Astvanor Session 120 (9/22)

[cinaed]

Session 120: Day 33 of Veksdan (9/22)

Travesty paces around the guest room, wringing his hands. He poured glasses of wine for each of them, but his own is forgotten as he says that he doesn’t know who would steal from his ship, well, Maeve’s ship. Who would be stupid enough?

Az says dryly that he’s sure they don’t have plenty of enemies.

Travesty protests that they don’t have enemies. They only do things to people who deserve it, though he admits that most people they encounter deserve it. He asks Az if there’s any way he and his friends could figure out who stole the crates and get them back before Maeve finds out.

Az says he can’t promise but they can try.

When he asks what was stolen, Travesty says the first crate was filled with Striogian and Previdian fabric, which he doesn’t understand why they would be stolen since Previdian fabric is boring. The second was filled with hand-sewn dolls and beneath it some blue drake. The final one was filled with herbs and dried goods like rice.

Az asks if they were all going to the same place.

Travesty says no, the cloth and the drugs were going to Valnore, the herbs and dried goods elsewhere. He says he doesn’t understand how they could go missing, he checked the alarms and everything was fine. He sighs in relief that at least Maeve’s item to get Aria back wasn’t stolen.

Az sets Diana and Adrin to further question Travesty before he goes in search of Maeve. She’s easy enough to find, setting up one of the guest rooms. He says he hopes he’s not disturbing her and she says no.

He says he wants to talk to her about Hava. When she gestures for him to sit down next to her, he doesn’t move. She tenses a little, sensing his anger, before he asks her what she did to Hava.

She says she didn’t do anything.

He says he would like to believe her but he knows how desperate she was to get Aria back. Maybe she begged a creature of the ocean to help and offered Hava up in exchange.

Maeve says she didn’t beg anything from the depths after Aria died. She swam down as far as she could into the ocean, until it was dark and crushing. She endured this for a while before Arayla reached out to her.

Az asks her how she knows it was Arayla and not something else.

She says of course it was, who else would it be.

Az says that the gods have hidden themselves so far away that they can’t even hear pleas. He asks her how she knows it was Arayla and what she said to Maeve.

Maeve says Arayla spoke to her, that she had to swear to endure and that Arayla would be with her. She’s not just Arayla’s warlock, but she’s also her paladin. When Az questions her about being a pirate and why Arayla would accept a criminal, Maeve says morality is a little ambiguous for gods.

Az sighs and says that he’s just worried about Hava. They recently learned about an illness that only affects warlocks and he’s worried that she could get sick. He just wants her to be safe.

Maeve looks at him. She says she’s been flippant before, but if he fails to protect her sister, if whatever Hava is serving takes her soul and gets her sick, then she will hunt him from the shadows. Az says he wouldn’t expect anything else.

Maeve asks him about himself and his own pact. He summons Medrash. As she lets Medrash sniff at her hand, she asks Az more about his pact. He tells her that she’ll laugh, and she says she won’t.

Az says that he wanted a destiny. She huffs out a laugh and then apologizes before asking if he got one.

He says his life is certainly more interesting.

Maeve tells him having a destiny is a noble thing to want.

Az says that it is more interesting and dangerous than he expected, rubbing at his scars before dropping his hand to his side.

Maeve asks him if he didn’t expect being a hero to come with problems. He says he doesn’t know what he expected. She teases him about not expecting the other Hooligans, he says he wasn’t expecting any of it, not even his black eyes.

She shows him a scar, tugging aside part of her shirt so that he can see she has a scar as though she has been run through with a blade. She makes him promise not to tell Hava before she admits she died.

On the Morning Flight, Kiva shuffles the others into his downstairs quarters. There’s a little table with chairs and drinking glasses. He sets down a bottle of really excellent Striogian wine, not as heavily spiced as Kastvaran but excellent.

He cracks his neck and says that they understand the qualms they’re having regarding the archaeologists. Hava says criminal archaeologists do seem to be a strange problem. Kiva says that there are often ones who want to trade in artifacts via the Col’Far although the Col’Far leader doesn’t find them interesting.

Hava asks what he finds interesting.

Kiva rattles off a list: fabric, good food, drugs, untaxed building supplies such as lumber and stone. Once his boss got briefly into very fancy stained glass. Another time it was rare birds. Even more rarely, his boss is interested in people who are trying to get away from things.

Audacity says that makes sense, it’s Kastvar.

