Session 43

Fact Sheet: When lovers meet...

Players present: Ecchima, Marty, Meinhart, Tuur and Vinnie. Dins was our GM.

Date: 08-05-2024

Date in-universe: still Thursday, after dark

Major developments

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Previously: session 42 Not Yu again?!

Up next: session 44

Notes

Several people come up to Garald and Hali to fawn over the artists. One drunk girl asks Garald to sign her boob, a drunk guy brays at Hali "you're pretty good with those pipes, I like them wet ones, here's a drink for you". Garald bathes in the fans' adoration, who're especially eager because this inn doesn't usually get live entertainment. Hali keeps up the act & thanks Garald for inviting her on stage.

Ezra notices Rilke glares at El and Ezra because they talked to Tori. Seems Rilke is dead set on getting this werewolf killed by hook or by crook (or by Simeon), and she’s not pleased we’re looking into other avenues of resolution.

Tori walks outside to smoke a pipe on the terrace, she wants to calm her nerves before she talks to the rest of us, as she’s promised El. Since Maya (whom we suspected of being Yu) has disappeared from sight, our positions to cover all aspects of the room are no longer relevant, so Storm sidles over to Garald and Hali to keep them informed. After the information exchange, in order to avoid suspicions, Storm kneels at Garald’s feet and asks him to sign his boob too, so no one knows we actually know each other. Garald complies eagerly.

Standing up, Storm gestures sheepishly to Ezra: “captain, Garald doesn't want to leave his fans right now, he doesn't want to come talk to Tori right now”. We decide to make a visual chain: El keeps an eye on Tori, Storm keeps an eye on El, Ezra keeps an eye on Storm from their position near the bathroom where Maya disappeared. Garald and Hali keep milling around near the bar, chatting with drunken fans.

Garald, forever the chaos goblin, wants to check out the toilets. Hali wonders if he should go alone? They see there's a toilet for small people & a toilet for tall people. Hali doesn't want to appear too much of a fangirl for Garald, so she decides that disappearing into the toilets with a rockstar (editor’s note: see what I did there) is probably not what a sensible druid should do. Hali waits outside.

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Garald swings open the door to the tall toilet. The clean room is empty. Garald does his business & heads out again. Without checking the small toilet?!

In the little hallway between the toilets, he crosses Helena, the waitress. She thanks him profusely for the performance - they completely sold out of food and several types of drinks. It was a real boon to their recovery efforts & she offers him and Hali lifelong free meals, since their duet "diggy diggy hole" was so inspired. Despite the title, it’s in fact not racist at all. Indeed, she'd like to give them a little nightcap. She pours Garald a small glass of a nice herbal liqueur in the hopes he'll come by again: after the initial herbal notes, there's a strong aftertaste of almonds. It's rather unexpected and in fact it keeps burning, not just his lips and tongue, but also his throat. With a NATURAL ONE Garald figures it's just a dwarven recipe and keeps drinking it. He gets poisoned and loses half of his health points.

Feeling a bit frail and weak at the knees, Garald hurries into the toilet and changes back into Ophelia, in the hopes of avoiding any other dwarves who might offer dwarven drinks with this potent impact.

Ezra has noticed the interaction, as well as Garald's coughing and Ophelia's wan complexion. They warn Storm to keep an eye on the waitress. Storm tracks the waitress to the staff room, but in the crowd there’s no way to intercept her before she slips through the door and lets it close behind her.

Ophelia uses the last message on the earring to ask for Hali: I'm not feeling well, can you come hold my hair? Hali hurries to the toilets & notices the smell of almonds. She figures it's cyanide, probably in the glass since it's so concentrated... Being a beginning herbalist, Hali doesn't know what the antidote might be, but can use two healing spells on Ophelia.

Hali and a still woozy Ophelia walk out. In the taproom Lucerne walks over. She asks if we could help Maya get home? With a whisper, Ophelia explains we thought Maya was Yu, but she didn't even try to kill anyone. Hali helped me over a strange sort of post-show crash, and now everyone is here together, so we’re all quite safe. Hali wonders if someone should check on Maya. Lucerne promises to do so & let us know.

