GM Litejedi's page

Krojun snorts, and speaks in accented Taldan, ”I understand their language, udanila asgaya,” and he looms over Aru, and the occultist knows Krojun has insulted him in a grave way, essentially calling him ‘weakling’ in Shoanti.

But before Aru can respond, Krojun grins briefly and says, in Taldan ”biggest one you have, fine. We will start now.” and he laughs deeply, attaching the loop to his own head, and beckoning for Marcus to approach to the center of the camp where the competition may be held, which has been completely cleared. Curious onlookers, Krojun’s crew, and the elders ring the competition space to give room to the competitors.

I’m assuming Marcus will accept having the loop on his head.

The enormous man stoops down slightly to Marcus’ level, grinning the entire time. Up close, his face is scarred and he smells of sweat and adrenaline. Per the description, there’s 3 rounds of intimidation before the strength check I’ll roll 3 rounds for Krojun, this is considered combat so no taking 10 unless you have an ability for such. Marcus, please make your first four rolls be 3 intimidates and an initiative.

intimidate: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (3) + 17 = 20
intimidate: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18
intimidate: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (8) + 17 = 25
initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Krojun seems to ignore Aru, literally and figuratively looking down on the smaller man. Aru does recognizes that the leather loop he wears is a prop for a game called Srenda, which Aru suspects is the ‘test’ Krojun is referring to.

The large man cheers considerably when Magda seems to accept the ‘challenge’, though he is a little confused that someone so small would do so. He adds, ”a dromaar? From Korvosa? these Tshmek are strange - we would fight you were you not with the other Tshmek.”

Thousand Bones exhales noticeably when Krojun move away from the center of camp with his thundercallers and approaches Magda, ”brave of you to volunteer, Magda. Well, are you going to play Srenda? Or were you volunteering someone else? It is a test of strength.”

As a reminder, the Key Lock Killer, Rolth Lamm, murdered Gaekhan and had been abusing-ish Jolistina in some way.

The day moves on a little as some in the party move to pay their respect to the murdered youth, and others busy themselves with tasks around camp.

The cairn where Gaekhan is at rest is small, and a few minute walk away from the center of the camp, and the stacked stones have the skull of what looks like an imp and pseudodragon resting on top, something like an honor to Gaekhan's home. His remains aren't visible, but it's clear that the cairn was set up with care and love.

Thousand Bones kneels briefly before them, and utters a prayer in Shoanti, before standing. He turns to Yazi and Magda, "spirits close to him linger here. I feel them. Do you?" He closes his eyes and raises his hands, inhaling and exhaling. "In his life, they watched over him, but could not stop that... monster" and he says this last word with vitriol, "from taking the young man."

He lowers his arms and turns to the two others. "The plateau is our home, but... so was Korvosa. It does not seem we will ever be allowed to return in great number," he shakes his head, "a shame." He moves to return to his yurt, "if you need anything else before the Bone Council Fire, please see me."

He returns to his Yurt while Magda and Yazi pay their respects. Feel free to describe what you do.

*********************************

Just about when Magda and Yazi get back, a troupe of heavily armed Shoanti approach the camp. Their leader appears to be larger than Marcus by a fair margin, almost 7' tall, and incredibly strong. He appears to have a linen-wrapped corpse over his shoulder. He seems confused for a moment as he approaches, and then signals subtly and the remainder of his troupe starts to spread out. He appears to have a Klar on one arm, and an earth breaker resting on his shoulder in his other hand. He is heavily tattood and his heavy armor seems to be made from the remains of various tough creatures hunted within the Storval Plateau.

His companions seem to all be wielding "totem spears" and as they spread out to surround the camp, none of the other Shoanti seem to pay them any mind, though some of the conversation seems to quiet down. The leader, his heavy footfalls thundering across the packed sand, approaches the center of the camp where one-life is busying himself. Gently, he lowers the body he carries to the ground and furrows his eyebrows. His eyes light upon the outsiders gathered in the center, and the two that are returning from Gaekhan's cairn.

Nostrils flare, and he raises his voice. "One-Life - what is the meaning of this?" The gaunt Shoanti holds out his hands in supplication, and soon the party seems to get the impression that not all of the Shoanti in the camp are friendly, with his troops having taken a little time to spread themselves around.

Thousand Bones now emerges from his own Yurt, and quickly rushes over to Yazi and Magda, joining them as they approach. He whispers, "this is Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills. Be mindful of your words, please. Not all goes well on the Storval."

He quickly ushers the pair towards the rest of the party.

Krojun asks Chief One-Life, “Why do the Skoan-Quah harbor tshamek trespassers?”

As Chief One-Life struggles to find an explanation that won’t further enrage the towering visitor, Thousand Bones inclines his head as though considering Krojun’s words carefully, but then responds sharply. “Tell me, Krojun, when did the Sklar-Quah become judges of who trespasses upon the Kallow Mounds where the ashes of our fathers lie?”

“Your words change the question, Thousand Bones,” answers the Shoanti hero with a snort. “These ones bring trouble to the Cinderlands, and you know it. The coming days shall reveal to us all who is right about them.”

“Perhaps,” says Thousand Bones. “But not today, and not here. Would you have word that Berak’s burial was tainted by bloodshed get back to your Sun Shaman?”

Krojun pauses, the cords in his neck straining, but then he exhales and grins. “You misunderstand me, Thousand Bones. My grief has wounded my words. But see to it that no tshamek defiles our memories here.” His smile broadens as he pulls athin leather loop from one of his packs. “Certainly, though,
guests of the Skoan-Quah must be brave to come this far. You wouldn’t mind if I tested the courage and strength of your guests, would you?”

Thousand Bones shakes his head, and replies in Taldane ”we have no need for privacy here, but such matters are best left to the Bone Council Fire this evening. Come, rest. The cinderlands can be trying.” One-life nods in response, and says in Shoanti ”you may stay in one of the spare yurts, near the edge of the camp.”

As a reminder, the party eventually did kill the key lock killer, Rolth Lamm, in the temple to Urgathoa. Gaekhan is probably interred here if you wish to pay your respects. It’s been years since these events happened so hopefully this refreshes your memories.

A leonine creature, who's body looks like a brassy, scaled dragon, leaps onto one of the mounds about a hundred feet away, settling themselves down and resting. The creature has no wings, but there are scars where wings seemingly were, at some point.

All of the conversations are in Shoanti unless otherwise noted, they're basically ignoring everyone but Yazi and Aru, sorry!

The gaunt man looks suprised at Yazi, and continues in Shoanti "you know Thousand Bones? I am One-Life." He gestures at himself and glances at the elderly woman, who inclines her head, "I am Ash Dancer. We know Thousand Bones. He is here."

One-Life continues, speaking to a gangly teenager that is hanging out "please, Pezi, fetch Thousand Bones." and the kid runs off towards one of the gers. The head of the sun would make the party uncomfortable, but the magic prevents thsi, and so the party only feels emotional discomfort as they stand awkwardly, waiting for something to happen.

A few moments later, Thousand Bones himself emerges from the tent. He raises his hand to his forhead to keep the sun out of his eyes, and looks to the group. His eyes brighten up and the man approaches, saying in Taldan, "do my eyes decieve me? Is this Yaziyah, Marcus, and Magda?" He squints and peers at everyone, "and some others."

He opens his hands expressively, in Shoanti, "One-Life, these are the Korvosans who aided in returning Gaekhan's body. This is the Yaziyah who made the community center." One-Life nods, "I expected as much, from your tale, but I do not know Korvosans, nor their ways."

Thousand Bones sighs, and says in Taldan, "it does not matter. Welcome, all. You should be honored guests." He extends a hand to shake the hands of those who he knows, and in a friendly way, to those he does not know, including Trinia. The ebullient bard returns the handshake cheerily, and seems to be 'taking in the culture', somewhat gobsmacked by the vast differences between her own life and the way of life of the cinderlanders.

The boneslayers and One-Life seem to all relax, and the typical hubbub of the camp slowly returns. Thousand Bones looks around, especially at Marcus, "were you not heavily armed before?" and spies the sack, and frowns at the boneslayers, "give them back their weapons, they mean us no harm" and the various armaments are returned to everyone.

The boneslayers nod and gather up all the items into a few sacks and put them over their shoulders. Somewhat more at ease, they lead the party for a little while past short canyons and boulders. Cairns, occasionally seen before, become omnipresent. The party has reached the Kallow Mounds.

The rocky structures are made of the same dark reddish brown stone of the desert, and they tend to block line-of-sight effectively. The mounds appear to be on a low plateau, as the party seems to have been rising somewhat steadily towards a ‘peak’ of some sort. Rounding the edge of one of the cairns, a tableau of something approximately a settlement unfolds. There are a few dozen yurts, low, cylindrical fabric and wood structures, scattered in what must be the center of the mounds. Many people are busying themselves with their own lives, and they look warily at the party when they pass. Children hide behind their parents, and warriors keep their weapons drawn. The party reaches the center of the settlement and is asked to wait. One of the boneslayers enters a nearby Yurt, and a few minutes later, the boneslayer emerges, accompanied by an older Shoanti man emerges, immediately followed by an even older woman. The pair appraise the situation for a moment, skeptically, and then commiserate with the boneslayer.

The man is tall and gaunt, and the woman must be in her late 60s, and though she leans on a gnarled cane, she seems to have enough strength and agility (and tattoos) that mark her as a former hunter - one of the boneslayers.

The man approaches the party, saying, ”it is not often that the Skoan-Quah of the cinderlands receive visitors at the kallow mounds, least of all Tshmek and … near-Tshmek?”

He gestures to Aru, adding, in Shoanti, ”I know of you already, Aru, Wandering Hand. Yours is a tale few would know, but is known by the elders of the Quah. You must forgive the boneslayers for their caution.” To Yazi, he inclines his head, ”and you, you are also of the Skoan-Quah. This much is apparent, what is your name?”

