ANJAY: Salem, I’m like— on a scale from zero to like, a thousand, I am a thousand percent sure he hates her. SALEM: Well, yeah, but in like, a special way, you know? ANJAY: ... What kind of special way do you mean? SALEM: ... Aren’t they fucking? ANJAY: No!! No???
WARMUP
How does your character feel about keeping secrets from the rest of the party?
LETHE: Lethe has nothing BUT secrets, and she doesn’t feel bad about it.
ANJAY: Anjay has no secrets! He doesn’t feel that keeping secrets from the rest of the group is beneficial.
SALEM: Salem values honesty! They don’t see why you wouldn’t be upfront about everything with someone you interact with a lot. You SHOULD be able to trust the people you’re around with all your terrible secrets.
CECIARE: Ceciare doesn’t view things as secrets, so much as things that just haven’t come up yet. They’re not gonna spill their life story to you unless you directly ask them!
HEMAKSHI: He isn’t a fan of keeping secrets, but if it’s at the benefit of someone else then he is fine with sharing. He isn’t super chatty about himself, but he will answer if asked.
KYRIELLE: She understands that information is a kind of currency and giving away facts about yourself is an easy way to put yourself at a disadvantage. She is very defensive of her past and secrets. She doesn’t get the whole friendship thing yet …
GAME START
The group is at the temple of Nethys after their fight with Pibbidy. Salem is at 0 HP and dying. Their spirit floats up out of their body and is whisked away to a small room in the Cracked Glass Inn.
The world around them is brighter in color, shadows seem darker, flames seem more vibrant – but the weirdest part is that there is no sound anywhere.
Salem knows this room very well – it is Orev’s office. Orev is having a meeting with Bromseth, Leona, Oleana, and Nisus. Everyone looks tense as Nisus and Orev are arguing about something. Suddenly, Orev freezes mid-sentence. His eyes roll back, and he collapses behind his desk. Nisus looks concerned and quickly rushes to his aid. A very pale glow emanates from behind Orev’s back, gently illuminating him from behind – though Nisus’s body blocks most of Salem’s view.
Orev’s desk, which is usually neat, has tons of papers scattered across it. Salem can recognize their own writing as they notice their mission reports – specifically the Farlight Forge and underground temple encounters. Scribbled on these reports and various papers are phrases include:
– The Order of the Crooked Spire???
– The Sapphire Bulls
– The Blade of Bones???
Suddenly, they are whisked back into their own body. Ceciare has seemingly returned to normal, Lethe is no longer a werewolf, the “ghost” Pibbity has been defeated, and the crystal blade lies a few feet from his body.
Kyrielle points her sword at Ceciare.
KYRIELLE: Okay, you have to explain something. CECIARE: *puts their hands up* What would you like me to explain? KYRIELLE: Oh, I don’t know – we could start with why you stabbed me through the chest with your hand. CECIARE: To be honest, I don’t know why. But I did.
Ceciare is trying to be as calm and collected as they can.
Hemakshi picks the dagger up with a handkerchief.
HEMAKSHI: I’m not sure, but it may have something to do with this. ANJAY: Okay, cool, you guys figure that out.
Anjay goes over to Salem.
CECIARE: You can keep pointing that at me, but can I do something first?
They move their hands to the flower they have in their hair. Kyrielle tenses.
KYRIELLE: Don’t. CECIARE: I can … at least try to alleviate some of the … damage I caused.
Kyrielle pauses for a couple seconds before slightly lowering her sword.
KYRIELLE: If you can do something to fix this, you better do it – but if you pull anything, I’m very quick with this blade. CECIARE: I don’t doubt it.
Ceciare pulls the flower from their hair and dusts it into their palm. They cast Heal, healing everyone around them. Salem awakens, their spirit seemingly having returned to their body.
CECIARE: It’s not much, but at least they’re up now.
Salem is immediately incredibly disoriented, having just been in Orev’s office, as well as attacked by Ceciare. They are very overwhelmed and confused, sit up, skitter backwards, hitting the wall behind them, and outstretch their arms. They cast Grim Tendrils in a line at Ceciare, and from within their sleeves erupt a line of white, writhing tendrils. The tentacles lick at their legs, dealing necrotic damage. Ceciare winces in pain.
CECIARE: Fair. Deserved.
Lethe peers over the pew she’s hiding behind.
LETHE: So, uh … are you okay?
Salem skitters away from her as well.