Ophelia offers that Lucerne could stay with us if she likes. Lucerne thinks that's the best idea. She'll check the bottle of wine she brought, because she's worried that Yu-as-Maya might have tampered with it.

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Tori notices El hanging around. El notices someone else loitering nearby: Simeon is also "casually" hovering in the area around Tori.

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Ezra points out that Yu must have shifted forms by now in the staffroom, so we can as well go out and talk to Tori.

El confirms to Storm: I'm still me, are you still you?
Storm, I'm still me, Ezra is still Ezra, Hali and the goat are still Hali and the goat, and Garald is now Ophelia
El: what
Storm: Garald is now Ophelia!
El: he shapeshifted right here, while we’re trying to fight another shapeshifter?!
Storm: don't let any of the dwarves know!

Tori looks a bit intimidated when we all gather around her. El introduces us and that helps, petting our goat also helps calm her. Tori repeats that she wants to help, but without risking our lives & preferably without risking Grewishka’s life. She still loves him, and she doesn’t want to betray him.

Storm: we call Ezra our captain, as a sort of inside joke because we’re just groupies working as roadies for the inestimable Garald Mountainverse, but really, you can tell them everything.
Tori: Grewishka used to be a surface dwarf, just like me. However, my father wasn’t a fan of our relationship. So, at the beginning of our relationship we had a lot of hiding places all around town, where we could hide from my father & have some privacy. He was really dedicated to making it work, he even took a job in the mines for our sake.
Storm: do you know how he became a werewolf
Tori: no not really
Storm: a reliable source told us that cruelty is one of the symptoms of the curse taking hold. Have you noticed a change in his temper or personality?
Tori: he did become short-tempered and impatient after he started working in the mines. I figured he just missed the open air, the sunshine and, well, me…
El: that might mean he wasn't born with it
Ezra: it looks we have an option to really save him. You have my word as groupie-captain that we’ll really try. Won’t you help us?
Tori: I know where he might hide. He’s probably waiting for me, but I haven’t dared visit him. I mean, until now I didn’t see any point, but if you truly have a way out…
Storm: we’ll find him and talk to him! Do you have a code word that might help convince him to hear us out?
Tori: a code, what do you mean? Of course we don’t have a code – who even thinks of such things? I suppose you could remind him that his preferred pet name for me is daffodil…
Storm: that’s great, very helpful, I think! One last question before we plan our approach: do you know of a discreet way out of The Vale? We’ve heard there might be a route via the drow.
Tori: I don’t know about the drow, but the deepgnomes are rumoured to have a way… I don’t know about that though. If there is a way to cure him, I'd love the opportunity to run away with him. But will the Rosarian military healer help him?
Storm: we have an in with the healer.
Ezra: would you want to come with us, or do you want to meet tomorrow morning to hear how it went? That way you can determine what you want to do, without pressure from your boyfriend.
Tori: I can sneak out during my lunchbreak to keep my father in the dark, I'll head to the cave behind the waterfall next to the drow mines. That's also where he's hiding.

Before we say goodbye, Tori has a last piece of advice: don't tell Flint. Grewishka’s foreman might offer his help too, but that would involve hiding Grewishka deep in the mine forever, never returning to the surface to see Tori again.

El hums that we know about feeling like an outsider, be it because of circumstance or because of the people we love.

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We discuss when we should try to find Grewishka:

sleep now so we can recover and have our full strength no matter what happens & bully to the frantic dwarf, burdened by his curse, and the knowledge he killed several people (including his friends), and the damp and cold hiding place behind the waterfall, where he exhausts himself in useless hypervigilance trying to keep away from both pursuers and bystanders
go now and help Grewishka and Tori as soon as we can, under the cover of night, while no one is around to see us fight and/or sneak a wanted werewolf out of town.