The Skoan-Quah glance at Aru skeptically, and gesture at the others, responding in Shoanti, "you surround yourself with Tshamek, you are Tshamek." They glance at Yaziyah, "she is not of the Skoan-Quah - she is not known, and you are not known."

The leader steps aside and speaks with the others, quietly, then turns back to the party, "we can protect ourselves, Tshamek, but we are not stupid - you have magic and weapons. Please - disarm yourselves if you wish to speak to the elders." They point at the ground in front of the party, indicating that weapons should be tossed there.

Looks like they want you to disarm before leading you towards the small permanent camp for the Skoan-Quah, and are on edge a little still.

15th of Erastus, 4713 AR

The party saddles up, or doesn't, and heads east, now at a slower pace towards the Kallow Mounds.

The remainder of the day's trip is uneventful, other than the hot sun that is not even noticably uncomfortable, beating down on the entirety of the party.

The party finds a small cave in a canyon and rests, without a fire, for the night, wary of drawing attention to themselves in this dangerous place. Endure Elements is great.

16th of Erastus, 4713 AR

The party finds themselves at midday trekking across more of the expanse. Cinderstorms are in the far distance to the north, near some mountains, but clearly are not going to cross the party's path. Jolstinia can get some more mounts. After a few hours of travel, it becomes clear that the party has entered the formal terriotry of the Skoan-Quah, as they encounter large rock cairns topped with animal skulls—markers that serve as both signposts and warnings to deter strangers, as Aru knows innately and anyone else can guess with a DC 15 local.

After about an hour of travel past these markers, the party crests a ridge and finds themselves surrounded by a half-dozen men and women with bows trained on the party. One steps out from behind a rock and holds up a hand, speaking in halting Taldan.

"Tshamek, why do you come to these cairns?" They do not appear hostile, but they are not particularly friendly. Shoanti: Tshamek means 'outsiders'. They appear not to give any particular deference to Yazi nor Aru, referring to everyone the same way.

The party collects themselves and looks around. It appears these creatures, though partially draconic, had no horde to speak of, or if there was one it's far enough afield to be impossible to find. A gentle path leads east out of the canyon.

Some of the phantom mounts are dead. Any plans to get them back or just walk?

Both partially draconic beasties drop within the same few seconds.

Combat over!

Forgot to do Kali's turn. The horse dies (see below).

Kali activates Sisterhood Style which has the following benefits: While using this style and wielding a longsword and a light or heavy shield, you gain a +1 bonus on Reflex and Will saving throws. In addition, when you enter the Sisterhood Style stance, you can choose a teamwork feat you have. As a swift action, you can grant that feat to an ally within 10 feet until the beginning of your next turn.

While using Sisterhood Style, you and adjacent allies gain an additional +1 bonus to the shield bonus granted by Shield Wall, and each of you adds your shield bonus to AC (not counting enhancement bonuses) to your CMD against bull rush combat maneuvers. In addition, you and adjacent allies do not provide soft cover against allies’ attacks.

While you’re using Sisterhood Style and wielding a longsword and either a light or heavy shield, the bonus on saving throws from Sisterhood Style increases to +2 and you grant half that bonus to all allies within 20 feet. In addition, you can choose up to two teamwork feats you have when entering the Sisterhood Style stance. As a swift action, you can grant one of those feats to two allies within 20 feet until the beginning of your next turn, or you can grant both feats to one ally within 20 feet until the beginning of your next turn.

So everyone has +1 to Reflex and Will, Marcus has shield wall (if he wants to use a shield), and Yazi and Marcus don't provide soft cover (so Jolstinia doesn't have to worry about it on her turn).

Kali falls off her horse but keeps her bearings and summons the teamwork tactics to boost her allies while moving up next to Yazi and Marcus.

will save, misfortune: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
will save glitterdust: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
will save glitterdust: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

The two chimeras seem to be tougher than the standard types. They unleash attacks on foes in front of them, both targeting Yazi.

They're smarter than typical ones, so they go after the person who did the most damage to one of them (I directed all attacks to the top one, even Marcus' in the hope it would drop them, but it's still got some damage)

The attacks seem to miss a lot, but Yazi is badly hurt by the multi-headed beasts.[/ooc]I think that leaves her at 8, after taking 23+61 = 84.[/ooc]

Kali's Horse Reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 Her horse dies.

Trinia

Trinia retrieves her shortbow and takes a shot at the wounded one, continuing her performance. Swift Action Arcane strike

shortbow, deadly aim, haste, inspire courage: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 11 - 2 + 1 + 2 = 19

But her shot goes wide.

Desert Ambush - Creatures/Party

The Party is up!

Chapel Ambush - Round 2 - G/Chrysa/Senna/Mila/H/W/Naomi/Tikroch/Donovan

Chrysa/Senna/Mila are up!

Trinia, behind everyone, casts a spell on the party, Haste for all and fumbles a bit and says, "oh, um, shoot..." and settles her nerves, before saying, "what do you call a chimera with one head?" she pauses, "I don't know but we're going to try and find out!" She glances at the others, and follows, "chimera means she-goat so, I couldn't make an uno-mera joke." Shaking her head, she hopes her joke inspires the others.

Inspire Courage is now active, everyone has a +2 competence bonus to attack and damage, retroactive to any turns they've already taken. You also have a +2 morale bonus to saves against fear.

Magda hears shuffling, like animals, in the near distance, which makes sense, because emerging from behind the large column in front of them are a pair of odd looking creatures. Flying, with three heads - one goat, one lion, and one blue dragon, with winged, bat-like wings, the creatures seem to be hungry for a meal.

The creatures move forward and each unleashes a line of electricity.

DC 19 Reflex Save for half, electricity damage, Yazi/Magda/Jolistina: 6d8 ⇒ (4, 4, 3, 5, 6, 1) = 23
1d4 ⇒ 2
DC 19 Reflex Save, electricity damage, Marcus/TGM/Aru: 6d8 ⇒ (4, 1, 6, 3, 3, 4) = 21
1d4 ⇒ 2

Everyone should also roll for their horses, which might be killed as a result of the damage. The creatures are low enough to the ground to be attacked in melee, due to the way lines work.

Desert Ambush - Creatures/Party

The Party is up!

Map updated, goal is to get to the east side of the canyon. Jolistina, you may need to join the game so I can assign vision to your token.

The shallow gorge comes into view - a perfect place for a predator to ambush prey, but no enemies are immediately visible.

1d100 ⇒ 14
1d100 ⇒ 52
2d6 ⇒ (1, 6) = 7

15th of Erastus, 4713 AR

The party travels east on their phantom mounts, relatively comfortably, and now - quickly. No need for fort saves, etc. During their trip they spy a herd of aurochs in the distance, and the large cows seem to avoid the party - and the party does likewise.

1d100 ⇒ 65

The first night after traveling is uneventful, and the party gets the sence they are about halfway to the Kallow mounds. Set watches, etc.

1d100 ⇒ 9
1d100 ⇒ 68
1d4 ⇒ 2

16th of Erastus, 4713 AR

On the second day, the party is traveling on their phantom mounts in a rockier part of the cinderlands. A large fissure appears in the ground, with the next part of their journey requiring a bit of creative exploration to find a decent path past. The party heads north and south until they find a place where their phantom steeds can travel, until they find a narrow canyon which leads into the fissure, switching back and forth, and out the other side. Decide if you wish to do anything of consequence before descending.

Sophiel nods at Chrysa and moves to retrieve some clerics from Shadowfall. When she returns, she says to Chrysa, with the others not in earshot”your cohort and a few others are all that could be spared. It appears your aunt has not taken well to your turning on her. The situation with Irovetti must be resolved soon.” She adds, ”At this point, I think there is value in explaining the situation to everyone. It is not productive to have any more secrets, but the decision is up to you, ultimately.”

After some internal discussion, the party decides to stay in the city for at least long enough to rest and regain their powers. The devastation is not insignificant but there are resources in place to recover. Sophiel does not rest, however, seemingly not needing or wanting to. If anyone wishes to do anything in town before leaving, now’s the time. Purchase limit is 12k iirc.

The party wakes up late the next morning at about 11:00 am after resting in their own places, or given spartan apartments. Sophiel praises Senna effusively for her efforts, noting ”even if had no cause you trust you, you’re at the very least not aligned with Pitax, so if the others in the group would have you - I have no objections.” She does little else other than shepherding, in two trips, the remainder of the party into a robust cypress tree, seeming to reference an older book on geography written by a naturalist, Jubilost Narthropple, who seemed to reference such trees in that general location. ”The abbey is in that vicinity, but as you were resting - I consulted various sources and discovered that this was not all of Irovetti’s army. Had I not the teleportation, you all would be hard pressed to pass one of his many armies. So you may find yourself pressed on a few sides. Whatever is there, I recommend stealth. You may be powerful, but thousands of archers can still kill you…” Hoping her warning is heeded, she leaves them in a large hilly field after pointing a general ‘direction’...

Let’s move on. Is everyone prepared? I posted a landing page for the vicinity of the Abbey. Maybe some skill checks to find it? I don’t see anyone bought any maps, so geography or survival might do the trick.

Circling back, it’s about 50 miles to the kallow mounds. Please get organized about how travel works: marching order, plan for avoidance of hazards, etc. I believe everyone has either fortitude saves or endure elements. Please refer to the overland movement table, it is a trackless desert environment, and figure out your overland movement speeds assuming 8 hours of travel per day, unless you wish to go longer via fatigue removal or other fort saves. Since you’re all on foot, I believe you’re at move speed 20 so 16 miles per day base, and since it’s trackless it’s 8 miles per day.

Mags cracks open the letter, sealed within the envelope and draws out the hastily scrawled note, reading it to herself, slowly.

