Week 32
TL;DR - Deals with devils, er I mean, daemons are made, beer, wine and whores are ordered, pranks on guards, discussions and job offers, Sorrel and Jaxzon get arrested again.
The party continues to huddle, listening to the vast horde of rats wandering outside. One of the lead rats can be seen trying to be stealthy wearing similar garb to Itchy and wielding a couple of magical glaive like weapons.
Combat between the rats and perhaps the demons can be heard, until suddenly a large amount of them get pushed back with blasts of blue and red magic. One of the rats almost spots the party in the crack, but is taken out before it can raise the alarm.
A big cloud of green gas flows by coating the party, Sorrel and Zer0 fail to save against it and take a large chunk of acid damage. Once the cloud passes by the area outside is eerily quiet… Until a steady clacking sound, like a staff hitting the ground can be heard coming from the demon side.
Iliqua pokes his invisible head outside to see who is coming and sees an elderly vulture like creature looks straight at him and greets him. He quickly steps back into the cavern, followed by the creature, who asks if the party would like to move to a more comfortable location.
Itchy tries to make an escape, but the creature casts another spell to block him. It asks the party to step outside, but the party declines. Jaxzon complains that his lion exploded, Itchy continues to try and get past the invisible wall.
Sorrel finally agrees to head out, almost stepping on Iliqua in the process. Jaxzon follows, roughly trampling Iliqua in the process. Zer0 and Iliqua stay put. A thank you is given to the creature for helping the party out. It then offers a trade of information, Jaxzon mutters about missing his pie. Memories are requested in exchange for safe passage.
Jaxzon is quick to offer his memories, the creature makes some hand movements and takes some memories of his god, temporarily blocking access to Divine Smite. It offers a memory of Jaxzon’s brother walking along the beach with two attractive women. His brother and the women grab some people on the beach and drag them into the water.
The same bargain is offered to Zer0 who declines on the basis of not having enough memories as it is, citing that the cost is too high. Sorrel does take up the offer, losing the power of prediction, but gaining imagery of a vault under the giant arachnotitan holding a fragment of Shattered Time, a key nexus point inside an arcane tornado, and a third in a shipwreck deep under the ocean (the party may have been here already).
Iliqua also declines the offer, talking about an old professor - “Whatever you do, don’t make a deal with the devil.” The creature says that it’s a daemon instead and that deals with it are perfectly fine, then explains where it’s from and why they do the things they do (base pleasures).
The creature taps his staff and Sorrel and Jaxzon disappear, the it leaves again, the tapping of the staff eventually fades. Zer0 and Iliqua decide to stay where they are.
Jaxzon and Sorrel feel like they’ve been ripped from their universe, seeing very strange sights, hitting a pane of glass and finding themselves back on the dock in Gaensvale. Looking around the port, a strong feeling of nature can be felt and Alarielle appears, demanding how they got in - getting a vague description of the Lord of Change. She seems shocked at how they survived, and calls some guards to protect the two, stating that yet another war with the Fae might be on the cards.
The guards ask where the two would like to go, Sorrel suggests they go to a pub somewhere to drink and resummon Jaxzon’s lion. One of the guards takes Jaxzon to a park instead, and the other takes Sorrel to a pub. The Scattered Pie is suggested and the guard and Sorrel head off. Jaxzon’s lion is resummoned, looking a little worse for wear, getting some TLC from Jaxzon and both heading off to the same pub.
Sorrel heads into the pub, finding a large number of very drunk humans and dwarves. The guard moves to a corner to keep an eye on her, getting a lot of wary looks from the rest of the patrons. Food and drink are ordered for both.
Sorrel asks the bartender about having some fun with drinks. The bartender noting the guards, says she can’t be involved and walks away, nudging someone nearer the bar on the way.
Cut back to Zer0 and Iliqua who are trying to find a safe spot between the two main forces, looking for something better than a crack in the wall, but finding nothing really suitable. Itchy reappears asking if the two are ok, Iliqua quizzes him about how to assassinate people. Itchy asks if the party are still keen to kill the rat king, getting told that it should happen in the future.
Back to Jaxzon and Sorrel, who are approached by a shady looking person who offers drugs. More beer is ordered, Jaxzon offers to buy some for the guards who decline on the basis of being on duty. Jaxzon continues to badger them, finally getting them to drink some wine. The shady guy looks nervous but continues to talk to Sorrel - two gold coins and a package are exchanged.
