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Story Hour
Erkonin (Campaign #1) [Session 46: Making Deals with Devils is Stupid as well as Bad]
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<blockquote data-quote="prabe" data-source="post: 8064820" data-attributes="member: 7016699"><p><span style="font-size: 15px"> Session 6: Administrator Alighieri</span></p><p></p><p></p><p>Dramatis Personae:</p><p></p><p>Mo - Goliath Bard (College of Lore)</p><p>Orryk - Forest Gnome Monk (Way of the Four Elements, variant)</p><p>Fiona - Half-Elf Wizard (Evoker)</p><p>Taman - Human (variant) Rogue (Inquisitive)</p><p>Joybell - Forest Gnome Paladin (Oath of the Ancients)</p><p></p><p>(Imaktis' player was at GenCon and Imaktis in the Fancy Houses.)</p><p></p><p>GM: - Everyone Else</p><p></p><p></p><p>6 Sunnin 748 (later that night) (Campaign day 7)</p><p></p><p>Drawing on their tremendous knowledge (and matching Nat20s the week before), Orryk and Fiona knew that dilyarli generally only kill their target, the person who actually violated the agreement with the Tundra Queen, and anyone who tries to get between them. They don’t go after anyone else -- typically not even someone who killed another dilyarli. This is good to know for when we go with Taman to get revenge for his family.</p><p></p><p>After the dilyarli left, we went to talk to the Zun family. Tillaron Zun had said earlier that he would write a letter to the Administrator asking for an audience for Kalona, but he hadn’t held much hope that the Administrator would respond. While we were in the garden and on the way to the room where the Zuns were taking shelter, we talked about what we wanted to learn.</p><p></p><p>Questions:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Would this package harm the Administrator? The family did not know the answer for that. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> What was the actual deal? What were the circumstances of the deal-making? How did Boludar Zun meet the fey? Why did Boludar make the deal? Why did the Tundra Queen? Did Boludar know who and what he was dealing with?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> What kind of person is the Administrator? (Does the Administrator need killing?)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> What is the Zun family’s relationship with the Administrator?<br /> </li> </ol><p>With our questions all sorted out we went in to the family.</p><p></p><p>This is what we were told (at that time): When he made the deal, Boludar had a strong feeling that he was dealing with the Tundra Queen. She contacted him while he was traveling up there with a caravan. She offered him a fair amount of gold (1300gp to be precise) to deliver the package to Administrator Alighieri.</p><p></p><p>Several in the party did not believe that Boludar was being entirely forthcoming about their payment for delivering the package.</p><p></p><p>With his usual directness, Orryk said: Tell us the truth or we can’t protect you.</p><p></p><p>Boludar then admitted that the payment was 1300gp, 2 magic items and competitive advantage for Zun caravans up north. The hazards of travel north would be more hazardous for other families’ caravans and less hazardous for the Zun families.</p><p></p><p>At that, we could tell that Tillaron was deeply disappointed in his son. Tillaron told us that Boludar’s idea of the dangers of travel up north was abstract and vague. Anyone who really knew them wouldn’t increase them for other merchants.</p><p></p><p>We asked why the Tundra Queen apparently sought Boludar out, but he didn’t have an answer for that. Our thought was that she had a sense he’d be willing to take the deal.</p><p></p><p>Mo and Orryk double-teamed intimidating Boludar - Mo by being big and loud, Orryk by talking openly about tying him up out in the garden and letting the dilyarli kill him. That way no one else would be put in danger. Under this pressure, Boludar looked openly unnerved and said he had told us the truth -- he got a Wand of Web, Eyes of Charming (magic goggles) and money.</p><p></p><p>Orryk asked Tillaron if he thought the Administrator would be intrigued by the Tundra Queen having a message for him or would he shelter and hide?</p><p></p><p>Tillaron wasn’t sure about that. He did say that the Zun family had been targeted by the Administrator for decades. They felt he’d been putting other merchant families ahead of theirs. He wasn’t sure what they could have done to offend him, but it was decades ago now.</p><p></p><p>We asked Boludar how he’d originally intended to get the package to the Administrator, when it was still a package and not Kalona. He didn’t seem to have really thought that through -- his plan, apparently, was to give it to someone else to deliver.</p><p></p><p>Around now is when we learned that Administrator Alighieri is a human. He’s been Administrator for something like 80 years. But he’s human.</p><p></p><p>Mo asked Tillaron what the Administrator is motivated by. Tillaron couldn’t answer that, but did say that he couldn’t think of a time when the Administrator had done something for his own personal gain. His main motivation seems to be improving Embernook. The Administrator has an inner circle of one -- a Major Domo (but not an evil one, strangely). This is a halfling named Thalith. (Thalith is aging normally, apparently, for what that’s worth.)</p><p></p><p>We asked if people actually saw him, thinking that perhaps he <em>used</em> to be a human and was now something rather less alive and more disturbing. But, no -- people do see him. And, no -- he’s not aging.</p><p></p><p>Mo had the thought that perhaps we could satisfy the deal by taking the now-empty box to the administrator. We asked to see the actual box that Boludar got from the Tundra Queen and, going back to the circumstances of the dealmaking, asked what were her actual words. Unfortunately, the words she used, to the best of Boludar’s ability to remember, were that she was giving him something and he was to give it to the Administrator of Embernook. Which doesn’t leave a lot of room for misinterpretation there.</p><p></p><p>We turned on Boludar again, because this whole situation was his doing. He admitted that most of the merchants know not to make deals with the fey. Mostly. In response to his father’s disappointment and anger, and Orryk’s occasionally repeated suggestion that we stake him out in the garden for the dilyarli, Boludar agreed to absent himself from the rest of his family. Rather than risk the dilyarli harming anyone else, even other citizens of Embernook, he would leave town alone. If we were able to get Kalona in to see the Administrator, we could tell Tillaron, who would be able to get word to him about coming home.