didn’t go into full detail, as even a whisper could be heard if someone wanted, but I made her aware at least. Did she mention something about meditating? Apparently, she will be able to help us see something if I meditate with her. At this point, I’ll try anything.
K eventually went off to bed. I ended up dousing the lights in the tavern and placing myself on center stage in the dark with my crossbow in my lap, just staring at the elven woman’s room. I didn’t notice anything all night, but then again I nearly dozed off a couple of times. I eventually saw the first patrons of the next day come down for breakfast, which I quickly made thanks to the local waffle wizard, Samson (I picked this name, don’t know if it is correct). As the rest of our new friends started arriving for breakfast, I noticed 2 things. First, the elvish lady didn't peep all night. Second, the blue tiefling child named Aerilyn can scream for their party cleric (Sam, as it turns out) pretty loud. The raven lady had a dream that affected her so much that apparently her neck was cut? Who knows. But as soon as I heard that I figured the elven lady was to blame, I busted into her room.
I hate people who destroy rooms. Her room had a huge sigil drawn on the wall in the blood(?). I hate her now. She is the worst. I have no idea what kind of magic this is, but it seems powerful. I don’t know if she caused the incision on the raven lady's neck, but it seems too coincidental to be anything else. I’ll note her name and put it in my collection of signatures to eventually learn to reconstruct from my sign in the book.
Upon seeing this, Cordelia helped me shut down the bar. I think a family’s child was crying on the way out about something super scary. I wonder what he saw? Nonetheless, I have other larger things to focus on. So, upon closing down the tavern, we brought the entire crew down to our work area and explained in detail what the hell is going on here in town. After I dumped all the information on them, my sleep deprivation caught up with me and I had to go to bed. So, I'm writing this down now before I inevitably fall asleep with strangers in my most intimate workspace. Am I doing the right thing by trusting complete strangers? Will they help me overturn the remnants of corruption here? Why the hell are the ships heading into the sea with captives? Only time will tell.
Remember Kahla, Cordelia and you are the only thing keeping this resistance alive. Be crafty, cunning, and quiet. Remember the sacrifices your mother has made to allow you to get this far. Do not let her down.
PS; Need to find more on Orson Kaylock, Ms. Avril Adams, and Berrian Caphaxath.
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