HEMAKSHI: Before we start flinging more—whatever that was, we need to figure out what just happened. Other than: clearly Pibbity had something. ANJAY: Yeah—Yeah, it’s—that weird dagger. Obviously it did something. SALEM: Wait, hold on—are we—are you still trying to kill us? CECIARE: No! I’m not trying to kill you! SALEM: But you were. CECIARE: I don’t know why that happened. SALEM: … Are you gonna do it again? CECIARE: Not of my conscious ability. ANJAY: See you say that, and it means that there’s chance that your unconscious ability could then resume to try to kill us, and I’m kind of concerned about that— CECIARE: I mean technically if we’re going by precedence of that, anyone’s unconscious ability could try and kill anybody. Someone’s unconscious ability could end up, oh I don’t know, being a completely different personality. I’m saying that there’s multiple possibilities. CECIARE: In my knowledge – aside from what just happened – I have not tried to kill anybody before.
In the distance, we hear a lone howl, joined by a small chorus. Lethe can smell four or five familiar scents that seem to be moving closer. Salem questions if they forgot to dismiss Ghost Sound.
LETHE: Do you think we can have this conversation ... after we find the door? ANJAY: Why? HEMAKSHI: This does bring up a good point – what are we even hiding you from? ANJAY: I feel like we do have a right to know. LETHE: ... SALEM: Do you know them? LETHE: ... Yeah ... it’s really, really best if they don’t find me. SALEM: Is that who we’re protecting you from? LETHE: Yeah ... SALEM: Will they kill you? LETHE: Uh ... I mean, there are things worse than death. CECIARE: That’s true! ANJAY: Well, you wanna fill us in a little more, Lethe? Because, uhh— KYRIELLE: Yes, we are all very clearly out of the loop about a lot of things. I would like to know. SALEM: We do have your key! So ... LETHE: Can I explain ... after? ANJAY: No. SALEM: I think you should now! HEMAKSHI: You talk, we look.
Ceciare looks through Pibbidy’s garbage pile and finds:
- A small cedar cask
- Something shiny
Kyrielle looks around the throne area. Behind the alter she finds inscriptions that resemble the markings of Alseta. There is no place to insert the keystone, but it seems like there is some sort of message carved on the shallow relief on the back of the altar. It seems to state something about “Alseta” and “lying beneath” – she doesn’t entirely get the meaning of it.
KYRIELLE: So, I found some weird bible verse here – but it’s to Alseta, so I’m guessing it’s a clue to something. If anybody else has more of a shot at reading it than I do—I don’t know.
Ceciare hesitantly approaches the altar.
CECIARE: … Am I good to … look? KYRIELLE: Er—yeah.
Kyrielle moves so that Ceciare can examine, keeping a ten-foot distance. They don’t glean anything additional from it.
Hemakshi looks through Pibbidy’s hideout. He finds cocoons containing the dead bodies of a few goblins. One female goblin has a wooden leg carved like a jaguar, a bandolier with vials of green liquid, and a chain with a miniature silver gauntlet trimmed in mother of pearl.
- ? vials of holy water
- ? spare shiver vials
- 2 small tubes of a silvery paste
- 1 wand
- 1 brooch
- 1 electrum and peridot studded ring
- 1 gauntlet
- ? vials of green liquid
- A few notes, marked with the same signature: “Fabian Cresorel”
Hemakshi looks at the notes he has collected. They all have very nice handwriting, signed “Fabian Cresorel”. (The Cresorels are one of the noble families of the area.) The notes are addressed to the Layok tribe of goblins.
One of your kin (Pibbidy) has stolen an item of incredible importance. A reward shall be offered for the return of said object to the possession of Favian Cresorel. Please locate this errant member of your tribe and punish him as you see fit.
HEMAKSHI: Does Favian Cresorel ring any bells for any of you?
Anjay knows Fabian Cresorel is an older (late 70’s) handsome tiefling gentleman. He used to be a famed explorer and entrepreneur, traveling with the Titan Society. He’s eccentric and wealthy. Lucinia, Nisus’s wife, is a third-cousin of Favian Cresorel.
ANJAY: Oh yeah! Favian, he’s really important in the family— did you know that he’s now the dad—or, he is the dad, there’s no was— he was the dad— is? Hm, it’s a little complicated with nobles— but he stepped down so is the current head’s father, and he’s super big into that archeology stuff, so that dagger must be really powerful if he wants it back! HEMAKSHI: … Oh, it’s the dagger. ANJAY: Yeah! I mean, what else would he want? Nothing here is that important. HEMAKSHI: We hadn’t dug that far, I didn’t know—I’ll keep the dagger safe, then. ANJAY: Oh yeah, can I see it? HEMAKSHI: When we get downstairs. KYRIELLE: That is an incredible amount of leverage.
Another set of howls echo. Anjay turns to Lethe.
ANJAY: Oh yeah, you were supposed to be talking!
