11/2 Session

WIND STONE POEM:
Where grass bows low before the gale's might,
Seek not by day, but under silver's light.
When the moon is full and the earth stands still,
The spirit of the shield guides those of pure will.
 
Feel the breath of the shield’s spirit; it leads only those who listen.
Do not grasp the air or seek to steer,
For the path reveals itself only to those who hear.
Trust the breeze to shape your way,
And walk where soft winds gently sway.
 
When the currents fall silent, fear not,
For in the stillness, your guide is not forgot.
The canyon's birth—earth torn asunder,
Hides the shield beyond stone and thunder.
 
Step with faith where others hid,
And find the power the first king did.
 
When gods unbound their final breath,
  It wove the winds, defying death.
 
In walls of stone their whispers hide,
  Where cliffs embrace the city’s side.
 
When calm devours the roaring deep,
  The breathless storm lies still, asleep.
 
But those who wake it, lose their way—
  Their names like echoes, blown away.
 
The party returns with Adala to Wigdla and attempts to use one of the Neox ship upgrades, but fails to do so, so they lose the upgrade. After the failure, Callow approaches Stella.
 
Callow: I was informed that you would have something to give me when I returned to Wigdala.
Stella: By who?
Callow: A b... bird.
Stella: A bird? What?
Callow: Yeah. A little birdy told me.
Stella: I mean... no one's given me anything. Do you want a stack of paperwork or something?
Callow, flexing her glove: I might've inadvertently made a warlock pact with Caveson... accidentally... maybe intentionally... I haven't decided yet.
Stella. Hold on a sec. A few questions- what do you mean you haven't decided yet?
Callow: She gave me this glove to help me deal with some people in Manaki that I don't like and said that I can have it in exchange for doing favors for her, like... helping cure the void disease. So if you maybe had some stuff that could help me with that... that'd be cool.
Stella: Okay.... what do you mean a warlock pact then?
Callow: She gave me this cool glove, and now she speaks to me in my head
Stella: If you take the glove off, does she still speak to you?
Callow: I don't know. I haven't tried that yet.
Stella: Okay, well, maybe you didn't make a warlock pact with her, and it's just the glove. But I'll see if I have something for you.
Callow: Yeah, but it sounds cooler if I say that I made a warlock pact to get magic.
Stella: Fair enough. Can't argue with that.
 
Stella reluctantly hands over a case of syringes to Callow, with one appropriately labeled "Katherine."
 
Callow: Thanks.
Stella: Now, before you do anything, I want you to know what is going to happen when you use those.
Callow: If I use them on Lady Katherine first, I'm sure it'll be fine.
Stella: Not likely. With Caveson, things like this usually go down in a 'fuck you, you're dead', or a 'fuck you, become a monstrosity and now everyone's dead'.
Callow: I'd considered that second possibility, but Caveson claims to be working on helping cure the disease, so I have to assume that that second product is an accident.
Stella: Is it an accident if a psychopath helps take over and then becomes an oppressive government?
Callow: I wouldn't know. I've never done that before.
Stella: Alright. Fair enough.
 
After a moment of silence, Callow turns to Stella.
 
Callow: What do the orbs do?
Stella: Can I check your neck real quck?
Callow: Yeah, but it's just the parasite pinprick. Want to check my wrist instead?
Stella: I'd like to, yeah.
 
Callow removes her glove and hands it to Stella, who investigates it but finds nothing atypical with it. Sighing, Stella hands the glove back to Callow.
 
Stella: I don't trust any of this, and I recommend chucking all this shit in the ocean. Or burning it in a fire. But you're an adult, you can do whatever you want. Just be careful.
Callow: I'll try.
Stella: And if it leaves behind a body, make sure you hide it well.
Callow: If that happens, I'll ask Corrin to turn them into void stuff.
 
Callow leaves the room and goes over to Corrin, presenting her the briefcase of five syringes, each with a liquid.
 
Callow: Can you just check these haven't been tampered with?
Corrin: What the fuck are these?
Callow: A gift.
 
Corrin does some magic.
 
Callow: So, like, scale of one to ten, how bad would it be if I injected someone with this?
Corrin: I don't know exactly what it is, so I can't tell you that it's safe.
Callow: Well, I knew that much.
Corrin: And I really don't trust it
Callow: I also could've guessed that as well.
Corrin: But, I mean... there's nothing on an inspection that's like, obviously wrong with it.
Jeb: Why don't you inject yourself with it? See what it does?
Callow: I'm not sick, though. It wouldn't work on me.
Jeb: Oh, that's what this is for?
Tank: I don't get what all the fuss is about. They look like they're basters for people to me.
Callow: All I know is they're supposed to help cure the disease.
Tank: Here's the thing, though. People who are dying from the disease are already dying. What's the worst that could happen? Just giving it a shot and seeing if Caveson is on the up and up.
Corrin: Well. Who would we inject with it?
Tank: Willing participants?
Callow: Wait, we still have the work, right? We could use that.
Corrin: I have concerns.
Jeb: I mean, it's Callow's worm. Callow's mysterious liquid, Callow's mysterious worm. I feel like it's up to Callow.
 
The party discusses, for a while, how to proceed regarding balancing the war, the people of Wigdala, the Wind Stone, and the disease. Tank breaks away to talk to Karmichael about Galia's history and the poems.
 
Tank: We have an accompaniment to that poem you gave us, and it keeps mentioning places people hid.
Carmichel: Yeah, in the legends, when people were afraid their enemies were going to destroy them, they fled and hid in the caves around them, while the bearer of the shield stood out in the open. So it's just most likely referring to caves in the area.
Tank: And were there any caves or people in particular that stood out?
Carmichel: Well, you need to understand this is all legend and not many consider this truth. Galia is frankly riddled with caves; I don't think any legend mentions one in particular.
Tank: What about this bit about a god unbounding their final breath? Are there any legends of a god dying in the area?
Carmichel: I've never heard of that.... no, there are no legends in the area of gods dying.
Tank: The earth torn asunder, the birthplace of the canyon, maybe?
Carmichel: Yes, that's the same legend of the shield. Supposedly, what was defended against was a giant blast that rendered the whole world in half, which created the canyon. Whether any of that is true, though, is most likely not. If anything, it was just the winds, along with water and erosion.
Tank: Of course, of course... science.
Carmichel: Yes.
Tank: Alright.
 
The group, along with Musa and Adala, flies to Manaki. As they fly, they pass over what appears to be a skirmish between Neox, Galia, and some unknown third party. After investigating, the group descends and manages to salvage a solar cannon from the wreckage. The cargo bays are full, so the party leaves behind the carpet bombs they had been storing and loads the solar cannon into the cargo bay for when they can get it installed (Adala can't do it on the go).