Session 4: The Mission by
RoyTwo shady figures are standing in front of a bank. One picks open the door as the other stands watch. Once inside, they are greeted by a large vault behind a steel gate. The gate proves to be no challenge, as the lockpicker pops it open with little effort. However, upon examining the vault, it seems there would be no timely manner to pry it open and collect the contents within. The two decide to make their leave before trouble arrives. One of the figures hands a small item to the other, and then they split up: one heads to an inn, and the other heads toward the tallest oak tree at the festival.
----
It is now slightly past midnight. Beau makes a leisurely stroll to the tent located at the center of the festival, to which he is greeted by a man standing guard. "Ticket", the man simply says, and Beau hands over the golden ticket that had caused so much trouble earlier in the day. He is shocked upon entering to realize that within this small tent is actually an entire mansion, much larger than the physical space it occupies outside. A servant spots him immediately and leads him to a sitting room, where he sees three ladies sitting in silence.
Beau immediately moves over to someone he recognizes. "We meet again!" he says cheerily to Eamhair. "I must say I'm absolutely relieved that you are alright."
Eamhair looks at the traveler. "Yes," she replies, "I'm trying not to think about it too much. Apparently it's all because of those tickets."
Beau smiles. "Ah, you earned one as well? How did you manage to move that boulder?"
"Boulder?" Eamhair looks at Beau with confusion. "No, I got my ticket from winning an archery competition." Beau tries to hide his skepticism as he recalls her marksmanship outside the colosseum. She asks, "What is this about a boulder?"
Beau happily explains the setup for the boulder challenge, and then turns to the others in the room. "How did the two of you earn your tickets?"
A young, beautiful brunette ignores the question and looks away, but the other person, whom both Beau and Eamhair recognize, speaks up. "I'm actually not entirely sure", Fi tells them honestly. "I had fought in the finals at the colosseum, but I lost. It was only later that I checked my pocket and found the ticket telling me to come here."
"That is indeed strange", Beau said. "I'm surprised you didn't win that competition, judging from the way you handled that monk in the first match. I apologize for missing the fight; I was... preoccupied at the time." Fi gives a knowing look to the two of them. "Oh," Beau suddenly says, "how rude of me: I haven't even properly introduced myself to you. My name is Aaron Celebrimbor. What are your names?"
"I'm Eamhair", replies the archer.
"Vera", the brunette says without enthusiasm.
"And I'm Fi, of course", the gladiator answers.
The doors to the sitting room open, and four distinguished people walk forward. Walking in front is the prince, with Sieghart to his left and an attractive woman with platinum-blonde hair and silver-amber eyes to his right. She wears full plate armor and has a longsword to the side of her. A couple people in the room also immediately recognize her emblem as the symbol of Aia, goddess of the sun. Behind her is a wizard with a long silver beard, whose features are mostly obscured by his robe and wizard hat.
The prince speaks to the room. "You are all likely wondering why you're here. I will give you answers, but I am going to need honesty from you in return." As soon as he says it, the prince turns to the paladin beside him, and she begins a prayer. A hidden force in the room compels everyone to oblige in the request to be truthful. The prince continues. "I need you four to swear loyalty and keep this conversation secret."
Eamhair and Fi waste no time and swear to it. Beau cautiously replies, "I swear to secrecy." The young brunette answers as well: "I swear that I will never speak a word of this to anyone."
The prince holds up a gold coin and proceeds to explain the situation. "Look at this gold coin. There are no imperfections to it: it looks entirely like a regular coin. It is not. This little fact has eluded us for months." He then turns to the wizard, who mutters a few words and waves a hand at the coin. The gold coin fades to copper in a matter of seconds. "The magic behind this disguised coin is extremely advanced, to the point where it cannot even be detected by regular methods. The true danger of this spell, however, is that these coins have been distributed for many months within the South and Southeast provinces of Daris. It is likely a plot, possibly aligned with Portia, to undermine the economy of our kingdom."
Beau thinks about his past encounters with similar magic. While the technique is completely unfamiliar, he suspects it must be a homebrewed or modified spell.