Near the cobwebs, Ceciare calls for help.
CECIARE: There might be something over here, but I think I need some help. Kyrielle, you don’t do anything because you’re going to aggravate that wound.
Kyrielle wants to protest, but she’s in a lot of pain.
ANJAY: Uh … well, I will not be the first to say that I am probably not the person to lift anything, but I can hold things!
Anjay holds his hands out. Hemakshi dumps all the stuff he found in the goblin pile into Anjay’s arms.
[EMILY]: Anjay is the friend no one asks to help when they move. [KATIE]: “Anjay, can you buy us the pizza while we move?” [EMILY]: "Anjay, can we use your car?”
Hemakshi slides the big stone altar to the right, and beneath it is a pretty well-maintained access hole. A small staircase leads down to something below the church. At the bottom of the stairs is a handle to slide the altar back into place, locking it from the inside.
HEMAKSHI: Alright, grab whatever else you need – we should probably head down.
Ceciare looks over at Lethe.
CECIARE: Can I touch you? LETHE: ... Yeah?
Ceciare casts Negate Aroma on her – Lethe’s scent will end here.
[EMILY]: You can just erase someone’s smell? [NIC]: Is that your way of telling people they need to take a shower? [ELY]: To be fair, Lethe probably does need a shower.
Everyone goes down the stairs, sliding the altar back into place and locking the mechanism. Taking a few tentative steps into the corridor, the walls transitioning from smooth stone to being lined with skulls and bones. There is a set of catacombs buried beneath this church. This was the first temple to necromancy, so this is possibly one of the first places anyone was buried in the city.
They emerge into a larger, circular room that has cut-outs in the wall where bodies are placed. A lot of sealed sarcophagi been smashed open and looted. This room looks like a dead end, so somewhere within the room must be the entrance to the safe house.
Ceciare is the first to notice that one of the sarcophagi that has not been broken open has a small inscription underneath it – another marking of Alseta. They notice above it, on top of the archway, is a place they can set a keystone.
They attempt to put it in the hole without expending a spell slot – nothing happens. Worth a shot. They expend a spell slot – the energy is absorbed into the keystone. They are able to slot it into place, and a rippling wave of magical energy shimmers and flowers down from the open archway. It is cloudy, a pale pink for a moment, before it clears and reveals a doorway into a small, but cozy-looking, safe house. They are able to keep the keystone afterwards.
Inside, there is a small table with a few chairs stacked off to the side, a counter, a fireplace with logs stacked next to it, a small hallway and a couple doors that lead off into other rooms.
Since Lucinia was the one who arranged the safe house for them, Anjay walks in without hesitation.
ANJAY: Well, we’ve got a lot of time on our hands, and we have a lot to talk about.
He throws a log into the fireplace.
ANJAY: Does ... someone wanna light this for me?
Hemakshi lights the fire.
The commotion gets louder upstairs, and Lethe recognizes the voices. A friendlier voice yelps in pain as it is punished for not being able to find her.
Hemakshi sneaks into the back hallway to investigate the other rooms. There is a lavatory and a sparse room filled with pillows and blankets. The last door is locked. He tries to pick the lock with a bobby pin and fails. He tries again and gets electrocuted.
HEMAKSHI: Ah! Shit! rst place. ANJAY: See but, what if something had happened, we were suddenly holed up in a place that wasn’t the safe house for a month – then it would have come up. LETHE: Well, then it would have come up. ANJAY: ... But we still should have known. LETHE: Why? ANJAY: ... Why not? LETHE: I mean it’s only really a problem one time of the month. ANJAY: Apparently not!
Anjay is getting irritated with Lethe, who feels bad but doesn’t really take responsibility.
LETHE: I guess I don’t really know what you want me to tell you, other than that ... I’m a werewolf and I have to leave. SALEM: Why are they hunting you? LETHE: Because I’m trying to leave. SALEM: They’re hunting you because you don’t want to be with them? LETHE: Yeah. SALEM: Why don’t you wanna be with them? LETHE: You know how sometimes people say you can’t choose your family? What happens when you do get to choose them, but you made the wrong choice? HEMAKSHI: I take it they didn’t take well to you going back on your choice. LETHE: Not … really. SALEM: Okay! So, they’re a bunch of werewolves, right? HEMAKSHI: Do they pose a threat? Is this something that we also need to be keeping an eye on in the city?
Hemakshi knows they have caused problems in the past due to his background. Anjay heard about the werewolf group, the Silver Fangs, from Nisus – they are a subset of the Tamaki clan, the elven family in the city. Their leader Heketa is especially ruthless and gets away with a lot. Nisus sports a few scars left by her and they have personal beef. Salem heard that Nisus was secretly in love with their leader.
