Hepisod Date IRL 10/27/2024

Dates Spanned On Ilia Khah: M04W2D13, Year Restriction 446

Events Summary

The party finishes navigating the ancient cave dungeon, seeing clues they tie to constellations, strange takes on modern religions, and ancient Druidic practices. Fisk, increasingly drawn to a hidden mission, pockets a powerful crystal in a mysterious glass orb, then wanting to hurry the party back to town as if possessed by a peculiar desire now the crystal is in his hands. Firnas also finds similar orbs, three of them tethered by magic, atop a pile of loose treasure. Vaelin finds a nifty little magic ring. At the temple, the party learns of strange occurrences surrounding a decayed assassin's body and the strange crystals that remain bring unsettling revelations in the form of questions rather than substantive answers. Following an interview, the group talks to Tina Johnson about their curious Bard associate and their intent to buy the ship, striking an agreeable enough deal. The group then pursues their first job, to apprehend a notorious local creep/crook named Turtle. Their victory is fought navigating deceptive testimonies and a pleasant chat over potato lunch before getting him to flee, break, and come out as Turtle, a man who apparently HATES getting caught. Back at her office, Mayor Tina assigns the party a new task, investigating a spontaneous case of a dozen stolen children’s blankets. The night ends with Haneastacia and Tina sharing a dinner date while everyone else is off to bed.

The Hepisod Anatomy, in Detail, by 'Stage'

Stage No. 1 ~ Cave Off

• Party decides against rest, for now. Instead pushes on through the cave dungeon. Fisk warns that the door to the left ahead opens, but the door to the right does not.
• Party spots the two signs Fisk has seen before. To the left, one has degraded beyond intelligibility. The one on the right has some integrity left, but in a script that is not recognized.
• For Firnas, the previously impenetrable rightward door opens gladly.
• Inside, the party discovers a mural enhanced with strange chalk markings. It includes a symbol that almost looks like one devoted to Lathander, as well as some depictions of fire and marigold flowers. Marigold flowers grow behind a strange alter, littered with misshapen bones. Hanea determines that ancient land Druid magic, similar to that to heal broken bones, is responsible for the strange bones. Party finds no valuables and moves on.
• Through the left door, Fisk briefs party on the pressure plate puzzle. Violetta seals the door behind them to keep the skeletons at bay, hopefully. Firnas reads to them an intact sign, "One of her Sister in the skies knows where to stand and proceed" and watches party try to interpret it. Firnas recognizes a Kostarran constellation, and suffers radiant retribution for his failed attempt.
• Hanea tries her own constellation in the pressure plate pattern, one from Ebonreacher culture. When Louis tries the test plate by the door, it yields to the party, free to enter the next hallway.
• The hallway is littered with ancient weapons and a chest that Firnas opens to find empty. Fisk leads the party straight past it for a whiff of magic that seems to call to him in a way he does not understand.
• Fisk's ability to detect magic goes haywire on the chest. Vaelin will watch him closely.
• Firnas instead looks over a pile of golden treasure as well as a collection of three strange bulbs connected by even stranger white cords of magical force. He will take these.
• Fisk opens the chest, finds a jade green crystal with a peculiar glow inside a similar looking bulb. This time, the tethers are on the inside, anchoring the crystal in place. It is unclear how they or the bulb were formed, or how the crystal got in or if it can be removed safely. Fisk will pocket this object before Vaelin can see it well.
• As he pockets the crystal and orb, Fisk gets an incredibly strong urge and sense of duty. Not knowing where it is from, it feels so natural, he is distracted by a strange mission taking him to the ocean sooner than later.
• Louis looks over the room, and a chest Kelzyr is inspecting catches his eye. They decide it is worth trying it, but it is locked, and resists Kelzyr with great force and apparent will and ingenuity. Louis gets the sense the chest is selective about the people able to open it.
• Firnas tries and fails. Vaelin tries and the chest gladly gives him the Ring of Uproot Vitality.
• Fisk has been impatiently on his way out, and the party will finally follow. Though the party questions Fisk why he is so quick to suddenly want to leave, he is able to cull their moment of suspicion somewhat and get the party on their way back to Tina and the Temple to fulfill their obligations. A temple by the ocean, that is.

