Session 9
The Fated Eight took a small detour from Dae’hya’s escort and regrouped with Graxious at the Roan Chapel. Graxious spoke with a follower of Malleoy, The Forge Of Creation about the Cleric expected to heal both the Amnesic Halfing Woman and Scabb - but all he could tell the Leonin male is that they were running late, probably due to the storm a few days prior.
Jin stayed to watch over the pair of cursed individuals whilst the others followed Dae’hya’s escort. The party were taken to Roan’s North and into a pub known as The Steel Fist Tavern. The entire building was less weathered/storied than that of The Rowdy Roan but it had a less-manic and more reserved atmosphere to it.
“I wondered if I might ‘ere from you today, Dae’hya. ‘Eard from one of me patrons that a young woman from outta town was killed earlier today - I bet this lot is her friends?”
- Garhys Steele’s introduction
The Fated Eight’s attention was caught by a gruff voice across the bar approaching them and speaking to Dae’hya. The man; a short, light brown skinned Human with grey hair, green eyes, and a decorative eye patch over his left eye, called out Morgyn by name and offered her an envelope - saying it had been left by an anonymous individual. Introductions were made between the party and Garhys Steele before Dae’hya left without saying goodbyes.
Garhys Steele admitted to having heard rumours of a man with a eyepatch causing trouble all over the city but the physical descriptions never lined up - and the trail went cold. He offered to speak with a contact of his in The Ratways, but it would require some coin to procure information. With a budget set - he requested they give him a few days to source what information he could.
Morgyn’s Letter
Section titled “Morgyn’s Letter”Morgyn shared with the rest of The Fated Eight that his contact in Roan couldn’t meet with him for safety purposes but had sent a pupil in his stead. They asked to meet at a place known as The Sanguine Script - where the owner would know what to do from there.
Garhys Steele admitted to knowing very little about the place and it wasn’t labelled anywhere on their map. The bar owner suggested the party would be better off finding someone who was more well-read than he to help them.
With the night in full swing and much of the city folk heading to sleep, The Fated Eight made their way back to The Rowdy Roan to speak with it’s owner about the missing bar staff; Giselda, Mathias, and Brannan, and to wind down a bit before hitting the hay. They all arrived just as last call for drinks was made and they each put in their orders before being shown to a booth by the staff. Aurevald noticed magic on the door’s lock as well as the back of the woman’s head - in much the same shape as that on Scabb’s throat.
The party noticed Morgyn drinking quite heavily as she was knocked temporarily unconscious by an especially strong shot - leaving the other 4 to have separate conversations.
Axton’s & Graxious Conversation
Section titled “Axton’s & Graxious Conversation”Axton and Graxious spoke about the events of the past few days - with Axton admitting that trust had been earned between him and the others from when they first met. Axton also confirmed for Graxious that he did indeed; with intent, kill Marco Moretti.
SHAI’s & Aurevald Conversation
Section titled “SHAI’s & Aurevald Conversation”SHAI and Aurevald spoke about the revelation the former had shared a few days prior - with Aurevald asking for details about The World Ending Event in question. SHAI admitted the full details were unknown but that he believed it would have a lasting affecting on the entire world - not just his people. Aurevald offered again his assistance to SHAI shou
Their conversations were interrupted by footsteps down the stairs as a middle-aged Half-Orc man approached them. He introduced himself as Grez Klimmet and asked what business they had with him.
The Fated Eight offered him their services in finding the missing staff and asked for more information. The Half-Orc bar owner admitted to knowing nothing about their disappearances - which Aurevald found suspicious. Through the use of a Suggestion spell - rubbing a little bit of honey on his lips - Aurevald managed to coax the truth out of the man.
“A week or so before Giselda went missing - I walked into the bar and saw a letter waiting for me. It said that my staff would suffer if I didn’t support ‘The True Monarch’ in the coming weeks.
When I went outside to check who’d left it - I saw a small Halfling man in a grey cloak running away from the bar and towards the Maiden’s Ward… I presume he was heading towards The Ratways but I lost him before I could confirm that.
I didn’t tell anyone at first because I thought it was a prank or something - when things started happening I was honestly scared they blame it on me.”
- Grez Klimmet’s admission
The party thanked him for the information, finished their drinks, and headed back to their lodging for the night.
Graxious Prayer
Section titled “Graxious Prayer”Graxious noticed the site where Lady had been killed; now protected by an Arcane Magic boundary where the outline of the Human Monk’s body could still be seen, and conducted a small but impactful prayer hopefully aiding her in the afterlife.
Turning In For The Night
Section titled “Turning In For The Night”Arriving back at Cynthia’s secondary house - The Fated Eight were greeted by magical lights and a tea pot that poured eight cups of hot tea. Each of the party made their way to bed quickly - with Axton and SHAI sleeping in the upper level whilst Graxious, Morgyn, and Aurevald slept in the lower level.
