Session 068: Until Dawn

We begin with the North Wind separated, half of them at an inn with Clara and Edwin, the other half hunkering down at the Clavell household.   At the inn, Aphid checks for any sign of someone trying to get into room, but is distracted by breakfast casserole. In fact, we are all briefly distracted by breakfast casserole.   Talasea initiates a quick sidebar on helping Jack with his situation, since his demon contract is starting to cause him some distress. They determine that the most common way to get out of a demonic contract is overriding it with something else, essentially linking with another power to shield the person from any repercussions. The stronger the demon, the stronger the connection needs to be in order to break off the contract. It is rarer for people to finagle a clause in the contract to sever the relationship.   They also realize that hypothetically, resolving the contract with the Raywalkers may also resolve the contract with the demon.  

Tal: maybe we find a deity for him   Aphid: maybe ask the person in your magic talking box   Zenith: casts divination

  Zenith goes to the roof, basking in the sunlight and the heat. He sacrifices warmth of the sun and a cup of water between his palms. In a flash he is surrounded by cold air and evaporated water.   Zenith asks: Any close at hand solution to help with altering or alleviating terms of contract?   He receives in response:     Tal: thank you Summer Goddess!   The group discusses what this could all mean: Autumn is good? Does stepping of shoe mean travel? Doesn't he owe a lot of gold, as a literal thing? Maybe he could owe Aphid's grandmother instead of a demon?   They try to think about any connections they have to the Autumn Kingdom. Zenith remembers that Goldie existed (though they thought they were from a different plane). They roll to remember people they've met with Autumnal accents (which they learn is a relatively standard American accent):

• Priest they ran into after killing Duan
• Ikaika Vorachith
• Methild "Mezzy" Farthyra
• The Empress
• Sir Kerria the Patient - she/they

  Aphid plans to swing by temple to pray to the Spring Goddess about it later.   Zenith takes ten minutes to identify the onyx ring stolen from Mildred Mason: turns out to be a ring of spell storing holding a casting of Legend Lore   They gather Clara and Edwina and head over to the Clavell house.   Back over at the Clavell house, Mohr, Jack, and Verity look for any signs of attempt to enter or watch the house.   Jack catches onto footprints leading away from to the red hand that is now on the door. Follow trail back to where it originates in the courtyard behind the house next to the fire pit where the cookout was occurring the night before. The shuffling of footprints from the family obscure where the footprints came from prior to that. Prints are from some sturdy boots, not abnormally large or abnormally small. Prints very natural and even, like the person wasn't trying to hide. Same prints move around the fire pit, cross over and under other prints at the fire pit. Think it happened at a time when people were at the cookout and moved around the cookout.   Thinking back to the night before, they recall there were three adults and three children at the cookout to begin with, then later two adults and three children. Edwina tells them that there's a family of two adults and three children next door. The group goes and checks the folks next door. A human woman answers the door.   Jack: we're investigating, red hand appeared next door.   Woman: would be good to have it less quiet, but she doesn't deserve that! Well we didn't notice anything weird other than you lot breaking a vase on the ground and the bloke that rolled up and hung out with us for a bit, brought some food. Oh the bloke wasn't a friend, they were a stranger, called themselves Bigby. Orcish, grayish skin, tusks, average height, friendly-like. Maybe short side for an orc. Yeah they left a while after you lot left, went around the house. Came back a little bit later and spent some more time with us but that was way late.   The party links back up and talk about the plan of attack for the day. They discuss the potential of waiting at the Clavell house and setting up an ambush for the Red Hand. Mohr is concerned about setting a trap when they're not entirely sure how they're getting in. Verity reminds folks that they could stop at the library and see about getting access to the book about the goblin tunnels. Jack says they should check out something that could counteract magical sleep. Tal suggests looking for something at the market. Mohr suggests, in the event of a trap, that Mohr casts Leomund's Tiny Hut.   Everyone forgets that they blackmailed Mildred into setting up a meeting with the Red Hand at 10 pm.   They ultimately decide to

1. Disguise Clara as Aphid so they can bring her along on errands and keep her safe, while Aphid rides along as a mouse
2. Clara attune to Life Alert and set Zenith as the person to alert (she immediately uses one of the charges and is told to save at least one charge for emergency)
3. Avoid Clara swatting everybody with her Aphid-cosplay staff
4. Head to library to check on goblin tunnels book
5. Scry on Moa and Onoana
6. Stop by the market and look for Fantasy Red Bull

