Perrinor

Session 38 (February 1, 2024)

Last session, our heroes fought against an ambush of mysterious, whistling gray-cloaked figures. The battle was difficult, but with the help of TK’s guards they managed to route them. They recognized the tune being whistled from the bartender Bilbo of Frau Bino’s Excellent Casino. Elias noted the plain swordfish emblems the combatants wore as clasps and remembered Peg Leg Steve telling him of a powerful figure in the Wildeport underworld known as “The Swordfish”.

Karrl scouted around and spied one remaining cloaked individual who looked up at the hawk, placed a scroll on the ground, and left toward The Acreage. Karrl retrieved the scroll, which seemed to be an assassination job for a dwarf named “Harris Kelner” at Hexicon for a reward of 3000 gold.

The enemies defeated and Heph only slightly majorly injured, the party made their way to Tap That Glass. There they got Barth up to speed on how his shop would be used to house and protect Joerg, much to his anxiety. The party short rested, Heph improving on Rormir’s ring and Elias passing Jarles off for Barth to remove the fake sapphire.

Heph set up his Aerial Beacon to update his parents and to ask Mort to contact them. Spraus began to reply back, but was interrupted by the presence of someone else and strange chanting. A pop sounded, the message ended, and Elias received a Sending from Mort saying “I’m in the area, where are you staying?”