"You can imagine the threat this presents", the prince says. "The one responsible for this need only release the spell to crash our economy. Chaos would ensue, and Daris would be very vulnerable to an invasion. We must find whoever is doing this: specifically, we must find what spells and equipment they are using, and whether or not they have any connection to neighboring kingdoms. We have investigated the matter, but every time we seem to get close, they elude us. I've begun to suspect we have a double-agent in our ranks tipping them off. Thus, we recruit you, who have no ties in this matter. Your mission is to hunt down, find, and capture this group. We believe them to be located near Celedor in the Southeast province. Of course, Sieghart will accompany you as well. If you accept and complete this task, you will have fortunes and our eternal gratitude awaiting your return. You will be given half your weight in gold, enough to live out the rest of your days comfortably. Do you accept?"
Eamhair and Fi almost reply immediately, with nothing but the thought of what they could accomplish with that much gold. Beau is quicker to reply, however: "I do have a concern", he says before the prince. "You suggest paying us in half our weight in gold. That's certainly a generous offer under normal circumstances, but looking at us, I see that we are all skinny, short, or a combination thereof. It seems perhaps a bit underhanded to be offering a reward in this manner."
The prince is unconvinced. "This amount of gold is more than generous", he reasons.
Beau crosses his arms. "I'm sorry," he says, "but for such a dangerous task, this amount is not enough for me. I will have to regrettably decline your offer."
The brunette picks up on the cue and also declines. "You can count me out as well", she says.
"Alright, alright," the prince caves, "your full weight in gold. And the kingdom's eternal gratitude, of course."
Beau beams back. "You make an offer too tempting to refuse. I find these terms agreeable and shall accept." The others all nod in agreement.
At this moment, two soldiers drag in a battered and bloody half-elf man, which many in the room recognize to be the other one sentenced to die that day. The prince addresses him immediately. "You are the half-elf that managed to escape imprisonment and reclaim your possessions, are you not?"
The half-elf replies, "The cowardly lord is not as smart as he thinks he is."
"Indeed," the prince says, "but it would be wise not to underestimate Morren. It takes great skill to pull off what you did. Your skills may prove necessary for the quest at hand, and if you succeed, I will grant you a full pardon of your crimes."
The wounded man points at Eamhair and Fi with disdain. "I am unwilling to work with elves."
The prince trades glances with Sieghart. "... You're half-elf yourself", he points out.
"And I spend every day trying to forget it", the half-elf laments.
The prince folds his arms. "Very well. We shall return you to a cell and notify Morren that we have caught his runaway prisoner."
"You seem as cowardly as that lord with your petty threats," he replies, but after consideration, he remarks, "though you have the upper hand in this arrangement. I'd like more guarantees before going on this quest."
"Perhaps we'll leave your hands here, and return them to you for good performance."
The man looks back angrily and points at Eamhair. "You treat me, the man who returns that girl's belongings, this way?"
Fi leans toward Beau and whispers sarcastically, "Can't wait to work with him."
Beau whispers back, "Looks like he's about to pass out."
The prince says, "You seem to not know who I am. I am the crown prince of Daris."
The half-elf gives in. "Do as you must", he mutters. "If I am to do this quest, so be it."
The prince compromises. "There may indeed be an additional reward for you if you survive. Sieghart, if he tries anything, you have my permission to kill him."
Sieghart bows slightly. "As you wish, my prince", he says, and then gives a menacing look at the half-elf.
The prince continues his speech. "Since this is not a government-sanctioned event, secrecy is dire. We cannot endorse nor give you a letter of safe passage. Morren is still looking for this half-elf man." He pauses for a moment. "I also believe there was a wizard involved in your little scuffle earlier. If you see him, try to get him to tag along as well; he may be useful in his own way. Morren has locked down the streets; you may find it more difficult to escape than you imagine." The prince, along with the paladin and wizard, exits the room at this point, leaving behind Sieghart to watch over the rest.
The half-elf speaks up. "I noticed that girl has been bathed and clothed. Am I to receive the same treatment?"
Sieghart looks him over. "We'll have to take care of that before we leave", he agrees, and has a servant bring over a healer first and foremost to treat the half-elf's wounds. Sieghart then turns to Beau and remarks, "I'm impressed with your abilities I saw back at that tent."