Stage No. 2 ~ Bye Bye Body

• By the docks, Fisk breaks from the party. Vaelin stops him, but he claims something has been returned to him and he must do something. Louis complains he is clearly not about to do something related to monetary wealth headed for the docks with whatever he grabbed. But Vaelin says to let Fisk go. Louis will ultimately feel deceived.
• Fisk fulfills his obligation, and gets a rush of feel-good chemicals for following his instinct efficiently.
• Violetta greets the mayor, who is interrupted by Rigg Lounor, an important journalist in town. Rigg claims to want to buy information off the party, since they aren't telling her much. For the story and the people, you see.
• Tina will let an especially sad, tired looking Mitchell Csatlos and Barin of Whayleave take the party inside and explain the strange and tragic things that have happened to the investigation.
• By the bed formerly assigned to the body of one assassin't, Feoria will explain how the body decayed and crumbled into several crystals like the one Fisk found as well as a cerulean green powder that could seep through solid matter in its quest to find the ground beneath once more. The crystals teem with magic too strong to investigate clearly. Fisk asks Feoria if she knows them, and she explains they are a new phenomenon to her.
• Feoria will also report this happened to the body somewhat quickly. And the only things they learned from the body is that apparently it had no trace of a soul by the time it was at the temple, which should be impossible, and that the person had a neck tattoo devoted to a "strange camp" of some sort.
• Vaelin recalls that a similar crumbling to a powder that absorbs itself into the earth is common in his own tribe's Vaer'Thalas hunts. But the powder there is the wrong color, and the decomposition is much slower than observed here. Plus, those monsters don't seem anywhere near as capable as the assassin, using speech and such.
• Kelzyr verbalizes how baffled he is at everything surrounding him.
• Party goes back outside for their interview. Tina asks mostly light questions, including why the party was at the fight and what they saw. Hanea and Kelzyr do most of the talking, and are truthful and as detailed as they can be.
• The assassin't did not appear to have an accomplice. But Tina asks the party what they know of the strange camp or what their ties there are. The party claims not to know, totally truthfully. Tina will reveal that officials on at least sixty other islands also have no idea what those words could mean. But she presumes a larger investigation will be necessary.
• Haneastacia also brings up the Bard that helped them stop the assassin't before becoming very strange and hostile, very hesitant. How she wanted the party and city to surrender the body to her and not press further. They describe her appearance and pellian hat, and that she's a Bard. They also claim that she's interested in starting a new luxury hotel in town, and so Tina expects to catch her at the office somewhat soon.
• Before she scurries off, though, Fisk will add one more comment that the assassin't could be restrained with magic but not enchanted. And Louis will make his bid to buy the boat.
• Tina will explain that, yes, the boat is for sale and she has plans for the money. She likes the party, so is willing to strike a deal. The price of 7650gp is a guess, but one she will fight with her accountants with after they review Copperpacker's taxes. The first 1650gp are a down payment before the party is given the boat, technically still Mountport property and the party will still have to pay the remaining 6000gp and be willing to take on various odd jobs from the city. While they continue to do so, the boat will be held as reserved, and nobody else may purchase or inquire.
• She claims to have their first job ready. She wants to get back to her office, and she says that Fingies can explain the job. Vaelin asks for just a second more of her time, to ask if they could earn pay for any more of the assassin't investigation. She says she doesn't know how to set up that job on paper for them, but she would negotiate a price against the boat for any information they happen to find.

