Session 25. - Something In The Air
General Summary
19th of Frost's End, 1440 A.P.
Danger! Danger! Alert! Awaken!" Deadeye's bow jolted him from a dead slumber. His first thought was "Oh Crap! We're sinking!" but once he got to his feet, he realised that the ship seemed stable so sinking was unlikely. He shook his feathers in an effort to rid himself of the last vestiges of sleep and tried to figure out what was going on. The bow had warned of danger before but never this loudly or this emphatically. Deadeye banged on the wall
Roughly One Month Prior, 9th of Icegrip, 1440 A.P.
After Arbor's sudden and unexpected departure, the party didn't quite know what to do with themselves. Their jovial mood quickly soured and they all retired early. When they awoke the next morning, Arbor had not returned and they realised that he might actually be gone for some time. His absence was definitely felt and breakfast was a subdued affair. While everyone quietly chewed their bacon, Oorr finally broke the silence and started planning out their itinerary for their trip to Tharos. Angrar immediately told him to slow down. They still had to visit the Rayahn library and perhaps do some research into what they were getting into. Urith also took this time to voice his dissent of the Tharos plan. With Arbor gone, he felt it should be put to another vote as he felt that the leads in Cor Caroli were more promising (and closer to home). The others grumbled and said that they thought they'd sorted this out last night and complained that Urith was just being ornery. He argued back that Arbor had wanted to go south, but since he's not there anymore, his vote doesn't count so they should recast their votes and see from there. Everyone sighed in agreement, more to shut him up than because they believed him, and voted again. Oorr and Angrar voted for Tharos. Urith for Cor Caroli. Deadeye said he was happy with either and it didn't matter to him. Suljurn abstained, saying he needed to think on it some more. In the absence of a unanimous consensus, Oorr declared that it was three to one against and smugly said they were going to Tharos which put the moody ranger into an even darker mood. He got up from the table and stormed out into the street in disgust, leaving a plate of half-eaten bacon behind, which spoke more loudly than his words ever would. With breakfast adjourned, everyone was left to their own devices. Deadeye said he was going to go shopping ("and talk to the locals, to see what they know" which garnered him an eyeroll from Oorr, but no offer to help. He was definitely not "that type of rogue" today) while Suljurn and Angrar said they'd planned to go back to the temple to research Tharos (and take the Arch-Deacon up on his offer to learn something). Oorr seemed moody (likely over Urith) and retired to his room declaring that he was going to study his copy of The Baraquellan Cycle for insight into the insidious Tharan mind, leaving the other three alone in the common room. When Deadeye, Angrar and Suljurn left the inn, Deadeye idly pointed out a small filthy child and a scruffy dog sitting idly across from the inn and commented on how sad it was that the world had dealt the child such a cruel hand so early on. The others agreed, only half-paying attention. Angrar was mulling over the changes they'd seen in Urith lately and Suljurn too, seemed lost in his own thoughts. Deadeye went off to shop, agreeing to meet the others back at the inn later and the other two headed to the Temple of Rayah to utilise their library. When they arrived, they were quickly recognised by the priests and ushered into the library with respect. The library had a completely different atmosphere from when they were last there. The piles of weirdly stacked books were gone. As were the bloodstains (though if you knew where to look, you could still see the faint outline in some places). The empty, hollow silence was replaced by a warm mix of whispered voices and the rustle of turning pages. The sound of the scribe's pens scratching as they copied text after text in the scriptorium added to the warmth and Suljurn smiled ruefully at the memory. It hadn't been that long ago that he'd been one of those scribes in a different part of the world. Oh how the times had changed. They decided to split up and meet back in the central reading room. They both unconsciously avoided the scriptorium, feeling a shiver at the memory of the ghost they'd encountered there and went searching through the stacks for anything to do with Moloch, the swords of Wayreth or even Tharos. After what felt like several hours Angrar returned to the reading area with a large stack of potential leads only to find Suljurn already sitting comfortably in a chair, listening intently to the bard Terazmisci as she read from the small stack of books between them. They looked up as he approached and Suljurn had the good grace to look somewhat embarassed. He apologised for not coming to find him sooner, but said he'd run into their friend here and they'd just started discussing ideas about Wayreth's swords. Terazmisci chimed in that they'd come to the