Beau notices the wording, and realizes the man may be more perceptive than he lets on. "Ah yes," he responds, "I imagine it will come in handy, indeed." He then turns to the half-elf. "By the way, what might your name be?"
The half-elf looks skeptically at him. "Tell me yours and I'll tell you mine."
Beau smiles. "We had all introduced ourselves earlier. Let's do a game: each person names the person to their left." He faces toward the gladiator and says, "I well remember your name to be Fi."
Fi nods. "Yes, Aaron", she says, repeating the name Beau had claimed to be his own earlier. "I apologize if I seem a bit forgetful sometimes, but I'm sure we'll get to learn more about each other in time."
Sieghart walks away from the group and sits on the couch. "I'm Sieghart", he says, clearly uninterested in playing Beau's game.
Eamhair glances around. "I suppose it's my turn? I'm Eamhair." She looks over to the young brunette. "And you're... Vera?"
"I tire of this. I will find you in the morning", Vera answers, and she heads over to the exit only to find it closed. She begins arguing with the guards nearby, who repeatedly state that they have orders to keep everyone inside.
Beau turns to the half-elf. "There you are, all our names and personalities to boot. How about you?"
"Very well," he sighs. "I am Aaros."
Beau cheerily says, "Well met, Aaros!" He then turns to the group. "We do have a problem with leaving town with our new friend here."
"Yes", Sieghart absently says. "You have a plan?"
Fi speaks up. "I have an idea, but... how fast can you guys run?"
The paladin returns to the room at this time, overhearing Vera shouting at the guard. "What seems to be the problem here?" she asks.
"The problem," Vera insinuates, "is that I have business to finish in this town, things to collect, and a room at an inn. I must leave to take care of these things, but am being treated like a prisoner. Are we to be kept under lock and key, or are we to complete this quest for you?"
The mention of the quest causes the paladin to glare back at her. "You have a wonderful imagination," she says, "but yes, I will grant you permission to leave." She then leads Vera out of the area.
"We could disguise him", Beau reasons, looking over Aaros. "Or... how comfortable are you with being carried around in a large burlap sack?"
Aaros loses his patience. "I have no time for these mindless questions", he says as he leaves the room. Sieghart gets into a comfortable position and falls asleep on the couch.
Fi goes over to a servant, expressing concern for her pets: two small kittens that she doesn't want to be part of a perilous journey. "Do you have a place where they can stay?"
The servant smiles. "Absolutely. Right this way." He leads Fi away as another servant guides Eamhair to her room.
Beau looks around and sighs. "This is going to be a disaster."
----
Vera returns to the inn and greets her musical companion. She then grabs some parchment and writes down everything that had happened back at the tent. Once she finishes, she hands the notes over to the man, who carefully reads it over. When he finishes, the musician looks up with a grin and reads his favorite line aloud. "I swear that I will never speak a word of this to anyone."
----
In the darkness, two guards stand by the western gate within the town. One thinks he sees a silhouette in the distance, but after blinking, he sees nothing there. The gate rustles in the wind slightly, and neither guard notices it open and close.
Elfy dispels his invisibility outside the town after his clean escape. With a bit of paranoia, he thinks he may have been seen, so he decides to make a large loop around the town and head eastward instead.
---
Beau approaches Aaros, Eamhair, Fi, and Sieghart, who are waiting for him near the exit to the tent. "We need to do something about Aaros", he says. "I can help disguise him a bit, and that will get us past the guards."
"Do not touch me", Aaros says coldly.
Sieghart sighs. "Comply, or we'll go with the other plan."
Eamhair gives a devious grin. "I'm partial to the sack idea", she says.
Aaros frowns. "If I must", he mutters, as he and Beau work on changing his appearance.
Sieghart gives cloaks out to each party member, and then wears sunglasses to conceal his glowing eyes. "Ready?" he says more than asks, and they step back out into the festival. Festivities are still ongoing, and there are plenty of tourists moving from attraction to attraction. They spot Vera in the distance, standing with a man they don't recognize. Beau offers an exaggerated wave to Vera, who promptly looks away in disgust. Beau laughs from her reaction, whereas Eamhair frowns at the rudeness and looks away as well.