Stage No. 3 ~ Testudinal Blues

• Fingies describes the job. Guard has enough reports and knows of press and rumours enough to believe an arrest could be legal, but they are unable to confirm their suspect with enough confidence to make the arrest. He has never been directly observed by a guard in the act. He must hate getting caught and be somewhat careful about who may be watching. Citizen's arrest laws are apparently more lax, and the party may be a sort of contracted relief from public image fallout. As such, the price is high.
• The perpetrator in this assignment is called Turtle, the local pervert. He has been holding people in uncomfortable situations in alleys of late. His description is apparently a bald dwarvish man with auburn beard. He has been seen haunting the alley behind a restaurant where someone of that description has been fired of late. Near that, a case of breaking and entering has been reported. The resident claims a bald dwarvish man was the culprit. And now the reports are centered in an alley next to a somewhat new shop, called the "Part-Time Bookstore."
• Fingies sketches this out on Violetta's map, and the party makes their way over to the relevant district.
• Their first stop is the Comfort Eagle shop by the restaurant Turtle used to work at. Fisk is sent in with the gold artifacts from the cave, and Violetta and Louis observe his interaction. Him and Valyrye, the shopkeep, get on well. He gets his asked price of 200gp and she seems enthusiastic to work with him again, should he come upon more treasures.
• The party talks to Jeremy, owner of the Sput Hut restaurant. He offers them free food before sitting down to talk. He knows who Turtle was, let go relatively recently. He will explain that Turtle's resume didn't quite add up. For instance, Turtle claimed to own the Sput Hut, which Jeremy found weird because he founded and has always owned Sput Hut. But, he liked Turtle enough to give it a shot. Turtle was apparently good at first, but as time went on kept taking unreasonably many long breaks and seemingly disappearing. He had to be let go. That's all Jeremy knows. He gives the party some more food. He also lets on that he doesn't claim to be a reliable taxpayer.
• Violetta confirms the bookstore is nearby when Fisk asks, and the party makes their way there.
• The owner, matching Turtle's description exactly, claims to be called Jarrodd, and fidgets slightly when pressed for details of Turtle's recent life or charges.
• 'Jarrodd' is abrasive, and indirect. He sticks to a sales pitch for his wacko part-time bookseller business model ("Sometimes, we sell books") and deflects party questions. This gets everyone annoyed.
• Firnas picks up a self-help book from a mycomancer point of view.
• Fisk mentions aloud how he wants to just jump 'Jarrodd' at this point. Jarrodd lies about liking books more than alleys, and Haneastacia and Vaelin pick up on the lie.
• When Fisk declares a citizen's arrest, 'Jarrodd' attempts to flee via a trapdoor between his sales counter and the alley home to the most recent reports of crimes. Louis grapples him there, and he plays clueless. But in playing exasperated clueless he claims to know he got caught, loathesome as he finds getting caught, and calls himself Turtle. Lol.
• Vix bites him for kicks, he passes out from the blood loss and gore, and Louis heals him and makes sure he is bound for transport. Turtle got caught. Lol.
• Louis does complain about the bite in what becomes a large argument throughout the party.
• On the walk back, the bound dwarf and party parading him catches the eye of Guira Cannamon. She asks that Turtle be left outside supervised, but invites everyone else in. She claims something is seriously awry, and that there could be money involved. The party will elect to hear her out.
• Her and her partner, Elda, will explain that they are trying to hide from Guira's parents the fact they are grandparents. These elder Cannamons have visited recently, and an emergency with the baby meant Elda had to swinbg by late at night. This woke Guira's parents, and Guira made up a story about an attempted break-in and blamed it on Turtle's description from the Word-of-the-Port-of-the-Mount. Clever, but her parents ran to the guard with the lie. She offers the party hush money to ensure the city believes her lie and she stays out of trouble. When the party does not claim it is necessary, she lets them know she is rich and insists they take 10gp each for the peace of mind.
• She follows the party out, and mentions offhandedly she needs to go buy a replacement blanket for her babywhoisnotactuallyaflyingcannonballshutup, as hers went missing recently.
• The party members that went inside will explain to acting watchmen Kelzyr and Louis what happened, being mostly honest.
• Back to Tina's office! Fingies lets them in excitedly, and gladly takes Turtle when Tina calls him to.
• Tina records their credit of 185gp (1465 until you're legally allowed to sail it), thanks them for being so efficient. Everyone will make fun of how much turtle 'Hates' being caught.
• Firnas will talk about the Sput Hut and show Tina he brought her a snack. It didn't keep, but she appreciates the gesture for what it is and has quite a few nice things to say about Jeremy. Because of course she would. He's a delight, with a curious yet innocent obsession with the culinary history of the spud and innovations in ways to serve up spuds to his community.
• Though it is late, Tina will offer to explain another job that just crept in for them, to keep the ball rolling. Party is receptive.
• Eleven homes in a strange zigzag pattern across the central Mountport area have reported missing children's blankets since early afternoon. Tina does not know what to make of it, but her and the party will agree it seems plausible a lone and skilled thief is responsible.
• Kelzyr earns inspiration for a pun in line with Lily's Hepisod schemes in IK8MR Obsidian Vault.
• Mayor explains she has not issued a blanket statement about the incident, to not tip off the thief.
• Party desires rest for the evening, but takes names and addresses of victims from Mayor Johnson to check out in the morning. Though they do not tell Tina directly, they do intend to connect this to Guira and possibly start with her.
• While everyone else is off to bed, Haneastacia, requiring less rest, recognized the Mayor's long day for what it was and takes her to a pleasant dinner. By the end of a wonderful meal on Tina's dime, it is clear Tina thought of the event as a date and wants a second one, asking Hanea to choose their next restaurant.