The guards arrive, the shady guy leaves, wine, beer and pies are delivered. The guards are looking away at the right time, Sorrel slips the drugs into the wine and they are given to the guards. The guards are quickly drunk, one of the guards shrinks and eventually turns into a very happy rat. The other guard approaches a prostitute and leaves with her. More food and beer are ordered and Jaxzon gets involved in a drinking game - winning the first game easily and gaining 5 copper. He uses his winnings to find a prostitute of his own. Sorrel returns to the Acadamy with the rat guard, who changes back into human along the way. A group of other guards ask what she’s doing - she explains the situation and the group take them to the barracks and placed in a cell.
Zer0 and Iliqua are resting when a flustered Alarielle finally arrives and takes them back to Gaensvale. Alarielle casts a spell to find out if anyone is hitching a ride within their minds. She asks about Jaxzon and Sorrel, getting a look of surprise from Iliqua.
They are taken to a garden throne room and Iliqua explains the story from going into the forest, adjusting the story to make him look better. Alarielle asks about the warp stone, warning that magic may be affected and maybe not storing it in his pocket. She explains what may have happened to Sorrel and Jaxzon, possibly using them for gateways.
She offers to transport the two to the Academy and asks if they wish to be part of the assualt - Iliqua asks that he get caught up on previous tasks first, and getting the headmistress involved. Bartering with the pixies is underway to get prisoners back. The two head off to their rooms to rest and recover.
Jaxzon wakes up alone in a very nice bed, somehow only the bottom half of his armour removed… He dresses, prays to his god getting a distasteful response, and leaves the room. The inn is mostly empty, the bartender asks if breakfast is required. Jaxzon asks what happened to Sorrel, then chows down on the stew. He heads outside to find his lion being used by several children as a play thing. One of the offers a pretty rock for a ride on his lion, getting granted a short ride.
Sorrel is released from her cell, given some slop/gruel for breakfast. She heads back to the Academy, with one of the guards following at a distance.
Zer0 and Iliqua wake up and head to Iliqua’s old room to catch up with the rest of the party, finding Sorrel along the way. Sorrel uses a sending stone to call Jaxzon to update him on where everyone else is. Jaxzon heads to a magic shop to see if there’s anything new - a very shiny axe is offered, but the cost is waaaay to high (50k O_O). He eventually leaves and heads to the Academy.
Jaxzon casts command on the guard, using “leave” which works. The guard fails his check and locks himself outside. Soon after the guard stomps off, perhaps to get reinforcements. Jaxzon and Sorrel explain their side of their deals with the Lord of Change, giving Iliqua and Zer0 a long stare about how they handled his brother when he “died”.
Sorrel suggests using Jaxzon’s lion in a scam to gain some cash, but she is talked out of it, getting explained that it’s probably obvious that the lion is not natural. The headmistress and the angry guard return, Jaxzon is arrested, again, and taken away. Iliqua offers wine, Sorrel accepts but the headmistress declines.
A conversation is had about whether the party actually completed the task (nope), and what to do next. Jaxzon meets the sewer druid that sold them the tree drugs for Zer0. The headmistress explains that the party will soon be evicted from their nice rooms. Zer0 thanks her for the time.
Sorrel needs to find money, and talks about selling the warp stones. Iliqua is probably going to donate his to the Academy, but strongly suggests that Sorrel keeps hers. She heads back to her room and proceeds to strip it of all nice stuff.
Jaxzon is again pulled in front of the Phoenix Guard who recognises him. Charges are explained, Zone of Truth is cast to make sure he tells no lies. He is asked if he magically influenced a guard, to which he replies truthfully. A fine of 200 gold is levied, Jaxzon tries and fails to reduce it to 100. Jaxzon eventually pays the fine and is released, but is warned that greater consequences will be faced if he is ever in the room again - “Promise on your god that you will not be seen is this room again.”
Iliqua uses his sending stone to message to talk to Alarielle, asking about the assault and explaining that he’s free for work. A very tired sounding Alarielle responds saying that he can come to the Royal Palace and talk to the guard about essentially being a contractor to the military.
He explains this to Zer0 and Sorrel who both agree, keen to make some money as both are very short of gold. Jaxzon heads back to the pub, asking about the pies and getting told that they’re not available until later. He heads back to the Academy, meeting up with the party. He also agrees to do the military job to try and make back the gold he lost in the fine.
Iliqua and Sorrel talk about finding someone in the Academy to give or sell the warp stones to. They head off to talk to the deputy head of research, showing him the warp stone and getting a look of alarm in return. He asks what he should do about it, getting it changed into a wind gem or leaving it with the research team. 250 gold per stone is offered, Iliqua has a quiet converstation with Sorrel about it, who eventually agrees to the price. A split is worked out and the gold is distributed.
Talk of breaking the sewer druid out of jail is quietly debated…