The party finds themselves testing quietly in the shadow of a rock, as they wait for the noon son to pass. Thanks to their magic, they find themselves well equipped for survival, but the cinderlands are blistering. Kaliyah volunteers to keep watch, her heavy composure bow at her side, in her regular outfit. The party is discussing the next steps, their senses of direction calibrating, they come to the conclusion that the kallow mounds are about a day and a half away, and the flat, pocked, and fiery terrain is a dramatic departure from what they’re used to.

Even Yaziyah finds herself uncomfortable, the environs of the the lowland Shoani as different as can be from the hot, dry environment of the storval. Of course, Aru, having an off-again on-again relationship with his clan, having recently reconciled to some degree, still finds himself haunted from his youth here, having fled at a relatively young age from the Storval to seek his fortune, there are clans that will not recognize him as being truly shoanti. As is often the case, aiuvarian are born of two worlds and struggle to fit into any one. Trinia hasn’t complained once, and has tried to keep spirits up with some interesting jokes, but her humor has darkened somewhat in her time as an adventurer, and she evinces a hint of cynicism and weariness about the world.

There is a ripple under the cracked soil, quickly approaching Kaliyah’s position. Like a missile, a four-armed creature that can only be described as a land shark leaps up and bounds towards Kali, pouncing on her with for thick clawed feet. The former ranger scrambles, having been knocked on her rear, and spins around as the bulette skids and slows down in a cloud of dust, moving to face Kali. Kali backs up a bit towards the party and draws her longsword.

The others in the party react quickly, scrambling to disable or kill the creature. They rain blows and spells on the beast’s reflective hide but it just seemingly make the bulette more angry, and it lashes out an any and everything. It’s pinning Kaliyah under one claw and looks to be about to take off with the vigilante down back through the loose soil.

Back in Gliocas

Donovan bows to the ambassador, Naomi, and says, "My lady. Thank you for visiting. I do hope that you find your brief stay here inviting."

He turns his attention back to his liege and absorbs her instructions, then gives her a customary salute.

"I shall endeavor to give the nation a great show of valor on the tournament field," he says. With Chrysa dismissing him, he turns slightly on his heel to address Naomi. "If you will be joining us on the road to Pitax, I shall be delighted of your company." He bows once more and then makes his exit, as instructed by Chrysa.

Sophiel smiles when she sees Donovan, and she bows her head to him. ”You will be a fine addition to the lists, having a sacred sword of Iomedae will serve as a champion for the ideals of our people.” For Naomi and Senna, Gliocas as a society is Lawful Good at the moment, even though many of the elected representatives are neutral good. The largest army is made up of paladins, as well. The church of Iomedae has grown in the last months, competing with that or the traditional god of paladins in the area, Erastil. Inspired by Donovan’s exploits, there is a growing chorus of voices calling for aid to be sent to the worldwound, though Sophiel hasn’t acted on the requests yet - given the closer threats and other priorities.

Will give SL space to do some RP when they're back from their absence.

Laori considers Marcus' words carefully, "maybe! But you'd be advised not to cross the Shadowcount. Kuthites have long memories." She grins, and winks at Marcus. Trinia seems a little shaken by the experience, and she turns to Laori, "so... I'm a bard, which means we pick up a lot of little bits of information, you know. I know something about Zon Kuthon, but I guess I've never met a worshipper..." Her eyes flick to Krovax, "I guess, I have before, but maybe I didn't know it." She smiles meekly, "what's your take on things?"

Laori inhales, and looks at everyone else, "a little different from others, but you know - I still get all my spells, so I must be doing something right. Here - " She gets up, and rummages through her magical satchel, humming the melody of a popular tune quietly, and grabs one of her pamphlets, "-yes, here you go." She hands it to Trinia, adding "Krovax is a bit more of a traditionalist. And the Shadowcount is much more of one."

Krovax coughs, interrupting, "Laori, please." His dark-rimmed eyes turn to Trinia, "much was taken from me, which I have now accepted. Zon Kuthon granted me the power to destroy those who harmed me." He pats the scabbard on his hip. "he granted me freedom as well. Free from foolish boundaries."

Laori looks at the party, her face obscured from Krovax, and she smiles sadly, obviously out of pity in some way. She sighs, "anyway, good luck, I'll check in when I can." She moves to hug everyone, even Trinia. Krovax also shakes Marcus', Yazi's, and Aru's hand, but still avoids Magda. Can resolve Kali later.

She also goes to the kitchen and grabs a small box of loose tea, offering it to Magda, "this is the best one with the cookies, I think." She grins, "remember, it has to be hot or it doesn't steep correctly."

With the parting words, the party packs up their things and heads out of the gilded cage, and soon finds themselves on the streets of Kaer Maga again. It's easy enough to find a path that will lead the party north, to a gate out of the city. There seem to be few holdings just outside the gate, but there is a road stretching off to the northeast for some distance, which Aru points out leads to a larger road that follow the Yondabakari river, as well as a crossing, about 10 miles to the north. From there, the party will have to traverse the trackless wastes to get to the Kallow Mounds, where they determined they're most likely to find Thousand Bones. Even with Aru in the party, he doesn't bypass the need to talk to the Skoan-Quah directly. Aru knows that the Sklar-Quah might talk to Aru alone, but probably not at length, and it would require a ludicrous skill check to convince them to help in this matter. Having met them before, he doesn't even know who to ask about the matter, and also knows that they're so xenophobic that they react badly to anyone who regularly interacts with outsiders. The Lyrune-Quah are also basically nowhere to be found, they only travel at night, and the party knows that aside from the cold of the desert during the evening - that is the most dangerous time to travel. Your best bet is to talk to Thousand Bones first - but if you all want to try to find the Skoan or Lyrune, please let me know if any skill checks are made to this end.

As a reminder, since you've left the city, Magda feels disconnected again, per above.

Setting out towards the Kallow Mounds, the party leaves the relatively verdant area next to the river and starts to travel across the dry, ashen soil. Hardy plants spring up here and there, but the environment is quite arid, and while the sky is clear, occasionally far in the distance to the north, black plumes of smoke seem to belch from the ground. These sulfurous eruptions lead to the Cinderlands' namesake, and are the source of the ash and the frequent cinderstorms that the party tried to prepare for. At the moment, the path ahead seems clear, and relatively flat, though very, very far in the distance, the distant foothills of the Mindspin mountains loom.

From the perspective of fauna, the party sees lizards, arthropods such as beetles, scorpions, and spiders, and the occasional mouse or mouse-like creature. Far above, the party occasionally spies vultures and hawks soaring, and the occasional thorny bush seems to house sparrows and wrens, as well as a few trees with weaver nests, but the party doesn't see too much from warm-blooded creatures as they travel - and the reason soon becomes apparent. The heat. As the party leaves the cool waters of the Yondabakari, the heat begins to become apparent.

Desert environment, so we'll be doing appropriate fortitude saves with appropriate bonuses and penalties, including for heavy armor, endurance, etc. It's about 50 miles to the Kallow Mounds.

Shadowcount Sial barely breaks composure, though - when the threat comes close to him, Marcus sees chains he hadn’t seen before slither out from behind nooks and crannies around the room. They appear to be ready to strike to restrain him, when he backs off. The chains disappear as quickly as they appear.

He doesn’t respond, instead bowing his head and with a flourish, leaving the common area to go to another room with his eilodon, as the door closes.

Krovax frowns deeply.

Laori hesitantly says, ”well, that could’ve gone better. Marcus - you are letting your own pride get the better of you. Both you and Sial seem to want to prove something. I hope you can see that.” She takes a moment, and says ”of us gathered in this room, I think perhaps your friend Aru is the only one who truly understands magic items, relics, and artifacts, right?” She inclines her head respectfully, ”but - you know, they’re not easy to destroy. What we’re talking about now is just finding some tool to temporarily disable the thing. Destroy is our goal but… from what I know about artifacts, we have no idea how to destroy any of his relics. Even if we found one.” She scootches over and taps her hand reassuringly on his knee, ”I don’t want to lie to you, so I can’t say we’ll destroy it immediately because… nobody knows how. That would be a lie. Maybe it can’t be destroyed on, you know, this plane. Maybe it can’t be destroyed unless all the pieces are brought together and destroyed at the same time. This is the first one our… group has been able to track down in I think 800 years?” She reflects quizzically.

She looks back at Marcus and searches his face, and replies, and saying unblinkingly, her shining black eyes staring into Marcus’, ”I vow I will try to destroy it, if I can, as long as you make the same vow. Okay?”

She whispers something under her breath, and looks at Marcus with beatific understanding.

marcus diplomacy: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (8) - 2 = 6

Laori looks like she’s going to say something and Shadowcount Sial glares at her, interrupting, ”no. We tried to be honest with you, against my better judgement. Our church does not want Illeosa to have the fangs, and they do not want Kazavon to return in any form. That should be enough. The fact that it isn’t is proof that I was right, and that you all are just as unreasonable as I expected adventurers to be. This meeting is over, please leave.” Krovax opens his mouth and closes it.

Sial stands up, and gesture for everyone to leave. Laori’s happy demeanor breaks slightly and she smiles sadly, ”I’m sorry, I’ll let you know what we find out - at least.” Sial hisses, ”Laori, you miserable… shut your mouth, for once in your life. You will do nothing of the sort.” Laori smiles cheerfully, beaming back at him, ”how are you going to stop me? I’d like to see you try. It might be fun.” Her eyes widen and she grins.

Krovax raises a hand, ”please leave, if you change your mind, just let Laori know, okay?” He gestures towards the door.

Laori responds to Magda, and then to Yazi, ”we’re not hiding anything important, but I have lots of friends - it wouldn’t be fair to share secrets about one friend to another, right?”