Kiva says people trying to get into Kastvar is a money maker. He briefly recounts a job four hundred years ago, smuggling a noble woman from Previdian escaping a would-be husband who tried to burn Kiva’s ship.

He says that he has business to attend to in the city as well as the expected shipments from the Last Mistake. He knows that Breezerunner plans to go to Valnore without any shipments after it departs from Port Sciathan. He grimaces and says he doesn’t want to bring Abrisolm bad news.

He curses when he realizes that he let slip the Col’Far leader’s name and then tells them to call him Abe if they meet him. When Kiva remarks that he’s very loud when he’s angry, Hava points out that he is a crime lord. Kiva says Abrisolm is everything and could even rule both continents if he wished, though that doesn’t interest him.

Yolov says he doesn’t want to assume but if this woman is bold enough to steal from Abrisolm twice and excavate above the dragon turtle’s lair for months, then she is probably reckless enough to steal the three crates as well.

Kiva says it probably is related, and then says if they agree to help him with this, then he will ensure they get a meeting with Abrisolm and a favor.

Yolov glances at the party and Audacity weakly says sure. Kiva squints at Audacity and says he needs to stop being scared of him, he isn’t going to eat him. Audacity says he’s not worried about that, but he’s working on it.

Kiva says he has business to attend to and people to hire, then glances at Hava and asks where they’re staying. When she says on the Last Mistake, he asks if she’ll be there all night, and she says it doesn’t have to be all night.

He looks at the rest of the group and asks if it would be helpful for him to give a list of people who dislike him. Yolov says if someone is on his bad side, then they might be willing to shelter Coisaira.

Kiva says the man isn’t on his bad side, though probably would be if they met. He describes Valkari, a dragonborn who often frequents the Orange Tassel, which is less of a tavern and more of a brothel. They could start there, or not.

Audacity asks if he could ask a possibly unrelated question. Kiva says he loves unrelated questions. Audacity asks if he knows about the Archaeological Recovery Team of Holistic Observers & Explorers.

Kiva says of course he does, they style themselves as archeologists but aren’t, and are a pain in his ass. They are led by Elathias, a wood elf, and pestered Abrisolm about getting artifacts related to the Spring War. Apparently he works with the Sworn Edge and tried to get Abrisolm to as well.

Audacity says that Elathias is probably trying to kill Abrisolm and Kiva says he would like to see him try. Yolov says that Elathias might have some unexpected allies aside from the Sworn Edge. He had a warlock pact with an Archfey and then broke it and now seems to have a new one with someone from the Hells.

Kiva blinks and says that he doesn’t necessarily judge people who sell their soul, but he doesn’t trust people who break their deals.

Back in the guest room on the Last Mistake, Az studies the scar and Maeve clarifies that this isn’t what killed her. This just left from meeting Arayla. She tells him that apparently some people get to speak with their deities briefly in the afterlife before they return to the living.

Az dryly says he’s heard.

For Maeve, Arayla challenged her to a sword fight. Daggers are more Maeve’s thing and at the end of the fight, Arayla ran her through and left her with this scar. During the fight, they had a conversation about being ready to die, whether Maeve still felt capable of fighting and if Arayla felt she still had fight left in her.

Az asks if this was after the ocean, and she says it was much later. He asks if it was the first time she died. She sighs and admits that she got tricked by a letter claiming to be Cassone inviting her to a tavern. It was a trap, she got strangled. It’s an embarrassing way to die, and she makes him promise warlock to warlock, sibling to sibling, that if he tells Hava about her death then she will ruin his life with nicknames and lies.

Az says he won’t tell her. He adds that he really can’t fathom how she didn’t reach out to Hava after she died. Maeve says Hava didn’t want to speak to her. Az argues that she wanted to speak with her so badly that she joined the Hooligans to search for her.

Maeve admits that she was scared that Hava would be angry with her. It was easier to be afraid of that then to know for certain Hava hated her. She’s not brave like Az or the other Hooligans. She immediately adds that if he says that to anyone she’ll gut him like a fish. She goes on adventures, of course, but not like the Hooligans, who do things she cannot even fathom.

Az makes her promise not to disappear on Hava again, and she says she’ll do her best. Then she adds that while Hava temporarily lost a sister, she got a brother. Though she supposes that is a downgrade, since sisters are clearly superior.

Az says he is very drunk and might forget this conversation in the morning. He leaves.