  Library: Lord Havington has granted permission to access the book, My Magnum Opus: the Sewers of Vivaria.   Talasea asks about borrowing books. The librarian says books can be borrowed with proof of residence in the Spring Kingdom. The Verdant Quarter symbol is accepted and Tal gets to choose a design and picks one that has a pink flower heather design. The membership is free but Talasea donates two gold because supporting public services is good and important.   Talasea also asks (away from Jack) for books on breaking contracts with demons and also the origin of mermaids. He is recommended

• How to Break a Contract with Your Inner Demons
• Memoir of a Famous Warlock
• How to Choose a Patron (he leaves this stellar read behind)
• On the Origin of Mer-Creatures

  Talasea also asks about Other Worlds. The librarian notes that it's pretty rare, but there is a copy in the Royal Archive.   Aphid wonders if adventurers are committing tax evasion. Apparently adventurers used to charge tolls, but now it's mostly just that they don't have access to things. Don't think about it too much it's fine, everything's fine.   The party heads over to Lord Havington's manor. He gives them gloves and a book from his vault. My Magnum Opus goes deep into detail about how the sewers should be laid out in order to service the city most effectively and the process of building them. The long stretches in which the author rants about the diversions that had to be made to accommodate the existing tunnels are very clear. There is also a diagram of the original intended sewer system and a sketch of where the author believes existing tunnels might be, although he's uncertain of the depth of the varying tunnels. He theorizes that deeper down there may be some sort of cavern. The author also mentions in one particular rant, "If only the queen would allow me to go into the abandoned mine within the Vivarian Crater, I might finally learn what is happening in these tunnels for myself."   Talasea sketches all of the variances and theoretical sketches out on their copy of the sewer map. They notice that there are hypothetical tunnels running beneath each of the crime scenes and the Clavell house.   ON TO THE TEMPLE TO ILVIA   Mohr scries on Onoana. She sees an ancient mining tunnel, crumbling tracks cut off by a cave-in at one end, a lantern on the ground, bioluminescent fungi sprouting from the walls. Onoana, once again a familiar face lacking horns, is examining the cave-in in the light of the lantern. She sighs, picks up the lantern, and begins walking down the tunnel in the other direction. She walks down the tunnel for the duration. Mohr is unable to determine exactly where she is. It appears to be different from the tunnels they originally saw when scrying on Onoana, carved by different handing, showing signs of this ancient mine.   Mohr scries on Moa next. Moa sits in a similar terrain as Onoana, some mushrooms visible, a fern in the background. She is writing on a piece of parchment. She's sitting on a bedroll in a makeshift camp. Onoana walks in from a tunnel on the far side of the space. As Mohr watches, Onoana speaks.     Moa nods, writes something else down, then rolls up the parchment. She takes out a ring and presses it into wax to seal the parchment. The two go about activities in their camp until the scene fades.   ON TO THE MARKET   They find a potion the vendor refers to as Wake-Em-Ups that will prevent them from being able to sleep for eight hours. They obtain seven of them.   Swing by to pick up Edwina to ask about dropping Clara at the Palace so that she's safe while the party investigates the tunnels. Edwina reluctantly agrees.   They head over to the Primdawn Palace, where they speak with Sir Kerria. Edwina reluctantly agrees to stay in a holding room with Clara and with guards posted. Sir Kerria also promises to check up on them as duties allow. She also gives them a permission slip to enter the Pre-Springish mine entrance in the Vivarian Crater. She emphasizes that they're dangerous because they are unstable in some places and have old magic. Talasea asks what kind of dangers they should be on the lookout for. Sir Kerria admits it's been a couple centuries since she's been down there. She says most of the people who go down there either do so without permission or don't come back. She thinks the last group that came back in the 780s had experienced a collapse and were talking about some weird spores that were growing in there.   Mohr apologizes for trying to kill Sir Kerria and she accepts the apology.   The party says goodbye to Clara (she vehemently protests losing her stick and Aphid promises to get her another) and heads down into the crater. They descend down past craggy shelves and grassy expanses until they reach a gaping hole in the rock. Perhaps once the marks carved into the slab above it communicated a message. They have all but worn away now.   The party enters the tunnel, finding the metal vestiges of ancient mining work as they wind their way forward. As they reach forks leading forward, Mohr is able to think back to the images she saw scrying, Tal is able to consult their expanded map, and use this information to decide how to proceed.   They briefly discuss plans: they will be using nonlethal damage and take them to Sir Kerria.   They come to the flicker of firelight and there, we fade to darkness.