• Back during the short rest, Karrl showed back up
  • He relays that the guy went to a farmhouse, changed into work clothes inside, and went to work in a vineyard
• Elias tells Mort he needs to put him on hold and relays to the group that Morty is around
  • The Girl from Ipanema plays, that’s how Mort’s Sending works
  • Heph explains that it seems Mort teleported himself and Heph’s dad
  • Elias and Heph briefly debate if Mort can be trusted, they agree he probably can be and tell him we’re at Tap That Glass
  • Elias is terrible at giving directions, and Mort eventually gives up and says he’ll figure it out
  • While waiting for him to show up Elias and Heph briefly fill Maho in on who Mort is
  • They decide Mort has been helping out because he just needed a place to stay
• After about an hour, the group hears voices from outside, Mort and Spraus seem to have found the group
  • Elias walks up to Morty, says “it’s good to see you!” and hugs him, Morty hugs back, accidentally hitting him with Shocking Grasp in the process
  • Morty explains he brought Spraus along to finish the conversation
  • Morty introduces himself to Maho, and almost shocks her but doesn’t quite manage it
  • Morty explains he lives with Heph’s parents and works for Elias
• Heph pulls Spraus aside, as he does Spraus hugs Heph and says it’s good to see him
  • Heph and his dad briefly talk, and Spraus is a bit concerned about the dried blood all over Heph, but Heph convinces him to keep it between the two of them
  • The topic switches to Farley and the amulet, and Heph explains we saw it in the Magpie cave but it seems to be lost now
  • Spraus explains that his cousin Barlo got him into some black market trading for a bit, but he’s done with that now
  • Potion Pitstop was struggling due to restricts on imports from Homeburr, so Barlo convinced Spraus to buy some smuggled items, and it went well so he got pulled a bit deeper into it and started reselling them
  • The Governor figured out what he was doing and sent him evidence of it to blackmail him into not looking into anything that might happen to him
  • This was followed by the masked individuals breaking into Potion Pitstop, after which he stopped buying and selling any illicit stuff
  • They briefly talk about the Governor’s plotting, and Heph reassures him that he shouldn’t have anything to worry about from the Governor
  • Heph tells his dad about Toddle, and how it’s a personal thing
  • Spraus tells Heph about glowing military ships patrolling the coast near Homeburr
    • Lots of scary things going on
  • Maho was listening in to this conversation from behind Spraus
• Mort and Elias head off into a corner on the other side of the room
  • Mort asks how it’s going, and Elias says it’s going pretty well
  • Mort says business is booming except not really because all the shipments are being lost
  • Mort explains there are new ships in the sea knocking out their shipments, the ships don’t fly any flags, but they have an emblem carved on the side
  • Elias starts drinking a glass of water while Mort explains the emblem, which looks like the carving from the carapskit’s staff, and Elias does a spit-take
  • Elias uses prestidigitation to make the symbol show on Mort’s hand, and Mort holds it up, Heph noticing from across the room
  • Elias turns dramatically and enters storytelling mode, explaining about the carapskit and asking Heph a few clarifying questions as he went
  • Something clicks in his head, and he says nevermind I don’t care about this anymore
  • Elias tells Mort to engage with the ships diplomatically, and he orders him to acquire a vessel, sail out to the ships, and run out a flag with a symbol on it, this one looking like a castle made out of a series of diamonds, with wavy curved tree shapes growing from underneath it
  • Upon presenting this symbol they will either let him aboard or come aboard Mort’s ship, and Mort should offer to trade with them
  • Trade something there is an abundance of, like potions / alchemy supplies, for whatever they have, and also offer smuggling services to them
  • Elias emphasizes to Mort that he absolutely cannot describe Elias to them as anything other than the boss
  • Mort offers to do some spying for Elias, and Elias asks him to see what he can see, nothing specific he wants him to look for but anything he can find out
  • Mort should pretend he doesn’t speak Elvish, but listen in to anything they say secretly
  • Mort is planning to stick around for a day, and Elias asks him to take a look at the carapskit’s eye
• The group comes back together, and Mort tells Spraus that he’s going to take him out for the day for a bit of a vacation
  • Spraus seems resigned to it and seems ready to go along with whatever Mort is planning
  • Spraus says to check in before we leave town, and he seems a bit nervous about riding a bull in The Free Ride
  • Mort leads Spraus out of the shop, Spraus looking back apologetically at Heph and giving him a little wave
• Maho reveals she overhead things, and Heph explains that he’s not really cleaning up his dad’s mess at this point, he’s after Sentin because of Toddle
  • Maho tells Elias about a magic item shop, and Elias gets real excited and starts to march off
  • Joerg pokes his head out before we leave and asks Maho if she’s going to talk to TK
  • Due to the fact that TK’s people haven’t tried to kill Maho yet, he probably doesn’t want her dead
  • Joerg tries to run out to hug Maho, the guards keep him back and he motions Maho over to hug him instead
• The group heads out of the shop and heads north, towards Palast Markt
  • On the way there, Elias is distracted by the food for sale in the Royal Peace Park
  • Elias stops at all the stalls selling ecke and buys one of each to see which is really the best in the city
  • He manages to take a bite of 17 of the pastries, but is super full and couldn’t possibly eat anymore without puking
  • He takes a bite of the 18th, which is the absolute best so far, he then proceeds to puke the rest everywhere
  • Heph has also purchased that one, which is one of the cheaper ones but Maho says is the best, and just eats it while Elias stuffs himself
• Entering Palast Markt, Maho leads Heph and Elias to the magic shop, avoiding the carnival game where you hit the thing with a hammer where she has been banned
  • There is a sign on the building that says “The Widow Seer”
    • It’s very dark and gothy in appearance
  • Elias flips his cloak around to a tattered black cloak, pulls his hood up, and asks if we’re going in like that
  • Heph and Maho are just going in as they are
  • Inside it’s dark and creepy just like the outside
  • The shopkeeper is wearing a long black dress and a black veil, she was sitting backwards and turns around creepily as we enter and welcomes us in
  • Elias immediately touches the Pipe of Smoke Monsters
  • It blasts out a puff of smoke, and he tries to blow into it
  • First from the wrong direction, then from the correct direction but he sucks on it
    • He feels uncomfortable movement within his lungs
  • Then he finally gets it, and blows out smoke that forms into a carapskit
  • Heph is interested in the Pearl of Power and 3 health potions, but she wants him to agree to avenge her death for a 25gp discount
    • She isn’t necessarily planning on dying immediately, but she is going to have some old poorly-preserved chicken for dinner
    • She needs some friends
  • Elias is interested in the Deck of Illusions, and pulls out a Jack of diamonds, and a shadowy assassin appears in front of him
  • Elias gives her some ecke, and she asks for a lock of his hair to complete the deal for a 75gp discount
  • Elias pulls out a dagger, cuts off a lock of hair, and asks her to make it 100gp
  • She holds firm on the 75gp, Elias and Heph debate it a bit but eventually agree to the deal
  • Upon taking the hair, her eyes turn milky white and she says in a raspy voice “A phantom from your past, you have seen her before, and you will see her again”
    • Then her voice returns to normal
  • Heph hands over 600gp, and Elias 400gp, and we take the Pearl of Power, Deck of Illusions, and 3 health potions
  • The shopkeeper tries to sell Maho some stuff like mourning veils, but Maho isn’t interested at the moment
  • The shopkeeper can see her mother in Maho, and offers to give her her mother’s cracked crystal ball with slightly wrong dwarven script on it for free, if she will avenge her death
  • She is kidding, but she really wants someone to avenge her death, and Maho agrees to look out for her
  • The group starts heading out, but Elias goes back to the pipe and blows out a chicken straight at the lady before walking out
    • She swats it and says “not today”
• Heading back outside, we realize just how strong the incense in that store was
  • Elias throws a card down in the middle of the market, it is a Medusa, and people freak out and scream as it chases people a bit
  • The party heads west, with their coin purses lighter but their pockets heavier
  • As we head out into Peer End, the houses get more spaced out, and the houses have yards and gates
  • We approach a sizeable manor, Sender Manor, two guards with pikes by the gate, they take a second to recognize Maho, but then leave room for the party to enter
  • Heph sends Karrl up to the roof to keep an eye out, and Maho warns Heph and Elias that TK is smart, and to be careful what we say
• Entering the house, there are two more guards inside, and the inside is sparkly and pristine, and the foyer is massive
  • We are lead up the staircase to a landing, and are lead through the center double doors down a long hallway filled with marble busts
    • Some noticeably missing
  • Reaching another set of double doors, the guards bang their pikes and open the doors, ushering us into a fairly minimalist room with a desk and bookshelves full of well-worn books
  • Sitting in a comfortable chair at the desk is a man, who seems rather underwhelming
  • He is wearing glasses, not especially tall, wearing plain business clothes with well groomed close cut hair and a short beard
  • He looks up at us, waits for the guards to close the door, and says “I wasn’t sure you would come”
  • Maho responds “You wanted to see me, I’m here”
  • He smiles a smile that seems calculated and not really representative of his emotional state
  • He tells Maho she has gotten involved in things faster than he expected, but he isn’t displeased

Referenced in

• Calendar