</p><p></p><p>Mo persuaded Tillaron that the Eyes of Charming would potentially be helpful for us in working to save Kalona and Boludar. The Eyes of Charming might help us in persuading people as needed. We gave them to Mo. (As always with Charm Person, the target knows after the fact that they have been charmed.)</p><p></p><p>At that point, we figured we’d learned everything we could from the family in the middle of the night (it was about 1 am). So we left.</p><p></p><p>Before going to our various places of repose, we went to report to Commander Mogree at Centerkeep. We told him that Boludar Zun had made a deal with the fey and it was stupid and we had bought 24 hours but no more. When we told him that Boludar had specifically made a deal with the Tundra Queen, he agreed that was an error.</p><p></p><p>We warned him that the dilyarli had come into the city as a mist-cloud floating down the river from the north, so perhaps the guard should be looking for that to stay out of its way tomorrow night. And we told him that Boludar was going to be separating himself from his family.</p><p></p><p>He agreed with us about letting Boludar Zun go to his fate.</p><p></p><p>Mogree had heard of the dilyarli and said they’re nothing to mess with unless you’re really good or really careful. That said, they can be negotiated and avoided (if one is not their target) and they’re more than honest. He had also heard of the Tundra Queen making deals with people.</p><p></p><p>We asked him what the Tundra Queen might be after -- what’s in it for her to get a message to the Administrator. He said that she’s looking for more political influence. There are those who say that the founders of Auriqua made a deal with her, which is why that city has been able to thrive way up north. Auriqua should, by rights, have gotten attention from Frost Giants. The Tundra Queen, he told us, lives in the Feywild.</p><p></p><p>We then went to our respective homes to rest. Taman, when he got back to the Pewter Oar, asked the bartender for some salt to have in a pouch if he needs it.</p><p></p><p></p><p>7 Sunnin 748 (Campaign day 8)</p><p></p><p>The next morning all of us except Imaktis met for breakfast at the Pewter Oar. We assumed he was, erm, tied up in the fancy houses he’s been visiting. Perhaps healing some wayward soul.</p><p></p><p>We made plans to go to talk to Chief Ullar Truehammer and Tulmor and Barnett. We were hoping that perhaps we’d develop a plan for getting in to see the Administrator.</p><p></p><p>While the party discussed various thoughts (going through the Guard’s representative to the council, seeing what Tulmor and Barnett know about the Administrator), Joybell trotted over to the bartender and asked what the procedure normally was for getting in to see the Administrator. (Being Joybell, there were a lot more words than that -- about being from small towns and getting to know the mayor and how it would make her parents happy if she went and introduced herself even though this is a big city and maybe it’s weird to do that here.) The bartender told her that the procedure is to go to Centerkeep and wait in line to talk to Thalith (the halfling major domo). The Administrator’s office is right near Thalith’s. If the Administrator isn’t the right person to help with a problem, Thalith sends petitioners to the right people. He warned Joybell that Thalith can be hard to get past. Also, he said that the lines get long, but Thalith is efficient.</p><p></p><p>Joybell went back to the others and told them what the bartender had told her.</p><p></p><p>Some of the party, including Orryk and Fiona and Mo, wanted to go back to the Zun house to see if Kalona was detecting as magical. We definitely wanted to get to talk to the Administrator -- in the past week and a bit the town has been dealing with multiple extra-planar intrusions. Even aside from the dilyarli situation, we wanted to introduce ourselves, offer our services to the Administrator, and see who we’ve been fighting for.</p><p></p><p>The plan developed that Joybell and Taman would go to Centerkeep and get in line to talk to Thalith while the rest of the party went to do various things including visiting Tulmor and Barnett, talking to Kalona Zun (and casting detect magic) and talking to Ullar Truehammer. And doing whatever else seemed necessary.</p><p></p><p>The first stop for Mo, Orryk, and Fiona (Team Doing Stuff) was Tulmor and Barnett’s place. Mo asked about the Tundra Queen and her dilyarli. He explained that someone was to deliver a package, but the deal was broken when someone else opened the package. (He did not mention who the package had been intended for.)</p><p></p><p>Barnett: And now they’re speaking Sylvan?</p><p></p><p>He went on to explain that the person who opens such a package is under a geas (a magically imposed quest). Generally what happens is that the person under this geas has a mostly harmless mental effect that the only language they can speak is Sylvan until the geas is satisfied. What has happened in the past is that when the person under the geas is ALONE with the recipient of the “package”, the geas’ed person gets taken over by something like a Magic Jar spell. The possessed person says or does something, then is released from their geas.</p><p></p><p>Mo asked what kinds of messages get delivered this way. Barnett said that up around Ariqua deals with the Tundra Queen are much more common than around here, which was him saying that he didn’t know. </p><p></p><p>Mo asked if we could trick the geas’ed person into delivering the message and fulfilling the contract -- perhaps by disguising someone as the proper recipient, would the Tundra Queen know? Would the geas’ed person be able to be fooled by something like that or would the magic prevent it?</p><p></p><p>Barnett said that it would be possible to free the geas’ed person with something like that -- she could be freed of her compulsion. However, part of the message is usually an instruction to the recipient to do <em>something</em> (something only the recipient can do) as a sign that the message has been received. If that is not done, then the Tundra Queen will know that the message was not given to the right person. In other words, we can free Kalona but can’t save Boludar with a trick like that.