Much like the previous session, we're still in several days of downtime before the festival begins. The following events take place at unspecified times over those days, so I kinda grouped them thematically. Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey and all of that. Festival starts next session!
"You up?"
Lotty is startled by the familiar voice in her head. Why would Berrik rouse her so late at night? There must be some kind of imminent danger! The voice quickly assures her that it's Derrik and everything is fine - he just wanted to check in. Lotty continues to be sleepy and confused and does not pick up what he's putting down. Derrik soon sees that this is not going very well, cutting his losses and awkwardly ending the conversation.
Potions:
Lotty takes the time to identify two mystery potions she's been lugging around since Ezra's tower. They are:
- Potion of Longevity: When you drink this potion, your physical age is reduced by 1d6 + 6 years, to a minimum of 13 years. Each time you subsequently drink a potion of longevity, there is a 10 percent cumulative chance that you instead age by 1d6 +6 years. Suspended in this amber liquid are a scorpion's tail, an adder's fang, a dead spider, and a tiny heart that, against all reason, is still beating. The ingredients vanish when the potion is opened.
- Potion of Vitality: When you drink this potion, it removes any exhaustion you are suffering and cures any disease or poison affecting you. For the next 24 hours, you regain the maximum number of hit points for any Hit Die you spend. The potion's crimson liquid regularly pulses with dull light, calling to mind a heartbeat.
Lotty decides to gift them both to Berrik. The years the scrying orb took from him are more obvious, given the lifespan of hobgoblins, and he is most at risk of coping with exhaustion as long as the caster of the Dream spell remains at large. He tries to politely decline, but Lotty insists. Lotty usually gets what she wants outta this party, so Berrik takes both potions. He drinks the potion of Longevity, gaining back 8 years and reducing what the orb took from 13 years to 5. He is grateful and pockets the other potion for later.
Lotty should be charging Null for all of this therapy:
Null finds Lotty in the kitchen one evening, determined to help with dinner. Lotty tasks her with reaching for things on higher shelves. Hopelessly inept in the kitchen, Null fees confident she won't screw this up. When there's a lull in cooking, Null decides to spill the beans to Lotty about her and Flynn's tangle with the cursed helmet in Ezra's tower. She explains how it first attacked Flynn and then it attacked her. It offered aid in defeating Azher, aid in undoing what was done to her (going so far as to show her a reflection of what she would have looked like). She goes on to tell Lotty that the only way she was able to escape the helmet was to take off the amulet and hope her tattoo would protect itself. It did, but she lost the amulet. Also, she may have lightly stabbed Flynn in the chest in the process. She's really sorry about how it all went down and hopes Lotty isn't even more disappointed in her. Lotty reassures Null that while she's still annoyed that she had to make another amulet, she isn't angry with her. Feeling a bit better, Null then asks Lotty to compare the child version of Null she saw through the orb to the adult version the helmet showed her. She wants to know if it was telling the truth or if it was a manipulation. Null changes her form and Lotty finds the resemblance between the two uncanny - The Null in front of her is very clearly an older version of the brown-haired, green-eyed child that Lotty saw through the orb. She is a clear relation of Null's Dara form, but this body is different. She is a bit shorter, her face fuller. She has a lithe build and bright green eyes, Her brown hair is cut shorter and styled with an undercut and braid. The right light shows faint colours peeking through the brown. Null asks Lotty if she thinks it would be alright to try out this body for awhile. Lotty is supportive, so Emily's gonna have to see how far she can push HeroForge's hair options when she goes to update Null.
Later, perhaps the same night, Lotty and Null are doing dishes. Null decides this is a great time to request more emotional labour from her friend. The rogue has been feeling unsettled since they discovered the truth about her mother. She cares for the woman's fate and wants more than anything to rescue her, but she is finding it difficult to manifest a deeper feeling of love. She doesn't really have a concept of what a mother means to her. Hoping to fill in the blanks, Null asks Lotty about her own mother. Lotty admits that she lost her mother when she was ten days old, and was raised by her Aunt Ella. She knows that Rose was a woodland gnome and that her father loved her more than anything, but that's as far as the connection goes. It was her Aunt Ella, together with Frug, that raised her. Love is less about blood and more about the people who surround you, the people you know. Null understands - she hopes that she will know get to know her mother and love her someday after they rescue her, but she is relieved to learn that she isn't broken for feeling the way she feels right now. Speaking of rescue, Lotty is from the north. Has she ever heard of a place like the one where she saw Null's mother? Thinking hard, she has! Her grandfather visited such a place when mine dust got to his lungs. While hospitals aren't very common in Altisha due to the availability of healing magic, there are a few places tailored to support patients with ailments that prove to be more chronic or less physical in nature. The only place of this kind in the north that Lotty knows about is the High Rock House of Healing. We're fixin' to depose someone in High Rock in the near future, so this is very convenient for us. Null and Lotty ends the conversation by affirming that in the same way you grow to love the people who surround you - the people you know - they care for each other.