conclusion that the seven blades they were seeking were likely part of the Magdalinian set rather than some of his greater known works. She pointed excitedly to the text she had been reading from and reread it for Angrar's benefit.Wyreth knew the danger. Oh yes, he knew. That’s why he scattered them, and for hundreds of years they remained apart. Two of them were buried. Others lost in battle, and some so cunningly hidden that none had knowledge of them, except the...There was a pause and Angrar waited for the bard to continue but when she didn't he looked over at her expectantly and she said that was all there was. The rest of the page had been destroyed by time and age. But it had to refer to the blades didn't it? Angrar couldn't disagree, but the evidence was flimsy at best and said as much. She retorted, well what have you found then? Angrar said much the same, though nothing on the swords. He'd discovered two treatises on the conflicts between Tharos and Dhabara over the years, another on the Illyrian Lowlands which was enough to tell him that they should travel to Myr by ship if they wanted to get there in one piece. He'd also found a copy of the Baraquellan Cycle and had been planning on reading it to potentially reign in Oorr's more ridiculous ideas but casually hid that from the bard's disdainful view. They discussed theories and ideas for several more hours. Suljurn was surprisingly vocal and well read. Once he started talking, the other two quickly realised that he'd accumulated 400 years of knowledge before he'd gone adventuring. Angrar gained a newfound respect for his normally taciturn companion. They soon realised they'd been at it for hours and were starting to get hungry. Angrar invited Terazmisci to join them for a meal at their inn but she politely declined, saying she had to get back to her own inn and play for her meal. Suljurn offered to escort her and she agreed, leaving Angrar to walk back to the inn alone. When he got there, he immediately noticed that the filthy child and dog were still there, staring at the inn. He went inside to find Oorr and Deadeye at a table playing cards. Urith was nowhere to be seen. Deadeye asked if the kid was still watching to which Angrar said yes. Oorr said he was likely part of the thieves guild, probably set to watch them after they'd played a part in getting the guild members hung for raiding the temple. The other two didn't disagree. Angrar brought them up to speed on his and Suljurn's discovery, and that Terazmisci was in town. When he asked, the others hadn't seen Urith at all since this morning. They ordered food and Oorr told them all he knew about the Tharan people, which amounted to cultural stereotypes about them being evil and selling children into the gladiator pits, among other heinous crimes. Suljurn showed up thankfully soon, interrupting Oorr's dissertation on the evils of Tharans. He asked if they others had realised the child was still watching the inn, and they all said they knew. They decided that they should probably do something about it. So they quickly devised a plan to ambush the kid and hopefully scare him off. Oorr snuck out the back of the inn and circled around. While Angrar and Suljurn went out into the inn's yard and started pointing up and down the street, as if they were trying to coordinate a search. Deadeye climbed out of one of the second story windows onto the roof, and perched in the shadows with his bow, ready to provide cover (though he was loathe to shoot a child or a dog and said as much to the others). Angrar and Suljurn continued to point and make a show of discussing plans while casually crossing the street, getting closer to the child as Oorr crept up from behind. Just as Oorr was about to sneak up, the child spun around far faster than any of them expected and drew two wicked sickle looking blades which he pointed menacingly at the rogue. He said something in a strange language that no one understood. The mastiff lifted it's head casually as the other two approached and growled, warning them not to come closer. Now that they were up close, they realised it wasn't actually a child at all but a small man with wild hair, barely any clothing and filthy as hell. It took them a minute to figure out that the small man must be one of the savage wildlings from the jungles of Kerast, half the world away. They wondered what he was doing there. He said something in his language that no one understood. When they didn't respond, he spoke again in very broken and heavily accented goblinese. "Where goblin?" It took them a minute to figure out he was asking about Arbor. Oorr was about to tell him that he left, but Angrar gave him the side eye to shut up until they learned why the filthy creature wanted their friend. It took some time but they managed to figure out that someone ("big bad mojo wizard") hired Torak (the wildling) to find Arbor ("the goblin"). Torak said he'd seen the goblin go into the inn, but had not seen him leave. When they asked what he would do when he found Arbor, he said. "Wait for mage. Get paid. Get drunk." Oorr took a sniff and noted that Torak may