"Hello Vera", Beau says as they approach. "I see you're as personable as always. Who's your friend?"
The man cheerily replies. "Hi, I'm Alsyon!" He's a man with jet black hair and blue eyes, and a fiddle rests on his back. "Who are you?"
Before Beau answers, Sieghart says impatiently, "It would be wise not to linger here."
Beau nods. "Right you are. Very nice to meet you, Alsyon, but unfortunately, we are in a hurry."
Vera abruptly says, "He'll be joining us." Alsyon gives a nod in affirmation.
The party glances at Sieghart, who seems uninterested by this news. Beau shrugs and says, "Alright, sounds good to me. Welcome aboard, Alsyon!"
As they walk through the crowd, two guards approach, and one of them stops the group. He points to Aaros and says, "You look familiar. Are you concealing your appearance?"
Aaros immediately replies, "Not at all. This is my normal appearance."
The guard raises an eyebrow. "No, you look just like that thief!" he exclaims.
Beau quickly steps forward. "Forgive my friend. He's a bit paranoid after witnessing last night's events, being a half-elf and all. But you're likely mistaking him for someone else. I know I have trouble telling half-elves apart myself sometimes."
The guards look at each other. "Yes, they do all look a bit the same. But we'll need to take him in for questioning."
At this point Alsyon steps forward. "Now now, gentlemen," he says, "how about I play you a fine tune and you can be on your way? Surely you have more pressing issues to concern yourselves with."
"Yes, yes," Beau encourages, "I would love to hear you play a wonderful tune."
The guards listen to Alsyon play for a while, and as they do, they seem to forget why they had stopped the party in the first place. They both agree that it was a wonderful song, and when the man finishes, they decide to move on.
As they begin to approach the eastern edge of town, Alsyon tells the group, "Wait here for a moment; Vera and I will go on ahead and see if it's possible to leave." They then both hurry on ahead of the group, whose members seem to ignore the request to wait and continue to walk forward.
Alsyon and Vera make it through the gate with no issue, and they wait outside to see what will happen next. At this point, an elf spots Alsyon and approaches. "Don't I know you?" the elf asks.
Alsyon shrugs. "I'm not sure. Where from?"
"Weren't you that musician from the boulder contest?"
Alsyon recalls seeing the elf running around in the tent. "Oh yeah, I was. Did you by chance move the boulder?"
The elf shakes his head. "Nah. It was a tad too much work. So, whatcha doing?"
Alsyon nods. "Well, it was a foolish task they expected. If you wait here, you'll meet some others who also won golden tickets, though."
"Oh really? Neat. I'm Aaron, by the way, but most people call me Elfy."
"Hi Elfy, I'm Alsyon." The musician beams. "And this is Vera." Vera gives a disinterested nod.
Elfy turns behind him and picks up a small cat. "This is Fenian", he says.
"May I pet him?" Alsyon asks.
"Yes, you may."
Alsyon begins petting the cat. "Hi Fenian!"
----
Beau looks around. Other than the gate, there doesn't seem to be an obvious way to exit the town. He glances at nearby structures, considering a way to possibly create a diversion, but nothing comes to mind. He then glances at Aaros, whose disguise seems to be unreliable at this point. "Well," Beau finally says. "Let's hope that disguise holds up! See you all on the other side." And he makes his way toward the gate.
Eamhair and Fi glance at each other, and then at Aaros. They also decide they owe the man no favors, and they follow shortly behind Beau, who has already made it beyond the gate. Sieghart looks annoyed as he stands by the abandoned Aaros.
On the other side of the gate, Beau spots Alsyon and Vera, as well as the elf he had met yesterday. "Elfy! We meet again!"
Elfy turns to him. "Ah yes, Beau was it?"
"It is, indeed", Beau replies. "Well met." Vera pulls Alsyon off to the side to discuss something with him.
Elfy looks around. "So uhh, whatcha guys doing?"
"Waiting for a criminal to be executed at the gate", Vera remarks, as Eamhair and Fi walk up to them.
----
Sieghart and Aaros approach the gate. The guard takes one look at the half-elf and says, "We're gonna need to take this one for questioning."
Sieghart retorts, "No, he's coming with me."
The guard looks at him. "Uh, no. He's coming back with us."
