Session 19, Arc III

Omens

Played 11 July 2025 Watch the session

The party began their day by dividing their recent earnings, splitting 227 gold pieces evenly among themselves with 56 gold each, while also distributing an additional 200 gold to their companions Kailyn and Steph. They shared 172 silver pieces and 5 copper pieces among the group. Their discussion turned to their ongoing mission to find evidence linking the Veurim Empire to the attack on Easthills, planning visits to local craftsmen to create equipment from the rock feathers they had collected.

A crucial realization struck them - Fe had possessed a gun when she died that could serve as vital evidence of the Veurim Empire's technological advancement. After debating whether to desecrate her grave to search for it, they decided against grave robbing when a dice roll determined they would never find it there. Instead, Kailyn suggested using a locate object spell in the morning to find the weapon. The party reviewed their other evidence: a severed finger, a wax seal bearing a serpent logo, and their collection of speaking stones used for surveillance.

During the night, Yomidrogo experienced vivid dreams featuring bird creatures and dark grey mist, similar to visions he'd had before. He woke multiple times throughout the night, eventually going outside to visit Fe's tomb where he spoke to her memory and heard an owl calling in the distance. When morning came on the frosty 17th of Skies Rest, Yomidrogo successfully cast locate object and discovered Fe's gun hidden in a secret chamber beneath their house's floorboards.

Their morning was shattered by a blood-curdling scream from the street. A terrified woman stood beneath a pole where Captain Max's body hung by a rope around his neck. The word "MINE" had been carved into his back in fresh blood, and the message was positioned to face directly toward their house. The captain had been stabbed in the heart, struck in the head with blunt trauma, and hanged, with his guard uniform stripped away. Medical examination revealed he had been dead for at least eight hours, and the rustling sound Yomidrogo heard during the night was likely the rope being used.

Nillituh shot the rope with her bow to bring down the body, while the frightened woman fled to check on her children. Using Muscle the jackal's keen senses, they followed a scent trail from the corpse down the road toward the city, where it turned near the Marbled Basin into nearby bushes. There they found scattered blood marking the actual murder site, realizing the captain had been killed in the bushes and then dragged to the hanging location.

Bones disguised himself as Captain Max using magic and led the party to the guard barracks to investigate. Along the way, they encountered a suspicious woman named Arraphesu, a tan-skinned human with messy black hair and amber eyes who wore loose red and black clothing. She confronted the disguised Bones about his suspicious behavior, having noticed something off about his appearance and mannerisms. Through tense questioning, they learned she was searching for someone named Ravikiel, who traveled by ship and had kidnapped or killed her father. She revealed she was from the Islands of Spelora and Salvajes and had been searching for years.

At the guard barracks, Bones successfully deceived the guards and gathered information about who was on duty the previous night. Four guards were identified: Avril, Josh, Ezekiel, and Komi Dirk. Yomidrogo noticed Komi Dirk showing suspicious behavior with a slight eye twitch when questioned. Bones took the half-orc guard to Captain Max's private chambers for interrogation, where they discovered the room had been completely ransacked with overturned furniture and emptied drawers.

The interrogation of Komi Dirk involved intimidation tactics, with Nillituh threatening him with a dagger while Bones used magic to paralyze him and transform to show his skeletal form. Under this psychological pressure, Komi Dirk revealed he couldn't remember anything after posting at the eastern wall around midday, having memory gaps he attributed to drinking. Though his words seemed truthful, his body language suggested he was hiding something or had been magically influenced. The party found a dusty book with clear fingerprints as the only significant evidence in the ransacked room.

They spent five days waiting for equipment to be crafted from their rock feathers and hides. Bones maintained his disguise as Captain Max while setting up booby traps around their house. Nillituh successfully hunted for food to feed their rock birds, while Arri gathered alchemical ingredients and brewed two healing potions. They visited a goblin blacksmith who sold them various equipment and custom manacles, then consulted with a skilled half-orc leatherworker who agreed to craft a comprehensive equipment set including enhanced armor, cold-resistant cloaks, boots, gloves, and magical arrows for 750 gold pieces.

During their five-day wait, the party ate at a rough tavern on the eastern edge of The Curling district. This establishment featured a 15x15 foot fighting ring where a tiefling named Tezza the Bladebreaker had remained undefeated for five years. When Arri decided to challenge him, Bones bet 500 gold against her winning, drawing excitement from the crowd of approximately 150 patrons crammed into the space.

The fight began as unarmed combat, with Tezza missing all his initial attacks while Arri dodged with matrix-like reflexes. However, Tezza escalated by drawing a short sword, transforming the bout into a deadly weapon fight. Magic entered the conflict when Yomidrogo healed Arri and became invisible through a wild magic surge, while Arri cast Sacred Flame invoking the god Istar and used Heat Metal to force Tezza to drop his superheated sword.

The situation spiraled out of control when Stonejaw, a massive half-orc barbarian and Tezza's apparent romantic partner, jumped into the ring to defend him. Yomidrogo cast Hold Person to paralyze both opponents, then used Thunder Clap to knock out Tezza. Arri delivered brutal finishing blows to the paralyzed Tezza, killing him and turning the crowd hostile. When the angry patrons rushed the ring, Bones attempted to calm them by mimicking Captain Max's voice.

Chaos erupted when Yomidrogo flew above the ceiling on his broom and cast Fireball into the crowd, killing approximately five people and setting the entire building ablaze. Bones transformed into a giant constrictor snake and cast Arms of Hadar, killing six more civilians. Hurricane-force winds blew off the tavern roof, causing debris to fall and killing numerous people as the fire spread rapidly throughout the structure.

The party fought desperately to escape the burning building as flames engulfed the fighting area, dealing damage to everyone present. Stonejaw, showing resistance to fire, ran out through the flames while the party attempted various escape methods. Yomidrogo used his broom to evacuate Nillituh to safety, while Arri climbed toward the ceiling using a rope and grappling hook. Bones transformed back from snake form and used his magical orb to cast Mass Cure Wounds, healing the party when they were near death.

As the tavern building completely collapsed with people still trapped inside, survivors could be heard screaming for help in the wreckage. Some drunk patrons still searched for those responsible for the destruction. When Yomidrogo attempted to help rescue people from the rubble, he became traumatized after witnessing a small goblin burn to death and froze in place. Bones cast Augury using his talking skull, which became surrounded by dark energy and gave the ominous omen of "war," convincing them they needed to flee immediately.

Bones enlarged his magic carpet to carry everyone and used Mage Hand to snap Yomidrogo out of his traumatic episode. The entire party escaped on the enlarged carpet, flying away from the destroyed tavern where many civilians had perished in the fire and collapse. They had successfully retrieved 500 gold pieces from a dead bettor's corpse during their escape, but left behind a scene of devastation that would likely brand them as terrorists in the eyes of the surviving population.