We also wonder what cure we should try to invoke:

ask if Maya knows anything & is still alive and healthy enough to help us with her alchemical skills
involve Solace and rely on their religious magic

Of course, this is predicated on our current assumption that Grewishka was bitten, not born with the curse.

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When we notice that Simeon is still loitering around, Ophelia decides to go talk to him for a post-breakup autopsy. Ophelia wonders if there's still a reason to hide? Before we can reply, or even check that no one is watching too closely, she shifts into Fyllion, right there in the middle of the street.

El grumbles that of course no one objects to Fyllion using magic, but everyone would scold El if they dared pull such a stunt. When Ezra points out that we’re not happy with Fyllion pulling this stunt, El creates donkey ears behind Ezra’s head with mage hand. Ezra responds in kind, by asking Baaloo to created donkey ears behind El’s head.

While they’re carrying on, Storm writes a message so Bella Swan can carry it to Solace. They should be done by their work in the clinic & Storm has been sending messages about invitations to concerts and just little notes so Halloran wouldn't be suspicious by Bella Swan’s arrival aboard the Surya.

Fyllion walks up to Simeon. Bella Swan under his arm, Storm shuffles after him, still sort-of following the plan that none of us should ever be alone…

Fyllion (with a smirk): don't you know smoking's bad for your health?
Simeon: so's my whole career, do you want anything
F: I wanted to apologize
S: for what
F: I didn't mean what I said, I behaved like an asshat because I was hurt and wanted to hurt you too. I'm sorry
Simeon (never having heard an honest apology) ...
S: you mean it? You weren't that mad? I know I shouldn't have sent that note, I know that fucked everything up, but I saw no other way to try and keep you safe from your own impulsivity and meddlesome nature
F: doesn't matter if your letter was shitty, I shouldn't have been mean. That might have been worse even
S: you didn't sell me out, did you? Sorry I avoided you, it's not the most mature way to handle things
F: let's let bygones be bygones
S: if it's that easy, yes please!
F: easy? I can count on one hand how often I've apologized before, I'm still growing
S: that makes it more meaningful! In the spirit of honesty, I've been listening in on your party. Rilke wants me to gut this guy, just so you know
F: okay, so just go to sleep and everything will be resolved in the morning
S: what? I'm going with you just to make sure you don't get your head bit off!
F: okay, insulting. Just go to sleep, you have a different mission
S: I'm not really loyal to Rilke, you know
Storm clears his throat in disappointment.
Simeon bucks up: the Gilded Blade will not accept this little arrangement, so this was never a long-term thing. I'm more loyal to you all than to Rilke, except for El, El can fall off a cliff for all I care. I’m still planning to head north, just like you are
Fyllion: my friends are my friends, if you want to be there for me, you have to be there for all of us. Just go to sleep & we'll see you in the morning

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RANDOM SURFACE THOUGHT CHECK

Fyllion was thinking about Grewishka, Simeon's mission, the whole of our history... but thanks for Fyllion's passive insight, he's reasonable sure this was the real Simeon.

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Twenty min later, Bella Swan returns with a new note: Solace isn't available tonight, but, if need be, we can head to the clinic. We can send the swan again if we need assistance in the clinic tonight.

We decide to go fetch Madonna: El and Fyllion can parade her through the streets as a distraction while the others sneak Grewishka to the clinic, provided we can convince him and bind him and/or knock him unconscious. That way there is no risk to Solace, whose soft hands convinced Storm that they have never been in a fight in their life.

Fyllion points that his hands are also very soft. When Storm points out that his hands are not Solace-soft, Fyllion pouts. Storm awkwardly grins that he didn't mean to insult Fyllion, during his massage of Fyllion's hands, he noticed the callouses from the lute strings! Fyllion shrugs he'll just have his manacles ready.

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We start walking towards the waterfall Tori indicated. Other people are also heading home, but as we get closer to the cliff face, the amount of houses and the number of passers-by diminishes drastically. As soon as we reach the river to seek out the waterfall, we're alone. The houses close to the collapsed drow mines are abandoned, so we figure we're on our own.

