5: Hide and Seek

Following their last adventure, the group made for the Rust Sea to investigate the Journal of Enderson Rettle. Upon arrival in Ira Hotu, they recieved a message from Ome Samayo noting a mysterious individual was floating around the bar and to return to Weft soon. The group abandoned the investigation for now and made their way home.   Upon arrival in Weft and the Ragged Possum, the group was addressed by a mysterious man, later identified as Tomes the Changeling, the Avatar of Vecna, God of Secrets and the true name of the Rat King. He offered a deal to the group, allow him in Lifewood Labor and he can help with hidden intelligence and assist in keeping their records clear. The group agreed, to Bird Feather's chagrin and Tomes was added alongside Bird as the Intelligence Officer.   The group was given 2 weeks time to relax back in the Derelict Ark. While many had their own things to do, the entire group once again made their way to the Rust Sea to continue their investigation of the Journal of Enderson Rettle. Making their way through Ira Hotu into the desert to the east. While navigating the whipping sands, a number of strange shapes and footprints indicated the presence of a large creature somewhere nearby. Following the clues from the book, they discovered a small oasis with a well flush with the surface of the water in the center of the pool. The group climbed into it and discovered a series of underground chambers fashioned into a timed trial of sorts by an unknown entity. After making their way through the challenge, the group met Cybil, the Spinner of Tales and protege to the founder of the Order of the Copper Timepiece, Oloth the Magnificent. Cybil described similar underground caches throughout the world holding secret histories and items of great power and maintained by the Order for centuries. This cache bore a striking similarity to those found by the group under the Prismatic Mountains months ago.   Alongside Cybil was a disembodied and overly sarcastic fragment of STACI. After some convincing, Cybil allowed the Dorian to integrate them into her own STACI as long as they visit often, facilitating that by showing Charlie Anderson a Teleportation Circle to this location before teleporting everyone and themselves back to the Derelict Ark now that the cache has been unsealed.   Additionally, thanks to the Kobolds talent in excavation, additional rooms were uncovered for the group to shape how they want, a gift for their hard work and dedication. The group passed along vital information of the Feywilds as well as made efforts to remain in contact with Sameia who is believed to have been returned 2 years prior their own return. After shaping their spaces and spending their time the group was given the option of 3 contracts, each shaped by the recent arrival of Tomes the Changeling who provided secrets of the Legion Marred so that Lifewood Labor may begin to take strikes directly against them while remaining in hiding. The group opted to meet with rebel factions with the intent of forging new alliances to benefit them all in the future.   The shipped out soon after, making for Lock to fetch a ship to Luciden. During their travel by sea, the ship was intercepted in a fog by a small metal ship and boarded by masked individuals who identified themselves as Claws of Xiroth, the hidden police under the Party of Goodwill. They searched the ship for an Elf known as Alburjiin Ellerthall for conspiring against the Legion but the group managed to find and hide him first; however, as the mist cleared, many of the group and the entirety of the crew seemed to have lost all memory of the event, entirely forgetting their meeting with the Claws of Xiroth and Alburjiin. Ome Samayo managed to dispel this magically but little was understood as to how it behaved. Regardless, as thanks for protecting him, and after proving themselves trustworthy, Alburjiin passed on the coded book he was carrying and the code word "Alabaster" which was needed to gain entrance to this week's rebel meeting.   Upon arrival in Luciden and establishing themselves a location to stay, the group made contact with the site of the next meeting, the Rowdy Rabble Inn as well as an amateur member of the Good Neighbor, the red Dragonborn Roh-tu who was tasked with making contact with the rebels here as well. After much discussion and brawling the group receded back to the tavern they were staying for the night.   Deep in the middle of the night, the tavern was visited by 2 mysterious figures, also identified as the Claws who interrogated the bartender about strange happenings. The bartender noted that in the Shade District, an old broken down watermill would sometimes be seen with it's wheel turning at night. The Claws left to investigate and once again Shahana Zinvalur lost all memory of the event, restored quickly after by Ome.   The group is split about what to do but ultimately do not investigate the mill, instead spending the time exploring the city or, in Mal Auvryani's case, communing with their god, Pelor, receiving a brief vision of Lorthan. Charlie Anderson feverishly spent his time decoding the book, managing to crack the difficult cipher and decoding a message from a spy in a hidden re-education center. Despite the many notes, only a handful of descriptors seemed significant:  

• The location is built on cold stone
• The location is dark throughout the day
• The stars are always present but form no known constellations

