"Shouldn't take too long to prep the teleport. When I learn break enchantment, I'll be able to use my usual trick to boost the spell. Should be able to unravel whatever's been done to Isiah."
Kallie attacks her spellbook, unlocking the final secrets to the spell and letting it fill her mind. After that process, she's sure she has the power and the knowhow; all she needs is the target.
"Unless anyone has a better idea, I'm going to target the Efficient Quiver in Roderick's Cove. I guess Magnimar has the better shops, though. If there's anything we want to sell or buy, maybe we should do it here?"
Once all the plans for the loot is settled, Kallie has Jaya, Croq and Aurealia join hands with her, and she tries her very first teleport!
The only items of value you have found in the Gecko are Og-Zeugus's magic handaxe, Sumsarru's combat gear, and Sumsarru's... antique collection? Between Galatea, Jaya, and Kallie, you are able to quickly determine the approximate value of each item and sell everything in short order. Of the spoils, Gali ends up claiming a black goblet that appears to be made from glass.
"It enhances the taste of wine," Galatea explains.
"See you all soon!" Galatea says as you depart.
Kallie has no trouble reaching the Efficient Quiver in Roderic's Cove. You sudden appearance does catch a few people by surprise, but upon recognizing first the Andosana Sisters and then Kallie and Jaya, they quickly relax and even offer some warm greetings. As for Roderic's Cove itself, not much seems to have changed since you were last here...
"Whoa. It's like this place is the same, but I feel totally different. I guess it hasn't been that long, but we've done so much. This place used to be everything....now it's just a little town. A little town with no idea what it's up against that we're responsible for...."
Aurealia kicks the dirt. "Who else needs a drink?"
"Badly," Jaya responds with a wry smile. "I have a lot of catching up to do on my journals and expedition logs, but I definitely need something to clear the Qlippoth taste from my mouth first. It will take some time for Kallie to find a scroll and then sufficiently master the spell for her own book anyways."
Aurealia heads to the nearest bar, and orders some Andoran whiskey. She sits next to Jaya.
"So, you're gonna do a show?" to Croq.
Kallie accepts a drink as well, in celebration of her first teleport. "It shouldn't take me too long," she tells Jaya. "Provided Gali finds a scroll to buy, or even another caster with it willing to let me copy the spell, it should only take an hour or so. Then I'll need to rest. If all goes well, we'll be back here in less than twelve hours."
She finishes her drink, gets melancholy for a moment as she remembers some good times (and painful times) with Cai’nan here at the inn, then shakes it off as she readies her second teleport.
You arrive at Heidmarch Manor without any trouble. News of your arrival travels fast, and both Viralane and Audrahni soon track you down. You spend some time bringing them up to speed until Galatea returns from her shopping.
"]While you were away, I made the mistake of reading up on that Xanesha woman and... uh..." Viralane murmurs with both a gulp and flustered blush. "Anyway, I'm happy to see that you've returned alive and well."
"I wasn't... too worried. After all, I've watched your group tear their way through numerous powerful opponents," Audrahni remarks.
Not much later, Galatea returns with a scroll of Break Enchantment and the materials to scribe it into your spellbook. Interestingly, Cheshire is nowhere to be seen. However, Gali seems rather nonchalant about this.
"Yulia and some of the Council's agents have relocated Isiah to a safer place. According to Sheila, they'll need...
"...Quite awhile to make a cure for the Polymorph Plague. About ten weeks," Gali says with a sigh.
Jaya flags down the bartender, "I'll need a shot of rum, a mug of ale, and if I could get a tomato wedge. Thank you."
She smiles back at both Andosanas. "I'd love to hear you perform again Croq."
Kallie uses her arcanist trick to enhance the power of her spell to cure Isiah.
If it doesn't work, she studies her book for another use of the break enchantment spell and tries again.
If her first one works, she memorizes teleport and takes the second entourage back to Roderick's Cove. If it took both tries, she teleports the next morning.
The bartender nods at Jaya's request and moves to fulfill her order. Aurealia likewise has no trouble getting a drink as well. For her part, Croq manages to gather her band and gives yet another excellent performance. Given the crowd Croq's performance draws, the group's drinks end up being on the house!
Meanwhile, Kallie spends most of the evening hours transcribing Break Enchantment into her spellbook...
Since she's sort of your de facto assistance now, Viralane is the one who fetches you in the morning.
"They just fed that poor Isiah fellow, so whenever you're ready, you can try to break his curse," the ginger reports.
Kallie uses her arcanist trick to enhance the power of her spell to cure Isiah.
If it doesn't work, she studies her book for another use of the break enchantment spell and tries again.
If her first one works, she memorizes teleport and takes the second entourage back to Roderick's Cove. If it took both tries, she teleports the next morning.
Kallie's first attempt proves to be more than enough to free Isiah from his curse. Once he's restored to normal, Isiah is quickly covered in a blanket, and one of the Council's doctors leads him to a side room to tend to any lingering aliments he might have. Just before you and your entourage departs, Isiah - now wearing a sharp new suit - approaches you.
