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Family Matters - Forgotten Realms Waterdeep Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Isida Kep'Tukari" data-source="post: 6182271" data-attributes="member: 4441"><p><strong>Session 20</strong></p><p></p><p>When we last left our intrepid heroes, Kultaka, the plumacrafter who had been complicit in enslaving an aarakocra, had fled from the Jassarian’s homecoming party, leaving behind a wax golem in his place. Quickly it was decided that Garden, Shandri, and William would go after him. The mage of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors sent his fox familiar with them to help track. Shandri had come for a party, not for a mad dash through the streets, so quickly ripped her skirts for greater mobility (provoking a shriek of outrage from Evelyn) and borrowed Grapes of Wrath from Charissa, and was ready to go.</p><p></p><p>The three ran through the streets, following the path through the fresh snow. Even though Kultaka had a head start on them, he was not dressed for the cold weather, not was he as familiar with the city. His sandals were also bleeding green dye into the snow, helping them pick out his trail when he crossed more trampled snow. Shandri quickly picked up Garden and carried him on her shoulders so they could keep up the pace. Going through one crossroads, they were ambushed! …By children throwing snowballs. A growl of disapproval in their directly and they scattered, and the group trotted on, the fox helping them stay on the right path.</p><p></p><p>A couple times they saw places where Kultaka must have rested, and once a place where he had attempted to climb to the roof, only to have the tile break under his hands, leaving an impression in the snow. Once Garden and William remembered that there was a duck pond ahead in the next intersection, and Shandri quickly detoured before they could slip. Kultaka must not have been so lucky, because there were slide marks on the snow, ending in a divot in a snowbank, decorated by a few feathers from his cape. But the tracks were getting fresher, and they knew they were close.</p><p></p><p>Finally they found had place where Kultaka had successfully climbed to the roof. Garden pulled out his collapsible grappling hook and thin cord, and snagged the edge of the roof. They climbed up, pulling William and fox after them. Peering in the dim light, reflected by the many lanterns and mage lights of Waterdeep, they actually saw their quarry! Kultaka was hustling along the roofs, his cape flapping in the wind. Shadri threw Grapes of Wrath, which wounded the man. Garden brought him his hand crossbow and fired a bolt smeared in drow sleep poison… into himself. He slumped on Shandri’s shoulders, asleep. William cast a spell of sleep, and this proved to be the key, as Kultaka slumped over. And began to slide towards the edge of the roof. Thinking fast, William cast the feather fall spell on him, getting him to the ground safely.</p><p></p><p>Shandri moved over to the place where he had gone over quickly, shaking Garden as she went to wake him up, and asked William if he had another of those spells available. He did, and cast it again as Shandri jumped off the roof after Kultaka. She proceeded to tie the man up (Garden helping as soon as he shook off his grogginess and embarrassment), and then Garden tossed the grappling hook up so William could climb down. Well, at least he landed in a soft snowbank.</p><p></p><p>--</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Charissa, Steve, Evelyn, Lady Jassarian and her two sons, Truvan and Fellock (along with Fellock’s one true love, Shawna Deeps), Truvan’s wild dwarf allies, and the aarakocra Kreesh were questioning the wax golem. More the first three than anyone else. The party remembered that Jayrin’s wax golem had three command words, a shutdown one, one that make them follow simple commands given to them by the activator, and a full personality mode. Evelyn thought to deactivate the golem and then reactivate it under her control to get information out of it.</p><p></p><p>The mage from the Order was very impressed that they knew the command words, and the party gave him a highly edited version of the story of how they’d acquired them.</p><p></p><p>The shutdown command worked well, but when Evelyn tried to activate it again, it suddenly lunged at her and locked its hands around her throat. Steven wrestled its hands off his sister’s throat while Charissa quickly deactivated it. Then Steven cut the golem’s hands off, and bound all its limbs to within an inch of its existence. Apparently there was a safety measure of some sort built into this creation. With the golem now tied, they tried again, and this time it worked.</p><p></p><p>Well, it worked so far in that it became active and wasn’t able to hurt them, but it wouldn’t answer their questions. The Order mage pondered and suggested that if it had been programmed to only respond to the one who it had been made for, it was likely, given their description of Yalla the golem maker, that the maker might have put in an override using a language he knew that Kultaka didn’t. The group remembered Yalla’s odd history, that he had been born an elf before being reincarnated as a halfling. Trying elven, the golem suddenly began to answer!