Session 18 - Goodbye Sekket
The nearest temple to Fiestus was in the Eversmoke district, in Iron Spine. The party carried the body of Sekket to this temple where they were greeted by Umau, who Sekket and Kyto saw the last time they visited. She said that they would be able to prepare the ceremony for the following evening if the body was left with them and the ashes would then be returned to the Mountain Forge.
Shinzu was given the Bag of Holding, and once it was emptied, several items that Sekket has been crafting for the party came to light. Yunhu had a beautiful spell book case that would keep his books and scrolls safe even if underwater, Shinzu received a beautiful set of (+1) thieves tools. Tera had a shield that granted proficiency with shields, as in could be used even by a sorcerer. Lun had a strange hobgoblin-style jade mask, which was not quite finished but when it was looked as though it could be enchanted. The final of Sekket's possessions was his mysterious sword, which Kyto took for sake-keeping, but decided not to wield.
The party left the temple and headed back to Tera's house. When they arrived, the lights were on, signifying yet another intruder. Shinzu snuck up to the window, and couldn't see through, but could smell a new scent, brimstone. The door was closed and locked, just as Tera had left it. Yunhu and Tera went into the house first to seem normal, but also to protect Tera just in case. Sat on the sofa was a slender man, with grey skin and a tail, confidently drinking a cup of tea. He introduced himself as Zeal. He got in via the downstairs room that now contains some rather freaked out chickens. He was sent to Tera's house as they knew it to be a safe place in Thousand. Zeal cast Zone of Truth in order for the party to begin to trust him. It was revealed that Zeal formerly lived in Avernus, one of the Nine Hells. His master, a pit fiend named Jalaarl, gave him permission to investigate as the Hunger is a threat to everyone, not just Thousand. Zeal's master, Jalaarl is afraid of The Hunger and has Zeal's family as leverage to ensure he didn't simply escape his duties.
Zeal was upfront about himself, stating that he was born in Avernus and his house had been there for generations. He met a strange creature leaving a portal who looked a lot like Shinzu, elf-like, but exaggerated, who was mad, and babbling about a monster in the abyss. This creature had been fighting it but managed to find a portal and flee. The party deduced that this creature was fey, now knowing that the Feywild had been merged with the Abyss to keep the Hunger locked away. Zeal wasn't sure what to do with the strange creature and so flung it back into the portal that it has escaped through. Zeal gave his thoughts on the group's progress so far, commenting that killing a golden dragon was more about getting the scales than it was political instability. He seemed especially motivated to help the party, and with the Zone of Truth still active, the party ascertained that Zeal had no intention of harming them yet. However hesitantly they welcomed him to the group and rested.
Needing less rest than the rest of the party, Shinzu took the opportunity to visit Green Spires to break the news about Sekket to Gisita. He was visibly upset to hear the news and explained that he had not seen Sekket for 20 years before running into the party in the Star Market, but that Sekket had made a very fine sword for him, that he still had. He explained that Sekket used to run a weapons shop before he disappeared to study at the Mountain Forge. After further conversation, the pair decided that time was needed to mourn, although Gisita still showed an interest in attending the summer ball with Shinzu.
Once back at Tera's house, the rest of the party were awake. Tera explained how the party were "fateless" to Zeal, who didn't know that Tsunamjin was still around. It was decided that the party needed to make another visit to House Haruhel, who might well have been working with Mujina this entire time. Yunhu's sights were set firmly on revenge for the death of Sekket, but Kyto pushed for a more, subtle approach. The lead suspects for the theft of the pseudodragons were Bako and Domei, the leader and second-in-command of the house. Shinzu suggested that she felt that the most likely candidate was Domei, as the second-in-command had more to gain, taking over the command. The party headed back to the guard precinct to update them of the situation, and to give their entry into House Haruhel more legitimacy. Captain Yataiguo was updated on the destroyed temple, the experiments underground, and agreed that it was suspicious that they were told to go there. He stated that they were trying to build a case against Meimi but all the evidence they had was the dress made of scales - and House Song is protecting her and won't let the guard take the dress to examine more closely. He told the party that he has heard report of Mojin as also being called Junamo, Jin and Mojina but knows that they are all the same person with different appearances so it is hard to keep track of them. Yunhu noticed that the handwriting from the note found in the lab matched the handwriting from the police report written by Domei.