Back with Kiva, he walks the rest of the party back up onto the deck. He mentions a halfling named Lira who was a member of one of the Col’Far’s fleet’s crews whose job was terminated, as well as a human woman named Valerie. Valerie left in the dead of night after she was supposed to be one of the store managers for the legitimate trading company portions of the Dawnscale Trading Company. She worked two days, supposedly to help pay her way through school, then didn’t show up. When Kiva sent another member of the Col’Far, Kalani, to check in on her, Valerie didn’t know who she was.

Yolov says that could be either a memory spell or the initial Valerie wasn’t the real Valerie.

Kiva says that Kalani works in the upper part of the city and can answer their questions. Valerie is still at school in the city, since this happened only four weeks ago. Lira works on the docks, and Valkari is usually at the Orange Tassel.

As they reach the deck, everyone, even Az on the Last Mistake, hears a very loud splash. It sounds like stone dropping into the water. A creak of wood on the side of the Morning Flight alerts them further that something is near the ship.

A dock down, Az hears people on the dock start to scream.

As they rush over to the side of the ship, the ship lilts very slightly. Emerging from the waters is a very darkened creature made of stone and dirt, digging its claws into the side of the ship. They can see another one climbing on the other side and a third at the end of the boat.

Kiva swears and says, “Not my ship!” He starts moving towards the back, muttering that he can’t do anything with people watching.

The stone creatures climb up onto the ship. Kiva whines, “Not my ship. Anything but my ship,” and half of the party realizes the ship is his lair. Yolov realizes that they’ve seen quite a bit of Kiva’s ship, including his quarters, except for his office. That must be where he keeps his hoard.

Yolov also sees that the stone creatures move without sentience. They look almost like earth elementals but are constructs of arcane magic made of items found from the sea floor. They have been made and sent here for a purpose.

Galowen also studies them and knows that these creatures cannot be poisoned but are vulnerable to thunder damage. Galowen steps towards the closest one and strikes out with his sword, hitting both times. The second time thunder rolls like a crack of thunder in the middle of a rainstorm.

Stone sprays out across the docks as the stone creature staggers, looking slightly worse for wear.

Hava sees one of them looming over her and casts Twilight Sanctuary before she moves to flank the creature and casts Spiritual Weapon beside Galowen. The spiritual trident stabs into the stone creature.

Az looks at the closest stone creature and casts Hold Monster on it. It is paralyzed in the magical grip.

Yolov calculates quickly and positions a powerful Scatter between the two closest stone creatures. It rattles everyone’s teeth as the thunder rolls and cracks part of the stone body.

Audacity speaks in Primordial and asks what they want. The creature not trapped by Hold Monster rumbles out that it was made from nothing to destroy the ship. Audacity rushes over to the paralyzed one and strikes out at it. He connects once, then unleashes another flurry of blows. One misses but the last one hits as well.

The stone creature between Hava and Galowen strikes out at Galowen and then twice at Hava. All of the blows land. Fire lashes out from Hava as she’s struck, burning the stone creature.

The third stone creature turns and attacks the ship three times. The stone creature tears off a bannister and breaks a hole in the ship with two powerful blows. Yolov watches Kiva’s entire back go rigid and realizes Kiva is now trying hard not to turn into a dragon and eat the creature.

Galowen strikes the stone creature closest to him with another peal of thunder from his sword. He hits it hard, to the point where it has missing chunks, boulder-sized fragments falling into the ocean. He hits it one more time and splits it in two as he turns towards the paralyzed one.

Hava attacks the paralyzed one with her Spiritual Weapon before she looks towards the one destroying Kiva’s ship and fires off three eldritch blasts. Two of them hit as the stone creature looks up from tearing into the Morning Flight.

Az fires off his own eldritch blasts, but all three miss as he concentrates a little too intensely on his spell.

Yolov looks at Kiva, realizing how tenuous Kiva’s grip on his rage is at the moment, and then casts a thunderous chromatic orb that tears a hole through the chest of the stone creature tearing up the ship.

Audacity continues to attack the paralyzed stone creature. His fist slams into a crack within it and shatters it into pieces before he rushes across the length of the ship to attack the final stone creature, hitting it twice.

The stone creature swings out at him, missing the first time but hitting him with the second and third punch. Both blows are meaty blows as Kiva says, “Not that I want it to hit you, but I’d rather it not damage my ship.”