</p><p></p><p>Orryk asked if Barnett knew of any other deals people here in Embernook have made with the Tundra Queen. Barnett’s response was, “Not here.” But, he said that if the Tundra Queen doesn’t recognize a merchant in the north, she generally approaches to make a deal.</p><p></p><p>Barnett then said (in response to some further questions from Orryk) that if the Tundra Queen is trying to do <em>something</em> in Embernook, then the Administrator will want to know. It could be urgent. However, Barnett said that we’ll need evidence that the Tundra Queen is trying to meddle in Embernook’s affairs. We need to take all the evidence we can muster to Thalith. And when we’re talking to him, we need to do it loudly -- Administrator Alighieri can hear conversations in Thalith’s office.</p><p></p><p>Mo asked what kind of man Administrator Alighieri is. Barnett said, “I cannot answer that.” So Mo asked if he knew anyone who could. Barnett said that he genuinely didn’t know anyone who could tell us about him.</p><p></p><p>But he did say that we definitely need to be honest when talking to the Administrator. He’ll respond to that much more favorably than he’ll respond to being lied to or tricked.</p><p></p><p>Mo then asked some questions about the Feywild, the Shadowfell and Orcus -- he wanted to know about creatures from other planes, what their relations with each other are like, and what their motives are. Tulmor and Barnett agreed to look into finding answers to those questions. Between them Tulmor and Barnett have been to several planes (including the Astral and the Ethereal). Barnett, for himself, expressed no desire to repeat the experience.</p><p></p><p>Immediately interested and on point, Orryk asked if Barnett had been to any of the Elemental Planes. Barnett said he hadn’t but Tulmor has been to the Plane of Air (the safe and comfortable one, relatively speaking).</p><p></p><p>Mo thanked them for being remarkably helpful and the party left. After they were out on the street, Mo said that after talking to Barnett he thought the party should be honest with the Administrator.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, in line at Thalith’s office, Taman and Joybell were listening. Or trying to. Taman was being subtle about it, while Joybell was not particularly attempting to hide the fact that she was listening to what people were saying. She also kept moving closer to Thalith’s office as seats and spaces opened up. So she could hear better. (None of it sounded very interesting to her so after a while she started praying and meditating.)</p><p></p><p>Taman didn’t hear much as far as content, but he did catch that when people got loud with Thalith he was good at calming them down. And most people were sent by Thalith, with letters, to the people who could actually help them. Taman also saw in Thalith’s office two 9’ tall suits of armor with glowing eyeslits -- which seemed like something not to mess with.</p><p></p><p>In other words, Team Queue was queueing.</p><p></p><p>Team Doing Stuff (Mo, Fiona and Orryk) went next to the Zun estate in The Spans. The first thing they learned was that Boludar was getting on a boat in Deepport and heading away out of the city. Mo immediately observed that the sailors were being put in harm’s way, but at least Boludar was away from his family and the city.</p><p></p><p>They went to talk to “TalDorei” as Mo called him (Tillaron) and Kalona. Fiona cast Identify on Kalona and found that she’s definitely under a geas with a pending magic jar. She’d also been polymorphed into herself who can only speak Sylvan. Mo cast Comprehend Languages so they could talk to her.</p><p></p><p>Orryk persuaded a somewhat reluctant Tillaron Zun that the Wand of Web might be useful to us in protecting Kalona, depending on how things go down when we take her to the Administrator.</p><p></p><p>Fiona asked to see the empty box -- the wrapping paper had been discarded, but the box itself was well made, about the size of a cigar box, with abstract inlays in the wood. But it is not magical. She also asked to see the note that the dilyarli threw in through the window (in a snowball). It was written in Common by someone for whom Common wasn’t a first language (or even a first alphabet).</p><p></p><p>Mo, with the Comprehend Languages, went to talk to Kalona. When he told her the group was going to take her to see Administrator Alighieri she cheerfully agreed. She also asked to ride on Mo’s shoulders. Which Mo agreed to.</p><p></p><p>So Team Doing Stuff headed off to Centerkeep and joined Team Queue at Thalith’s office.</p><p></p><p>When they got there, Joybell asked what she should say when her name was called and they’re taken into Thalit’s office, since she wasn’t privy to any of these meetings. She was told to say “There is evidence that the Tundra Queen has an interest in the city of Embernook.” And she was told to say it loudly.</p><p></p><p>Mo also pointed out, before we got called in, that we potentially had a chance to help with sorting out the Zun family’s problems with the Administrator.</p><p></p><p>About 10 minutes after Team Doing Stuff arrived in the queue, Joybell’s name was called.</p><p></p><p>Thalith recognized our group immediately, noting that we were missing our Tortle. We said Imaktis was taking the day off.</p><p></p><p>Thalith: You are a motley crew.</p><p></p><p>Joybell said what she was told to say, and said it loudly. We said that the message was in the little girl now and asked if the Administrator would want to know what the message is.</p><p></p><p>Thalith: Yes he will.</p><p></p><p>Then he started counting down on his fingers. The door to Administrator Alighieri’s office opened exactly when his count got to one.</p><p></p><p>Alighieri came out into the office -- he was a tall and slender gentleman (especially for a human), dressed nicely. He moved well and didn’t look a day over 55. Which was a little creepy.</p><p></p><p>Administrator: Thalith, you should stop giving these people any problems.</p><p>Joybell: He was very nice.</p><p>Administrator: Thalith, you’re slipping.</p><p></p><p>We told him that Kalona had the message, so he took her into his office and closed the door behind. We all tried to listen as well as we could, but only Taman heard their footsteps in the other room - until their footsteps suddenly cut off.</p><p></p><p>After a few minutes they returned, Alighieri looking both amused and irritated. “Thalith, please have the honor flag raised over the office.” (This was the signal to the Tundra Queen’s agents that he had received the message.)