"T-Thank you, Lady Kallie," he says reverently. Isiah's eyes tear up, but he keeps his composure. "I'll make sure that you and your friends are suitable rewarded for this. Expect to 'hear' from me in a few days, a week tops."
With Galatea, Viralane, and Audrahni in tow, Kallie returns to Roderic's Cove with no issues. By Galatea's estimate, you have about six days until Leptonia enacts her master plan. Thankfully, Roderic's Cove is quite close to Riddleport, and there are a number of options for transportation. The difficult part is probably picking one...
Kallie smiles back. "I'm glad I could help. You don't have to do anything for us, especially if you've got your own recovery ahead of you. Though... we're going to try to stop this plague from spreading, so we won't say no to anything that helps us out with that, of course. Take care."
≈================
Kallie whoops when she arrives with Gali, Viralane and Audrahni. "Wow! Teleport is the ONLY way to travel! The multiple trips back and forth isn't so hot, but I think I can figure out how to bring along more soon."
After some debate, you check if there's a scroll of Wind Walk available. Unfortunately, such high level magic is currently unavailable in the relatively small city. That leaves you with the options of taking a boat or going by foot. The former will take about a day, while the latter will take roughly two days.
"Hey, who needs a boat? When I used to hang out with Gutpaste–that band out of Belkzen I toured with for a while–we could get from gig to gig in a hurry if we rocked along the way to keep our legs moving. I learned a song that could help us get there in a day, I'd bet.
"You wanna make like Gutpaste, and walk-n-rock?"
Kallie tosses her tail back and forth. "Sounds good to me! I'd prefer to have my hooves on solid ground."
"Yeah, a long walk sounds nice and relaxing after everything we've been up to. Maybe we'll go a whole day without fighting for our lives."
"Or," Kallie adds, eyes lighting up with excitement, "we'll encounter something I can dominate!"
She shrugs and starts ticking off her fingers. "Or confuse, charm, hold, or hit with unnatural lust or touch of idiocy. For fun."
"What about you two? Will you be joining us?" Galatea asks Viralane and Audrahni.
"I will," Viralane says as she stretches. "Kallie's kindness is the only reason I'm not rotting in a prison cell or six feet under right now."
"I... plan to stay here, if that's alright," Audrahni says. "I need some time to... sort out what happened in Magnimar. Also, I've been away from Biscuit for too long."
"No worries," Galatea says with a nod. "Alright, I'll go see what provisions I can secure from the Black Arrows."
Gali's charm is sufficient to secure enough food for the journey.
"Since we'll still be making good time, that sounds lovely Croq."
Kallie helps out in making sure they're on track, but doesn't take the lead. She enjoys the overland travel, with her centaur's body not having any trouble keeping up.
Relying on pure enthusiasm--and a vague recollection of touring with Gutpaste--Croq manages to not aim the crew in completely the wrong direction.
As they hike, she sings and drums out a raucous, driving melody.
Jaya and Kallie put their big brains together and map out an efficient and safe way to Riddleport using a popular trading route between Roderic's Cove and the larger city. Despite declining Galatea's magical wine, Croq (with Kallie's help) manages to... keep on you on course the entire time. Her magical melodies also greatly enhance the speed of your travels, allowing you to reach Riddleport in just over a day.
You arrive in Riddleport without incident and with five days to spare! The general feeling of the city is best described as... controlled chaos. A generation ago, Riddleport's former overlord Gaston Cromarchy was overthrown by the Varisian Rangers, and his successors Shorafa Pamodae and Elias Tammerhawk run a tighter ship overall. Under their watch, the city is bustling and prospering.
Some things never seem to change, though. For example, the massive Cyphergate is still definitely quite a sight to behold. Upon your arrival, Gali spends a good couple minutes staring intently at it before shaking her head and snapping back to reality.
"So, what was our plan again?" Galatea asks.
Kallie is also in awe of the Cyphergate and marvels at it for a while. When Gali asks about the plan, Kallie speaks up. "Well, I'd been thinking about this while we traveled. Here's what we know: The group of baddies are sailing here on a ship called the Sea Moth. There's something that's going to happen at an auction run by a guy named Clegg Zincher, who happens to have a couple scrolls of true resurrection. My suggestion is that we go visit the leaders of Riddleport -- I'd prefer we start with Shorafa Pamodae -- and see if they'd be willing to ready a force to detain the Sea Moth when it arrives. Our parents helped put Pamodae and Tammerhawk into power; hopefully they'll listen to us."
Aurealia nods. "Or at least not interfere."
"Luckily, should it come to it, scrolls such as that are incredibly fragile relative to their worth."
"That feels wrong," Kallie remarks. "The scrolls have the power to bring people back from death. If there's even a chance we can recover them, we should. Yeah, they want to use it on a dead Runelord, but there's got to be someone worthy of a second chance."
