Session 9 - Wrapping Up
Picking up from the last session the group returned to Tera's house, namely its new basement, with two cadavers. 63, who formerly looked like a deceased male before, had revealed itself as a fiend and attacked the group before being subdued (but not killed). The other was 64, a deceased human female, who still appeared to be a normal cadaver. With clever use of the Enlarge/Shrink spell, the group kept the bodies disguised and were able to smuggle them through Thousand without incident.
In the basement, the group decided to interrogate 63, the fiend. It agreed to this in return for a quick execution that would return it to the Nine Hells. It revealed itself as a contracted assassin, bound by a summoner named Rokai and given instruction by 'a man with a golden face'. This instruction was to take on a particular disguise, get close to Tsun-Riu - the Prince of the House of the Golden Sun - and kill him. The group theorised that this was to harvest Tsun-Riu's golden dragonborn scales, but this was not known by the fiend assassin.
The job failed however as they were caught by the Imperial guard. The fiend had been instructed to fake their suicide if this happened, retain their disguise and wait in the morgue until extracted. Since the disguise appeared to have no tongue, necro-interrogators were not enlisted to interrogate the dead body.
When asked why it did the task the fiend claimed it was just a job and that it was paid in gold and blood, the usual etc etc. However it also said there was something 'underneath the Hells' that was shifting around and 'making everyone uncomfortable'. The group who wished to assassinate Tsun-Riu also wanted to free this creature, and so it was in the devils' best interests to aid this.
Recalling the census records of countless deaths being caused by 'starvation', the group asked if the creature caused hunger. The fiend replied that it was hunger and confirmed it was the same calamity that had been sealed away nearly a thousand years ago. The fiend mentioned that Tsunamjin was involved in this, but the devils actually helped seal the Hunger away as per a contract with a tiefling named Trickery. The price was Trickery's soul, which was deeply coveted after they out-bargained numerous archdevils. However, the fiend assassin revealed that Trickery's soul was in fact still not collected.
Having answered all of the group's questions truthfully as far as the group could tell, the first fiend assassin was beheaded. It left behind a strange red dagger that looked like crystallised blood, which Lun held on to.
The group correctly guessed that the other cadaver, 64, was also a fiend, and woke it up. It retained its appearance as a blue-eyed brunette female and, on seeing it was outnumbered, elected not to fight. Like 63, it agreed to answer questions in return for a quick death that would return it to the Hells.
This one claimed that after the first devil failed, they were bound by the same summoner, Rokai, and given instruction with 'a woman with many eyes'. They didn't seem to know the man with a golden face. Their instruction was to take a particular disguise and sneak into the Golden Sun palace to assassinate Tsun-Riu. However, they were caught by the very person whose form they'd been told to take and ended up fighting them.
The fiend claimed they mortally wounded this person but were injured in return, and the fight drew the guards. As with 63 its failure was not unanticipated, and it had been told to retain their disguise until extracted from the morgue. It knew little else about why it had been given the task.
On questioning it largely confirmed 63's answers, but it had also heard the name Mujina - namely from the summoner Rokai, who seemed to dislike them. Rokai had called Mujina 'unprofessional' and their methods 'too reckless', but they didn't know anything more. Once all questions were answered, the group executed this fiend as well.
After a rest the group decided to infiltrate Meimi's house. Sekket cast a Augury to see if any disaster would come from their plan and received a mixed response. They proceeded to the Wisteria district and found Meimi's nice but modest one-storey house. Meimi was inside, but the group bribed as nearby child to knock on her door and tell her that her mistress Shula needed her urgently. Once Meimi has departed Kyto and Shinzu broke in, while the others lingered in a nearby cafe and watched for Meimi's return. Tera asked Shinzu to keep an eye out for a dress, plain blue with white embroidery on the bottom, that Mujina stole from her house a week or two ago (read: in an earlier session), on the basis that Mujina may have given it to Meimi as a gift, or that it was somehow involved with the dragon dress Meimi was creating. The house itself had the appearance of a place that used to be neat but wasn't anymore, with crafting materials and sketchbooks - all filled - strewn