Sial adds, ”it took a great deal of convincing on Laori’s part to meet with you at all. As you can imagine, it is hard to find allies who wouldn’t seek the power for themselves.”

Laori shrugs, ”but as for who has information, maybe one of the more insular ones? Like the Lyrune-Quah or Sklar-Quah? I admit, I don’t know much about it what those names mean, I just read a book on the Shoanti history. It was long and pretty boring, and if I’m going to guess, mostly lies. It was written by someone from Cheliax a long time ago.”

Sial sighs, and says, ”yes, indeed. The problem is that it’s not possible to draw inferences from these written histories. Barely anything about Kazavon remains written, and the most reliable source of Shoanti history is aural. Laori said that you were Shoanti,” he gestures to Yaziyah, ”and you appear to be at least somewhat Shoanti,” he gestures at Aru, ”so - would not you know better than us?” He looks a little annoyed, and glances at Laori, ”that was what you said, right? ‘These adventurers may be able to gather information where we’ve failed.’?”

Laori scrunches up her face, ”yes - and was I wrong?” Sial frowns, ”so - why are they asking us about the quahs?”

Laori takes a deep breath and turns back to the party, ”as you can see, I’ve only made a little progress on my own, so my church sent others of my order to help. Partners.” Notably she does not call them her friends.

Krovax looks like he’s about to lose his s#~~, and the party remembers clearly how anger looks on his face, ”had you not run into trouble, we would not be here Laori. But your failure was not a disaster, as Sial is implying. These are people who share our goals and they can help us. It was a good decision.” Sial opens his mouth to reply, and then thinks better of it.

Krovax continues, ”there are libraries below the city. The libraries have records that predate Earthfall. The guardians of those libraries… are likely willing to talk to us, with the right incentives, but there are other, worse things, below Kaer Maga, according to lore.” He has a blank look on his face, ”so that is our task.”

Sial says, ”on top of everything else, our internal church records did indicate that the Shoanti do not care much for Zon-Kuthon. Do you now understand the situation we find ourselves in?”

Laori has a cookie, after dipping it in her tea, ”so, then it’s a deal, you’ll go out into the Cinderlands, do your best to figure out what’s going on, then come back here and we’ll share notes. Right?” She smiles toothily, ”I promise I won’t let either of these stick-in-the-muds hold anything relevant back, okay?” Sial composes himself and his eilodon leans down and whispers something to him. He looks vaguely offended but also confused, not really understanding what that means until his kyton seemingly explains it. He relaxes and seems to take the statement in stride.

Krovek looks a little oddly at Magda, and says, ”good day, Madga,” referring to the girl using her formal name instead of ‘Magpie’ or ‘Mags’. He doesn’t move to embrace her, which maybe fortunate for her own safety, as the man is wearing the same spiked, black full plate that he was wearing when they saw him last.

Shadowcount Sial looks nonplussed and continues, ”indeed…”, accepting the introductions as they are provided, extending a dry hand in greeting to each person and then sits down himself. His eilodon moves behind him, leaning forward on the couch and resting her hands on his shoulders. The elven woman in the kitchen is humming to herself, and Trinia excuses herself to assist Laori. Krovax doesn’t do more than stand nearby, though his cold eyes seem to be appraising the party with an air of detachment.

The nidalese man says, ”onto important matters.” He raises a chin towards Marcus, acknowledging him, ”young man - my …” and he searches for a word, slightly longer than seems to make sense, ”friend Laori says you’ve found some important clues. Clues to a shared mission.”

From the kitchen the humming and chatting is briefly interrupted as the pale face peeks around the corner and says, ”yep!” with an irrepressible grin, before immediately disappearing.

Sial doesn’t miss much of a beat, and his eyes flick back to Marcus, ”she - and I will speak freely, now that we are in this room - says you believe that Queen Illeosa has the Fangs of Kazavon?” His words are a part question, part statement, and he continues, ”pieced together from what you saw at the erstwhile painter’s studio, right?”

He waits for a pause of acknowledgment, then continues, ”we seek the very same. We are members of a Nidalese order that has been charged by divine decree to seek these items out.” His voice quavers slightly, as if reverently reciting some oath, ”Kazavon was, of course, a warlord and one of the most powerful Kuthites to have ever graced the skin of Golarion. He also happened to be a profoundly old blue dragon.” The man leans forward, ”now - you may wonder, why would we trust Kuthites? Don’t they have a … reputation?” He smirks slightly, ”a deserved one, I think. But, sadly, this invitation was not a ruse to get you in the door so that we can all discover new, exquisite things about ourselves. It may surprise you to know that we seek the fangs, and all the parts of Kazavon, to ultimately destroy them.” He leans back and lets the revelation pour over the party.

”Our reasons for wanting that are our own, but we would aid you, at some point, in retrieving the fangs for that purpose.” He folds his arms and leans all the way back.

Krovax shifts slightly and in his deep voice, adds ”our interests align perfectly, and I know you all are… trustworthy.”

Laori emerges with Trinia, and they set down the snacks and tea, and the elven woman collapses into the chair with a whumph. ”of course they are. They’re my friends. You’d trust my friends, right, Sial?” The Shadowcount nods, ”as always, Laori, your judgement of people is impeccable,” and while everyone gets the sense that he definitely believes this, there’s a bare hint of annoyance or.. sarcasm, or even bitterness.

Laori doesn’t seem to notice, and continues, ”but, you know, we have to talk about it in person. Now, getting the crown off her head will be a challenge. She’s.. hmmm, invulnerable? Mostly. There are stories about things which can be used for such an endeavor, but that’s all we know.” She smiles impishly, ”we know. Our church destroyed many records, a long time ago, on the matter. Pretty silly, right? How can we figure out what to do - if we don’t know what to do!” She sighs, ”but it can’t be helped. But -“ and she gestures vaguely, ”you can figure it out. Especially because… you’re going to the Shoanti, right?” She smiles, ”they seem to be the only ones with reliable records but they won’t talk to us. And their records are largely aural, and it’s not like we can just… get those records with magic.”

Sial continues, ”at the moment we are somewhat… stuck here. This inn isn’t exactly our taste, but the alternatives within Kaer Maga are much the same, or, if I’m being frank, squalorous.” He sniffs, ”so, we stay here. There are some things we can do from here, and we will. There are ancient libraries and other… resources we can draw from. Contacts here, and in the undercity and below.” He gestures at Krovek and Laori, ”between us, we can take care of ourselves. Of course, any information we find we would share, and expect the same. I suppose we are proposing something… of an alliance. Shared goals, I think, all the way to the end.”

Laori looks a little bored as Sial pontificates, and doesn’t bother hiding it, ”yeah, and because we’re friends, we shouldn’t need to go through any of this negotiation, right?” She takes a sip, ”of course we’ll tell you what we know as long as we’re in a safe area. I couldn’t talk about it before, you know? Lots of ears in Korvosa, even in the walls, plus, my church has kind of commanded our discretion in general, you know?” She looks apologetic, ”otherwise I would have said something before… though I guess hmm, I guess none of us really knew what we were truly up to at the time, right? You just found out, right?”

Sial interjects, ”yes, that seems to have been implied, from what you told me.” Laori smiles at him, ”so I did, but, you know, it’s better to talk to people directly, right? Magic isn’t perfect.” Sial frowns, ”I didn’t say it was, though, I caution you not to be so flippant about the gifts our god has graced you with.” She keeps smiling, and replies, ”hmm? I suppose it must be a little hard for you to understand, I mean… the fact that you don’t know Zon Kuthon’s divine gift. I’ve told you, we can always talk about how you’re feeling,” Laori extends a hand as if to pat him on the hand with her own, but his eilodon glares at her. Sial’s composure breaks slightly, ”Laori, this is neither the time - nor the place for your ministry.” His nostrils flair and he seems to be trying to avoid snapping at the cleric, ”it is nothing of the sort. And you know this.”

Laori is about to respond when Krovax, frowning deeply says, ”enough. That’s enough. We have a job to do.”

This seems to break the escalating spell of verbal jabs between his companions, and Laori sighs and nods. Sial says, ”thank you, Krovax. I am glad to have your support in these matters.” Krovax’s mouth is a thin line, and he doesn’t respond. Sial finishes, ”so, do you accept, I think this will be beneficial for both of our groups. I apologize we cannot give you more information now, but we know only a little more than you, I think.”

The duskwarden nods their thanks at the donation, and puts it into the lockbox, and they return to the task of ferrying people along the route.

From the exit of the Halflight Path, the most obvious entrance to Kaer Maga is through the Gap, a massive break in the ring of Kaer Maga’s walls where an ancient explosion tore away thousands of pounds of stone. This carnage has been mostly filled in by the district called the Warren, a many-storied shantytown of rickety scaffolding and makeshift shacks, yet a wide corridor still runs through the center and plays host to a constant stream of traffic in and out of the city.

This is also the best place in the city to find local guides. As soon as the PCs enter the Gap, they’re swarmed by mobs of local children offering themselves as guides. It doesn't take long before they've successfully hired one, but the party easily catches a few trying to pick their pockets in the 'scrum' of trying to help.

Map of Kaer Maga[/ooc]

With sufficient financial incentive, one kid, an excitable youth of about 11 years leads the party southeast from the Warren, which may be the first district visitors see but is likely not the main destination for most. As one of the largest trading districts in Korvosa, and a city that famously has become wealthy through trade, the crowded stalls and wagons of Downmarket are invariably the destination of most. The primary commercial center for foreign trade, this is where caravans off load their goods and purchase new cargo, cutting deals both large and small. Though prices tend to be slightly higher here, as merchants catering
primarily to foreigners trust the dizzying crowds of the market to discourage newcomers from doing a lot of comparison shopping, even native Kaer Magans are forced to shop in Downmarket on a regular basis, as the selection is simply too good to ignore. The belief that
anything can be bought or sold in Kaer Maga stems in large part from the merchants of Downmarket, and no good or service is off limits here, no matter how taboo.

