Session 19: The one where Governor Literi promises the party a favor (May 21, 2023)
Last session, our heroes entered combat with individuals similar to the ones they encountered at Potion Pitstop a bit over a week previously. These figures, however, were more well-equipped and trained. And they seemed to have been expecting the party.
The battle spread across multiple stable buildings. Rormir was knocked out and revived by Elias. Elias managed to put two combatants to sleep, slipping off their rings afterward. Heph dueled with a gnomish artificer in a burning stable, encountering technology and techniques similar to his own.
Rormir finished off the engineer, only for his mask to fall off, revealing the face of Toddle Rustweather, an acquaintance of Heph from the Alchemist Guild who left Ivalgo about a year prior.
- Heph pulls the engineer Toddle out of the
burning stables and searches the body
- Finds the device that can cast Burning Hands, seems to have enough juice for one shot
- Finds a note in even, measured handwriting that says “Don’t force me to make this your fight.”
- He remembers Toddle left Ivalgo about a year ago to work at a weapons manufacturer in Fleetwood, with a name that starts with “Lucien”
- Heph wanders over to Rormir and Elias
- Rormir and Elias loot the other bodies
- Elias picks up a heavy crossbow from one of the heavies
- While everyone is distracted, the city guard approaches the stables
- Constable Haxa is leading the group, and is followed by Governor Literi
- The Governor smiles at the group and says “We’ve got to stop meeting like this”
- The Governor informs the party that they’ve saved him a bunch of money
- Rormir asks for a commission
- The Governor tells the party he has hired these agents to protect Ivalgo and advance its interests
- Since the party has obliterated them twice, he thinks he won’t get his money worth and is no longer doing business with the supplier
- He says he owes the party a favor, and they can discuss amongst themselves what they would like
- The Governor steps back to allow the party to discuss
- Heph finishes Identifying the mask on the archer
- There are three spells affecting it
- It is bound to the agents’ faces with a simple permanent binding spell
- There is a spell that detects when the individual dies, and does some sort of dispel magic when it happens, dispelling both other affects and making them undetectable after a few minutes
- The final spell, what seems to be the primary effect, which is similar to mind control, it creates an impulsion to follow a single goal that they are driven to accomplish regardless of the cost
- They seem to not require rest or food while they are driven towards the goal, the magic sustains their bodies
- As far as he can tell, the command is received from the first person they see through the eyeholes, and that command is what drives them
- In this particular instance, the command driving them is to travel to Ivalgo to ambush Heph, Elias, and Rormir in the city, and the Ivalgo city guard will help coordinate
- The group discusses what to do with the masked individuals
- The party wants to question them, but just dispelling magic may kill them since they haven’t eaten or slept
- Rormir wants to try Charm Person, it may work but they would have advantage on the saving throw and the duration would likely be reduced
- The party decides to talk to the Governor to ask him about the seller he was working with, and they will offer to take care of the bodies
- The party approaches the Governor
- Heph takes up the rear and seems a bit reluctant to talk to the Governor directly
- Elias puts his arm around the Governor and says “Guv, my bro”
- He shrinks back a bit and says “Yes, my bro. How’s up?” really awkwardly
- Elias says it’s been fun to fight these guys, and inquires about the cost of the demonstrations
- Elias offers to deliver the message about wanting a refund to the seller
- Literi says they are a product of Lucien
Dynastic
- Sentin Thornwillow is the man in charge of Lucien Dynastic
- The name was chosen for branding more than anything else; it sounds cool
- The Governor motions his guards further away, and brings the party into his inner circle to share some information about the company
- Sentin started it a little over a year ago, with the goal of producing weaponry
- He had an idea to manufacture soldiers, rather than goods
- Rormir offers the party’s services as participants in testing out any future suppliers, if he helps equip them
- He gives Rormir a Sending Stone, and says he will reach out in the future if any opportunities come up
- Elias asks the guv’ner about Ana, and he says she was employed to keep an eye on the party
- He says she is an independent contractor, not officially part of his spy network, and that she is now free to do as she pleases as her time following the party for him is over
- Elias offers that the party will take care of the bodies while Literi takes care of other stuff
- Elias gestures to the burning building, which at that moment partially collapses, and the Governor motions at some guards who start to put out the remaining fire
- Elias tells him the party will take care of the bodies and go deliver the message to Sentin
- The Governor offers the party the fastest horses for their trip when they are ready to go
- The Governor wants to take care of the bodies, but Elias wants him to allow the party to take the bodies
- Literi wants access to the masks to be the party’s payment, but Elias tries to convince him to allow them to study the masks as a favor, not just as a payment
- They ultimately conclude that the party will take the masks on loan and do some research
- The Governor offers for the guards to help the party transport the bodies through the city
- They arrive at Potion Pitstop
- The guards drop the bodies of the two remaining living agents off at the entrance to the store, and the party tells them they can leave
- One of the guards half salutes at Elias before Haxa slaps his hand
- Heph privately talks to his parents, and tells them about the situation
- He expresses his disgust with the Governor, and they agree they’ve never liked him
- They agree to help out with nursing these two back to health
- The party ties the unconscious people up, then head off to the find Mortimer Slaan to maybe dispel the magic on the masks
- At Ivalgo City University, there is quite a
commotion happening as the party approaches
- Rormir sees Mortimer being chased out of the University by a dean and a couple guards
- He is carrying an armful of books and is sprinting away
- He says “Good to see you, Octopus Man” to Rormir and keeps sprinting past
- The University folks stop chasing him after he gets off campus
- The party catches up, and he explains that the University folks don’t like him because he “doesn’t work there” and “keeps convincing students to make him magic rings” and “steals books on dark magic from their restricted collections”
- He asks about the ring he gave Rormir, Rormir says the ring is working great
- Rormir explains that Heph damaged the ring, but it’s still working
- Rormir asks if he can dispel magic, he says of course he can
- Rormir asks him to dispel magic on some dudes the party has tied up in the basement
- He’s game
- The party heads back towards Potion Pitstop
- On the way, Elias asks if Mortimer is done with the disguise
- He gives Elias the hat, pulls on his beard like shades and it rolls up, turning short and black, and flips his blue robes inside out and now it’s a leather jacket
- The hat is just a hat
- The party gets to Potion Pitstop, and Heph explains to his parents that Morty needs to stay there for a few days, but can help with the masks
- He immediately requests four meals per day from Spraus
- He dispels the magic on the masks, and Elias and Rormir each take one
- Heph doesn’t recognize either person
- Morty casts what is basically Detect Thoughts on the two unconscious dudes
- The big dude is Gurt, from Holden, the archer is Tal, from Barkspring in the Morenwald
- They were both criminals in prison previously, but it’s not clear how they got fitted with the masks
- Rormir asks Morty if he can teleport the party to Kolonie, but since they haven’t been there it’s probably not a great idea
- Elias asks him to teleport the hat, he normally needs a person to go with it but he’ll try
- He asks Elias to imagine a spot in Kolonie, and he’ll teleport it there
- He sends the hat to somewhere random in Kolonie, and Elias is really happy that the hat has been teleported off somewhere
- Before the party leaves, Elias throws his arm around Morty
- He asks him if he is interested in a job opportunity, Morty is interested
- Elias hands him a slip of paper with an address in the warehouse district on it and says ask for Jimmy and tell him Elias sent you
- Morty tips Elias a copper piece for helping him out
- The party heads back to the stables
- They are recognized and are led to the fastest horses
- Heph’s is unreasonably large (like a Clydesdale), and he has to climb up to it
- The party heads out towards Kolonie