</p><p></p><p>Mo asked what the message was.</p><p></p><p>Surprisingly, Alighieri answered: The Tundra Queen persists in underestimating me. She has demands and insists on them. I persist in saying no.</p><p></p><p>We asked if we could help him or the city in any way and he said that there’s nothing at the moment.</p><p></p><p>Alighieri: So one of you tried to engage in a fight with a dilyarli?</p><p>Fiona: He didn’t get far.</p><p>Alighieri: Have you learned?</p><p>Taman: I have business with a dilyarli.</p><p>Alighieri: Your business is with the Tundra Queen, then.</p><p>Taman: In time. I want the one responsible first.</p><p>Alighieri: Tell me.</p><p></p><p>Taman then told Alighieri about the dilyarli brutally murdering his entire family. He wants revenge on their behalf.</p><p></p><p>Administrator Alighieri said that there is nothing bad that can happen to the Tundra Queen that he would mind, but he advised us to kill her here and not in the Feywild. Joybell asked why, and he said that if she’s killed here, she can’t come back.</p><p></p><p>Mo asked if there was any money in us killing the Tundra Queen and the Administrator said that he didn’t want her dead. He just wanted bad things to happen to her.</p><p></p><p>Mo then asked: What is your problem with the Kuns?</p><p>Everyone else in the party: Zuns.</p><p>Alighieri, indicating Kalona: Her family? My relationship with them is the same as every other merchant family in Embernook.</p><p>Mo and Orryk: They feel like they’re being squeezed.</p><p>Alighieri: I treat all families equally and all families would likely say the same thing. Merchants are people and people remember most what has gone against them.</p><p></p><p>He then told us that he suspected Boludar Zun would enjoy his adventures in New Arvai and Pelsoreen. (Apparently his one-day cruise to get out of town and protect his family is not going to go his way.)</p><p></p><p>We made our goodbyes and left the building. As we walked outside we noticed the windows to Thalith’s office and to the Administrator’s office next door. As we were looking, we saw a cloud flowing into the Administrator’s office.</p><p></p><p>We rushed back into Thalith’s office and told him what he saw.</p><p></p><p>Thalith: I miss the days when they were subtle.</p><p></p><p>He opened the door to Alighieri’s office -- there was a dilyarli in the office with its back to us. Aligheri was there as well - he was fine. Still amused but a lot angrier. (This was the same dilyarli that was interacting with the Zun family.)</p><p></p><p>Mo: Do we need to kill this thing?</p><p>Alighieri: He serves his Lady well. He’s going to tell his Lady that I refused his offer. He’s going to go back to the north and tell his Lady to kindly piss off.</p><p>Alighieri to Taman: It is possible I was mistaken about who your problem is with. There is a rogue dilyarli. His name is Ildna.</p><p>Joybell: He’s broken service with his Lady?</p><p>Alighieri: This one does not know the full story. Ildna has taken to chasing people who have fulfilled their deals with the Tundra Queen. She, however, hasn’t taken it into her head to stop him.</p><p>Taman: Where was he last?</p><p>Alighieri gestured to the dilyarli in the office, who said: The last few people he has attacked have been mostly around Auriqua.</p><p>Mo: Do you know why he went rogue?</p><p>Dilyarli: I can’t imagine. My Lady hasn’t enlightened me about that.</p><p>Taman: If I am going to be hunting down one of your brothers, is there a method to avoid the...unpleasantness?</p><p>Dilyarli: Alas, you are asking me to betray all of my kind, not just one.</p><p>Taman: It was worth a shot…</p><p>Dilyarli: <<laughed>></p><p>Joybell: Would you or your brothers and sisters help us find this rogue?</p><p>Dilyarli: We are not free to…</p><p>Joybell: If we can help to take this one on, please contact us. We have a highly motivated colleague.</p><p>Taman: Can you control the eye thing?</p><p>Dilyarli: I can. But with my back turned, the lack of threat is overt.</p><p></p><p>We left again, heading to the Zun estate to return Kalona. On the way there, Joybell mentioned that she thought Thalith’s description of us as a “Motley Crew” might be a good group name. Mo made an excellent point -- What do we want to advertise ourselves as? What are we selling with the group name?</p><p></p><p>Good questions. We’re still pondering the group name question...</p><p></p><p>When we got to the Zun estate, the whole family was there, excluding Boludar, but including Boludar’s wife.</p><p></p><p>Mo was concerned, as was Joybell, that because Boludar’s deal with the Tundra Queen has been fulfilled, the fey are going to be screwing with other merchants up north. Tillaron didn’t know if we could call that off in any way. Orryk said that she’ll probably keep the letter, but not the spirit of the deal. Indeed, it’s possible that she’s made the exact same deal with other merchant families, so that the effects all even out.</p><p></p><p>We left and went to report to Chief Truehammer that the Zun family was no longer a threat or under threat -- but he may have already heard that from the Administrator. Ullar chuckled and said the he had an appointment with Alighieri in a few hours and that it would be nice to know what he’s going to say in advance.</p><p></p><p>We asked about Alin, the foreman at Istin’s Yard and suspected evil undead-making thing. He had made inquiries among the guard and learned that some time between the Lumberyard and when we dealt with the allip in Kalmarn a guard on the North Gateway saw him leave the city on a wagon of possessions. Well, naughty word.</p><p></p><p>We apparently have a lot of problems to the north.</p><p></p><p>Truehammer didn’t have anything else for us at the moment.</p><p></p><p>We flapped about a bit after that.</p><p></p><p>Mo and Taman went to the Pewter Oar to have some celebratory drinks. Joybell went to the druids in town, but they didn’t have any pressing problems. Then she joined Orryk and Fiona at Tulmor and Barnett’s, where Orryk was talking with Tulmor about her trip to the Plane of Air. Apparently she went to the Plane of Air to ransom a friend who wound out owned by a Djinni. She took a Lamp of Djinni Summoning to trade for her friend.