Session 11
Fact Sheet: Expedition to Nawa
Date: 07-12-2022
Date in-universe: fantasy Saturday
Players present: Ecchima, Marty, Meinhart, Tuur and Vinnie. Dins was our GM.
Major developments:
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Notes
We meet up in one of the rooms to wait for show time.
- Fyllion shows off his cloak of feather fall, which he bought and didn't steal, no matter our reputation as wet bandits
- Storm reveals Mi'Kal is an Eladrin Elf
- Ezra explains what Gladiola Faraday offers, and their deadname. Enza mentions Gladiola seems okay, if a little snobbish
- Fyllion mentions the friends of the weave & Aashvi Saree's message for Ezra. He reminds Ezra that Mi'Kal has a backstage pass for the performance tonight
As we discuss our families, Aqueel is very curious about Hali's stepparents.
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We're planning how we'll head to Nawa to check on Enza's people:
- we'll check with Akram: can we borrow camels & Frei
- we'll ask Frei to point out useful people in the audience, so Fyllion and Hali can charm them to get us the necessary help
Akram can lend us 3 camels for 24 hrs max.
Ezra takes care of Hali's hair while Fyllion spurns another massage from Storm. We agree Aqueel can stay up late for one night, so we can all see the show. Eldrin begs some tiny pieces of cloth from Ezra, for their ears. Hali gets 2 buckets of water set up either side of the stage.
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In the lobby there's quite a crowd - the town criers did their job, the word of mouth from the previous show helped, the people need a distraction from the looming drought. Gladiola is there, with her giant dog, pretending she doesn't hear she shouldn't bring her dog inside. Mi'Kal is there too, so we get him to join us for his backstage pass.
Storm and Hali work together with Fyllion (as Tommy Lutish) to keep him away from Ezra. Fyllion dazzles him with an explanation of the artist's life and the backstage privileges. Eventually he does ask about Ezra, though.
Accepting the inevitable, Ezra approaches Mi'Kal at the bar. They decide to head to one of our rooms. He repeats Aashvi is an icon to everyone who resists the war, especially conscripted magic users. There's the rumour she won't leave the continent unless her last family member reunites with them... probably she's in Rosaria, with an ally who might also have been a spy. Ezra remembers it's probably Santiago.
Ezra mentions Aashvi is flamboyant and attracts attention, even beyond being a rare shifter. They don't feel like reuniting, there's a clear undercurrent of dislike and hate. Ezra cuts the conversation short, they need to head back down for the show!
Eldrin is ready at the bar, all set to jam the cloth in their ears and even to cast magical armour should anything happen.
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Skourja welcomes the last guests arriving, and it's SHOW TIME.
Fyllion is suddenly nervous, when should he transform... and he's got a new song "we're all stars" (even though it's really Fyllion and Hali who're the stars), when should he sing that? Hali is a bit miffed he didn't share his new song before, but she'll cope.
Even though people hesitate when they see the bag pipes, the first few songs really win them over! As soon as Fyllion starts his transformation, Hali launches the water from the buckets!
- towns folk are startled by the water magic, low-level as it is
- visitors, esp. those hailing from the north, are shocked to see the famous Fyllion in this place
Fyllion uses his enthralling performance on Gladiola and 3 rich civilians. It works on all of them. Surprisingly Gladiola had a look of disgust before the enthrallment took hold: now she's happy to see another elf, and such a famous one at that!
Ezra, Eldrin and Storm in the audience don't really notice anything special while they're busking. We collect 215 gold. Storm notices Mondregen stepped out of his room to watch from an upper floor. The show is that cool, even with the bagpipes.
Fyllion is surrounded by his adoring fans, as is Hali.
- The rich patrons join them, so Hali and Fyllion manage to equip our trip: another camel, desert gear for everyone, food and water for the expedition
- Gladiola expresses surprise Fyllion is in the south, she wonders if he already travelled through the Vale... if he hasn't been yet, she hopes he and Zoya'll consider travelling with her. Fyllion confirms our interest, when we've sorted out our friend Enza
She offers her ring to be kissed, and Fyllion obliges. The dog swans out after her. Fyllion sends someone after Gladiola with a backstage pass.