Is somewhere called the Last Stand Inn really a good place to make battle plans that could decide all of our fates?:
Grug continues their days-long nap, so Lotty, Flynn, Berrik and Null drag the ice machine all the way to the inn. Curiously, Rhone is behind the bar and it's quickly clear that he does not excel in customer service. He tells us it's a temporary security measure, as they don't want to hire a new person before the festival. He and Flynn antagonize each other, with Null joining in a bit. Lotty tries to keep the peace. He seems to respect Berrik at least. Eventually we all head downstairs.
Remmi, Latharial and Mira are all at the high table. We deliver the ice machine and they all seem pretty stoked. Mira uses Telekinesis to transport the device to her room so that she can get it ready. The device will be used to freeze the harbour and create a sort of winter wonderland for the usually warm city. Sounds fun! Null mentions she doesn't think she knows how to ice skate. Not to worry, Latharial says she will teach her.
We ask about the kids. Remmi says they are at school. We find out that Remmi and Latharial took the the time to break the news about Niko and Silas, as us deadbeats had swerved our own wards and immediately took off for Ezra's tower without speaking to them. The party wonders if we're really cut out to raise kids - they certainly deserve better than what we've provided to them. Lotty asks about the possibility of finding them more stable caregivers, but that will have to wait until after our conflicts are resolved.
Remmi and Latharial ask how we fared in the tower. Flynn's bravado initially takes over, saying it was easy and fine. We soon correct the record - it was horrible and not fine and, in fact, Flynn lost his hand and his life. Berrik decides this is a good time to tell our allies what he saw in the Astral Sea. The last thing Ezra was studying before he left the tower - 100's (1000's?) of slumbering, gargantuan dragons lying in wait for something. Remmi seems to think this is connected to "Those That Came Before" and therefore Ezra/Azher. (Maybe we should follow up on what he means by that).
At this point, it's clear to Remmi and Latharial that Ezra wasn't at the tower. Do we have any idea where he is? Berrik describes the super-powered scrying orb and how he used it to find Ezra. All we know about Ezra is that he appeared to be underground somewhere in the Lands of Desolation, locked in battle with an unknown figure. We have no idea where to start looking beyond that. Remmi is troubled, as are we all. Ezra's safe return is integral to our long-term success against the Marionettist. Remmi tells the party that he will need to go search for Ezra himself - he will bring Mira, perhaps Kel. Rhone can stay and run things in his absence. Wait a sec, why can't the Ashen Company go find Ezra?
Latharial breaks the news that she will be marching their forces north to Zanidonia shortly after the festival, and she is asking the Ashen Company to honour their agreement to help liberate her homeland. Calitrax and the Marionettist are amassing power too quickly and so we cannot delay the war campaign long enough for us to find Ezra - it will have to be either/or. Latharial continues to describe the plan in more detail.
1) Latharial will publicly martial our forces and march northward. She will make a show of settling in for the long haul, building outposts and laying sieges. She wants to avoid open warfare with her own people and pull Calitrax's attention her way.
2) Meanwhile, the Ashen Company will infiltrate High Rock directly and cut off the head of the snake. Latharial is hoping that doing this will net them a victory without mass bloodshed.
Caveats: We cannot teleport into High Rock - we will have to sneak in and we CANNOT be caught, or else this whole plan is for naught. Calitrax has taken steps towards lichdom, so we must find and destroy her phylactery before we confront her. We cannot rely on Sending Stones for communication, as there is no way to tell who is holding it (we can still rely on Flynn's book however). Also, Calitrax is able to consume souls to bolster her powers. Not sure how we overcome that, but I guess it's good we're aware?
Null expresses concern over being sent into a hotbed of Marionettist activity while she still bears the mark on her neck. The amulet protects her from outside influence over long distances, but what if it can't be relied upon at close range? She made a promise to L and and she knows that her friends need her, but she is worried about losing control of her body in a place where there is no help to be had. She had been hoping that Ezra might be able to help her before the march on Zanidonia, but he remains lost. Remmi offers to perhaps bring Ezra north if they find him quickly enough. Lotty promises to knock her out if she loses control. Null buries her fears - we will have to make do and make sure we stay extra quiet until it's time to strike.
At some point, Flynn makes an impertinent comment to Latharial about her hating chairs. Latharial immediately understands what he's referring to and Flynn immediately understands that he fucked up. The Lady of Uud punches her fists together and doubles in size - she is furious with Flynn over the invasion of privacy and rebukes a very uncomfortable Flynn until he apologizes. Null's got heart eyes over this whole encounter. L reverts to her original size after extracting an apology from Flynn, who promises not to do it again.
Now that things are awkward, the discussion trails off. Null asks L when and where she should pick her up for the festival. L is evasive, replying with "You know where to find me". Null is momentarily confused, wondering if she's missed something, but she soon realizes L is being cheeky. With that, the party tries to get excited for the upcoming festival. We hope it brings joy to the populace, as well as to ourselves. Gods know we need a bit of uncomplicated mirth before the gravity of what comes next sets in.