Unlike most of the other districts in Kaer Maga, Downmarket contains very few permanent structures, instead consisting of a constant shuff le of carts, tents, wagons, and awnings. This is primarily to accommodate
the steady stream of traders who, rather than simply selling their goods to local merchants, are equally likely to set up small shops of their own for as long as their stock holds out, reaping greater profits by selling directly to consumers. Most business is conducted during the
day, when the swirling crowds of shoppers and hawkers are shot through with pickpockets, palanquins, solemn Augurs, and gawking foreigners, but the carts that don’t pack up at sundown often do business long into the night, catering to those souls drawn by shows at the amphitheater or restless merchant guards eager for entertainment.

The kid gives the party a short tour, pointing out various districts they pass but don't enter, and takes a roundabout way through the downmarket to show a few landmarks. The party passes by one of the few permanent structures in the district, a vast and columned affair of stone with wide steps too tall for human comfort climbing up to a covered walkway that extends all around the building. The party easily spies a handful of large trolls watching passersby and a few welcoming visitors into the accessible areas of the temple.

They also spy a lakeside amphitheater and see for the first time the large lake nestled into the center of the small city, and a few patches of green park space that is being enjoyed by lounging merchants or nobility.

Perhaps more unsettling is the slave market - true to its word as a city of unlimited commerce, there are slaves of various stripes up for auction. As they pass by, a few well-meaning folks seem to be actively discouraging the sale - or even buying some of the beings where they can - a small comfort in city that seems indifferent to this indignity. Heavily armed guards seem to dissuade most of the freedom fighters from starting anything more, and the kid seems to think nothing of it, seeing it as just another normal behavior.

It doesn't take long to leave the bustle of the Downmarket and enter the Hospice. They pass a temple of Calistra, and more than a few obviously 'red light' facilities, but the majority of the district is composed of inns, taverns, hotels, and spas (as well as homes for the workers). The kid is surprised, somehow, that the party would be going to Canary House, but it takes but a few minutes to arrive at the door of the opulent, five-story building that seems to take up half of a block. An elegant sign showing a gilded canary in flight makes it apparent. This is Canary House. The kid waits for payment and bows thankfully, rushing off to ply their wares for a new set of tourists.

Upon entering Canary House, the party is assaulted by luxury. Other than Korvosa Palace, the party has likely not experienced opulence at this level before. Inside Canary House, the walls are elegantly decorated in avian themes representing the birds of A’kaan’s native Garund, yet these are seem not to be what gives the inn its name. Rather, the moniker comes from his famed Songbirds—slave girls chosen for their talent and trained from the time they could speak to sing in unbelievable harmonies, each word a chord with a dozen voices spanning several octaves. These girls, while carefully cared for as the investment they are, swing from trapeze perches in gilded cages, and lest the audience be fooled by their elegance, thin chains around their ankles provide a constant reminder that the golden bars are still very real.

The proprietor, a half-elven man who looks at his ledger, stands nearby in a small nook, and calls the party over. He introduces himself to the party as Alaeh A’kaan. remember, the sweat, grime, and dust of traveling on the party is quite apparent, and few among you keep-up-appearances. He notes, "I'm sorry, but Canary House has no vacancies, please check in - it appears that we may have some openings in two weeks." He gestures towards the dining area, replete with obvious, incredible wealth, "as you can see, the dining area is also booked for some time. Please enjoy the harmonies for a moment before seeing yourselves out." He inclines his head.

The party briefly explains that they're here to see a guest, and the pleasant demeanor of Alaeh breaks slightly, and he asks for the guests' name. When the party tells them Laori, he looks at his book and shrugs, "nobody by that name seems to be here." The party looks around briefly, and describes what she looks like, and Alaeh responds with a curt, "oh. Yes. She's in the grackle suite, with two other men." He coughs briefly and excuses himself after asking for their names, to expedite things Marcus pings her to let her know they're here, and gives her a pseudonym to expect. Giving Alaeh the pseudonym, he gestures to a porter to run along and ask if the guests would wish to entertain visitors.

The porter runs off, and comes back in a few minutes, nodding, "yes sir, they're expected." Alaeh inhales and exhales slowly, very well, please take them to grackle, but remind our guests that any damage comes out of an already expensive bill."[/b] He shoos the porter away, and the party follows, entering a small box the size of a room set into the side of the inn that has a few buttons showing various floors. The porter presses three, and the box seems to magically levitate, slowly, with the party inside, up to the third floor. The porter swiftly moves to the suite, and the party finds themselves in front of a door with a vibrant-looking black bird with purple and blue rainbow highlights painted elegantly onto the front. The porter knocks for a moment, and the door opens immediately.

Laori Vaus, the irrepressible elf, springs out giddily from the room. "I'm so glad you guys came!" she exclaims, looking over everyone, and seeing someone new, she notes, "and you brought a new friend! Hi! I'm Laori, it's nice to meet you!" Trinia is taken aback slightly, but smiles broadly, "heya, Laori, I'm um... I'm a friend of theirs," she looks warily around the hall, "can we come inside?"

Laori nods, but not before hugging everyone she's already met before, despite their protestations, and despite still wearing her viciously spiked chainmail. She lingers a moment when hugging Marcus and pats him on the shoulder, "you look better. I'm so happy Marcus." She smiles beatifically at him, and, I point out she's an insanely good liar, or this is genuine, she seems very happy to see that some of the permanent lines in his face are less etched into a frown these days. "Come in, come in, Marcus said you were coming. I just made tea." Trinia's eyes widen and her eyebrows raise, "ooh, I love tea." Laori responds, giggling, "well, I hope you like mine, it's my secret weapon for making new friends," and the elf winks at Trinia, who chuckles to herself. Laori turns and enters in, gesturing for the others to follow, but stops in the foyer.

She grows a little more serious and says, "so, I have... two more people from my church here. One, you haven't met before, but... weirdly, I think you may have met the other? Lots of coincidences... but I don't want to spoil the surprise. I will say - just, you know..." she's searching for the right words, "so, not everyone in my church is... well, like me! Don't hold it against them, if you can, please? As a favor?" She seems somehow to steel herself, and the party enters sort of a shared living room in the suite.

Standing at attention is a chelaxian man with a disdainful expression and his chin held high. He wears black-and-red clothing, including a spotless hakama. At his side, her arm on her shoulder, is a beautiful, dark-skinned humanoid with, bloody chains wrapped around her body, serving as a sort of armor, obviously some sort of velstrac outsider. She seems to have a mischievous smirk on her face. Respecfully, the man inclines his head.

Standing next to him is a familiar face for some. Wearing his own set of spiked black armor, though this being much heavier and more ornate, but unhelmeted, is their former companion Krovax. He is as pale as he was before, but his hair is cut close to his head. Dark circles surround his eyes, and he has something of a haunted look about him, as well as plenty of scars on his face. He looks down when he sees everyone, and then looks back up, and there's a fleeting expression... shame, fear? Whatever it is, Krovax seems uncomfortable, somehow. RP for Kali when SL is free. In particular, he seems adverse to meeting Kaliyah's eyes.

Laori points first at the unknown man, "this is Shadowcount Sial, of Nidal, and his eidolon companion Asyra." Pointing at Krovax, she says, "and I think you know Krovax, right?" She smiles, and says, "let me start the tea while you introduce yourselves and get caught up." She moves to the small kitchen area, and starts making some tea and a snack, though she whispers to Magda first, about cookies, and if she has any.

Shadowcount Sial steps forward and bows slightly, extending his hand. Speaking slowly and carefully, the man says, in a nidalese accent, "good afternoon. Laori has said many glowing things about you, including some... perhaps, useful things about your endeavor, yes?" He pauses, "useful to ours, at least." He gestures towards the comfortable looking seating and asks for everyone to sit, "please, sit. Nidal is not paying for these rooms for us to stand uncomfortably. Our space is yours, as long as you are here."

With no further preparation needed, Shale nods and starts pulling his cart, saying only ”follow.” He hands each person in the group a small amulet slotless item though. This amulet is a small crystal at the end of a simple leather thong. It glows brightly from within, shedding light equivalent to that of a torch. One of the other Duskwardens explains that if anyone clutches it, they can summon the closest duskwardens within one mile, once per day. The party accepts these and they and the other travelers start moving along into the winding path.

Inside the tunnels, the path’s terrain changes regularly. Just beyond the Twisted Door, the tunnel appears to be natural stone, worked in places to widen it but otherwise the sort of thing subterranean water flow might carve anywhere. As it climbs, however, this impression quickly gives way to regions clearly influenced by man or beast. Crudely carved corridors bearing primitive cave paintings, ornate masonry with elaborate frescoes, labyrinthine passages with all but the appropriate corridors blocked by rock falls, mirror-smooth tubes where only sand spread on the floor by the path’s guardians allows enough traction to move—the composition of the regions the path passes through seems to change like strata in the rock. One thing, however, unifies every section of the path: the careful brickwork of the Duskwardens, closing off side passages and heavily reinforcing those existing natural barriers between the Halflight Path and the rest of the subterranean realm.

As the group approaches every junction like this, Shale says quietly, in a low rumble, ”quiet.” Surprisingly, Trinia complies easily - while she’s been relatively chatty up to the twisted door, she seems to take the instructions of the guide quite seriously. The same cannot be said of a young human man in richly adorned garb, who smirks to himself and seems to be laughing off the admittedly brief ministrations of their guide. After the first such, incident, where the young chelaxian cupped his hands and said ”hellooooo…” to a bricked up passage (one clearly carved with intent Shale frowned and listened carefully, only shaking his head. Shale’s demeanor seems to garden, if such a thing were possible. The man, Adrian, seems to be trying somehow to ‘impress’ the group by showing off a carefree attitude (or something) but it seems to fall flat.