Once at House Haruhel, the door was opened by Caina who reluctantly took them to see Bako, the head of the house. Lun arrived with his face changed to look like Mojin to gauge the reactions of the members of the House. Bako doesn't act suspicious around "Mojin"/Lun. Everyone but Tera and Bako headed up to the rookery to let Zeal see the site of the theft. Tera remained behind to get information from Bako. In order to get Bako to loosen up, Tera flirted and invited him to the ball with her. Things got a bit awkward at this point as Bako tried to let her down gently, stating that he didn't really go for physical relationships. He stated that he didn't suspect anyone with the house; Tera knew that without another suspect they would most likely have to press charges on Leo, so she kept his involvement quiet for now. While heading up to the rookeries, Zeal distracted (read: bullied) Caina long enough for Kyto and Shinzu to sneak away and investigate the living quarters of the house. During the distraction, it was revealed that Caina was most concerned about the fate of the house, and was therefore unlikely to have committed the theft. Nothing was discovered during the search of the living quarters, except some accounting books, which didn't mean much to Shinzu so did not reveal any information. Tera headed upstairs to find the others and walked straight into Domei. He seemed surprised to see her, and when he found out about Sekket's death (and Lun's, who had to be dead so he wasn't missed while wearing Mojin's face). He made a show of being sympathetic but failed and came across as disingenuous. He left slip that he knew about the woman in the bar, when Tera hadn't told him, letting her know that he was in fact the culprit behind the theft. He tried to explain it away, growing increasingly threeatening as he did so; Tera wised up to the fact that she was alone with him and no witnesses around, and so readily agreed to move along to the rookeries when he asked her to. The party were reunited downstairs in Bako's office and Bako was brought up to speed on the situation with Domei. Bako was disbelieving but sent Caina to find Domei for questioning, however she returned unable to find him. Yalam's wyrmling Axiu eventually located him down a secret staircase behind a bookcase which led to the treasury. Once downstairs, Domei and his men tried to turn Bako against the party by saying that Mojin was only a client who has been buying scales for years, that was why he knew her. He tried then to place the blame on Mojin/Lun who then dropped his disguise.
Backed into a corner, Domei awakened the stone dragon statue in the middle of the room and the party have to fight the statue, Domei and his men. Zeal proved himself to be monstrously adept in combat, as his fear-inspiring abilities rendered the human mooks pretty much useless - though they had no effect on the statue. After the dragon statue was dispatched, Kyto knocked Domei out.
They awoke him tied up and within a Zone of Truth cast by Zeal. Tera was able to find out that he had been promised by Mojin that House Haruhel would return to its former glory, hunting dragons, not breeding them and he trusted her as a long term client. He had no idea what happened to the pseudodragons after they were taken. He was told to set Leo up to take the fall, and said the blue pseudodragon was probably just to create another scapegoat. His job was to keep the party busy for a few days so Mojin could finish her plan, but the hunting trip was cut short by the Frost-beast. He also said that the letter wasn't supposed to be at the lab, suggesting that Mojin had run out of use for him and set him up in return. At this point Bako, overwhelmed by the betrayal in his own House, brusquely asked the party to leave so he could take things from there. The group found this decidedly ungrateful, though in retrospect understood that they'd mostly just blundered in and unravelled a seemingly stable House at the seams.
Leaving a distraught House Haruhel, the party headed back to the Eversmoke district for Sekket's funeral. Anastri and Gisita were in attendance, along with a hobgoblin woman who called herself Banso, Sekket's estranged wife. She said that the Sekket who attended the Mountain Forge didn't sound like the Sekket she knew.