</p><p></p><p>(The group was admittedly curious at first if Yalla had made this golem, being that Yalla was dead, but Truvan Jassarian pointed out that the Mazticans had been in the city for six moons, well before Yalla was killed.)</p><p></p><p>The golem mostly said yes or no, with occasionally a longer answer if pressed. With a bit of effort, they learned the following – Kultaka had dealt with the wild dwarves because the power of a sentient bird’s feathers would be incredibly potent to a plumacrafter. Apparently Kultaka had not scrupled to gain them. When asked if the golem knew where Kultaka would go if on the run, the golem said, “The Cage of Birds.” Translated literally from elven, that actually meant aviary, which would have been a powerful arsenal to a plumacrafter, though one of last resort, as it would be very obvious. It seemed Kultaka had been on a mission of personal aggrandizement, and woe to anyone caught in his way.</p><p></p><p>The Order mage sent a message to his familiar, who pawed it out in the snow for those bringing Kultaka back, asking where they’d caught him. Saying south, close to the arena (where the aviary was located), the group realized they had had a close call. Shandri hauled Kultaka back to the Jassarian manor, Garden have taken control of the man’s magic items, and William analyzing them for all he was worth (for when would he have the chance otherwise?).</p><p></p><p>The Order mage, and the priest of Mystra who had also come to aid him, would take the man to the Hall of Justice. Amongst Kultaka’s items were Kreesh, the aarakocra’s feathers, which the group gave back to him. Though no one had any additional translation magic left this day, through sign gestures and a few words of Common, William said he’d be happy to talk to him more in-depth tomorrow, and help him get back home (with the backing of the Jassarians, because they were utterly mortified and shamed).</p><p></p><p>During this time, Evelyn had chivvied Shandri into a back room, summoned Madame Silverleaf, and was attempting to fix Shandri’s dress. This was serious business.</p><p></p><p>Truvan Jassarian told the party he was incredibly grateful that they had not only stopped a crime and scandal from perpetuating under his family name, and had freed a thinking being from bondage, but had done so discretely. He said he would like to reward them, investing in whatever business ventures they held dear. Fallock and Shawna Deeps would be delighted to see Garden and Charissa’s shop (there was some private grumbling later about having to hide the less-than-legal display items), where the Jassarians would help them with materials and clients, etc. William asked for funding research, Shandri to sponsor urchins at the Urchin Postal Service, Evelyn for her fashion house business, and Steven… asked for an investment for a good friend (Ravinica, the Golden Queen, was doing private magical research of her own).</p><p></p><p>Shandri’s fashion crisis finally averted (with a new paneled skirt), the Jassarians were happy to have the group rejoin the festivities – a fine dinner, followed by dancing.</p><p></p><p>During the dancing, Evelyn was greeted by a handsome red-haired man, Gerrard Allard, as the music struck up, who asked her to dance. Steven, dancing with Ravinica, glared for all he was worth. As he was dancing, he managed to trip Gerrard several times. Evelyn had to lead the dance to save her suddenly-clumsy partner from disaster.</p><p></p><p>Shandri, a bit tired and chilled from her case through the snowy streets, had maybe one cup too man of hot mulled wine. She stayed on the sidelines with William, bemoaning about a friendly bartender she knew in her neighborhood. William finally took pity on her and danced with her himself… eventually positioning Shandri to get tapped by the sobering end of Grapes of Wrath, courtesy of Charissa, to shake her out of her maudlin mood.</p><p></p><p>Charissa was approached by a short, scholarly looking young man who introduced himself as Marlowe Miccar. He seemed terribly in awe of her as he explained he did find her wonderfully tall… and oh, yes, right, also he was supposed to be learning and making something of himself, and she seemed to have things figured right out. He explained he’d graduated from Etorchul Academy last year (and he knew of William, who had the longest entry essay in the school’s history). His family was mostly invested in the Clerk, Scribe, and Scriveners’ Guild, but Marlowe was interested in something a bit more… physical. He was interested in applying magic to the crafting process, and thought the weapons she sported were exceptionally fine, very good for enchanting. Did Charissa think he could be of use in her work?</p><p></p><p>Usually leaving business decisions to her brother, Charissa moved Marlowe over to where Garden was having several conversations with people. After the usual amusing introductions of, “little sister, big brother,” and an explanation, the Origamis were quite interested to have someone like Marlowe at their beck and call- er, that is, as a possible business partner.</p><p></p><p>On the bench next to them, Princess, Evelyn’s familiar, and Pico, Marlowe’s teacup poodle familiar, were comparing their fluffy white coats. Princess won, naturally. Pico was a very wise dog.