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Episode 6: The Spider and the Flies
We began as Endellion listened in on the scenes unfolding around the jail complex. Despite the cacophony and chaos, she decided to return to Casper’s hideout, trusting that her companions would succeed in breaking out Medea. Having arrived back at Casper’s and trying unsuccessfully to coax conversation from Goff, she warmed herself by the fire. Meanwhile the others were up to their knees in wastewater in a rancid reservoir beyond the city walls. They sought out a nearby well and some clean clothes to regain a little dignity, though I had “gone into his shell” after his struggles during the breakout. The worst of the filth removed, Kelnys, Dolly, Raidion and “I” (the character not the me) re-entered the city, bought some ill-advised mystery meat and returned to the hideout.
Once there, you washed, rested and ate. Raidion took the opportunity to interrogate Dolly on her connection to the prisoner, Indy, and the truth of her past. They shared a little of their lives before resolving to try to trust one another as Kelnys secretly listened in. Casper attuned Endellion to the gem that allowed entrance to the hideout and they shared a secret conversation which I shan’t spoil for players who weren’t present (so if you want want to find out about that go back and listen to the previous episode).
Endellion brought “I” out of his funk with an elaborate ruse to convince him he was capable of controlling the gem. As the others slept, Kelnys spied Radion placing something into Dolly’s pack.
When you woke the next morning, Raidion (full of apologies for his previous impulsiveness) asked the rest of the party to trust him and to follow along with his plan to speak to Grawnoth. It was now that Kelnys spoke up regarding Raidion’s actions in the night, but a search of Dolly’s bag revealed nothing. Raidion removed a leather pouch from his pack containing a deck of cards. I reached out to touch it and felt a jolt of pain in his head, hearing whispers coming from the deck.
Raidion told the others that the cards called to him and that he feared using them, though (at Kelnys’ request) he removed the deck from the leather back and you observed that patterns of mountains, thorns and black water on the cards matched patterns in the Palace of The Virtuous.
With the deck carefully placed back in its leather bag, you headed to The Crest (the highest level of Baruun) still partially under construction. There, you made your way to Grawnoth’s estate where Brunhilda (captain of his guard) led you to his chambers.
Propped up in bed you found Grawnoth unnaturally aged since you last saw him at the peak of Mount Atria. You told him of Barabask’s betrayal and Jasmee’s wisdom. Horrified, he told you the truth of the world: that mortals were first bred as soldiers in The Divine War and that the gods placed some of their own power into these mortals, and as their numbers grew, they drained more and more divine power from the gods. Realizing that the collective power of mortality now outweighed that of the divine, The Virtuous, Vile, and Wild agreed a truce; creating three separate planes of existence (Reliquiae, The Fae Wild and The Shadowfell) so that mortality could never unite and destroy those that made them.
Endellion told Grawnoth of the voices in the orbs and the words “The Shadow Will Flood”. Showing him the mask, you you’d taken from the group in the forest, Grawnoth knew nothing of the words, nor “the child” mentioned by the voices in the orbs, though he speculated that the forest group may be affiliated with The Vile and that this child of a god could hae been the reason that the powers of The Virtuous faded suddenly a century ago. Perhaps there is a new demigod.
He also revealed that the Antiqua had tied their lives to that of their deity (ie. with The Virtuous dead, the Antiqua’s powers would diminish and they would die. Danily the halfling cleric of Persephone had already fallen. Grawnoth planned on telling the Council of Equals the truth in a few days once he had recovered his strength. Raidion showed him the deck of cards and though Grawnoth didn’t recognize them, he could sense great magic coming from them. You then asked him where to find the other Antiqua and he told that they would have returned to their respective capitals with the exception of Parvus who would be at The Sanctum (the seat of dragonborn power).
Grawnoth then told “I” that he did not think that Themself was responsible for the deaths of the other Virtuous and that they may well have sought refuge in The Old Dark (a semi-mythical place in kobold culture said to be the place where they first came into being).
Though Grawnoth could not tell you where to find The Old Dark, he thought Parvus would know.
Led by Raidion, you asked to be allowed to go to the Council of Equals yourselves and to warn them of the coming danger, fearing that Grawnoth’s condition would not improve that that he (as Danilo had) would succumb to death. Grawnoth was (at first) reluctant to do so, fearing Raidion’s impulsiveness, though eventually he agreed and sent you off with a letter than declared that you spoke with his voice and in his name. You made your way to the Council of Equals and gained access to the council building, having left your weapons at the gate (though Endellion and “I” managed to hide a dagger and thieves’ tools about their persons).
Endellion was keen to keep her head down throughout and spotted a red-haired, mustachioed man entering a chamber as you were led to see Trusk Moore, High Advocate of Baruun and leader of the Council of Equals. Dolly recognized this man to be Riodhir Grenweird, the Reeve of a small town called Mouse.
Once inside Trusk’s chambers, Dolly told her of the group in the forest and the threats made upon her life. She seemed relatively unconcerned, though revealed that she had already tightened security since the disappearance of a member of the council, the dwarf Rashiid. Then Raidion played the hits and told Trusk that the gods were dead. Blindsided and unwilling to accept this, she stormed from the the chamber to see Grawnoth herself. As you followed, Dolly went to open the door through wich she had seen Riodhr Grēnweard disappear before Endellion stopped her, insisting that 'it’s not where we need to go". Skeptical, Dolly agreed, but told Endellion that a conversation would be required down the line.
You reclaimed your weapons and headed back to Grawnoth’s residence, where you waited until Trusk emerged after long discussions with the Antiqua. She was now accepting of the reality of the situation and returned to the council chambers to inform them.
Raidion pressed Endellion on her actions outside Grēnweard’s chamber, though got short shrift. You headed to the Orange Tree Tavern for a drink to touch base and take the edge off, but after Endellion said she heard a voice within, she suggested a different location. you decamped to the Wise Walker where Dolly and Endellion studied one another in silence before Casper burst in with news.