Hali catches up with Mi'Kal, for a private conversation in our rooms. After he compliments her performance, she asks for his help with regards to the threatening drought. She explains her spell for water creation & Maggy's runes for continuous spell casting. He figures he can engineer something to help save the city. They'll keep it between them till Mi'Kal can figure it out... later, we'll need Akram's help to install it in the well, which is currently guarded. How will we navigate the reveal of Hali's magic and Mi'Kal's talent vs the conscription of magic users...?
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We go to sleep, even though Fyllion is strumming his lute in the moonlight, wondering where Simeon might be, deeply annoying Eldrin in the process.
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A while before dawn, we get ready to leave. The temperature is bearably cool & Eldrin is more comfortable in the dim light. Frei is available to join us, not just for practical reasons, but also because she's one of us!
We get ready for desert travel with the necessary camels. It's a hot and dusty day, but we manage the half-day of travel without trouble. Aqueel creates jets of water from time to time to clean and cool us. We practise his Common a bit more & Ezra's snake Baaloo is in its element!
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As we crest one of the hills, Eldrin and Enza (riding in front) see an enormous circle of black burnt runes, etched in the sand. It's 2 km in diameter. On the outside, there're strange formations of black rock & magma flowing. Further away, they see the city of Nawa. There are footprints in different directions leading away from the ruins.
Eldrin sends Enza back to the others. She's startled by the size of the circle, is this where we arrived, and why is it so big? In the meanwhile, Eldrin investigates the circle:
- they've never seen magma before, but they can determine it's rock radiating heat
- the centre of the circle is hard to reach, it's as if the magma flowed down from something in the centre that has now disappeared
- on the outside of the circle, they spot some hand-held weapons from some black material
- in the middle of the circle, some local creatures like sand lizards are trapped by the magma
- it's possible to travel around the circle and go to the city
- from the town, Eldrin can see a smoking building, but details remain vague
Eldrin joins the others & explains their observations. They try to shelter Enza, but Frei explains she has a right to hear all information and help make her decisions. Ezra references Archibald's disastrous cooking to help us understand the situation.
Enza cuts the conversation short by getting back on her camel, she plans to travel at the side of the circle. Eldrin swears! When we get nearer, Hali recognizes these runes, they're similar to the circle around Koh'Shar. They're just too big to transcribe easily.
The weapons we spot are gnarled and black, looking like burnt metal. The size looks between human and magmin size.
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Eldrin and Fyllion lead the way. In Nawa there's extensive fire damage, even though the whole town consists of stone buildings. There are claw marks, as if the fire bird tried to perch there. They also spot 4 bodies lying in the sand - either burnt, or picked clean from scavengers. One still has an arrow sticking out of it. Frei and Eldrin try to shelter Enza, but she insists on trying to identify her people.
Floating in the oasis, there are 2 bodies, dressed in Sable Serpent gear. Enza is shocked that the water is no longer drinkable. Eldrin reminds her that we cleaned Koh'Shar's well too, so all hope isn't lost yet. Hali and Aqueel join Eldrin and Enza at the water's edge to look into cleaning the water.
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Ezra and Hali notice a sound, some faint fluttering from a nearby building, probably an imp. It sounds calm, perhaps it hasn't noticed us yet. We shelter behind a sort of half wall. Ezra and Hali hear the imp starts to speak, not in infernal but in Common: can you hear me, I think there's people here, are you bringing them back? you made a promise, we had a contract, I don't think your father would be very happy.
There's a crack, like a whip, and we see big leathery wings unfurl on top of the building: it's the nameless devil guy come to scold the imp: I don't care about the contract, just get the dogs and go home!
the imp responds: I know you’re a half breed and don't care about our culture, but you can't just renege on our contracts!
the Cambian V: just do what I say
Eldrin gets on the closest roof, Ezra hides at the foot of the building, Fyllion creates an illusionary barrel to hide behind. Storm and Enza fail to hide sufficiently.