ANJAY: Um ... sorry. HEMAKSHI: I could understand why you would have wanted to leave, and given what we know it would make sense why we needed to hide you, because they are ... trouble. LETHE: Not all of them! Just ... most of them. And like, remember when I told you not to eat the goblins? SALEM: ... Uh huh? LETHE: Um ... they kind of do that, but not just goblins ... and I don’t— SALEM: So if they found us, they would eat us? LETHE: If they found you with me ... probably. ANJAY: Wow, the Silver Fangs, this kind of bad werewolf gang that works for the Tamaki’s— you know my brother hates them. They eat people. That’s really fucked up. SALEM: Actually, I think you brother really likes them. ANJAY: No??? SALEM: I dunno ... you should talk to him about it! ANJAY: What does that— What does that mean?!
Salem winks as they say wink. Anjay stares back at Salem.
HEMAKSHI: Okay, so to be clear, Nisus ... does not like them. LETHE: I mean Heketa hates everybody except the rest of the werewolves, so ... probably? ANJAY: I feel like it’s in our job description now, since we are helping you—if this lady dies, is that fine? Heketa? Yeah. Are you gonna feel bad if we accidentally kind of murder your old boss? LETHE: ... ANJAY: I feel like it has to be said! Considering ... SALEM: *whispering* Anjay, I think you should probably check with your brother before killing her. ANJAY: No! He does not like her! Salem, I’m like—on a scale from zero to like, a thousand, I am a thousand percent sure he hates her. SALEM: Well, yeah, but in like, a special way, you know? ANJAY: … What kind of special way do you mean? SALEM: … Aren’t they fucking? ANJAY: No!! No??? LETHE: She’s definitely not … fucking … Nisus. H-How do you—I hate to ask, but how do you know, because clearly there’s some discrepancy— How do you not know? Your brother doesn’t tell you everything, does he? He does—Wh—He—He tells me most things— LETHE: Heketa is definitely not … fucking … anybody else … that I’m personally not aware of. ANJAY: Well haven’t you like—I don’t want to consider this, he has a wife—I like his wife very much—I feel like I’m going through a lot right now, literally my father had lots of things to say to me, we got taken to this big church—there’s a lot of things happening right now— Salem went down, is fine—not—you should really sleep— SALEM: I’m fine! KYRIELLE: I literally got stabbed in the chest and I’m looking like the composed one here. ANJAY: You really kind of are! CECIARE: I’m still really sorry about that. SALEM: Kyrielle, do you want my healing potion? KYRIELLE: … You’ve had a healing potion this whole time? SALEM: Yeah! HEMAKSHI: Admittedly, I also have one. CECIARE: I also have a healing kit KYRIELLE: Were you all just gonna wait for me to die before doing something, what the hell?!
Salem hands their Minor Healing Potion to Kyrielle. Hemakshi hands his Elixir of Life to Salem.
HEMAKSHI: Don’t you need something like this, too?
SALEM: … Oh! Yeah, thanks!
CECIARE: I have a healer’s kit as well, if people are willing to let me tend to wounds.
HEMAKSHI: Let’s maybe … tend once we figure out … this.
ANJAY: Yeah, like, um … Ceciare? What? I feel like there’s a lot to unpack.
CECIARE: Yeah … agreed. I’m confused about it just as much as you are.
LETHE: So, you don’t—
CECIARE: Normally have claws? No, no I do not.
LETHE: Not even on a full moon?
CECIARE: No, I have never in my life had nails longer than my own fingers. Sometimes you let them grow a little bit, but they’re not claws.
SALEM: You don’t seem very disturbed by what you did to us.
CECIARE: …
SALEM: You seem, you know, confused, but … not concerned.
CECIARE: … No, I’m concerned. Some people have different ways of showing it.
SALEM: Well, that’s a relief!
Hemakshi pulls out the dagger and quietly hands it to Anjay.
HEMAKSHI: Do you think this has something to do with the claws?
Anjay immediately gets distracted away from the conversation. He has to make a will save after touching the dagger and passes it.
Nic: Brian, I know we brought it up before as joke, but now I really don’t think Anjay should have a gun.
CECIARE: If that’s the case, keep it away from me.
ANJAY: I just wanna know what it does.
LETHE: I have an idea—
ANJAY: I mean, so do I, obviously. I saw it happen first-hand.
Anjay is waving the dagger around as he inspects it. He finds out it is magical, can detect magic, and looking through it allows him to see the fey sprites in the room. Anjay is waving the dagger around.