Sieghart casually removes his shades and draws his weapon.
----
Elfy recognizes Eamhair. "Hey, aren't you that one half-elf that was about to get hanged?"
Eamhair sighs. "Yes, that was me..." Elfy hands her a piece of paper. "What is this?" she asks as she looks down. On the paper the word "rekt" is written. "Uh... th-thanks?"
Elfy taps the paper, and the text sparkles faintly. "It was originally meant for Lord Morren. I was going to deliver it with a bolt to cut down your rope."
Suddenly the air behind the party twists and turns until ripping open, revealing Sieghart and an unconscious Aaros. Sieghart is visibly angry. "Don't make me do that again", he says. He tosses Aaros's body toward them and follows with, "He's your problem now."
Beau tries to catch the half-elf, but Sieghart had thrown Aaros with so much force that it causes him to topple over backwards, knocking over Elfy, Eamhair, and Fi as well. Sieghart puts his sunglasses back on and steps over the group.
"Real mature", Fi mutters as she gets back on her feet. Beau picks up Aaros onto his back and carries him, and Eamhair helps Elfy back up.
After standing up, Elfy wiggles his fingers and mutters some words, to which Fenian responds immediately by climbing up onto Beau's shoulder. The cat paws at the unconscious Aaros's face, and the word "rekt" appears on the half-elf's cheek in glittering purple font.
The party begins laughing, particularly Alsyon and Eamhair. Beau looks at them with confusion, unable to see the face of the person he's carrying. "What? What is it?"
Eamhair turns to Elfy. "Taking on so many guards... that's really stupid. But it's also pretty bold... thanks."
Beau introduces Elfy to the group. "This is the man we were talking about earlier", he explains. He then turns to the elf and says, "Would you like to travel with us on our adventure?"
Elfy thinks about it. "What kind of adventure?"
"Oh, an exciting one!" Beau says boastfully. "And it will be even more exciting for you if the details are kept mysterious!"
Surprisingly, this convinces the elf. "Sure," he says, "I can tag along."
----
After a while of traveling, Aaros regains consciousness with a groan. Beau sets him down and asks, "Can you walk?"
Aaros says, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good!" Beau replies. "We're about an hour east of Nordale." He then heads over and talks to Alsyon about violins and performances.
The group eventually reaches Celedor, a small town with one inn and one shop, as well as a trading post. Beau and Alsyon do some performances on the street to earn some pocket money: Beau tells a story and Alsyon plays a musical number. The party then decides to retire for the day: everyone save Alsyon and Vera spend the night at the inn, whereas the two of them spend it outside.
In the morning, the group decides to split up and search for clues. Alsyon and Beau have the best luck obtaining information from others, and when they regroup, Beau shares what information he's gathered. "There's a gang of bandits raiding nearby villages. Their leader is a former thief by the name of Brutis, and they seem to just be collecting gold. It seems the kingdom is unwilling to send soldiers over to these villages to help." He pauses, thinking about what to say regarding the nearby swamp. He learned from a particularly talkative man that there are goblins and wizards encamped on the other side, but he decides to withhold this information from the party. "There's also the Mist Marsh to the southeast of here," he says, "which seems to be regarded as dangerous. The bandits seem to be the best lead we have, but there's a witch that lives near the marsh that may have more information."
"Never have met a trustworthy witch", Sieghart mutters to himself.
The party discusses whether or not to investigate the raided villages or visit the witch, and ultimately they agree on the latter. They venture toward the marsh, and at its edge they see a homely but well-built hut. They can see a thick mist hovering over the marsh that gives it its name.
Beau knocks on the door. The voice of an old lady answers. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"We're a traveling group investigating the recent village raids", Beau says through the door.
"What was that?" the voice responds. "I can't hear you."
"We're trying to catch bandits-"
"Bandages? No, I don't need anything of the sort", the old voice replies.
Beau glances at the party, and then says, "Could we possibly come in and talk?"