</p><p></p><p>After the party, Steven invited Ravinica to come stay the night at the Violette manor, in the guest bedroom. Evelyn was utterly crushed.</p><p></p><p>And so, our story continues…</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Isida Kep'Tukari, post: 6182271, member: 4441"] [b]Session 20[/b] When we last left our intrepid heroes, Kultaka, the plumacrafter who had been complicit in enslaving an aarakocra, had fled from the Jassarian’s homecoming party, leaving behind a wax golem in his place. Quickly it was decided that Garden, Shandri, and William would go after him. The mage of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors sent his fox familiar with them to help track. Shandri had come for a party, not for a mad dash through the streets, so quickly ripped her skirts for greater mobility (provoking a shriek of outrage from Evelyn) and borrowed Grapes of Wrath from Charissa, and was ready to go. The three ran through the streets, following the path through the fresh snow. Even though Kultaka had a head start on them, he was not dressed for the cold weather, not was he as familiar with the city. His sandals were also bleeding green dye into the snow, helping them pick out his trail when he crossed more trampled snow. Shandri quickly picked up Garden and carried him on her shoulders so they could keep up the pace. Going through one crossroads, they were ambushed! …By children throwing snowballs. A growl of disapproval in their directly and they scattered, and the group trotted on, the fox helping them stay on the right path. A couple times they saw places where Kultaka must have rested, and once a place where he had attempted to climb to the roof, only to have the tile break under his hands, leaving an impression in the snow. Once Garden and William remembered that there was a duck pond ahead in the next intersection, and Shandri quickly detoured before they could slip. Kultaka must not have been so lucky, because there were slide marks on the snow, ending in a divot in a snowbank, decorated by a few feathers from his cape. But the tracks were getting fresher, and they knew they were close. Finally they found had place where Kultaka had successfully climbed to the roof. Garden pulled out his collapsible grappling hook and thin cord, and snagged the edge of the roof. They climbed up, pulling William and fox after them. Peering in the dim light, reflected by the many lanterns and mage lights of Waterdeep, they actually saw their quarry! Kultaka was hustling along the roofs, his cape flapping in the wind. Shadri threw Grapes of Wrath, which wounded the man. Garden brought him his hand crossbow and fired a bolt smeared in drow sleep poison… into himself. He slumped on Shandri’s shoulders, asleep. William cast a spell of sleep, and this proved to be the key, as Kultaka slumped over. And began to slide towards the edge of the roof. Thinking fast, William cast the feather fall spell on him, getting him to the ground safely. Shandri moved over to the place where he had gone over quickly, shaking Garden as she went to wake him up, and asked William if he had another of those spells available. He did, and cast it again as Shandri jumped off the roof after Kultaka. She proceeded to tie the man up (Garden helping as soon as he shook off his grogginess and embarrassment), and then Garden tossed the grappling hook up so William could climb down. Well, at least he landed in a soft snowbank. -- Meanwhile, Charissa, Steve, Evelyn, Lady Jassarian and her two sons, Truvan and Fellock (along with Fellock’s one true love, Shawna Deeps), Truvan’s wild dwarf allies, and the aarakocra Kreesh were questioning the wax golem. More the first three than anyone else. The party remembered that Jayrin’s wax golem had three command words, a shutdown one, one that make them follow simple commands given to them by the activator, and a full personality mode. Evelyn thought to deactivate the golem and then reactivate it under her control to get information out of it. The mage from the Order was very impressed that they knew the command words, and the party gave him a highly edited version of the story of how they’d acquired them. The shutdown command worked well, but when Evelyn tried to activate it again, it suddenly lunged at her and locked its hands around her throat. Steven wrestled its hands off his sister’s throat while Charissa quickly deactivated it. Then Steven cut the golem’s hands off, and bound all its limbs to within an inch of its existence. Apparently there was a safety measure of some sort built into this creation. With the golem now tied, they tried again, and this time it worked. Well, it worked so far in that it became active and wasn’t able to hurt them, but it wouldn’t answer their questions. The Order mage pondered and suggested that if it had been programmed to only respond to the one who it had been made for, it was likely, given their description of Yalla the golem maker, that the maker might have put in an override using a language he knew that Kultaka didn’t. The group remembered Yalla’s odd history, that he had been born an elf before being reincarnated as a halfling. Trying elven, the golem suddenly began to answer! (The group was admittedly curious at first if Yalla had made this golem, being