have already started on the third thing as the filthy man already reeked of hard spirits. Before Angrar could stop him, Oorr said that Arbor had left. Torak didn't seem to believe them so they invited him inside to see for himself. He took them up on their offer and he and his dog snooped (and sniffed) around their rooms. When he was done, Torak sat at their table, grabbed a chicken leg and simply said "Me wait." Not knowing what else to do, they said down with him and finished their meal. He didn't say much during the meal but watched them intently as they spoke, glaring at them if they slipped into anything other than goblinese. They ordered him a drink and he downed it with gusto. One drink turned to several and soon the night got late. They weren't sure what to do with their new strange little companion. They realised very quickly that he couldn't afford a room and none of them wanted to share with the filthy man, so they spoke to the innkeeper and arranged for him and his dog to sleep in the stables for free. They poured him into a stall with his dog and left him for the night, hoping they'd figure out what to do with him in the morning. The next morning when they awoke, he was already back sitting on the barrel across from the inn, waiting. When Angrar approached, he said, he was going to wait for the goblin and wouldn't listen to anything else. The others shrugged and headed off to do their things. Suljurn said he was going to catch up with the bard. While Deadeye and Oorr said they'd accompany Angrar to the library today. Oorr immediately went searching for treatises on fencing styles (especially those of fabled Baraquelle) and Deadeye wandered the stacks looking for inspiration. Angrar continued his search for anything to do with the swords or there relationship to Tharos but came up empty. When they reconvened, Deadeye brought a visitor with him and introduced the other two to a tetsudan going by the name of Umami. Having only met two of the strange turtle-folk before, Angrar and Oorr peppered him with questions which he answered graciously, if ponderously and in a very roundabout manner. He spoke dhabaran but his command of the language wasn't fluent, so he often mixed up word tenses and phrases but his understanding of the language was far better than Torak's understanding of the goblin tongue. Through their conversation, they came to understand that Umami was a chef and that his people hold the culinary arts in high regard. He gently chastised Oorr for referring to him as a cook and a servant at one point. He was on a quest of enlightenment to discover new taste experiences and his travels had taken him far across the ocean to these distant shores. He'd heard that this great library may hold secret recipes but had not found anything yet. Angrar asked him what he would do once he found all the secrets that the culinary world had to offer. Umami simply replied.
Before enlightenment, you gut fish and make soup.Oorr nodded sagely, but Angrar could tell that neither one of them had a clue what the strange turtle meant. Deadeye seemed enamoured by their new companion and quickly invited him to their inn to taste the amazing food there. He accepted graciously and they all headed back to the inn. On the way back while Deadeye nattered on with Umami, Oorr and Angrar talked quietly about Urith's absence and what they were going to do about him. Neither one of them had any solutions. When they arrived back at the inn, Torak was still on his barrel, this time eating a massive turkey drumstick. He refused to join them, saying he preferred the open sky. Before they entered the inn, Umami paused and grabbed a pinch of something from one of his numerous belt pouches and sprinkled it on Torak's food. The wildling sniffed at it cautiously before taking a bite. His eyes went wide with joy and he began devouring the drumstick with abandon. The others looked curiously at Umami who shrugged and simply said, "Moru root," and went inside. Once inside, Deadeye ordered the inn's most extravagant meal in honor of their new friend, to which the others winced, knowing what it would cost. Suljurn arrived just shortly after the meal was served but seemed distracted and didn't talk much. There was still no sign of Urith. The meal itself was a multi course affair, with stuffed quail eggs and a spicy fish soup followed by slabs of venison cooked to perfection and a rich cake filled with strange fruit and sweet smelling liquor. Umami sampled everything in moderation. Deadeye kept looking at him expectantly but the tetsudan refrained from making any comment or critique. Once the meal was gone and washed down with a sweet wine, he spoke and said that it was indeed a very fine meal. He made no indications if he was just being polite or if he truly meant it. Deadeye seemed pleased and told him that if he stuck with them, they'd find all sorts of new delicacies for him to try. He laughed politely at the kenku's enthusiasm but committed to nothing. The next morning, the strange tetsudan was nowhere to be found. They ordered breakfast (bacon out of habit, on the off chance it would