09 - 8/25/21 : Face Up

In-game date: 5th-6th of Freymond, 3521     The Red Spirits introduced themselves to Lady Remallia Haventree, hostess of the gala at Ulbrinter Villa and the one who invited them. Lady Haventree thanked them for attending, and each party member introduced themselves to her individually. With the impending musical performance approaching, Lady Haventree suggested that those interested in dancing when the time came to grab their respective plus-ones, and then made her way to speak to the Cassalanters.   Reilly remained too nervous to ask Fala to dance, while Megumi and Yilani were content with simply people-watching instead of dancing. The two of them did make their way to the dining hall briefly to speak to Lord Karim Abadma, with whom Yilani related to based on their common origin in Khemit. Brooke decided to make his way to the foyer to look for Captain Draen, where he came upon the scene of the pirate captain accidentally spilling wine on a noblewoman.   The noble lady in question, Lady Shathyra Cormallen, immediately began to wail in offense over her dress being ruined, and threatened to press charges on Draen in her hysteria. Brooke dashed in to mediate the situation and managed to convince Lady Cormallen to calm down. Begrudgingly, Lady Cormallen agreed and went to get her dress mended and magically cleaned by the magistrate. During this time, Brooke heard the sound of glass breaking to the east over the din of the conversation, and invited Draen to check it out with him. Draen agreed, and as they walked, Brooke noticed that Draen did not have a single drop of wine on him despite colliding with Lady Cormallen.   Back in the ballroom, Megumi convinced Renaer to drown his sorrows and distaste for noble functions with wine, which he was glad to do. Around this time, the students from the College of Olamn began their performance, with each student using their bardic magic to animate several instruments to accompany them.   Fala entered the ballroom around this time, fresh from their conversation with Lady Nettlebee. They made their way to Reilly and asked her to dance; after struggling her nerves, Reilly wordlessly nodded and accompanied Fala to the dance floor, where they took the lead as the first pair to dance.   Reilly initially had some trouble, citing her “two left hooves” after she accidentally stepped on Fala during the dance. However, Fala kept their composure and gently guided Reilly, who eventually got the hang of it. As they carried on, they were joined by other pairs, including the Cassalanters, Lady Gralhund and her bodyguard, and Lord Galethon and his wife Master Sarramond. Lady Haventree danced with Renaer in the meantime, much to the shock of some of the guests who looked down upon Renaer for his connections to his father.   In the east wing, Brooke distracted a pair of guards by feigning a sprained ankle and smashing a vase during a fake ‘fall’. During the commotion, Draen picked a lock leading to the servants’ quarters in the east wing, allowing them entry once Brooke shook the guards. They passed through the servants’ quarters into the eastern gardens, where they discovered a broken window leading into the master bedroom. Carefully and quietly, they made their way into the room to search for both the intruder and for interesting items or information.   Brooke had grown suspicious of Draen at this point and tried to keep an eye for him as he pretended to ‘search’ the room. Draen noticed this and, with a smirk on his face, commended Brooke for his sharp eye. The captain declared that it was time to drop “the ruse” and asked for his compatriot to emerge from the shadows.   From a well-hidden spot behind a desk stepped a grinning tabaxi holding a bag full of Lady Haventree’s letters and other documents, who Draen addressed as “Chesire”. Draen then offered Brooke a coin flip, promising to show him “the truth” on a correct guess. Brooke reluctantly called heads, guessing correctly and prompting Captain Draen to smirk as he waved his hand in front of his face.   As the illusion faded, Draen revealed his true form; a blue-skinned tiefling man with black hair and a feathered hat. Zelem Corvo, leader of the Devil’s Hand thieves guild of Fortune’s Crossing, thanked Brooke for getting him into the party and for being a fun diversion in the meantime. Brooke attempted to fish for more information, but Zelem was quite reticent; he informed Brooke that he had ‘plans’ to see to in Revelmoore that he intended to pursue regardless of the damage it caused to the city’s nobility.   Brooke simply offered Zelem a dejected congratulations for tricking him. Chesire took the opportunity to orchestrate their escape by casting the darkness spell on Brooke. In the dark, Brooke felt a single kiss on his forehead, and heard Zelem complimenting him on spicing up his time in Revelmoore. Zelem then used gaseous form to abscond from the maor as well.   Brooke stayed put for a moment to collect himself and process the betrayal, when suddenly another intruder stumbled into the master bedroom; this one a halfling thief who drew a knife on Brooke.   