  Charlie Anderson took note of these and saved this knowledge to bring it to the meeting in only a few days time.   Afterwards the group convened on Petyrs Profiteroles, a bakery cited as the base of another of the rebel factions. Inside they met Sha'naan Kiinder and Ruuith Soldon, representatives of The Scrying Spectator and Order of the Copper Timepiece respectively. They were asked to return after closing and upon returning were brought into a backroom and shown a hidden library and printing press, here they demonstrated some level of magical ability as a test for the meeting to come which piqued Sha'naan and Ruuith's interest. Allowed to peruse the books, the group investigated many things: personal histories, interesting locations, the arcane, and so on. Here Charlie Anderson found a book by an unnamed arcanist experimenting with his own spells and discovered 2 spells, Contingency and Fabricate, within. Sha'naan agreed to copy these sections for Charlie to take on the promise that he'd teach her magic.   The group took their knowledge back for the night but Dorian went off on her own early to star-gaze, followed quickly after by Charlie. After a short personal conversation, the 2 began their way back but not before a dense fog shrouded the city and heavy footsteps could be heard on the roofs above them, particularly noting a strange metallic scuttling sound at once point. Carefully, they snuck back to their tavern and talked with the others about what they saw, seemingly unaffected by whatever was affecting people's memories. The group established a watch for the night and, with Archimedes's eyes, Charlie, Mal Auvryani, and Zahiri Sapir managed to take note of a strange dridder-like person with a humanoid torso and a spider base speaking about the rebels and the abandoned mill but also spotting Archimedes from afar. Upon returning, Charlie changed Archimedes into a rat to disguise them for later.   After passing that information on, the group agreed to try and throw the Claws of Xiroth off the scent of the true meeting location, planning an elaborate ploy to incriminate an abandoned souvenir warehouse but nearly were captured in the process, only escaping thanks to a Modify Memory cast by Ome Samayo. With the seeds set, the group relaxed for the rest of the day, meeting at Petyr's Profiteroles for more thorough research on various topics before resting for the night. Charlie Anderson, on his watch sent Archimedes to an empty shipyard to investigate the potential temporary base the Claws are using. Here he discovered a handful of emptied cots, Claw supplies, and listens in on a conversation implying the Claws know the day of the meeting but still not the location. Instead they will resume their search of the mill the day of.   With this new information, the group prepared for the meeting in their own ways. Mostly by spending time in the beach but also by marking potential escape routes and learning of the storm drains below the city used as hidden passages used by the rebels. Shahana Zinvalur meditated on her bond with Umberlee and was given a sign deciphered by Charlie to point to somewhere near Imposse-salv.   The night of the meeting the group was led below the Rowdy Rabble Inn to meet with the rebel groups alongside Roh-tu. Here they met Soldar the Tabaxi and Prollo Se of The Gilded Hilt and the Enclave of the Everyman respectively alongside Alburjiin, Sha'naan and Ruuith. A short discussion was given over the importance of the coded book before addressing the players. Ome, assisted with demonstrations of magic by the group, spoke of Lifewood Labor and the return of magic. She sought to forge a connection with these groups and spread the knowledge of magic throughout the rebellion to empower them to fight back. After a lengthy conversation, Soldar and Prollo Se were convinced before being interrupted by an informant who seemed to have forgotten why they ran to the Rowdy Rabble Inn. As the group prepared to run, a thick mist began to bellow from the door into the storm drains.   In the ensuing chaos, the group managed to escape the Claws who were chasing them, downing one, but in the conflict cast a number of blatant spells to aid in their escape. Additionally the Claws employed projectile syringes and mysterious poisons, managing to strike and infect Dorian with Sight Rot.   Ome Samayo was unable to cleanse this after the escape until she has the time to rest so the group sought out help from other sources, finding none willing or able to assist. Thankfully after a day of recovery and remaining under the radar Ome was able to magically cure Dorian before the disease got worse. As they planned their return, retrieving the spellbook from Sha'naan and hiring Ruuith to investigate Shahana's ancestry, Ome informed the group that she would be remaining in Luciden temporarily to ensure the negotiations go well with the rebel factions as a number of them seemed to lose their memory.   After saying their farewells and hiding a number of incriminating items, including the syringes used by the Claws for later study, the group made their way back to port to buy passage back home. The shipyards had notably more security than before but thanks to some prep work by Dorian in forging new Identification Documents the night before, there was only a small hiccup on the way out. On the ship there were daily room searches but thanks to them hiding incriminating items, there were no problems the rest of the way back. However, upon arrival in Lock, a number of guards could be seen spreading word of what occurred in Luciden to those in the mainland.  

Contract

Under the cover of night, hidden somewhere in Luciden, meets a cabal of rebel groups. They meet regularly, typically every other week and discuss their goals and plans against the Legion Marred. We seek to be a part of one such meeting soon but Tomes has determined that the Legion is not only aware of these meetings, but are dangerously close to discovering the location the meeting is held and capturing those that meet there. We seek to prevent that.   Under this contract you are to assume the role of bodyguards for either Athen Ligrant or Ome Samayo as they seek an audience with this group. Simultaneously prevent the Legion Marred from learning the location of the meetings using counter intelligence or physically delaying their assault as they escape.  

Objectives

• Make contact with the factions in Luciden
• Ensure they are safe from Legion Marred activities
• Protect Ome Samayo

 

Rewards

• 1700 gp
• Potential New Recruits