The sun has set by now. Fyllion casts light through his wreath of the arch fey. An eerily ethereal glow reflects on the water and lights our way.

When we see the waterfall, Storm starts calling out “daffodil, daffodil”. El starts a lovely little ditty:

I love the mountains
I love the rollin' hills
I love the flowers
I love the daffodils
I love the fireside when the lights are low

Ezra sighs "how do you not get that this sounds like 'she betrayed you'?"

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We reach the waterfall & spot some rocks forming a sort of natural path leading behind the waterfall. El loosely ties up Madonna and Deception to keep our animal friends out of the way & we figure out our approach:

El goes first because they see well in the dark
Storm goes second, then Hali
Fyllion is last with the light from his crown
Ezra hangs back, so our party looks unthreatening without our imposing tiger shifter captain

As we step behind the waterfall, we see a flat area and then some more rocks positioned like stairs. This place is cold and damp, with mushrooms growing everywhere. There is no light and because of the roar of the waterfall, we can't perceive any reaction. El leads us onward. Deeper behind the waterfall, there's a dark room. There's a small stream for water, some bags of flour that seem to have been used as bedding and the remnants of a small fire that has been hastily put out.

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Storm, Hali and Fyllion linger in the doorway, while El kneels at the fire to rekindle it. Fyllion plays a relaxing song while Storm keeps hissing “Daffodil Daffodil”.

We see a quick movement on the ceiling, a creature skitters towards the door and lands heavily next to Storm. We hear a gruff voice snarl: “why did Daffodil betray me”. Together, El and Storm explain we want to cure Grewishka’s curse. We point out our hope that Solace Soliman’s cleric from the Rosarian military can help out, and that we convinced Tori of our good intentions, and our ability to keep everything discreet without actually involving the Rosarian military, the city guard or Rilke leading some sort of guild master vendetta against anyone who delays delivery of agreed-upon amounts of ore.

Seeing how wild and half-transformed and half-starved Grewishka is looking, Hali offers a goodberry. When the dwarf hesitates, Hali eats one in demonstration. El ask if Grewishka would feel better if we all sat around the fire with our captain too. Grewishka calms down enough to shift out of his hybrid form.

He doesn't believe running away with Tori is an option:

he killed three people
he's an investment for the people who did this to him, they will keep coming after him anyway

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Meanwhile outside, Ezra notices 3 dwarven forms sneaking up to them. It turns out it’s Flint with 2 other dwarves. In a gruff voice, Flint grumbles: “hey tiger kitty, I have an offer for Grewishka, I can hide him in the mines”.

Ezra doesn't want to let Flint in to confuse the discussion inside. Ezra tries to send Baaloo to warn the others inside the cave, but the sand snake can't quite make it far enough. When Baaloo returns, Ezra uses thaumaturgy to mimic Magpie's voice bellowing "all hands on deck" to warn us something’s going on outside.

Clever Bella Swan hurriedly snatches up Deception and Madonna’s reins and starts leading the goat and the camel away. We don't want to risk the werewolves stop for a meal of apple-flavoured camel!

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Inside the cave, we’re still boggling from Grewishka’s declaration that someone “invested” in him. When we query him further about what he means, it becomes obvious: in the mine, selected people get bitten, to be stronger and more durable, so they can mine more productively, and have better odds at surviving in the risky & non-compliant parts of the mine.

We’re interrupted by John Magpie’s voice bellowing “all hands on deck”!