The second such passage, he sidles up to it and knocks on the heavy masonry, listening for an echo, with a smirk. Shale moves to Adrian and forcibly grabs him, his voice louder, but still low, like an earthquake, ”foolish”. With some rope, Shale grabs the man and with remarkable strength and speed, ties him up. With one arm he lifts the man up and tosses him into the cart. Too stunned to respond, Adrian, gawks at the indignity. Shale lifts up a finger to his grey lips and asks, ”quiet?”. With the other hand he retrieves a handkerchief, and the implication of the consequences of disobedience become clear.

Suddenly, there is a sound from the other side of the wall. A faint knocking, eerily mimicking the same pattern that Adrian had used.

Slightly frowning, he looks back at Adrian, who shakes his head, his eyes pleading, and Shale nods. Returning to the front of the cart, he starts pulling away even as the knocking continues.

As the party leaves, they hear a faint murmuring coming from behind them, but it could be a trick of the windy caves, or the sound of running water. It soon dissipates as Shake hurries away, the extra weight in the cart barely slowing him down.

********

At one point the path even opens up. Shale moves to the man in the cart and forcibly gags him, tying it around his head, despite his protestations. Shale points at his eyes and says harshly, ”path. only” and the party starts to pass through what appears to be a section of an ornate and abandoned city filled with doors, each carefully locked and barred.

Aru, Mags, and Marcus seem to become slightly distracted, though they generally keep plodding on. Trinia watches Aru, hesitates, and then seems to decide something. She approaches Shale to whisper something to him.

The stoic man seems to be considering something, and then he nods. Trinia inhales slowly and starts to tap out a beat on her armor with her finger, a rasping noise that breaks the silence. The sound is rhythmic, like a primitive instrument, soothing, but blending into the natural sounds of the cavern. With a start, the three that were distracted break their reverie, their minds clear. Shale nods as she keeps playing for the rest of their time in the deserted city.

They’ve almost left the city when they hear a rattling noise behind them, growing louder and louder, like a cascade, as if every door in the city is rattling in hits hinges, the rattling growing closer and closer.

Shale grits his teeth and plods on, though the party seems to notice he’s slightly more energetic, and as they pass into the hall, a squeaking noise echoes in the cavern. Unmistakably it is the sound of a door opening. A door at the other end of the city. And then another door opens. And another. Shake inhales and exhales, and through gritted teeth says only ”run” Trinia stops playing and nods, and the party does as instructed. Up, up, up, the party travels. Switching back and forth until Shale finally slows down. He listens and shakes his head, looking at everyone curiously, and says ”locked.”

When at last the travelers emerge, sweating and out of breath, they do so in a bunker-like structure of stone and mortar just a stone’s throw outside the Warren, allowing easy entrance to the city. Shale grunts as he retrieves Adrian and ungaggs and unties him, and the young man, ego bruised, glares at the seemingly ageless oread. Shale taps his head and shakes it, then moves to whisper something to one of the other Duskwardens on guard who looks at Adrian, and approaches him, ”sir, you are banned from travel on the halflight path for a period of one year. Best of luck.” He retrieves a notebook and starts writing down things, and annoyed, Adrian pushes through the line of people waiting and disappears into the city.

His work complete, Shale collects the ensorcelled pendants from each traveler and bids them ”good day,” then immediately prepares to ferry any amassed travelers looking to make the reverse trip down to the cliff’s foot.

The dwarven woman responds, "aye. Anything. Everyone knows or knew someone, right? You remember their voices?" She stares up at Marcus, "well, you might hear people you know from... wherever you came from. Down in the undercity."

She shakes her head, "maybe promises of wealth, calls for help. When I say anything I mean it. Understand?"

To Magda, the woman shrugs, "eh? Truth is, most of us don't know. We don't want to know." She leans forward, "we once killed a blob of tentacles and biting mouths, and that was something we recognized." She leans back, "people have written ponderous tomes about what's below Kaer Maga" she smirks slightly, "most speculation, but we're practical. We just kill what comes out of the holes. Even if we wanted to, half the things don't have... a reference guide to identify them. We count ourselves lucky that whatever spawned them is far away." If you want to use aberrations you can, but you may want to wait for Aru to respond from his divination.

The party starts hiking up the path as the morning ends, and joins a handful of other travelers doing the same. They soon finds themselves staring at an extraordinary sight. Ancient beyond reckoning, these immense double-doors are covered in runes of an unknown language and take their name from a strange and subtle warping of their edges, which seem to rotate at strange angles yet still fit together without a gap. In a phenomenon frequently studied by visiting scholars, any given edge on the gate appears perfectly straight, yet as the observer follows it with his gaze, he finds his eyes have somehow turned, and what was once an outside edge is now inside.

Standing in front of the gate are a pair of tidy-looking humanoids in dark grey leathered armor. Each has a pack full of adventuring gear, including belays, rope, and other climbing equipment at their feet. They have bandoliers with a number of vials and other accoutrements, and human at the front has a notebook which he has open, something particularly useful given that there is a short line behind him, facing the doors.

The other guard, a dwarf, has a small, ridged shield, and a sharp pick at his side and seems to be looking over her shoulder at the entrance to the proper trail. There are about a dozen travelers of various ages standing nearby speaking amongst each other,

The party moves to stand in line, and after a few minutes, a gaggle of travelers emerge from around a corner on the trail, lead by a yet another dusky-armored half-elven woman. She inclines her head and says to the people following her, with a slight smile, ”safe travels, may the City of Strangers welcome you again.” She approaches the human man, and dusting herself off, retrieves a vial and takes a drink - some small scratches on her neck heal, and the young woman winces before sighing in relief. She moves over to a nearby bench and sits down, drinking some water from a canteen.

The human man says to the people assembled nearby, ”well, Duskwarden Lydia has to take a short break, and she will lead you through the halflight path.” It seems the party will have to wait until the next ‘round’, whenever that is. After the half-elven woman has had time to rest, she stands up, and cheerfully says to those standing near the gate, ”well - I trust you’re all ready to go. Come along, I’ll help you if I can - but it’s always best if you can help yourselves.” She appraises everyone, and takes a pack from an older traveler, hefting it on her shoulder seeming without effort. She looks around, ”well? Come on. Spread the load. Help each other.” She gestures at the confused travelers, who don’t all seem to know each other, until it’s clear she means that they strongest among them should help the weakest. Once the loads have been satisfactorily distributed, she claps her hands, ”well done! Now, on to my rules. You’ve already gotten the general….” and her voice starts to trail off as she turns around the corner, the travelers in her party following dutifully.

The man seems to start calling people in line forward, and the party has a scant few minutes to wait before he reaches them. He has a lockbox out, and is writing on a small ledger. He takes down the party’s names (or pseudonyms if they want) and offers to contact next-of-kin for a small fee. Otherwise, the cost is two gold per person.

Seeing as the price is trivial, the party pays and joins six others in front of them and one behind, to wait at the bench. The dwarf wanders over, ”Right, I’m Duskwarden Marigold. Here’s the rules: one, the Duskwarden is the boss on the halflight.” She looks over who’s assembled, ”maybe you can take care of yourselves. Maybe not. Those are the rules though. Two, stay on the path, except where this contradicts rule 1. Three, you don’t touch anything, don’t listen to anything, and just… don’t do anything disruptive - except when doing so would prevent you from violating rules one and two. Easy, right?” Her gaze lingers on the we’ll-equipped adventurers, ”last year we lost 5 travelers. Only five. All of them violated one of the rules or another. They’re there for your protection. We vow not to abandon you unless the cause is hopeless - but the undercity can be brutal and unfair, and hopeless can happen. Got it?” She waits for everyone to at least meet her eye, and she nods, ”should be no more than an hour until Shale gets here. Until then, prepare as you’d like.” She wanders back over to her spot and keeps guarding.

It isn’t more than 45 minutes before an oread man comes down from the path leading another group. He seems much more taciturn than Lydia and doesn’t seem to be injured. His craggy, rocky skin is unblemished beyond what seems normal, though having never seen an oread before, the party has no frame of reference for this. He’s pulling a cart, and a few children and an older woman step off gingerly, and he appraises everyone, ”who needs cart.” His voice is accented, and has a slight trill to certain letters, as he looks around. None of the travelers seem to be particularly disabled, and he nods, ”good. Empty cart. Ready?”

Character updated, can't remember all the bonuses but it should be right.

Kali holds up a hand, and moves to lower Marcus’ bow. ”Hey, just - hold on,” she comments as she watches the hippogriffs float over lazily. They pass over the party, and swoop around - circling for a moment before descending, and then landing cautiously on a patch of grass nearby.

The three hippogriffs fold their wings, and one seems to be smaller than the others. Kaliyah looks with a start and says quietly, to herself, ”Falcor?”

She blinks rapidly, and starts to approach the three slowly, hands extended outwards. One of the hippogriffs seems to have scars in various places - missing feathers, and one milky eye. The other eye peers at Kaliyah, and claws at the ground, making a quiet cry, ”kreeeew”

Kaliyah turns back to everyone, ”it - it’s Falcor! My old hippogriff!” She turns back and keeps approaching slowly. The other hippogriff regards her warily, and the smaller one - with wonder, snorting for a moment before it scrambles behind Falcor, obviously nervous.

Will let the interlude play out more when SL is available, just wanted to move on.

*************

The remainder of the trip to Kaer Maga is uneventful, but the looming cliff of the storval plateau is unmistakable as the height grows and grows with every passing step. In short order, the overhanging City of Strangers becomes more than a blemish on the otherwise rocky natural cliff wall, and it becomes omnipresent in the party’s field of view.