Galowen rushes for it as well, Misty Stepping closer. His sword strikes it twice. The stone creature looks badly injured but is still standing.

Hava considers her new magical trident but decides it’s not the time to experiment with that. She sends three eldritch blasts towards it. The first one knocks off the arm holding the bannister, the second knocks off the other arm, and the final one goes through its head, sending it tumbling off the ship.

Hava looks over at Kiva and says, “Not this ship.”

Kiva says this is twice now they’ve saved his ship.

Audacity and Yolov look around towards the crowds on the deck. Maeve, Travesty, and Kresh have emerged onto the deck of the Last Mistake, while the rest of the Morning Flight crew has also emerged. The crowds seem awed, alarmed, and impressed.

Upper Crescent has many levels. This is the first level, closest to the ocean. The second level over the docks, as the people on the third level in a garden stare too. At first Audacity and Yolov glance briefly at them, before they spy one figure amidst the horrified onlookers with tremendous teal wings tucked up against her back. Coisiara stands there for a second longer before the aarakocra Dimension Doors them both away.

Yolov tells Kiva that Coisiara was watching and Kiva swears.

Kiva says he will have to tell Abrisolm he’ll be late. It’s so difficult to find trustworthy people to fix his ship and use the specific lumber. He’ll have to talk to Jax. He seethes for another moment before he asks if they can do him a favor and let him eat her.

Yolov says that the dragon turtle needs evidence of her death or else it will destroy the city. Audacity suggests he eats everything but her head.

Kiva doesn’t look opposed to that before he grumbles, asking what her problem is with him and what she wants from his ship.

Audacity asks if he knows what was stolen from Abrisolm’s office.

Kiva says yes. Audacity asks if he has anything similar here and adds that they need to know what they’re getting back from her. Kiva pauses before he says it won’t make sense to anyone who doesn’t understand the intricacies of Abrisolm’s personal life. She stole an amulet made of three bones.

Audacity says charming. When he asks if it does anything, Kiva says no.

Hava knows he’s not telling the entire truth. It’s a magical amulet that can do something, and its loss greatly concerns Kiva and Abrisolm. Kiva says that there are certain things people can do with it, or at least people with these bones and necromancy magic.

Az can piece together a little about magical items to know that it was made for Abrisolm’s personal use and connected to other people.

Meanwhile Yolov remembers a theory class which discussed high level necromancy, the idea where without someone dying, their lives can be extended for an unreasonable amount of time. It requires a tremendous expenditure of magic and energy. If it was one person, it would exhaust that person daily.

Before the Previdian occupation and necromancy became illegal, there were a couple high level necromancers in Valnore who were able to channel that energy into amulets, to make it so that a life force could be contained. It isn’t that someone will die if the amulet breaks. If this is one of those amulets, if something happens to it, it will make it so that the person casting the spell will have to go back to directly channeling magic to keep them alive.

If it’s reverse engineered, the life extending magic could possibly be directed at someone else. The only thing Yolov can think of from every time he’s heard it described or seen sketches, is that an amulet contains the bone of the spell caster and the recipient, which binds them together, more binding than any marriage could be. Yolov realizes the three bones mean two people rather than one are bound with it. Someone’s essentially stolen Abrisolm’s life-extending wedding ring.

Yolov nods slowly, quietly thinking that he’ll have to tell Asa about this later. Outwardly he says that they’ll have to get it back.

Audacity asks what could be related to the amulet that stolen from Maeve’s ship, and Kiva says he has no idea, it might be two different things. He complains that whenever the party is around him, trouble follows.

Hava assures him that they’ll figure it out, and he says that Abrisolm will pay them tenfold if they can retrieve the amulet.

Audacity quietly leaves the ship. Yolov follows after him, and the rest of the party follows except for Hava, who listens to Kiva complain for almost an hour about his ship before she offers to distract him.

Yolov catches up with Audacity and asks him how long he’s known the name of Elathias’ group. Audacity says it was right around when he died. He was pretty out of it and apologizes for being an idiot.

Yolov, who was looking a little frustrated, deflates at that. He says it was understandable to forget the connection, assuring Audacity he isn’t an idiot. He just hopes that in the future, even if Audacity isn’t sure about potential connections, that he’ll share what he suspects.

The party gets back to the Last Mistake, where Maeve has set up their guest rooms, and they all settle in to rest for the night and begin the hunt for Coisiara and her companions in the morning.