</p><p></p><p>She got to the Plane of Air via the Ethereal plane, because the Ethereal connects to all the elemental planes. Which made Joybell wonder if the Oil of Etherealness would work -- but apparently not because that only gets you into the border ethereal, not deep into the Ethereal plane. To get to the Deep Ethereal, you need a gate or a Plane Shift spell, which is the same as what is necessary to get to any other plane. (The reason one doesn’t just go straight to the Plane of Air is because those gates tend to be deep in storms, Which doesn’t answer why one doesn’t just use the Plane Shift spell to go directly there rather than to the Ethereal plane.)</p><p></p><p>Tulmor brought back a pretty ring with a star sapphire in it from the Plane of AIr. After admiring it, Joybell then spent the rest of the afternoon asking for the stories to go with other things in their place.</p><p></p><p>And thus the rest of the day passed….</p><p></p><p>Treasure:</p><p>Wand of Web (Orryk)</p><p>Eyes of Charming (Mo)</p><p></p><p>(We went up to level 4 here.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="prabe, post: 8064820, member: 7016699"] [SIZE=4] Session 6: Administrator Alighieri[/SIZE] Dramatis Personae: Mo - Goliath Bard (College of Lore) Orryk - Forest Gnome Monk (Way of the Four Elements, variant) Fiona - Half-Elf Wizard (Evoker) Taman - Human (variant) Rogue (Inquisitive) Joybell - Forest Gnome Paladin (Oath of the Ancients) (Imaktis' player was at GenCon and Imaktis in the Fancy Houses.) GM: - Everyone Else 6 Sunnin 748 (later that night) (Campaign day 7) Drawing on their tremendous knowledge (and matching Nat20s the week before), Orryk and Fiona knew that dilyarli generally only kill their target, the person who actually violated the agreement with the Tundra Queen, and anyone who tries to get between them. They don’t go after anyone else -- typically not even someone who killed another dilyarli. This is good to know for when we go with Taman to get revenge for his family. After the dilyarli left, we went to talk to the Zun family. Tillaron Zun had said earlier that he would write a letter to the Administrator asking for an audience for Kalona, but he hadn’t held much hope that the Administrator would respond. While we were in the garden and on the way to the room where the Zuns were taking shelter, we talked about what we wanted to learn. Questions: [LIST=1] [*] Would this package harm the Administrator? The family did not know the answer for that. [*] What was the actual deal? What were the circumstances of the deal-making? How did Boludar Zun meet the fey? Why did Boludar make the deal? Why did the Tundra Queen? Did Boludar know who and what he was dealing with? [*] What kind of person is the Administrator? (Does the Administrator need killing?) [*] What is the Zun family’s relationship with the Administrator? [/LIST] With our questions all sorted out we went in to the family. This is what we were told (at that time): When he made the deal, Boludar had a strong feeling that he was dealing with the Tundra Queen. She contacted him while he was traveling up there with a caravan. She offered him a fair amount of gold (1300gp to be precise) to deliver the package to Administrator Alighieri. Several in the party did not believe that Boludar was being entirely forthcoming about their payment for delivering the package. With his usual directness, Orryk said: Tell us the truth or we can’t protect you. Boludar then admitted that the payment was 1300gp, 2 magic items and competitive advantage for Zun caravans up north. The hazards of travel north would be more hazardous for other families’ caravans and less hazardous for the Zun families. At that, we could tell that Tillaron was deeply disappointed in his son. Tillaron told us that Boludar’s idea of the dangers of travel up north was abstract and vague. Anyone who really knew them wouldn’t increase them for other merchants. We asked why the Tundra Queen apparently sought Boludar out, but he didn’t have an answer for that. Our thought was that she had a sense he’d be willing to take the deal. Mo and Orryk double-teamed intimidating Boludar - Mo by being big and loud, Orryk by talking openly about tying him up out in the garden and letting the dilyarli kill him. That way no one else would be put in danger. Under this pressure, Boludar looked openly unnerved and said he had told us the truth -- he got a Wand of Web, Eyes of Charming (magic goggles) and money. Orryk asked Tillaron if he thought the Administrator would be intrigued by the Tundra Queen having a message for him or would he shelter and hide? Tillaron wasn’t sure about that. He did say that the Zun family had been targeted by the Administrator for decades. They felt he’d been putting other merchant families ahead of theirs. He wasn’t sure what they could have done to offend him, but it was decades ago now. We asked Boludar how he’d originally intended to get the package to the Administrator, when it was still a package and not Kalona. He didn’t seem to have really thought that through -- his plan, apparently, was to give it to someone else to deliver. Around now is when we learned that Administrator Alighieri is a human. He’s been Administrator for something like 80 years. But he’s human. Mo asked Tillaron what the Administrator is motivated by. Tillaron couldn’t answer that, but did say that he couldn’t think of a time when the Administrator had done something for his own personal gain. His main motivation seems to be improving Embernook. The Administrator has an inner circle of one -- a Major Domo (but not an evil one, strangely). This is a halfling named Thalith. (Thalith is aging normally, apparently, for what that’s worth.) We asked if people actually saw him, thinking that perhaps he [I]used[/I] to be a human and was now something rather less alive and more disturbing. But, no -- people do see him. And, no -- he’s not aging. Mo had the thought that perhaps we could satisfy the deal by taking the now-empty box to the administrator. We asked to see the actual box that Boludar got from the Tundra Queen and, going back to the circumstances of the dealmaking, asked what were her actual words. Unfortunately, the words she used, to the best of Boludar’s ability to remember, were that she was giving him something and he was to give it to the Administrator of Embernook. Which doesn’t leave a lot of room for misinterpretation there. We turned on Boludar again, because this whole situation was his doing. He admitted that most of the merchants know not to make deals with the fey. Mostly. In response to his father’s disappointment and anger, and Orryk’s occasionally repeated