that Yalla was dead, but Truvan Jassarian pointed out that the Mazticans had been in the city for six moons, well before Yalla was killed.) The golem mostly said yes or no, with occasionally a longer answer if pressed. With a bit of effort, they learned the following – Kultaka had dealt with the wild dwarves because the power of a sentient bird’s feathers would be incredibly potent to a plumacrafter. Apparently Kultaka had not scrupled to gain them. When asked if the golem knew where Kultaka would go if on the run, the golem said, “The Cage of Birds.” Translated literally from elven, that actually meant aviary, which would have been a powerful arsenal to a plumacrafter, though one of last resort, as it would be very obvious. It seemed Kultaka had been on a mission of personal aggrandizement, and woe to anyone caught in his way. The Order mage sent a message to his familiar, who pawed it out in the snow for those bringing Kultaka back, asking where they’d caught him. Saying south, close to the arena (where the aviary was located), the group realized they had had a close call. Shandri hauled Kultaka back to the Jassarian manor, Garden have taken control of the man’s magic items, and William analyzing them for all he was worth (for when would he have the chance otherwise?). The Order mage, and the priest of Mystra who had also come to aid him, would take the man to the Hall of Justice. Amongst Kultaka’s items were Kreesh, the aarakocra’s feathers, which the group gave back to him. Though no one had any additional translation magic left this day, through sign gestures and a few words of Common, William said he’d be happy to talk to him more in-depth tomorrow, and help him get back home (with the backing of the Jassarians, because they were utterly mortified and shamed). During this time, Evelyn had chivvied Shandri into a back room, summoned Madame Silverleaf, and was attempting to fix Shandri’s dress. This was serious business. Truvan Jassarian told the party he was incredibly grateful that they had not only stopped a crime and scandal from perpetuating under his family name, and had freed a thinking being from bondage, but had done so discretely. He said he would like to reward them, investing in whatever business ventures they held dear. Fallock and Shawna Deeps would be delighted to see Garden and Charissa’s shop (there was some private grumbling later about having to hide the less-than-legal display items), where the Jassarians would help them with materials and clients, etc. William asked for funding research, Shandri to sponsor urchins at the Urchin Postal Service, Evelyn for her fashion house business, and Steven… asked for an investment for a good friend (Ravinica, the Golden Queen, was doing private magical research of her own). Shandri’s fashion crisis finally averted (with a new paneled skirt), the Jassarians were happy to have the group rejoin the festivities – a fine dinner, followed by dancing. During the dancing, Evelyn was greeted by a handsome red-haired man, Gerrard Allard, as the music struck up, who asked her to dance. Steven, dancing with Ravinica, glared for all he was worth. As he was dancing, he managed to trip Gerrard several times. Evelyn had to lead the dance to save her suddenly-clumsy partner from disaster. Shandri, a bit tired and chilled from her case through the snowy streets, had maybe one cup too man of hot mulled wine. She stayed on the sidelines with William, bemoaning about a friendly bartender she knew in her neighborhood. William finally took pity on her and danced with her himself… eventually positioning Shandri to get tapped by the sobering end of Grapes of Wrath, courtesy of Charissa, to shake her out of her maudlin mood. Charissa was approached by a short, scholarly looking young man who introduced himself as Marlowe Miccar. He seemed terribly in awe of her as he explained he did find her wonderfully tall… and oh, yes, right, also he was supposed to be learning and making something of himself, and she seemed to have things figured right out. He explained he’d graduated from Etorchul Academy last year (and he knew of William, who had the longest entry essay in the school’s history). His family was mostly invested in the Clerk, Scribe, and Scriveners’ Guild, but Marlowe was interested in something a bit more… physical. He was interested in applying magic to the crafting process, and thought the weapons she sported were exceptionally fine, very good for enchanting. Did Charissa think he could be of use in her work? Usually leaving business decisions to her brother, Charissa moved Marlowe over to where Garden was having several conversations with people. After the usual amusing introductions of, “little sister, big brother,” and an explanation, the Origamis were quite interested to have someone like Marlowe at their beck and call- er, that is, as a possible business partner. On the bench next to them, Princess, Evelyn’s familiar, and Pico, Marlowe’s teacup poodle familiar, were comparing their fluffy white coats. Princess won, naturally. Pico was a very wise dog. After the party, Steven invited Ravinica to come stay the night at the Violette manor, in the guest bedroom. Evelyn was utterly crushed. And so, our story continues… [/QUOTE]
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