There's a pause on the other side. "Uhhhhh..." the voice says, hanging on the word, before finally saying, "Okay!" The door opens and they see the witch standing on the other side. She looks about Beau's age, perhaps even a year or two younger. "Just kidding", the young witch says, sticking her tongue out. She beckons them to come inside. "I rarely get visitors", she says excitedly. "It's nice to meet you all!" Her eyes move from person to person, momentarily stopping on Sieghart, before turning around and going to sit on a table, letting her legs swing back and forth once seated. "How can I help you?"
Elfy immediately begins scanning the room. He detects a plethora of magic, the most notable being a dimensional anchor, spanning across the entirety of the hut.
Beau speaks up. "The townsfolk of Celedor said you may have more information on the bandits we're tracking."
The witch replies, "Oh, the bandits, yes. They actually stole a precious book from me recently. I never did like... Oh! That's right!" She gets up and rushes to the oven to pull out a tray of cookies. "Please," she says, holding out the tray to them all, "have a cookie!"
"You are very generous," Beau says, "and I would love a cookie." He takes one, and Sieghart grabs one as well. Everyone else hesitates, but Fi, and Eamhair follow suit. Elfy takes a cookie and splits it with Fenian. Vera takes a cookie as well, but doesn't look like she plans on eating it. Alsyon, on the other hand, tries to decline the offer. The witch holds up a cookie in front of Alsyon and stares at him until he reluctantly takes it. Instead of eating it, however, he secretly hands it off to Vera, who hides it along with her own.
Sieghart enjoys his cookie so much that he grabs a few more from the tray and eats those, too. He then turns to Vera and asks, "Are you gonna eat those?"
Vera gives him a glare. "Later. Please mind yourself."
"So," the witch asks again, "what's up?"
"Bandits", Beau reminds.
"Oh right," she nods, "led by that one man... Brutis."
Beau nods back. "Right, the former thief that became a gang leader. Do you have any information on finding him?"
The witch smiles. "I'll give you the information on one condition."
"Returning your book?" Beau guesses.
The witch shakes her head. "No, one other condition. One of you... must stay here with me. I rarely get visitors, you know, and it's kinda lonely at times. So, what do you say?"
Elfy speaks up. "Can we know who is the one to stay?"
"Umm..." the witch replies. "Yes!"
Elfy waits a bit. "Uh, may I ask who it is, then?"
"No", she replies.
Elfy looks confused. "Can any of us ask who it is?"
She again says, "No."
Alsyon speaks up. "Just tell us who you want to stay."
She giggles at Alsyon. "You're silly. Have another cookie!"
Alsyon replies, "I'll take the cookie if you tell me who it is you want to stay."
The witch's attitude changes suddenly as she glares at Alsyon. "I'm ignoring you," she declares.
Beau negotiates, "I'll agree to your condition on one condition."
The witch looks interestedly toward the man. "And that is?"
"Each of us is an important part of our team," Beau explains, "and we may be unable to recover your book without all of us working together. So, if necessary, we would like to retrieve our friend to assist in recovering the book for you."
The witch thinks for a bit. "Well, I think you should have no trouble retrieving my book. Once you return it to me, your friend will be free to leave if he so wishes."
"He?" Beau perceptively says with a smirk.
"Oops", the witch grins back playfully.
Alsyon says, "These terms are starting to sound agreeable to me."
"Is there a breeze outside?" the witch asks Beau. She looks over at Alsyon and says, "This one is moving his lips but I can't seem to hear him over it."
Beau slowly begins to piece everything together. "It was a bit windy outside", he agrees. "Alright, I think your terms seem fair."
The witch quickly pulls out paper and ink and writes up a contract. At the end, she pricks herself with the quill and signs her name in blood before handing it over to Beau to do the same. Beau looks over the contract, which he sees has everyone's names written onto it. He glances over at Sieghart, who shrugs back at him. Beau takes it as reassurance, and he signs the contract with his own blood. A cool breeze rushes through the room after he is done writing his name.
"I pick that one!" the witch declares, running up to Sieghart.
Sieghart says in a serious tone, "I'm too old for you."
The witch grabs his arm seductively, and with a pout says, "Don't be like that, mister." Sieghart picks her up and whispers something into her ear, causing her to blush and scurry behind a table, hiding her face behind a stack of books. "B-be gentle", she says. Sieghart lets out a chuckle; he walks over to a nearby couch and lays down on it to take a nap.