suggestion that we stake him out in the garden for the dilyarli, Boludar agreed to absent himself from the rest of his family. Rather than risk the dilyarli harming anyone else, even other citizens of Embernook, he would leave town alone. If we were able to get Kalona in to see the Administrator, we could tell Tillaron, who would be able to get word to him about coming home. Mo persuaded Tillaron that the Eyes of Charming would potentially be helpful for us in working to save Kalona and Boludar. The Eyes of Charming might help us in persuading people as needed. We gave them to Mo. (As always with Charm Person, the target knows after the fact that they have been charmed.) At that point, we figured we’d learned everything we could from the family in the middle of the night (it was about 1 am). So we left. Before going to our various places of repose, we went to report to Commander Mogree at Centerkeep. We told him that Boludar Zun had made a deal with the fey and it was stupid and we had bought 24 hours but no more. When we told him that Boludar had specifically made a deal with the Tundra Queen, he agreed that was an error. We warned him that the dilyarli had come into the city as a mist-cloud floating down the river from the north, so perhaps the guard should be looking for that to stay out of its way tomorrow night. And we told him that Boludar was going to be separating himself from his family. He agreed with us about letting Boludar Zun go to his fate. Mogree had heard of the dilyarli and said they’re nothing to mess with unless you’re really good or really careful. That said, they can be negotiated and avoided (if one is not their target) and they’re more than honest. He had also heard of the Tundra Queen making deals with people. We asked him what the Tundra Queen might be after -- what’s in it for her to get a message to the Administrator. He said that she’s looking for more political influence. There are those who say that the founders of Auriqua made a deal with her, which is why that city has been able to thrive way up north. Auriqua should, by rights, have gotten attention from Frost Giants. The Tundra Queen, he told us, lives in the Feywild. We then went to our respective homes to rest. Taman, when he got back to the Pewter Oar, asked the bartender for some salt to have in a pouch if he needs it. 7 Sunnin 748 (Campaign day 8) The next morning all of us except Imaktis met for breakfast at the Pewter Oar. We assumed he was, erm, tied up in the fancy houses he’s been visiting. Perhaps healing some wayward soul. We made plans to go to talk to Chief Ullar Truehammer and Tulmor and Barnett. We were hoping that perhaps we’d develop a plan for getting in to see the Administrator. While the party discussed various thoughts (going through the Guard’s representative to the council, seeing what Tulmor and Barnett know about the Administrator), Joybell trotted over to the bartender and asked what the procedure normally was for getting in to see the Administrator. (Being Joybell, there were a lot more words than that -- about being from small towns and getting to know the mayor and how it would make her parents happy if she went and introduced herself even though this is a big city and maybe it’s weird to do that here.) The bartender told her that the procedure is to go to Centerkeep and wait in line to talk to Thalith (the halfling major domo). The Administrator’s office is right near Thalith’s. If the Administrator isn’t the right person to help with a problem, Thalith sends petitioners to the right people. He warned Joybell that Thalith can be hard to get past. Also, he said that the lines get long, but Thalith is efficient. Joybell went back to the others and told them what the bartender had told her. Some of the party, including Orryk and Fiona and Mo, wanted to go back to the Zun house to see if Kalona was detecting as magical. We definitely wanted to get to talk to the Administrator -- in the past week and a bit the town has been dealing with multiple extra-planar intrusions. Even aside from the dilyarli situation, we wanted to introduce ourselves, offer our services to the Administrator, and see who we’ve been fighting for. The plan developed that Joybell and Taman would go to Centerkeep and get in line to talk to Thalith while the rest of the party went to do various things including visiting Tulmor and Barnett, talking to Kalona Zun (and casting detect magic) and talking to Ullar Truehammer. And doing whatever else seemed necessary. The first stop for Mo, Orryk, and Fiona (Team Doing Stuff) was Tulmor and Barnett’s place. Mo asked about the Tundra Queen and her dilyarli. He explained that someone was to deliver a package, but the deal was broken when someone else opened the package. (He did not mention who the package had been intended for.) Barnett: And now they’re speaking Sylvan? He went on to explain that the person who opens such a package is under a geas (a magically imposed quest). Generally what happens is that the person under this geas has a mostly harmless mental effect that the only language they can speak is Sylvan until the geas is satisfied. What has happened in the past is that when the person under the geas is ALONE with the recipient of the “package”, the geas’ed person gets taken over by something like a Magic Jar spell. The possessed person says or does something, then is released from their geas. Mo asked what kinds of messages get delivered this way. Barnett said that up around Ariqua deals with the Tundra Queen are much more common than around here, which was him saying that he didn’t know. Mo asked if we could trick the geas’ed person into delivering the message and fulfilling the contract -- perhaps by disguising someone as the proper recipient, would the Tundra Queen know? Would the geas’ed person be able to be fooled by something like that or would the magic prevent it? Barnett said that it would be possible to free the geas’ed person with something like that -- she could be freed of her compulsion. However, part of the message is usually an instruction to the recipient to do [I]something[/I] (something only the recipient can do) as a sign that the message has been received. If that is not done, then the Tundra Queen will know that the message was not given to the right person. In other words, we can free Kalona but can’t save Boludar with a trick like that. Orryk asked if Barnett knew of any other deals people here in Embernook have made with the Tundra Queen. Barnett’s response