The party joins a path leading to one of a few different ways up, and sees more travelers and signs of habitation than they have otherwise encountered in their recent travels. Folks seem to be traveling towards and from Kaer Maga, and while not aggressive, they aren’t particularly friendly. They are mostly humans and halflings, but the ‘accepting’ nature of the city shows its nature with a handful of other, more exotic folk, use your imagination, but… including at least one small bearded troll - wearing a set of robes and jewelry, and holding a staff - as he hobbles along, attended by what appear to be human servants.

The party has only a small understanding of the nature of how to access the city, though Aru has visited once or twice before from atop the plateau (in a former life), access from the bottom is a different story.

The cliffs of the storval have guides that will help travelers ascend and descent - a motley crew of different people of various ancestries that eke out a living in the tough environment (which seems to be getting tougher - it seems to grow more arid, and there’s a warm wind blowing down on the party from the Cinderlands which turns the lush, verdant moors into something more akin to a craggy plain).

The party spies a switchbacked path which winds its way up, below the city, though it seems to disappear after a while, and Aru points out that he’s at least vaguely familiar with the city faction that manages this path - the Duskwardens.

Nestled at the base of the slightly tapered cliff, the party approaches a fork in the path, with a sign generously noting that to the south the lies the Yondabakari path (50 miles to Kaer Maga), and forward, the Halflight Path - the visible, switching one, that is 4 miles to Kaer Maga (you can choose how you ascend).

PCs who make a DC 20 geography check also know, helpfully, there’s another path up the Storval cliff - a mere 350 miles away is the Storval Stairs, past turtleneck ferry, the sword, etc.

Wide enough to accommodate entire caravans in single file, the trail begins at the foot of the cliff directly beneath Kaer Maga, where a small but well-maintained wagon trail splits off from the river road and terminates at a bronze gate which folks who make a DC 15 geography check know is called the Twisted Door an intriguing sight that is barely visible - shrouded by irregular cliff walls.

The 50 miles includes the distance to the river path, up, and back. Where to?

Aru knows hippogriffs are not uncommon in the area. Nobody knows their origin, but being a hybrid of an eagle and a horse, they tend to move in herds for safety against the more solitary griffon hunters to dissuade the griffons from making a meal out of them. They can fly, and have some natural attacks, but are otherwise unremarkable (for magical beasts) with no special defenses or attacks. This current behavior is not abnormal.

The party finds themselves only a day or so from the clifftop city of Kaer Maga, about an hour from the village of Sirathu, which until 4663 was a holding of the city state of Kaer Maga itself. Aru knows that like most of the holdings they’ve passed near and through, Korvosa itself has successfully claimed the holding, and the party is reminded that the city-state they approach has not always been on the best of terms with Korvosa.

The hinterlands are a mix of hilly plains, with low valleys carved from ancient rivers that once brought sediment down from the Cinderlands when the storval was not as barren. There still remain streams and rivers, such as the Yondabakari, which flow from the Cinderlands, but the rich soil below the plateau points to a more verdant time.

Magda snaps out of her haze for a moment, noticing three winged creatures flying low to the ground and approaching in a haphazard way, from the south. The party prepares itself as best as it can, but the creatures, soon recognizable as hippogriffs, do not immediately land.

Trinia looks up and seems surprised, ”that’s interesting- what are they doing?”

The party has seemingly no objections to Trinia coming with them, and so the party moves to the general store. In short order, their magical bags are stuffed with provisions and the party moves to head north northeast towards the cosmopolitan city of Kaer Maga.

Trinia is jolly company, seemingly someone subdued since the last time folks saw her, though she largely speaks with Aru and seemingly, Goro, though she mostly watches the signing that the possessed hand signs and chats with it. She seems to basically ignore Kaliyah, and keeps to herself at night.

Writhing the bag are: a wand of sending with 10 charges, two scrolls of dream, and four scrolls of teleport (CL 12th) for emergency trips back to Korvosa.

Trinia tries to catch Aru’s eye, ”I mean, I think Goro would want me, right?” The party briefly discusses things and doesn’t overtly object, so with little to do and limited time, they start to set out moving northeast towards the cliff top city of Kaer Maga. Neolandus and Vencarlo promise to stay out of trouble, and Jasan feeds the party a nice meal. Bethany comes downstairs and chats for a few minutes, thanking the party again for saving her. Trinia hugs her and tells her she’s excited to go on another real adventure, and Bethany blanches, hoping that Trinia stays safe. Jasan grabs some pullout bedrolls and beds, and says ”surviving in the wilds isn’t like the city. I recommend you head to the store in town and stock up.” I hand waved it before with Neolandus, but you’re all city kids and should prepare.[/ooc]

The party puts the satchel aside to look at later, and Neolandus nods, ”so, it’s settled? It sounds like this church - despite whatever misgivings I’m having, has the same goals we do. I recommend you all are wary about giving up too much. Your friend might be trustworthy, but even trustworthy people make mistakes.”

Aru knows a bit about Kaer Maga, basically the summary page on the wiki. He doesn’t know the tavern but it’s probably easy enough to find.

Vencarlo shrugs, ”but unless she knows everything, you’re probably going to have to go onto the storval - so I would prepare yourselves mentally and physically.”

Trinia sits up, ”well, I mean, I don’t want to impose - but I could help. They’re not looking for me anymore, and …” she fidgets, ”honestly it’s a little boring sitting here. Even if it’s risky, I’d rather take the fight to Illeosa even if it means danger.” She seems serious about this, ”I promise - I can take care of myself in a fight and in the wilds. Some of you - “ she meets some characters’ eyes, ”even liked my jokes - so I could brighten your spirits when times get tough. Plus, I’ve learned a lot of magic that I can use… and got pretty good at throwing daggers.” She retrieves a mithril dagger that you haven’t seen before and tosses it, catching it with expertise.

Vincent, since you took some damage from the first spines, you have to make two fort saves. You made one, please make the one that was missed as your first roll on your turn.

With other peluda in close range, the existing creatures move to simply attack.

green, Donovan, bite: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (2) + 20 = 22
green, Donovan, claw: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 27
green, Donovan, claw: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (10) + 20 = 30
green, Donovan, tail slap: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27

I don't think Donovan's stat block is correct, and his PC not level 13 yet, but I tried to re-calculate his AC. 28 normally + 3 additional deflection from his earlier shield of faith, +1 dodge from haste, for a total of 32, which I believe means all attacks miss.

Another one steps up and looks like they want to attack a few times, but can't due to the difficult terrain precludes a 5' step there, since I'm only counting the grey squares and not viny/planty as non-difficult.

blue, Donovan, bite: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (10) + 20 = 30 I believe this also misses.

The last one, seeing a little more effectiveness of their spines, does a similar tail quill explosion, trying to avoid their compatriot in the attack.

Reflex Save, DC 22 for Half, piercing damage: 6d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 6, 5, 2, 2) = 22 This only targets Luca (who gets a cover bonus), Tikroch, Chrysa, and Mila.

Peluda Attack Round 2/3 - Mila/Peluda/Everyone Else

Everyone is up!

Before long, the conversation, such as it is, ends.

Trinia raises her eyebrow throughout the conversation, and eventually raises a hand, "okay - I'm - look, I don't want to be a party pooper, but if this Kazavon character is a follower of... Zon-Kuthon" she whispers, "shouldn't we be careful about, you know, telling her what you're trying to do? Like" she seems to be considering her words, "maybe this friend of yours was looking for ways to bring Kazavon back to life." She shrugs, sheepishly, "just a thought - I don't know her."

Neolandus considers what she says, very carefully - and for a while. Looking at his friend, Vencarlo, adds "I think if they take care, they can avoid 'giving up' too much. Right?" He turns to the party.

Neolandus says slowly, "... I suppose...but -" there is a considerable pause, "I think at this point, we should be very careful about who we trust. Ultimately, we need to, at least, disable these midnight's fangs, if not destroy them. That may not be in her interest."

Marcus soon finds out that Laori is staying in Kaer Maga, which is directly in the path to their destination at the wider Storval Plateau. He makes it clear where the woman is, as far as can be explained. She's staying at Canary House in the Hospice district, but spends time during the day some days at the Burning Brand, which is a tattoo and piercing parlor in the Oriat district.

Jasan has his arms folded, but moves to a corner at this point, and retrieves a satchel, "figure as good a time as any. We got this satchel a few days ago - I'm not sure who sent it - the porter was hooded and such, and retrieved it from a... magic bag. I took a look inside already, here - " he hands it to Vencarlo, who looks inside, and then chuckles, "looks like Cressida still had some strings to pull. How that woman knew where to send this... Here -" and he hands it to the party.

Marcus whispers into his stone, and a moment later, he hears a quiet voice, seemingly in a hushed tone someone, speaking back to him, but nobody else can hear what’s being said.

He seems to be concentrating.

Neolandus smiles slightly, ”such a thing seems likely, at this point. She may be able to remove it, but I doubt it can be taken from her by force. Furthermore, given this thing’s power - it seems likely that she has some freedom of movement effect. Or, from what I know of her spellcasting, she possibly has that effect otherwise. Since the assassination attempt - she doesn’t leave the castle much, anyway. And as the seneschal, I know that Castle Korvosa is impregnable.” There is confidence and pride in his voice, but it’s almost wistful.

Neolandus hesitates a moment, then shakes his head, ”the Field Marshal and her allies will have to do. There’s few we would trust with this information, and now that you all know my suspicions - well, what would happen if one of you were captured? If the Queen truly has Kazavon’s fangs, as soon as she found out she would kill you.” He says this matter-of-factly.

”Aside from seeming invulnerability, her magical power has likely only increased. The one thing she can’t account for is a way to stop the artifact. Her hubris makes her believe she is untouchable. Let us take advantage of that.” He has an open hand, gesturing to all, ”it likely will be somewhat difficult and unpleasant to leave the city, for many reasons, but can anyone else investigate this? Find a way to destroy the fangs, or at least negate them?”