Meanwhile, Brooke’s companions began to notice his absence; a worrying observation given Brooke’s regularly professed love of dancing. Fala agreed with Reilly that it was strange, and decided to let Reilly go while they danced with Lady Haventree; not before, however, promising their last dance of the night to Reilly. The party decided to check for Brooke, moving to the foyer and then following his ‘trail’ (being his generously applied perfume of bewitching). They happened upon the scene just as the halfling woman drew her knife, and rushed to Brooke's defense.   The thief was unprepared for the sudden onslaught of enemies, and after a brief bit of combat, attempted to escape through another window. However, her jump was poorly calculated in her haste, and she tore open her femoral artery on the glass, leading to her falling unconscious in the eastern garden. Yilani and Megumi attempted to mend the wound with traditional first aid, but the bleeding was too significant; Brooke assisted with a healing word, bringing her back to consciousness.   The party interrogated the halfling, but were unable to garner much information due to the halfling's standoffish attitude and her insistence that a worse fate awaited her if she talked. Yilani used her detect thoughts ability to spy the halfling's surface thoughts, and Megumi in her Karma guise used charm person to glean a few details; both were largely ineffective at learning any critical information, but it was useful in revealing that the halfling was a thief working on behalf of the Scions of Black Hearts. A check of her neck tattoo confirmed her affiliations.   Brooke informed the rest of the party that the halfling was only the second of the break-ins, and that another party had been present earlier. Brooke omitted the revelation about Draen's true identity and his companion, however, and simply said that the first break-in happened before he arrived. "Karma" took responsibility for seeing the halfling brought to justice, and knocked her out. The rest of the party accepted this reluctantly and returned to the gala quietly to seek out Renaer.   Renaer caught them early and led them to the garden, where they discussed the matter freely. The party suggested several theories about the first break-in's identity; Renaer was confident that it wasn't a Xanathar Guild crime, but couldn't be certain. He resolved to bring the matter to Lady Haventree quietly, in order to keep the watch from interfering quite yet.   Meanwhile, back in the eastern garden, "Karma" strung up the halfling like a puppet on a nearby tree, leaving her bound with a note addressed to anyone that found her. She then returned to the party as Megumi, meeting her team after their discussion with Renaer.   Brooke decided to visit the foyer, feeling a bit left out following the reveal of Draen's true identity and his subsequent departure. In the foyer he happened upon Erystian Demarne, who was on break from performing. The two had another conversation, a strange mix between insulting and flirting with one another, before dashing away from the party for a spell to “get to know each other better”.   While this happened, Renaer returned from his discussion with Lady Haventree and rejoined Reilly, Yilani, Megumi, and Fala. Lady Haventree took the floor to give her farewell address; she thanked the College of Olamn and their performers, her guests of honor the Cassalanters, and the Red Spirits for their "service to the city and herself". True to their word, Fala saved the last dance for Reilly, and the two danced in the spiral garden beneath the statue of Rialae-Aibaru as the night came to a close.   Hours later in the dark early morning of the 6th of Freyrmond, after her companions had fallen asleep, Yilani slipped away to the Trade Ward and entered a hideout in the sewers there. There she was greeted by several Yuan-ti, including a large malison named Szaltelith who acted as her superior and was in the middle of interrogating two captives. Szaltelith expressed joy at Yilani's return and bade her to drop her disguise and show off her scales and other snakelike features in this safe place, which she did.   With her true form as a Yuan-ti Pureblood on display, Yilani delivered her report on notable figures in the city of Revelmoore that would make for fine points of contact to begin their campaign of infiltration. Yilani silently expressed alarm when she recognized one of the captives as Bonziel Ramrider, one of Raeziel Ramrider's sisters; she kept this from Szaltelith as delivered her report to him.   Szaltelith expressed interest in possibly capturing and replacing Renaer Ambermantle, but Yilani deemed him to be relatively unimportant and not a beneficial person to replace. Szaltelith expressed his doubts but agreed to review Yilani's list before making any big moves. As the night carried on, Yilani silently returned home to Trollskull Manor, her secret hidden… for now.