ANJAY: Well, looking at it a bit, it’s really clear why Favian wanted this thing – it’s so weirdly cool. It can detect magic, so that’s pretty awesome in and of itself, especially if you’re someone like me who has no idea where magic is— so now I can do that, so that’s kinda neat— also if you look through this funny crystal you can see all the little fey things that Ceciare was talking to us about! They actually exist! I mean, not that I didn’t think they did—I just didn’t have proof—
LETHE: Ghosts??
KYRIELLE: No, the fey are real.
LETHE: So, you can see little fey creatures through it—how does that change people into stuff.
LETHE: If you can see … ghosts … and fey … that aren’t normally seen, does that mean you can see what other people can’t see about other people?
Anjay lifts the dagger to look at Lethe through it. A couple images are reflected: Lethe, small, tiny and scared. Behind them is a shadowy visage of a wolf-like figure that resembles their transformed state.
He then looks at Ceciare through the dagger. There seems to be more interference, but he can see both of their eyes are a bright, glowing green, and a spindly, gnarled hand rests on the left shoulder of their shadow.
ANJAY: I think the dagger shows … facets of people, perhaps things that are hidden to us, or things that we don’t—it’s hard to explain without sounding convoluted and jargon, but I saw Lethe as we saw them, as a werewolf … and I saw Ceciare, but it was more … muddled. There was a hand.
SALEM: What do you mean?
ANJAY: Knotted, mossy … like someone was peering. Someone’s watching you, that’s the impression I get.
CECIARE: … Well that’s interesting to hear.
SALEM: Do you know them?
CECIARE: Specifically, the person who may or may not be watching me? That’s a little more convoluted. The fact that there’s a hand? No, I don’t know anything about that.
SALEM: Where was the hand?
ANJAY: On the left shoulder.
Salem approaches Ceciare and touches their left shoulder, and shrugs when they find nothing. Angel slithers out from a sleeve and bites Ceciare very hard on the neck. Angel is shooting daggers at them with their eyes.
CECIARE: Ow— Yes, I’m sorry Angel, I know you hurt your person. I deserve that.
Ceciare offers Angel a honey cream moss ball as an apology – they quickly snatch it and slither back inside.
Ceciare offers to tend to people’s wounds.
CECIARE: You can say no, I just figured I’d offer.
Well, looking at the group, you’re probably the most … medically-qualified, considering you actually have healing tools and, I mean, it would be an appropriate way for you to make up for what you’ve done.
SALEM: Sure! I probably just need a couple band-aids!
Suddenly, Salem jolts.
SALEM: Oh! Oh no. Does anybody—hmm. Does anybody have any … message spells?
KYRIELLE: To an extent.
SALEM: Well not necessarily the spell Message, but a spell that can deliver a message.
KYRIELLE: Oh. No, I usually have people for that.
SALEM: Um, because I think something may have happened at the inn.
CECIARE: Like what?
SALEM: It’s really hard to explain! I just sort of have a feeling?
No, I don’t have any ability to send a message or messenger. We might be able to convince one of the fey to deliver a note?
Salem looks concerned.
HEMAKSHI: Why do you have this gut feeling?
SALEM: After Ceciare attacked me, I sort of … saw … everyone back at the inn, and it looked like … Orev, anyway, didn’t look so good … so we should probably get back after our mission … or sooner.
KYRIELLE: You have scrying magic?
SALEM: Well, no! I don’t know, maybe? That’s never happened before.
KYRIELLE: … A lot of firsts tonight.
SALEM: Mine didn’t hurt anyone, though! So that’s good.
Ceciare heals the group and uses Prestidigitation to mend their clothes. Salem makes inappropriate comments.
Wow, good thing you’re as good at healing as you are hurting!
CECIARE: Well, let’s just say I’m more proficient in the former.
KYRIELLE: Is that why you turned down healthcare?
Anjay tucks himself into the pillow room to inspect the dagger. Lethe approaches Hemakshi to talk to him.
HEMAKSHI: Sorry, can I help you? Did you want to shower next?
LETHE: No … No, I just … I am sorry for … attacking you? And I’m sorry that I accused you of being a ghost, because obviously, now I know, you’re probably not a ghost.
HEMAKSHI: The “probably” really sells it there.
Lethe sighs.
HEMAKSHI: Listen, I would have been a lot more upset if it weren’t for the fact that—it sounds like it had something more to do with external circumstances than you yourself. I can’t imagine any of this has been easy for you, so … while I appreciate the apology, you don’t necessarily have to apologize for having all that on your plate on top of everything else.
HEMAKSHI: As for the ghost thing, I … I kinda get that a lot, at this point? Or at least the looks, so it’s really nothing.