was, “Not here.” But, he said that if the Tundra Queen doesn’t recognize a merchant in the north, she generally approaches to make a deal. Barnett then said (in response to some further questions from Orryk) that if the Tundra Queen is trying to do [I]something[/I] in Embernook, then the Administrator will want to know. It could be urgent. However, Barnett said that we’ll need evidence that the Tundra Queen is trying to meddle in Embernook’s affairs. We need to take all the evidence we can muster to Thalith. And when we’re talking to him, we need to do it loudly -- Administrator Alighieri can hear conversations in Thalith’s office. Mo asked what kind of man Administrator Alighieri is. Barnett said, “I cannot answer that.” So Mo asked if he knew anyone who could. Barnett said that he genuinely didn’t know anyone who could tell us about him. But he did say that we definitely need to be honest when talking to the Administrator. He’ll respond to that much more favorably than he’ll respond to being lied to or tricked. Mo then asked some questions about the Feywild, the Shadowfell and Orcus -- he wanted to know about creatures from other planes, what their relations with each other are like, and what their motives are. Tulmor and Barnett agreed to look into finding answers to those questions. Between them Tulmor and Barnett have been to several planes (including the Astral and the Ethereal). Barnett, for himself, expressed no desire to repeat the experience. Immediately interested and on point, Orryk asked if Barnett had been to any of the Elemental Planes. Barnett said he hadn’t but Tulmor has been to the Plane of Air (the safe and comfortable one, relatively speaking). Mo thanked them for being remarkably helpful and the party left. After they were out on the street, Mo said that after talking to Barnett he thought the party should be honest with the Administrator. Meanwhile, in line at Thalith’s office, Taman and Joybell were listening. Or trying to. Taman was being subtle about it, while Joybell was not particularly attempting to hide the fact that she was listening to what people were saying. She also kept moving closer to Thalith’s office as seats and spaces opened up. So she could hear better. (None of it sounded very interesting to her so after a while she started praying and meditating.) Taman didn’t hear much as far as content, but he did catch that when people got loud with Thalith he was good at calming them down. And most people were sent by Thalith, with letters, to the people who could actually help them. Taman also saw in Thalith’s office two 9’ tall suits of armor with glowing eyeslits -- which seemed like something not to mess with. In other words, Team Queue was queueing. Team Doing Stuff (Mo, Fiona and Orryk) went next to the Zun estate in The Spans. The first thing they learned was that Boludar was getting on a boat in Deepport and heading away out of the city. Mo immediately observed that the sailors were being put in harm’s way, but at least Boludar was away from his family and the city. They went to talk to “TalDorei” as Mo called him (Tillaron) and Kalona. Fiona cast Identify on Kalona and found that she’s definitely under a geas with a pending magic jar. She’d also been polymorphed into herself who can only speak Sylvan. Mo cast Comprehend Languages so they could talk to her. Orryk persuaded a somewhat reluctant Tillaron Zun that the Wand of Web might be useful to us in protecting Kalona, depending on how things go down when we take her to the Administrator. Fiona asked to see the empty box -- the wrapping paper had been discarded, but the box itself was well made, about the size of a cigar box, with abstract inlays in the wood. But it is not magical. She also asked to see the note that the dilyarli threw in through the window (in a snowball). It was written in Common by someone for whom Common wasn’t a first language (or even a first alphabet). Mo, with the Comprehend Languages, went to talk to Kalona. When he told her the group was going to take her to see Administrator Alighieri she cheerfully agreed. She also asked to ride on Mo’s shoulders. Which Mo agreed to. So Team Doing Stuff headed off to Centerkeep and joined Team Queue at Thalith’s office. When they got there, Joybell asked what she should say when her name was called and they’re taken into Thalit’s office, since she wasn’t privy to any of these meetings. She was told to say “There is evidence that the Tundra Queen has an interest in the city of Embernook.” And she was told to say it loudly. Mo also pointed out, before we got called in, that we potentially had a chance to help with sorting out the Zun family’s problems with the Administrator. About 10 minutes after Team Doing Stuff arrived in the queue, Joybell’s name was called. Thalith recognized our group immediately, noting that we were missing our Tortle. We said Imaktis was taking the day off. Thalith: You are a motley crew. Joybell said what she was told to say, and said it loudly. We said that the message was in the little girl now and asked if the Administrator would want to know what the message is. Thalith: Yes he will. Then he started counting down on his fingers. The door to Administrator Alighieri’s office opened exactly when his count got to one. Alighieri came out into the office -- he was a tall and slender gentleman (especially for a human), dressed nicely. He moved well and didn’t look a day over 55. Which was a little creepy. Administrator: Thalith, you should stop giving these people any problems. Joybell: He was very nice. Administrator: Thalith, you’re slipping. We told him that Kalona had the message, so he took her into his office and closed the door behind. We all tried to listen as well as we could, but only Taman heard their footsteps in the other room - until their footsteps suddenly cut off. After a few minutes they returned, Alighieri looking both amused and irritated. “Thalith, please have the honor flag raised over the office.” (This was the signal to the Tundra Queen’s agents that he had received the message.) Mo asked what the message was. Surprisingly, Alighieri answered: The Tundra Queen persists in underestimating me. She has demands and insists on them. I persist in saying no. We asked if we could help him or the city in any way and he said that there’s nothing at the moment. Alighieri: So one of you tried to engage in a fight with a dilyarli? Fiona: He didn’t get far. Alighieri: Have you learned? Taman: I have business with a dilyarli. Alighieri: Your business is with the Tundra Queen, then. Taman: In time. I want the one responsible first. Alighieri: Tell me. Taman then told Alighieri about the dilyarli brutally murdering his entire family. He wants revenge on their behalf. Administrator Alighieri said that there is nothing bad that can happen to the Tundra Queen that he would mind, but he advised us to kill her here and not in the Feywild. Joybell asked why, and he said that if she’s killed here, she can’t come back. Mo asked if there was any money in us killing the Tundra Queen and the Administrator said that he didn’t want her dead. He just wanted bad things to happen to her. Mo then asked: What is your problem with the Kuns? Everyone else in the party: Zuns. Alighieri, indicating Kalona: Her family? My relationship with them is the same as every other merchant family in Embernook. Mo and Orryk: They feel like they’re being squeezed. Alighieri: I treat all families equally and all families would likely say the same thing. Merchants are people and people remember most what has gone against them. He then told us that he suspected Boludar Zun would enjoy his adventures in New Arvai and Pelsoreen. (Apparently his one-day cruise to get out of town and protect his family is not going to go his way.) We made our goodbyes and left the building. As we walked outside we noticed the windows to Thalith’s office and to the Administrator’s office next door. As we were looking, we saw a cloud flowing into the Administrator’s office. We rushed back into Thalith’s office and told him what he saw. Thalith: I miss the days when they were subtle. He opened the door to Alighieri’s office -- there was a dilyarli in the office with its back to us. Aligheri was there as well - he was fine. Still amused but a lot angrier. (This was the same dilyarli that was interacting with the Zun family.) Mo: Do we need to kill this thing? Alighieri: He serves his Lady well. He’s going to tell his Lady that I refused his offer. He’s going to go back to the north and tell his Lady to kindly piss off. Alighieri to Taman: It is possible I was mistaken about who your problem is with. There is a rogue dilyarli. His name is Ildna. Joybell: He’s broken service with his Lady? Alighieri: This one does not know the full story. Ildna has taken to chasing people who have fulfilled their deals with the Tundra Queen. She, however, hasn’t taken it into her head to stop him. Taman: Where was he last? Alighieri gestured to the dilyarli in the office, who said: The last few people he has attacked have been mostly around Auriqua. Mo: Do you know why he went rogue? Dilyarli: I can’t imagine. My Lady hasn’t enlightened me about that. Taman: If I am going to be hunting down one of your brothers, is there a method to avoid the...unpleasantness? Dilyarli: Alas, you are asking me to betray all of my kind, not just one. Taman: It was worth a shot… Dilyarli: <<laughed>> Joybell: Would you or your brothers and sisters help us find this rogue? Dilyarli: We are not free to… Joybell: If we can help to take this one on, please contact us. We have a highly motivated colleague. Taman: Can you control the eye thing? Dilyarli: I can. But with my back turned, the lack of threat is overt. We left again, heading to the Zun estate to return Kalona. On the way there, Joybell mentioned that she thought Thalith’s description of us as a “Motley Crew” might be a good group name. Mo made an excellent point -- What do we want to advertise ourselves as? What are we selling with the group name? Good questions. We’re still pondering the group name question... When we got to the Zun estate, the whole family was there, excluding Boludar, but including Boludar’s wife. Mo was concerned, as was Joybell, that because Boludar’s deal with the Tundra Queen has been fulfilled, the fey are going to be screwing with other merchants up north. Tillaron didn’t know if we could call that off in any way. Orryk said that she’ll probably keep the letter, but not the spirit of the deal. Indeed, it’s possible that she’s made the exact same deal with other merchant families, so that the effects all even out. We left and went to report to Chief Truehammer that the Zun family was no longer a threat or under threat -- but he may have already heard that from the Administrator. Ullar chuckled and said the he had an appointment with Alighieri in a few hours and that it would be nice to know what he’s going to say in advance. We asked about Alin, the foreman at Istin’s Yard and suspected evil undead-making thing. He had made inquiries among the guard and learned that some time between the Lumberyard and when we dealt with the allip in Kalmarn a guard on the North Gateway saw him leave the city on a wagon of possessions. Well, naughty word. We apparently have a lot of problems to the north. Truehammer didn’t have anything else for us at the moment. We flapped about a bit after that. Mo and Taman went to the Pewter Oar to have some celebratory drinks. Joybell went to the druids in town, but they didn’t have any pressing problems. Then she joined Orryk and Fiona at Tulmor and Barnett’s, where Orryk was talking with Tulmor about her trip to the Plane of Air. Apparently she went to the Plane of Air to ransom a friend who wound out owned by a Djinni. She took a Lamp of Djinni Summoning to trade for her friend. She got to the Plane of Air via the Ethereal plane, because the Ethereal connects to all the elemental planes. Which made Joybell wonder if the Oil of Etherealness would work -- but apparently not because that only gets you into the border ethereal, not deep into the Ethereal plane. To get to the Deep Ethereal, you need a gate or a Plane Shift spell, which is the same as what is necessary to get to any other plane. (The reason one doesn’t just go straight to the Plane of Air is because those gates tend to be deep in storms, Which doesn’t answer why one doesn’t just use the Plane Shift spell to go directly there rather than to the Ethereal plane.) Tulmor brought back a pretty ring with a star sapphire in it from the Plane of AIr. After admiring it, Joybell then spent the rest of the afternoon asking for the stories to go with other things in their place. And thus the rest of the day passed…. Treasure: Wand of Web (Orryk) Eyes of Charming (Mo) (We went up to level 4 here.) [/QUOTE]
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Erkonin (Campaign #1) [Session 46: Making Deals with Devils is Stupid as well as Bad]
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