The witch collects the remainder of the cookies into a basket and casts a spell, before handing them off to Beau. Elfy's eyes glow blue as he scans the magic imbued in them. Upon realizing what it is, he gives a polite bow to the witch. The witch then gives the party her end of the contract.
"Where the water flows, there lies a broken stone. Follow the lightning glows, and you will find your goal."
-- End of Generia, Session 04 --
* This is
Roy's work. Posted with permission. *
Well, this is a session behind, but I've been busy with stuff. My last blog seemed like unintelligible ramblings to me and I didn't want a new one to be clouded with a week's worth of sleep deprivation. I stay awake all day to DM these sessions (we cats are nocturnal you know), so it screws me up for days, or even the whole next week.
So much to talk about here! Very exciting session; a lot happened. I suppose I should just give you the DM's perspective during all of this.
It rather surprised me that my player wanted to break into the bank. Not
surprising but I suddenly had to work out how a bank was to function in a magical-rich society. I decided it should work the same way it works in a modern bank. They have registers for handling clients and such. The most important aspects were that the registers were emptied and tallied at the end of each day and moved into the vault.
The vault, of course, had to be something special, I figured why not a magical lock? Works for me, seems like the best course of action is some crypto-magic going on. Sounds really cool when I put it like that. To be honest, whether magical or mundane, the players would have found the bank's vault inaccessible. This is only due to the fact it's a bank and obviously was going to have significant protections against thievery or robbery.
The one thing I did wonder about was whether or not to put an alarm spell on the bank. But I figured that it would only need to apply to any tampering with the vault, instead of anything else, since nothing else had anything of value and some more mundane locks would do the trick to protect them -- employing a wizard was just not cost effective.
I wasn't actually certain I could make a zone of truth spell act like an oath. It felt a bit weird in my brain, like trying to shape clay into a sculpture while wearing oven mitts. But I just went with it: my rationality was that if my players find a way around it, I'll let them have it. It was really more thematic fluff than to actually bind them to an oath. They bought my shenanigans though. Except Azrael, who slyly exploited the loopholes I had half-intentionally permitted.
This was also one of the first scenes where the whole party got to get together and roleplay. It was new, exciting, and a tad awkward. Roy takes his first steps to becoming the leader of the group here.
Demon has, to this point, completely alienated everyone in the party. I had briefed him before about things he could have done (and still could do) to try and win their favor, but he insists on being the thief everyone in the party hates. This is exemplified when he attempts to bluff a guard into thinking it's not him. While a perfectly rational reaction, led to a failure which the two social members of the party (Roy and Az) had to clean up. Oh and then there's the part where he stole Eamhair's stuff. So far the only members of the party indifferent towards him are Fi and Sieghart. And Sieghart has permission to kill him. So maybe just Fi.
Well, he sure pays for it when it comes time for the party to carry him through. They just left him in the dust with Sieghart. And Sieghart, being my character, who also was not about to let a thief who knew something about a secret mission loose, dragged him along. And in his Sieghartian fashion, demanded that he be let through the door despite all rationality to the contrary. I do hope the players were taking note, because Sieghart's impetuous, "I do what I want and don't try to stop me," attitude will probably come up later.
And of course, after it's all said and done, demon's character was rewarded with sparkling "rekt" on his face. Even this may have a profound impact on the plot.
Her name is Ella. I know I never revealed it to my characters until I created two short stories, but it wasn't really important it be kept a secret. She was a fun character to create. Unlike Morren I actually started with a template of, "She's a fey, she's young and giddy, and she's a witch." With those clear guidelines I recollected some of my high school days and tried to pick out some personalities that seemed to fit the profile I wanted. Cha-ching, teenage witch with a serious baking obsession is success. I almost named her Sabrina, but that would have seemed too cheesy. And we don't want cheesy, we want chocolatey! Chocolatey cookies! And cakes!
I don't know if my player's liked her or Morren more, but I enjoyed playing her more than Morren. As a whimsical and free-spirited soul, I could just do a more stream of consciousness thing and have it work out as, "that's just how she is." For instance, holding up the cookie to Azrael until he took it. In my mind I was thinking about how the social situation would have felt so awkward for him and how instead of being able to politely decline, would be forced to take it.