around the room. On the floor was a shawl made of scales, which on examination looked as though it might be blue kobold scales. Leafing through the sketchbooks, the older-looking ones contained still life and landscapes of fairly poor skill level. The newer sketch books on the other hand, showed a marked artistic improvement, and sketches that tended towards the fantastical instead of realistic. There were schematics, anatomical drawings of animals that didn't exist and above all, hundreds of dress designs. There were also recurring sketches of a dark-scaled male dragonborn. Shinzu found a hidden compartment by the bed containing a dream journal. The dreams noted within were fairly boring up until about a month ago where they suddenly became more vivid and surreal. Most recently, Meimi noted that she dreamed someone named 'Mojin' and of a dress made of scales almost every night. She wrote "it's for me to wear, I just know it" rather than her mistress. Outside the group spotted Meimi returning but were unable to inform Kyto and Shinzu in time. On hearing the door open Shinzu was able to escape but Kyto wasn't quite quick enough and came face-to-face with her. Meimi panicked at first, but against the odds, he convinced her that he was a servant to another noble paying her a visit, and that Shula gave him the key to Meimi's house. On meeting Meimi, Kyto noted that she was plain-looking and quiet. Kyto talked about Meimi designing a new dress for his mistress, to which Meimi implied she planned to be a freelance dressmaker after the ball as she was starting to resent being Shula's handmaiden. Kyto also spotted that Meimi carried a notebook everywhere with her that looked important, but he was unable to retrieve this from her. He left the house with Meimi none the wiser about anyone breaking in. Shinzu decided to follow Meimi to retrieve the book, and was able to successfully bump into and pickpocket it from her before fleeing. On examination it was another sketchbook, but also had some notes. Most importantly, it contained a tally of the scales Meimi had collected for the dress:
During some rare downtime, the team follow up on some individual errands: Yunhu and Sekket spent some time transforming Yunhu's glaive into a greatsword. This largely involved Sekket transforming it within five minutes, declaring it 'not good enough', and melting it to reshape it again, over and over for an hour. Having seen a poster for the travelling theatre, Lun briefly visited the theatre campsite and reunited with its colourful cast of characters, namely the twins Oro and Ochi, the flirtatious Keyfielle and the antagonistic Toma. He met up with the Brian Blessed-alike Professor Neb who admitted he was having some problems taming a new performance animal, but told Lun not to worry about it. Kyto and Tera visited Azza's not-a-brothel bar in the East Star Docks to chase up any leads on Rokai, but she didn't recognise the name. She pointed out that giving a devil your true name was largely a bad idea, so it was probably a pseudonym. She also informed Kyto that a friend of his had gone missing recently and to keep an eye/ear out for them, but had no further details. Eyeing up Tera, Azza asked if she was the aasimar who had revealed her wings in the Emporium district the other day. When Tera confirmed that she was, Azza, informed her that several fiend-worshippers had come to the bar asking for more information on her. She left her with the warning to be more careful about showing off her celestial heritage, lest it attract unwanted attention. Shinzu kept following Meimi through what was a very boring day filled with servant's chores. At night time however, she noticed that Meimi slept fitfully, often waking up and frantically writing or sketching something before returning to sleep. At 1 am she woke and left the house altogether, heading for a body of water with a bridge, which she began to sketch. Shinzu watched as a seemingly-random human drew closer to Meimi, and began transforming into someone taller and broader, eventually taking the shape of a dragonborn male, black-scaled with streaks of white. In a deep and purring voice he spoke her name, and Meimi appeared to recognise him as 'Mojin'. Shinzu tried to creep closer but was unable to without alerting the pair, and so could only pick up snatches of conversation about the quality of the scales and the need to keep the source of them a secret. Meimi asked if she would be able to wear the dress and the dragonborn claimed he would 'take care of' Shula so she could. He claimed she would be the star of the ball, and have all the attention she deserved. The dragonborn stated he wouldn't see Meimi again until the ball, but would keep in contact with her through her dreams until then. He departed, changing his shape again as he left, and Shinzu was unable to follow him, instead returning to the group. The session ended there...