Bad Dreams…
Section titled “Bad Dreams…”The entire house was awoken by a loud scream from Aurevald - as those around him saw the Goliath male sitting up in his bed in a cold sweat and clearly disturbed by something. Aurevald insisted that he was fine and just suffered from a bad dream - before leaving the house to take a shower. The others respected his boundary although there was some tension between SHAI and Aurevald for a moment.
A New Morning
Section titled “A New Morning”The party awoke on the 13th of Vaelorn, 920 PD - with a warm and sunny day ahead of them. They headed to Cynthia’s shop on the way to the Roan Chapel to check in with Jin.
The Fated Eight arrived at The Witch’s Wardrobe where they saw an unknown man standing at the counter to speak with Cynthia.
“Hello there Cynthia,
I am Davison Theros - and a pupil of Thel - he’s told me you had a order placed aside for him that I’ve come to collect.”
- Davison Theros’s request to Cynthia
The man calling himself Davison noticed The Fated Eight enter and introduced himself to them. A short conversation occurred whilst he waited for Cynthia to find his order; in which he offered Aurevald an invitation to Veiled Visage University - a school in Roan where he was currently lecturing. SHAI, Morgyn, and Aurevald were all interested in the possibility it presented and accepted the offer graciously.
Aurevald seemed a bit suspicious of Davison and posed a question perhaps a bit too forward - with the Human mage suggesting the Goliath use that invitation with haste. Davison accepted the order from Cynthia and made his way out of the store shortly after.
Cynthia spoke with the party and apologized that she didn’t have a stocklist for them - admitting she’d been kept up most of the night following the previous days’ events. She promised to get that to them soon enough and also answered some questions about Davison. The party thanked her for her time and headed towards the Roan Chapel to check if the Cleric had arrived to cure the pair of cursed individuals resting there.
Check-In At The Chapel
Section titled “Check-In At The Chapel”Graxious spoke again with the follower of The Forge Of Creation and learned that the Cleric had contacted in the early hours of the morning - supposedly the storms blocked the Southern path towards Roan and the Vaena Kingdom haven’t had men to spare to clear it yet.
They checked in with Jin who was happy to keep watch over the pair before heading to Veiled Visage University so SHAI and Aurevald could both research at it’s library.
Heading To VVU
Section titled “Heading To VVU”The Fated Eight made their way to Castletown and over towards Veiled Visage University. Upon entering the campus buildings - clad in marble and granite, and decorated with deep blue accents - they realised the interior space was magically altered to be larger than the exterior suggested. They were greeted by a woman named Charlotte Evergreen who accepted their invitation and explained that once it was redeemed - they would only have 1 day to access the school’s resource.
The party agreed that now was as good a time as any to redeem the invitation and were escorted by a man wearing a deep blue blazer to the archives - the school’s library.
To The Archives / Meeting Aly
Section titled “To The Archives / Meeting Aly”Upon arriving at the library - Graxious’ attention was immediately caught by a Half-Elf woman standing behind a desk. She introduced herself as Alydove or ‘Aly’ for short but politely shrugged off the Leonin males advances. She admitted that she was in charge of the archives and provided SHAI and Aurevald the locations of the texts they were searching for.
”Where The Light Stays On A Little Longer”
Section titled “”Where The Light Stays On A Little Longer””When someone asked Alydove if the archives contained any smutty books - she blushed before shaking her head.
“Oh no! That type of book would never be found here - although there are some literary reviews on the smut genre if you would like to read that.
If you’re looking for smut though - you’d be best heading to The Sanguine Script. You can find it by waiting till the evening and heading where the lights stay on a little longer…”
- Aly’s advice on where to find smutty books
Books On Other Planes
Section titled “Books On Other Planes”SHAI; with Graxious’ help, found books on other planes - and Graxious noticed SHAI intently reading books and paragraphs about the Feywild. Graxious noticed that SHAI seemed unsatisfied with the information found in the books before heading back to the lobby.
Aurevald; with the help of Axton, found a book detailing the Primordial Titans that once ruled Vaelorys. Axton had a surface level knowledge on the history there and taught his Goliath companion with the aid of the book.
”…Before the Gods arrived on this planet - there were 4 Primordial Titans that harnessed the elements themselves. During The Fracture - it is believed that the Illchors; for an unknown reason, defect from the other Gods and allied themselves with these Primordial Titans. It was only through the Archon’s gift of Arcane Magic - granted by Whymselon, The Spark of Inspiration - which prevented the downfall of Mortal civilization. Mortals overcame the onslaught of both the Illchor and Primordial Titans before sealing away the remnants of each Primordial Titan.
Whilst their individual names have been lost to history, we refer to them as such - The King of Fire, the Queen of Water, the Emperor of Earth, and the Empress of Air…”
- An excerpt of a book about the Primordial Titans
Session Close
Section titled “Session Close”The session closed with The Fated Eight regrouping in the lobby after Axton searched for books on Arcane Magic machines for his own purposes.