Oh and blood pacts. What fun! My players don't actually know what happens if you break the pact, so that's an absolute blast while they consider various loopholes and ways out of it, but ultimately determine that they want Sieghart back so it would be worth it to complete the quest.
What lies ahead? The world reacts to them! Stuff happens! Quest not go as planned? Uh oh.
Sieghart awoke from his nap to be greeted by a young smiling face. Her delicate hair fell on his chest as she leaned awkwardly over him. The smile turned to a wide toothed grin as she pulled away and stood straight.
"Hey mister, you sure sleep a lot," the girl said.
Sieghart sat up, his mind still growing accustomed to this flat world around him. It was always the same upon his return, as though his essence was being pressed into a sheet of paper. He shook the feeling and looked around, his eyes sparkling with their characteristic dim glow. It was a trait he chose not to repress, as he did not particularly care if he seemed strange to those around him.
Dryly, he replied, "How observant."
The young girl eyed him teasingly, but Sieghart paid little attention. He seldom had interest in mortals, even ones as old as she.
"Three hundred, right?" he questioned, attempting to drive the conversation in a more interesting direction.
"Oh no mister I'm only sixteen."
"Two eighty?"
"Sixteen."
"Two sixty?"
"Sixteen."
"Sixteen," he finally acquiesced.
"Sixteen," she confirmed cheerfully. He could not detect any deceit behind her child-like face. She was a fey, and in that, a young one; but sixteen? He mulled over the possibility lazily. Age was a difficult concept for him, the difference between sixteen and six hundred seemed insignificant.
"So all of this," Sieghart gestured widely to the room, "was your doing?"
The hut was remarkably spacious and well built, very masterfully crafted by the hands of someone who would not sell their services for cheap. His eyes glazed over the structure carefully, noting the tints of magic and materials used. The entire thing was dimensionally anchored not just with spells, but with its very materials, as though some portal may suddenly come and whisk it away to a faraway plane.
It gave him an uneasy groggy feeling; it was difficult to connect to the continuum from here. Whoever this witch was, she had a very keen understanding of dimensional travel.
"In a manner of speaking," she returned, disinterested in his question, "But I have never seen anyone like you. Where do you come from? What do you do? Why do your eyes glow? They're very pretty."
Perhaps she was as old as she said she was, most beings weren't so incessantly curious after a few hundred years.
"Somewhere far away, but also close," he answered truthfully. He had no intention of giving more information than he must, his distrust of witches holding him back. She nodded as though she understood and met his gaze, if only for a moment. He felt a sudden chill as though her eyes could pierce straight through him. Perhaps this creature was more interesting than he thought.
"Well it's time to get to work!" she suddenly shouted, a smile spreading over her face, rubbing her hands together. Sieghart winced at the sudden volume of her voice. She pulled down a book from her shelf. Its title read The Baker's Companion: A Guide to Delicious Desserts.
"Up you go," she said as threw an apron at him, her eyes alight as she flipped the pages of the book. "I hope you like pie."
Twisted, crackling flames filled the air. Sparks flew as steel met hard scales with tremendous force.
A black creature howled, its tendrils and claws grasping at air, relentlessly pursuing the elusive figure before it. Despite an impressive strength and speed, it was thwarted at every turn by a swift blade and intense fire.
The figure scoffed and stared with bright, flaming red eyes. The monster was a putrid alienation of the world around it. A truly sickening sight, chaotically tearing apart the order of the reality around it: it must be destroyed; annihilated; cleansed from the world it inhabited.
White flames encircled a large claymore as it plunged through the creature, finally making it's way past the hard, black scales. A terrifying howl echoed throughout the landscape. A handful of cloaked figures nearby flinched. But the warrior made no such reaction, instead twisting the sword.
Sizzling embers suddenly gave way to an impressive inferno, consuming the creature's flesh and soul, leaving nothing but white ash.
"Impressive as always, Runa," said one of the cloaked figures nearby, clasping his hands together.
"What do you want, Cylle?" replied the figure, her eyes now glowing a dim red.
"We've found him, but we'll need you to bring him in."
Runa's eyes suddenly brightened. "I'll leave at once."