coax Urith out of hiding). When their meal arrived it was delivered by Umami himself. Apparently he'd been in the kitchen all morning assisting with the inn's needs. There was a warm fresh loaf of bread and freshed churned butter laden with sweet herbs. Some flat bread like circles filled with berries that Umami referred to as panflaps. Several thick juicy sausages and a plate of soft cheeses. The food outstripped everything they'd ever had in the past, including every meal at the Alder Arms. They'd never settle for "just bacon" ever again. They were complimenting the chef and their stomachs were pledging unfaltering allegiance, when they were interrupted by a skinny figure with reddish skin, rakishly standing in front of their table. They looked him over. He was of middling height, skinny as a whip and dressed in soft brown leathers with numerous buckles and straps. A wicked looking short blade rested casually against his hip. His longish, dark hair was pulled back loosely into a ponytail, revealing two short pointed horns sprouting from his forehead. His yellow cat's eyes watched them with interest. Without any preamble, he started. "You'd be his companions then. I be Bieljhak. The Daymaster sends his regards." The man paused briefly, expecting some sort of response from the table. When none arrived, he continued, nonplussed. "He also sends tidings, both fortuitous and frustrating, regarding your erstwhile companion, the Jotunari. It seems your friend had words with some of my master's acquaintances and they took unkindly to his verbiage. He was politely given some proper lessons in elucidation and pronunciation and sent on his way. Unfortunately, the lesson did not seem to resonate well with your friend and he returned for further verbal coaching." "In short, your friend's language was deemed unseemly and he was advised that a long stroll to the end of the pier might clear his head. The sea air does wonders for one's health after all. Your friend, enlightened by his recent exploration of the nuances of language, gleaned that his walk would be encouraged to continue whether a ship was at the end of said pier or not and he decided, quite on his own I may add, to adopt a more nautical outlook on life." "All in all, this is but a courtesy from my master to prevent you from rummaging around needlessly, whilst searching for that which cannot be found. We wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavours and hope you have a pleasant stay in our fair city. Be seeing you." With that, he nods his head briefly in respect and turns, leaving through the front door. Oorr quickly chased after him but the figure has already disappeared in the early morning crowd (as if he was THAT type of rogue). He returned inside and shook his head briefly at Angrar's inquisitive look. They all sat in shock as the gravity of what just happened sank in. Urith had crossed the local thieves guild and got run out of town for his efforts. It could've been worse I guess. Least he wasn't dead. Still, it was another of their companions to leave within the past week. This is not how they had planned to spend their time after their first successful adventure. Umami chose that moment to return from the kitchen with more panflaps, piling them high on everyone's plate and they mechanically began eating just for the sake of having something to do other than talk. Suljurn seemed particularly pensive but no one was in the mood to ask about it. As breakfast finished up, Terazmisci arrived, dressed in travelling gear and looked quizzically at Suljurn. "Well? Did you tell them yet?" "Tell us what," asked Angrar? "Tell you that we found something and we're leaving to follow a clue." The bard looked exasperatedly at her fellow saurial as he continued to sit there in uncomfortable silence. "Really? Fine." "So... I think we found something or part of something anyways. I think I, we, discovered the names of some of the swords. It was in another one of those crumbling books. I only got to read some of the page before the whole thing fell apart in my hands. Those priests really need to take better care of their books. I'll have to send one of the libraria to come and teach them proper archival procedures. Honestly.... Ummm anyways. Yes. Names. It was a description or a catalogue of sorts of known named weapons and their smith. It was a pretty boring lists all told but then I caught the name Vyret which could be a typo for Wyreth or Wayreth or it could be nothing. Anyways, it had a list of names of blades he'd been known to make and I was able to make out three of them. There looked like there were more but as to how many I have no clue. The book was a copy of a copy of a copy so who knows how many transcription errors happened, between this and the original. So I, well me and Suljurn, are off to Phaeros to the library in Alixandra to see if we can find the original copy of the book and figure out the names..... OH! The names! right." She paused briefly, no one even realising that she'd said all that without taking a breath. "The names we found are:"
After enlightenment, you gut fish and make soup.