She explained a little about the group's prickly and enigmatic cleric: Sekket was born a carpenter and due to the heavy hierarchy within hobgoblin culture, it upset his house when he decided to become a smith instead. She confirmed that he used to run a weapons shop, and they met after he sold her an axe she used to behead an unwanted suitor (this is very romantic to a hobgoblin). Sekket and Banso also had a son, Keru who wanted to be a fighter not a smith like Sekket. This caused a rift between them and Keru left where he joined House Zanuk, Sekket's greatest nay-sayers and old enemies. Sekket and Keru hated each other from that point on and never spoke again. She found it a little strange at the time that Sekket joined the Mountain Forge as you must be invited to train as a forge cleric there, so they must have heard of his work. The funeral was brief and utilitarian as one would expect from that of a forge cleric. Umau spoke some parting words:
The party left the temple and headed back to Tera's house. When they arrived, the lights were on, signifying yet another intruder. Shinzu snuck up to the window, and couldn't see through, but could smell a new scent, brimstone. The door was closed and locked, just as Tera had left it. Yunhu and Tera went into the house first to seem normal, but also to protect Tera just in case. Sat on the sofa was a slender man, with grey skin and a tail, confidently drinking a cup of tea. He introduced himself as Zeal. He got in via the downstairs room that now contains some rather freaked out chickens. He was sent to Tera's house as they knew it to be a safe place in Thousand. Zeal cast Zone of Truth in order for the party to begin to trust him. It was revealed that Zeal formerly lived in Avernus, one of the Nine Hells. His master, a pit fiend named Jalaarl, gave him permission to investigate as the Hunger is a threat to everyone, not just Thousand. Zeal's master, Jalaarl is afraid of The Hunger and has Zeal's family as leverage to ensure he didn't simply escape his duties.
Zeal was upfront about himself, stating that he was born in Avernus and his house had been there for generations. He met a strange creature leaving a portal who looked a lot like Shinzu, elf-like, but exaggerated, who was mad, and babbling about a monster in the abyss. This creature had been fighting it but managed to find a portal and flee. The party deduced that this creature was fey, now knowing that the Feywild had been merged with the Abyss to keep the Hunger locked away. Zeal wasn't sure what to do with the strange creature and so flung it back into the portal that it has escaped through. Zeal gave his thoughts on the group's progress so far, commenting that killing a golden dragon was more about getting the scales than it was political instability. He seemed especially motivated to help the party, and with the Zone of Truth still active, the party ascertained that Zeal had no intention of harming them yet. However hesitantly they welcomed him to the group and rested.
Needing less rest than the rest of the party, Shinzu took the opportunity to visit Green Spires to break the news about Sekket to Gisita. He was visibly upset to hear the news and explained that he had not seen Sekket for 20 years before running into the party in the Star Market, but that Sekket had made a very fine sword for him, that he still had. He explained that Sekket used to run a weapons shop before he disappeared to study at the Mountain Forge. After further conversation, the pair decided that time was needed to mourn, although Gisita still showed an interest in attending the summer ball with Shinzu.
Once back at Tera's house, the rest of the party were awake. Tera explained how the party were "fateless" to Zeal, who didn't know that Tsunamjin was still around. It was decided that the party needed to make another visit to House Haruhel, who might well have been working with Mujina this entire time. Yunhu's sights were set firmly on revenge for the death of Sekket, but Kyto pushed for a more, subtle approach. The lead suspects for the theft of the pseudodragons were Bako and Domei, the leader and second-in-command of the house. Shinzu suggested that she felt that the most likely candidate was Domei, as the second-in-command had more to gain, taking over the command. The party headed back to the guard precinct to update them of the situation, and to give their entry into House Haruhel more legitimacy. Captain Yataiguo was updated on the destroyed temple, the experiments underground, and agreed that it was suspicious that they were told to go there. He stated that they were trying to build a case against Meimi but all the evidence they had was the dress made of scales - and House Song is protecting her and won't let the guard take the dress to examine more closely. He told the party that he has heard report of Mojin as also being called Junamo, Jin and Mojina but knows that they are all the same person with different appearances so it is hard to keep track of them. Yunhu noticed that the handwriting from the note found in the lab matched the handwriting from the police report written by Domei.