"So it sounds like we have two viable options. The first is to approach Shorafa Pamodae or Elias Tammerhawk and ask them to detain the ship. We'll need to think of a good reason why they should let us... neutralize over twenty people who haven't done anything wrong in their city. I'm also worried about the crew of the Sea Moth getting hurt, but... we can cross that bridge when we get there," Galatea ponders, sighing as she says that last sentence. "Alternatively, if I'm understanding Jaya correctly, we could approach Mr. Zincher directly?"
"We should have a few days, still. Maybe we talk with Pamodae or Tammerhawk -- or both -- then we have a little discussion with Zincher? We can manage that, right?"
"We definitely have the time to speak with everyone. The rest of today and four days afterward by my estimate," Galatea says with a nod. "Between the two head honchos, Pamodae strikes me as the more approachable individual, but for some reason, I recall that Tammerhawk might owe House Kailani of Varisia a favor?"
"Well, if you're willing to call in that favor, now might be the time."
"Keep in mind that if we stop this Polymorph Plague from getting started, both Tammerhawk and Pamodae will owe us even bigger favors," Kallie adds. "I think we'll need to speak with both of them."
"Of course with the perils of (metaphorically) invisible labor, if we prevent the Polymorph Plague from getting started, it is far less likely those favors will be understood to be owed."
Jaya shrugs. "But such is life. Shall we?"
"Sounds like we have a plan. Who shall we approach first? Shorafa Pamodae or Elias Tammerhawk?" Galatea inquires.
"If we can use the favor to get Tammerhawk on side first, won't Pamodae be easier to convince then?"
"Good thinking, sis! I mean, sib."
"I'm still your sis, Sis. Just...I dunno, they don't have words for people as fabulous as me."
Croq smiles and hugs 'Lia. "K then, sis. Guess when we get a break from our quest to save the world--and our mom--we'll need a quest to create fabulouser words, eh?"
Aurealia smiles, "Sounds like something worthy of our attention!"
"...I might need your help invoking this favor. I know that Tammerhawk promised it to... someone in my family, but the details are a bit... blurry to me," Galatea admits with a sigh.
With the group more or less in agreement, you head to the Cypher Lodge in Riddleport's Windward District. Composed of the finest wood and stone, Tammerhawk's base of operations is honestly quite grand. The building overlooks the city of Riddleport, giving you a lovely view of both the bay and the Cyphergate. Getting inside is surprisingly fairly straightforward; evidently, the Cypher Lodge also serves as an inn for those willing to pay the admittedly pricy nightly fee (20 gp per night).
Galatea asks around for a bit and returns with good news.
"You know how royalty holds court to hear directly from their subjects? Well, fittingly for the de facto king of the city, Tammerhawk will be holding court tonight," Galatea says. "How should we introduce ourselves to 'King Elias'? Agents of the Sihedron Council? Part of the Black Arrows? Archmage Eugeni's students and company?"
"Hmm. A meeting in open court is an excellent place to apply leverage or a cudgel, but we might get more... extensive cooperation by securing it before we publicly ask for it."
"That's a good idea, Jaya," Galatea says with a nod. "The more Tammerhawk knows ahead of time, the fewer details we have to disclose in public, if at all."
"I seem to recall that Tammerhawk's current steward is Hannelore Regalrose. I don't know her myself, but I believe we have an acquaintance or two in common from her year as a journeyman. If we can convince her, that should go a long way to securing Tammerhawk's aid without the risks of public panic or alerting our foes."
Kallie looks less enthusiastic about visiting Tammerhawk first, but agrees. "Sounds like a plan. Let's go see if we can find her quickly."
Once in town, she looks for the right sort of people who might be able to steer them in the right direction.
Since you are already at the Cypher Lodge, locating Hannelore Regalrose proves to be relatively straightforward for Kallie; evidently, Hannelore is known to camp out in a certain spot of the Lodge's extensive library while reviewing paperwork. Unsurprisingly, given her position and the nature of the city, she's still under heavy guard.
Hannelore is a dark-skinned, raven-haired half-elf who most people would consider pretty. Given her ancestry, her exact age is a bit difficult to pin down, but she appears to be older than Galatea. Interestingly, she's dressed more like a Zoli Tileani swashbuckler than an mage. Her dark, spectacled eyes are pulled from her paperwork as her guards put themselves between you and her.
"...Black Arrows?" Hannelore says, noticing the telltale symbol on Croq's armor. She studies each of you in turn. "Can I help you all with something?"
"Aye. We're here to see your boss on a matter of import. We thought discretion was in order so are approaching you first."
"Something you can't tell Lord Elias in tonight's open court, huh?" Hannelore says. She begins shuffling her papers into a neat stack. "You know what? I've got some time in my schedule. First thing's first, though; I seem to be a bit of disadvantage."
She looks up and studies each of you intently.
"You know who I am, but I can't say I'm familiar with any of you."