After a rest the group decided to infiltrate Meimi's house. Sekket cast a Augury to see if any disaster would come from their plan and received a mixed response. They proceeded to the Wisteria district and found Meimi's nice but modest one-storey house. Meimi was inside, but the group bribed as nearby child to knock on her door and tell her that her mistress Shula needed her urgently. Once Meimi has departed Kyto and Shinzu broke in, while the others lingered in a nearby cafe and watched for Meimi's return. Tera asked Shinzu to keep an eye out for a dress, plain blue with white embroidery on the bottom, that Mujina stole from her house a week or two ago (read: in an earlier session), on the basis that Mujina may have given it to Meimi as a gift, or that it was somehow involved with the dragon dress Meimi was creating. The house itself had the appearance of a place that used to be neat but wasn't anymore, with crafting materials and sketchbooks - all filled - strewn around the room. On the floor was a shawl made of scales, which on examination looked as though it might be blue kobold scales. Leafing through the sketchbooks, the older-looking ones contained still life and landscapes of fairly poor skill level. The newer sketch books on the other hand, showed a marked artistic improvement, and sketches that tended towards the fantastical instead of realistic. There were schematics, anatomical drawings of animals that didn't exist and above all, hundreds of dress designs. There were also recurring sketches of a dark-scaled male dragonborn. Shinzu found a hidden compartment by the bed containing a dream journal. The dreams noted within were fairly boring up until about a month ago where they suddenly became more vivid and surreal. Most recently, Meimi noted that she dreamed someone named 'Mojin' and of a dress made of scales almost every night. She wrote "it's for me to wear, I just know it" rather than her mistress. Outside the group spotted Meimi returning but were unable to inform Kyto and Shinzu in time. On hearing the door open Shinzu was able to escape but Kyto wasn't quite quick enough and came face-to-face with her. Meimi panicked at first, but against the odds, he convinced her that he was a servant to another noble paying her a visit, and that Shula gave him the key to Meimi's house. On meeting Meimi, Kyto noted that she was plain-looking and quiet. Kyto talked about Meimi designing a new dress for his mistress, to which Meimi implied she planned to be a freelance dressmaker after the ball as she was starting to resent being Shula's handmaiden. Kyto also spotted that Meimi carried a notebook everywhere with her that looked important, but he was unable to retrieve this from her. He left the house with Meimi none the wiser about anyone breaking in. Shinzu decided to follow Meimi to retrieve the book, and was able to successfully bump into and pickpocket it from her before fleeing. On examination it was another sketchbook, but also had some notes. Most importantly, it contained a tally of the scales Meimi had collected for the dress:
The group deduced that 'Sunview Betterment Group' was likely the blue kobold gang that Mujina talked into group suicide in order to harvest their scales. Some members of the group recalled that House Haruhel were a small and reclusive group known for hunting dragons primarily in the Frost. The group didn't see any white scales on the dress in the Blue Orchid gallery or on Meimi's scale shawl, leading them to theorise that the dragon dress in the gallery was a fake, and there was another dragon dress hidden somewhere made of actual scales.
- Salt Exchange, private seller: 30/60 blue (quality too variable)
- House Haruhel: 100/120 white (good but expensive)
- ATAC: 90/100 mixed
- Sunview Betterment Group: 150/150 blue (Mojin)
During some rare downtime, the team follow up on some individual errands: Yunhu and Sekket spent some time transforming Yunhu's glaive into a greatsword. This largely involved Sekket transforming it within five minutes, declaring it 'not good enough', and melting it to reshape it again, over and over for an hour. Having seen a poster for the travelling theatre, Lun briefly visited the theatre campsite and reunited with its colourful cast of characters, namely the twins Oro and Ochi, the flirtatious Keyfielle and the antagonistic Toma. He met up with the Brian Blessed-alike Professor Neb who admitted he was having some problems taming a new performance animal, but told Lun not to worry about it. Kyto and Tera visited Azza's not-a-brothel bar in the East Star Docks to chase up any leads on Rokai, but she didn't recognise the name. She pointed out that giving a devil your true name was largely a bad idea, so it was probably a pseudonym. She also informed Kyto that a friend of his had gone missing recently and to keep an eye/ear out for them, but had no further details. Eyeing up Tera, Azza asked if she was the aasimar who had revealed her wings in the Emporium district the other day. When Tera confirmed that she was, Azza, informed her that several fiend-worshippers had come to the bar asking for more information on her. She left her with the warning to be more careful about showing off her celestial heritage, lest it attract unwanted attention. Shinzu kept following Meimi through what was a very boring day filled with servant's chores. At night time however, she noticed that Meimi slept fitfully, often waking up and frantically writing or sketching something before returning to sleep. At 1 am she woke and left the house altogether, heading for a body of water with a bridge, which she began to sketch. Shinzu watched as a seemingly-random human drew closer to Meimi, and began transforming into someone taller and broader, eventually taking the shape of a dragonborn male, black-scaled with streaks of white. In a deep and purring voice he spoke her name, and Meimi appeared to recognise him as 'Mojin'. Shinzu tried to creep closer but was unable to without alerting the pair, and so could only pick up snatches of conversation about the quality of the scales and the need to keep the source of them a secret. Meimi asked if she would be able to wear the dress and the dragonborn claimed he would 'take care of' Shula so she could. He claimed she would be the star of the ball, and have all the attention she deserved. The dragonborn stated he wouldn't see Meimi again until the ball, but would keep in contact with her through her dreams until then. He departed, changing his shape again as he left, and Shinzu was unable to follow him, instead returning to the group. The session ended there...
The cadaver-turned-fiend
The guise of cadaver 63
Tsun-Riu, heir to House Golden Sun
Meimi's house
Meimi
The Professor
Azza
Mojin
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