Once at House Haruhel, the door was opened by Caina who reluctantly took them to see Bako, the head of the house. Lun arrived with his face changed to look like Mojin to gauge the reactions of the members of the House. Bako doesn't act suspicious around "Mojin"/Lun. Everyone but Tera and Bako headed up to the rookery to let Zeal see the site of the theft. Tera remained behind to get information from Bako. In order to get Bako to loosen up, Tera flirted and invited him to the ball with her. Things got a bit awkward at this point as Bako tried to let her down gently, stating that he didn't really go for physical relationships. He stated that he didn't suspect anyone with the house; Tera knew that without another suspect they would most likely have to press charges on Leo, so she kept his involvement quiet for now. While heading up to the rookeries, Zeal distracted (read: bullied) Caina long enough for Kyto and Shinzu to sneak away and investigate the living quarters of the house. During the distraction, it was revealed that Caina was most concerned about the fate of the house, and was therefore unlikely to have committed the theft. Nothing was discovered during the search of the living quarters, except some accounting books, which didn't mean much to Shinzu so did not reveal any information. Tera headed upstairs to find the others and walked straight into Domei. He seemed surprised to see her, and when he found out about Sekket's death (and Lun's, who had to be dead so he wasn't missed while wearing Mojin's face). He made a show of being sympathetic but failed and came across as disingenuous. He left slip that he knew about the woman in the bar, when Tera hadn't told him, letting her know that he was in fact the culprit behind the theft. He tried to explain it away, growing increasingly threeatening as he did so; Tera wised up to the fact that she was alone with him and no witnesses around, and so readily agreed to move along to the rookeries when he asked her to. The party were reunited downstairs in Bako's office and Bako was brought up to speed on the situation with Domei. Bako was disbelieving but sent Caina to find Domei for questioning, however she returned unable to find him. Yalam's wyrmling Axiu eventually located him down a secret staircase behind a bookcase which led to the treasury. Once downstairs, Domei and his men tried to turn Bako against the party by saying that Mojin was only a client who has been buying scales for years, that was why he knew her. He tried then to place the blame on Mojin/Lun who then dropped his disguise.
Backed into a corner, Domei awakened the stone dragon statue in the middle of the room and the party have to fight the statue, Domei and his men. Zeal proved himself to be monstrously adept in combat, as his fear-inspiring abilities rendered the human mooks pretty much useless - though they had no effect on the statue. After the dragon statue was dispatched, Kyto knocked Domei out.
They awoke him tied up and within a Zone of Truth cast by Zeal. Tera was able to find out that he had been promised by Mojin that House Haruhel would return to its former glory, hunting dragons, not breeding them and he trusted her as a long term client. He had no idea what happened to the pseudodragons after they were taken. He was told to set Leo up to take the fall, and said the blue pseudodragon was probably just to create another scapegoat. His job was to keep the party busy for a few days so Mojin could finish her plan, but the hunting trip was cut short by the Frost-beast. He also said that the letter wasn't supposed to be at the lab, suggesting that Mojin had run out of use for him and set him up in return. At this point Bako, overwhelmed by the betrayal in his own House, brusquely asked the party to leave so he could take things from there. The group found this decidedly ungrateful, though in retrospect understood that they'd mostly just blundered in and unravelled a seemingly stable House at the seams.
Leaving a distraught House Haruhel, the party headed back to the Eversmoke district for Sekket's funeral. Anastri and Gisita were in attendance, along with a hobgoblin woman who called herself Banso, Sekket's estranged wife. She said that the Sekket who attended the Mountain Forge didn't sound like the Sekket she knew.
She explained a little about the group's prickly and enigmatic cleric: Sekket was born a carpenter and due to the heavy hierarchy within hobgoblin culture, it upset his house when he decided to become a smith instead. She confirmed that he used to run a weapons shop, and they met after he sold her an axe she used to behead an unwanted suitor (this is very romantic to a hobgoblin). Sekket and Banso also had a son, Keru who wanted to be a fighter not a smith like Sekket. This caused a rift between them and Keru left where he joined House Zanuk, Sekket's greatest nay-sayers and old enemies. Sekket and Keru hated each other from that point on and never spoke again. She found it a little strange at the time that Sekket joined the Mountain Forge as you must be invited to train as a forge cleric there, so they must have heard of his work. The funeral was brief and utilitarian as one would expect from that of a forge cleric. Umau spoke some parting words:
"Sekket of the Mountain Forge!After the funeral, the party gave Sekket's shield to his wife, and resolved to find out who the masterwork was meant for, and pass it onto them. The group then went to a nearby pub to swap Sekket stories. The session ended there...
So as you swore yourself to the fire,
To the fire you will return.
And we will pass your ashes on to the mountain, to join the spirits there.
Thank you for all that you have done."
Eversmoke district
Zeal
Gisita
Captain Yataiguo
Snowveil district
Bako
Domei
Banso
Sekket
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