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El wonders what Ezra and Magpie are doing & starts heading back to Ezra
Ezra sees that although all dwarf-wolves are pretty broad, Flint appears the alpha: he's bigger and when he changed, the others were forced to change too. Ezra starts stepping back, into the cave to join the others. They cast web on the entrance! As they head deeper into the cave, they shift too into their tiger form
Grewishka snaps, what's that sound, why are they talking about a dick and why do they want all hands on it?! Did someone follow you? He picks a strategic position.
Hali explains that Ezra is warning us we were followed, probably by the people Grewishka warned us about... Grewishka is furious, but Hali dashes towards our captain
Flint orders the werewolves to get Grewishka. One werewolf struggles through Ezra's web and manages to avoid getting stuck. The other one also tries to run through, and reaches the other side of the web
Fyllion follows Hali, Na'Dir's bloodletting dagger in hand. He activates the magic of his Arch Fey crown to keep providing light
Storm hurries over, slips past Hali and Ezra and with a leap, kicks the closest werewolf in the face with the golden boots
Flint rips through the web with the words: “thank you all for tracking him down for me. I took a big risk when I let him go, but I just had to follow your scents. Now I can kill you and drag him back down. He'll have a more fulfilling life in the pits”!

1. El throws two El(drin)'s blasts on Flint. Both hit. With Grasp of Hadar, El pulls Flint in a straight line towards him, forcing Fling into the water at the edge of the waterfall.

2. Ezra shoots a silver arrow past Storm and hits the smaller werewolf. Their second arrow misses. Ezra heads back next to El

3. Grewishka appears scared and maintains his ambush

4. Hali produces a starry flame and throws it at the werewolf in front of Storm, but with a NATURAL ONE she misses. She turns into her starry form & shoots a luminous arrow, but with another NATURAL ONE, she misses again.

5. From the water, Flint orders the other werewolves to never mind him, keep attacking. The werewolf bites and claws at Storm. The infection doesn't pass onto the polecat this time, but Storm is pretty hurt. The wolf in the web manages to get out of the web & he dashes to Hali. As a curtesy to the other wolf, he doesn't try to attack Storm, that would be stealing a kill.

6. Fyllion cuts his palm with the bloodletting dagger (feeling a NATURAL FOUR of pain). With the necrotic mist rising from his blood, he casts a command 'do what all good dogs do and flee'. The two werewolves fail, but Flint's bloodlust overpowers the command. Fyllion feels the effect of the dagger: it's sucking up his blood (including a NATURAL EIGHT). It feels powerful (perhaps even addictive) but in a chilling way.

Fyllion's crown keeps casting light, warping the colours in the air, like a will-o’-the-wisp.

7. Storm notices that the werewolves seem dominated by Flint & warns the others to go easy on them. With the words "you shall not pass" Storm tries to shove the werewolf into the web, but fails

8. Flint climbs out of the water & attacks Storm, who sees his wounds are already closing. Storm feels how Flint's bite & claws hurt, but they don't seem to infect him. When Flint moves away from Storm, Storm kicks his knee with the golden boots!

El targets the werewolf next to Hali with 2 El(drin)'s blasts & pulls him with Grasp of Hadar. El also heals Fyllion and Storm
Ezra targets Flint with their silvered arrows, one hits and one misses, shattering against the stone of the mountain. Ezra chooses a new position
Grewishka makes eye contact with Ezra: you really want to help me? I want to help, but he can make me do things I don't want. Ezra advises him to stay put, out of sight
Hali hits this guy with a DIRTY TWENTY and then again, with another DIRTY TWENTY (for a NATURAL ONE of damage, alas). Hali chooses a new position
one wolf tries to flee as commanded by Fyllion & jumps into the water. The waterfall is rough, but he makes is past it. The other wolf also flees, but gets trapped in the web again
Fyllion uses dissonant whispers on Flint: are you always this stupid, or did you make a special effort today? Flint's feelings are hurt and he feels forced to run into the water. Flint teeters on the edge of the waterfall
Storm chooses a new position
Flint climbs out of the water & yells: Grew, I know you're there, I know you can hear me. Obey me and kill the caster (while he's glaring at Ezra). Fyllion figures it's an innate effect, not a spell. Flint chooses a new position next to Hali

Storyline

Previously: session 42 Not Yu again?!

Up next: session 44

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