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Since he was spotted anyway, Storm asks the devil guy for his name. Mockingly he introduces himself as Virgil. Virgil knows Fyllion & Storm, he mocks us, but claims he's no longer interested in killing us. Fyllion bluffs we're also looking for Eluviel to teach him a less'n about messin' with our memories (at Hali's stage direction). Eldrin whispers to the imp to make a deal, but it doesn't work.
Virgil wants us to clean up the salamanders in Nawa, all the rest is just amusing him.
Storm throws a dart at Virgil's wings & we see it's a projection, stemming from a bronze statue the imp is holding. Eldrin immediately follows with an eldritch blast channelled through their sword - they feel the blade's rage!
Chittering noises stem from a pit under one of the blackened houses... and a battle commences!
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1. Frei leaps up to the roof & kills the imp. She spots some more enemies, and calls out a warning
2. Storm dashes through the town, getting closer to the salamanders, who're armed with the blackened metal weapons we spotted earlier. They're not looking very fresh, they've been here a while
3. Eldrin jumps down & focuses on the hellhound, they hex it successfully & ready their dagger
4. Hali climbs another building & throws a moonbeam on the hell hound. Then she shifts into her starry form, but her arrow doesn't hit
5. Fyllion runs in between Storm & Eldrin, granting Eldrin a bardic inspiration. He notices something is moving around inside the building he's passing by... He calls out, but there's no response. He slows down & takes a closer look: it's another salamander! This one is unarmed - Fyllion calls out that he's their friend, not to be eaten
6. the salamander attacks Fyllion, missing once and hitting once. The smell of his burning clothes and hair threatens to awaken a memory in him, but Fyllion shakes it off. Another salamander dashes towards Eldrin, the other two follow, one threatening Storm
7. Ezra climbs up next to Frei, chooses a position and activates their hunter's mark on the hell hound and shoots it. Baaloo also attacks. The hell hound is hit, it looks very angry
8. the hell hound takes the damage from Hali's moonbeam, but keeps heading to Ezra. When it's close enough, Eldrin throws their dagger, but its erratic, enraged movements make them miss. It still manages to bite Ezra. Ezra also feels a memory awaken due to the sulphurous breath, but they push it down too
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1. Frei slashes at the hellhound next to her, while it's biting Ezra
2. Storm can tell there's not reasoning or negotiating with them, so when Eldrin shouts he should just attack, Storm follows through with primal savagery
3. Eldrin runs further into Nawa, risking 2 attacks: one misses and one hits. Eldrin responds with hellish rebukes, while fighting off another memory... The flames of the hellish rebuke seems to rejuvenate the salamander! Eldrin, smelling their burning hair, is drawn into a traumatic memory: standing on the beach, they're fighting with a salamander while they see the Young Kraken ablaze in the water! Suddenly, a sword bursts from their chest through their back! The memory ends, and disconcerted, Eldrin throws their eldritch blast wrong, missing the hellhound
4. Hali shifts the moonbeam onto the salamander fighting with Storm. She shoots a guiding bolt at the hellhound & kills the beast!
5. Fyllion repositions himself & starts playing a lullaby, casting sleep on the nearest salamander... but the creature resists it!
he uses mantle of inspiration for himself, Storm, Ezra and Hali
- as a reaction move entire movement (on top of movement) without opportunity attack
- 5 temporary hitpoints
Fyllion runs behind the buildings, away from the fight
6. the moonbeam hits the salamander. Two salamanders attack Storm, the third climbs up to Ezra and Frei, attacking Frei and the fourth attacks Eldrin. Storm is badly hurt, and the flames licking at his skin awaken a memory: it's also the beach, Archibald and Hali are already downed by the salamanders, two arrows pierce his side and he feels how he dies. The memory ends, but the shock is so big Storm falls unconscious.
7. Ezra shoots at the salamander near Eldrin and thanks to their inspiration, they hit! The salamander looks badly hurt
Episode order
Previously: session 10 Friends of the Weave