Morax, Beleth and Orias"They don't mean anything to me. I did some cross checking and none of Wayreth's known works bear those names. I'm not even sure what language they're in... It's so infuriating. They're just words! Arrrgh! Hopefully knowing them will help you. And don't worry about Suljurn. He and I are going to have a long talk on the voyage about his faith, and how much he's been already doing our Father's work. Hopefully by the time we land, the two of them will be back on speaking terms. Anyways. Suljurn. Let's go! Our ship leaves with the tide and it is turning!" As the others sat their stunned at this further turn of events, Terazmisci quickly herded the paladin upstairs, gathered his gear and were out the door before anyone could really say otherwise. In the aftermath, Oorr, Angrar and Deadeye sat at the table and took a long minute to process. Arbor was away for who knows how long. Urith had been ran out of town on a rail and now Suljurn was off chasing knowledge (though Angrar suspected he may be chasing something much prettier and just not know it yet). The party that had been together through thick and thin was now in tatters. What were they going to do? Do they even bother continuing? If they didn't Moloch's servants would certainly find the swords and do whatever they were going to do. Even if it was only the three of them. They resolved to stop it. Umami approached and apologised for overhearing the conversation. He said that it sounded like they were involved in exciting adventures and that perhaps if he joined them, they would lead him to new epicurean delights. He wouldn't be all that much of a bother and he'd certainly do what he could to get them where they wanted to go. They thanked the tetsudan for his offer and decided why not. If nothing else, at least they'd be well fed during the crazy journey. Then they were four. They spent the next several weeks hoping Arbor would return and bringing Umami up to speed in the meantime. They filled every spare moment available learning all they could about Tharos. While most Dhabarans had a poor opinion of and could care less about their southern neighbours, they managed to find enough information to put together some semblance of a plan. They thought about an overland tripruled out an overland trip as taking far too long and fraught with danger. The descriptions they kept hearing about the Illyrian Lowlands kept getting worse and worse and at some point they were sure the locals were just pulling their legs but without any other information, they acted as if it was all true. Umami's dhabaran improved significantly and while he wasn't fully fluent yet, at least he'd stopped using the wrong gender when referring to people. The little wildling still stayed out on the barrel watching the inn. He'd barely said anything to anyone since they'd first met him and preferred to keep his own company. Angrar was surprised that the innkeeper had allowed him to stick around and when he'd asked about she said that there were far fewer rats around the inn now and left it at that. Angrar wondered if he was eating them... The first day of spring came and the weather, which had been seasonally grey and squally for most of their stay in the capital, finally started to turn. On a sunny afternoon a few days later, they booked passage on a ship on called the Ray of Dawn, and only because Oorr admitted once they were underway that he'd misheard the name as Rayah's Dawn and thought it a good omen. They left a note for Arbor as to their whereabouts with the innkeeper and were heading out. Surprisingly, the wildling wasn't in his usual spot when they left. Doubly surprising, they found him waiting for them at the dock. When they approached he said simply,. "Me follow. Goblin come to you. Me catch Goblin. Me get paid" The others shrugged and boarded the ship, each of them having paid for a private cabin. Torak followed along and when Oorr asked where he was going to sleep, Torak simply said "Under stars. As Herne" and walked away, ending the conversation.
Rewards Granted
- 1228 xp
Character(s) interacted with
- Miklos Tinnadansa, weathermage on the ship, Ray of Dawn
- Reginald Crankshaft XXXIII, a gnome scientist
- Bolt-1 (pronounced Bolton), Reginald's forgeborn partner and bodyguard
- Alvarine, Reginald's young faun assistant and ward
Notes
Show spoiler
<FNORD!>
Congratulations! You have achieved a Critical Success on your Perception Check!
Contact the GM privately and mention The Dreamtime prior to next game for an xp reward.
</FNORD!>
Congratulations! You have achieved a Critical Success on your Perception Check!
Contact the GM privately and mention The Dreamtime prior to next game for an xp reward.
</FNORD!>
Axon Bror
Deadeye Cliffhanger
Oorr Rosetta del Hilltopple
Chaotic Good [Tar] Faun (City Watch / Investigator)
Rogue 4
Sorcerer 1
Rogue 4
Sorcerer 1
37 / 37 HP
STR
10
10
DEX
18
18
CON
12
12
INT
8
8
WIS
12
12
CHA
16
16
Torak Goblin-Chaser
Umami of the Iche
Angrar Ironbrow
Report Date
24 May 2025
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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