Trinia looks confused. The disguise Kaliyah has is incredibly effective. It’s only after the woman dismisses some of the mundane and pseudo-magical effects hiding her identity that the bard, squinting, recognizes her. She smirks, ”huh, you’re the marine.” She opens her mouth to say something and then closes it, shaking her head slightly, and she inhales and exhales. Composing herself, she shrugs and seems to wait for someone else to say something, and doesn’t even bother looking at Kali anymore. The fear and hatred on her face that was so obvious when they last saw Kaliyah and Trinia in the Kroft’s office is gone, either she’s hiding it or suppressing it well, or she let it go. It’s been replaced by indifference.

Vencarlo looks at the exchange and frowns slightly, both at Trinia and Kaliyah, an unsettling expression, given that he’s taken a significant amount of abuse - being captured and tortured, losing his academy, and losing his city - with only a smile on his face. The older to the party known to be a vigilante seems nonplussed.

Neolandus hesitates, watching the exchange, to see how it’ll end, but when nothing further happens, he takes a breath, ”well - here’s what I know. I think Queen Illeosa has found something, something powerful. Why? The evidence:”

He goes on to explain
When Neolandus confronted Queen Ileosa about King Eodred II’s death, her response was to send Red Mantis assassins after him—proof enough of guilt to Neolandus. Through a combination of luck and knowledge of the castle’s layout, Neolandus escaped and went into hiding with his friend Salvator Scream in Old Korvosa.

After he recovered from the attack but before Salvator handed him over to the Arkonas, Neolandus spent much of his time conducting clandestine interviews, poring through records in Endrin Academy, and piecing together rumors to try to determine what caused Queen Ileosa’s sudden personality change from a petulant queen to a scheming tyrant.

Neolandus’s knew that Queen Ileosa had been “borrowing” the treasury key to look through Korvosa’s treasures. Neolandus was also familiar with several old and obscure legends about the rooms below Castle Korvosa— chambers, it was whispered, used to hide something of great power or terrible evil. He’s heard mention of something called “Midnight’s Teeth,” believed to be a sacred relic of great import to the Shoanti. Circumstantial evidence indicates that the Shoanti kept these teeth somewhere inside the pyramid that now serves as Castle Korvosa’s foundation.

Further research uncovered a chilling old legend. Several hundred years ago, a blue dragon agent of ZonKuthon named Kazavon brought the orcs of the Hold of Belkzen to their knees before attacking Ustalav and Lastwall, until he was finally defeated and his remains scattered. According to the legend, some of his body parts, including his fangs, contained fragments of the dragon’s essence.

Neolandus suspects that Midnight’s Teeth and Kazavon’s fangs are one and the same. The description of the queen’s new crown sounds to Neolandus as if she now wears the teeth on her brow, the implications of which trouble him greatly.

Hard facts about Midnight’s Teeth remain sparse, since Korvosa’s founders didn’t think it important to preserve much in the way of Shoanti culture. Yet the Shoanti have very strong oral traditions, and if anyone knows the truth behind Midnight’s Teeth, that truth is doubtless hidden among their historians up in the Cinderlands.

After Neolandus finishes explaining, Vencarlo puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, and the seneschal looks weary. The fencing master clears his throat, ”for a number of reasons - mundane and magical - this area is safe, as anywhere near Korvosa can be. So it’s best if Neolandus, with his knowledge of the castle and with the political standing to actually take back Korvosa, remain here for a time. I should do the same. This means that investigating the cinderlands and the storval falls to you. Are you up for it?”

Looking at leaving Donovan out of this one since I'm not sure if they'll be able to come back. Make sure to use the new Roll20 map.

You can have any hours/level or 10 minutes/level buffs that you want up.

Looks like Mila is up!

Korvosa Hinterlands Map you can use.

Neolandus shakes his head, "the wilds - keep to the wilds. We can't be seen, not even in Harse, not until we get to the ranch." Vencarlo rummages through some of the things he has in his reclaimed bag, and retrieves a small, dull silver amulet which he hands to his friend. "this'll prevent scrying, and such." The seneschal nods and puts it on. So, the party travels north across the grassland and low hills towards Harse, through the wilds. Harse is about 45 miles away, so I'll assume a speed of 30 while traveling, or, about 5.5 days.

The trip is uneventful, though camping is not particularly pleasant, somehow Neolandus had some hidden skill at surviving in the wilds and food and water are sufficient, though roughing it certainly is not what the party is used to. Soon they reach the place where the Sarwin River merges with the Falcon River.

Venarlo retrieves a disguise kit, and says "okay - we will use the ferry service, but break up our crossing according to a random schedule." It's clear he's thought carefully during the trip about how to get to the Blackbird Ranch. "There are guard patrols, and we can't be seen." He gestures towards Kaliyah, "I assume you can take care of the matter on your own?" as he smiles slightly.

Soon enough, the identifying armor and weapons are all packed away as everyone prepares out of sight of the road and ferry. Vencarlo retrieves a set of dice, and rolls them a few times, thinking carefully. He points at various people and assigns them roles, "you, a newlywed couple." to Marcus and Magda, "Kaliyah, you're taking your aunt on a pilgrimage" and to Aru, "the three of us are merchants. We're going to stagger our crossing by a few hours each. Here are the disguises." His kit has some rubber noses, makeup, wigs, and other things, and he's soon able to get everyone situated, though he leaves Kaliyah to resolve the disguise on her own. People do not look much like each other.

Following his advice, the party passes through the ferry and through Harse. They make their presence known, and join up again at the outskirts, off of the road and head north of the village.

After the organization, but still wearing the disguises, a thirty-minute walk north of town along the Sarwin river finds the party at a moderately sized horse ranch sitting comfortably in the cleft of two low hills topped with small copses of fir trees. This is Blackbird Ranch. Near the entrance is a barrel-chested man with black hair and mutton-chops, wearing suspenders. Next to him stands a woman in her early-teens with short, blond hair, and an infectious grin, unmistakably Trinia Sabor, though she seems to be somewhat better 'equipped' she seems to be wearing some fancy armor and magic items and has a few scars on her arms, and a small one on her face and neck. She waves slightly at everyone as they approach, and whispers something to the man she's near, who nods.

The man cheerfully calls over, "ahh, y'all must be interested in those horses - come, come, sit a spell and rest your bones, and we can have a discussion." He gestures for everyone to follow. Trinia seems tight-lipped, uncharacteristically, and the party follows Jasan into the barn. He quickly points out a few of his horses that seem young and sturdy, and starts to haggle a bit with the 'merchant' that is Vencarlo, and eventually Jasan sighs, "not gonna be figured out now, maybe some dinner will help. C'mon down into my basement - my dining room ain't big enough, but it's cozy enough down there." He introduces everyone to his wife, who's in the kitchen making supper. With her is the other young woman the party saved, Bethany, who's eyes widen when she sees everyone. Trinia puts her finger to her lips and winks at the other girl, who blinks rapidly, and looks away. Jasan moves over to his wife, and embraces her, and the woman nods, and speaks to Bethany, and the girl turns away. Jasan leads the party downstairs into a large basement with a few overstuffed couches around a low table, along with a long table that has a number of chairs. Once everyone is inside, he closes the doors, shakily, and exhales slowly.

Jasan looks uncomfortable, and grimaces at Vencarlo, who pats him on the shoulder, and turns to the party, "erm - by chance, does anyone have a few... hundred?" He turns to Jasan again, who nods, "500" and Vencarlo turns back, "500 ... gold for our friend, here. He lined all of his basement walls, carefully with lead. Hidden behind panels and such. We can speak freely here, finally." Jasan moves towards the table and motions for the others to sit. Trinia also heads down the basement stairs and performatively flops into one of the couches, resting as she waits for the party to get their bearings.

Vencarlo pats himself down, "I'm afraid what's left of my money went up in smoke with the academy, apologies".

Wiping her tears away, Vera nods, and Majenko does a flip into the air.

Vencarlo also approaches Vera, and nods his head, extending a hand respectfully. "Thank you, young lady. You've already done so much for me, and for the people of Korvosa. This is not the end, I think, but perhaps just another beginning. We will see each other again." He moves his other hand to embrace her for a hug, and then steps aside for Neolandus to also shake her hand. "If it were not for people like you and your mother, miss, we would have been in much worse circumstances. I expect Cressida will be able to help you in your mission, so if you see her, please give her my regards." Vencarlo nods in agreement, and Vera inhales and exhales slowly. After hugging her best friend again, she shakily gathers her things, and puts a hood and scarf over her head. A moment later, she gestures, and her appearance changes to look like a chelaxian peasant, shimmering, "okay - I've got a little walk back to the city, so I'll come up with a cover identity on the way. Good luck! I'll keep tabs on you when I can."

With that, Vera Esmeranda steps away, and begins to make her way along the shore of the Jeggare, back to Korvosa.

Vencarlo turns to the others, "well, an unfortunate development, she will be missed. Let's get to Harse quickly, or at least, away from the shore, before camping. If we hustle, we could stay at an inn a few hours away as well." He leads the way, along with Neolandus, and the pair walk silently for a while, before the pair drop back and - once they are about a mile away from the city, begin to ask a little about the developments in the city, and what happened recently. Recall they've been imprisoned long enough not to be up to speed, for example, they did not know Marcus Endrin was even 'assassinated'.

Feel free to roleplay explaining what happened, or not. As the party explains, Neolandus grows introspective and concerned, as if he's thinking carefully, and starts to ask specific questions about how the Queen acted, and what others in the city were doing - such as the Red Mantis (how they dressed, etc), but in general I will assume the party tries to fill them in with information, even if the players don't remember everything.

The thin one nods, and an opaque bubble appears around Vincent and the other humanoids.