Saturday, March 13, 2021

TPW Summary: Act III, Scene iv - Session 5 (END of Scene iv)

Act III: The Olden Days and the Next Generation

Scene iv: Golden Boy

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CW / TW: Racism and Racial Prejudice Throughout

Read at your own risk.

The players knew that this particular section of the campaign would discuss these topics, and they were okay with the content I was presenting to them.

~~~~~

Present Party: Athena, Boris, and Yera.

Setting: The capital city of Gilden, in the nation of Erdia.

Boris and Finn returned to the estate after the party hosted by the Triumvirate. He'd successfully secured the inheritance that was (allegedly) due to him, and they were now one step closer to getting the Concordia signed. All they had to do was wait for their Senate hearing. In the meantime, Boris filled Yera and Athena in on who Kolvar and his guild - The Dusk - were, since Athena and Yera hadn't been there in Kysten and Midtia.

- The Dusk are an assassin's guild with immense power and influence in the northern and western continents.

- A friend of the party, Eros (a tiefling rogue) was a former member of theirs, on the run, and he'd told them many things.

- The Dusk has a religious cult within it, and they worship Bhaal, the god of murder.

- "Chilton" is the leader of The Dusk, but nobody who has ever met them has left the room alive. 

- Kolvar is one of five lieutenants, each with their own specialty. 

- Kolvar is a spy, or "The Eyes and Ears."

- Miley, a halfling woman, is the head assassin and also Chilton's right hand woman.

- Harry, a human man and former friend of both Sylyeras and Ariel, is often called "The Reaper" and has immense unholy abilities, likely tied to Bhaal.

- Trouble, a tiefling woman, is "The Thief."

- Ego, a gnomish man and the former Midtian court mage, is often referred to as "The Mage." Eros told them that if Ego and Kolvar were working together, you had to have a death wish to fight them at the same time.

The party discussed what the involvement of The Dusk may mean for the Concordia, especially considering that The Dusk were one of the forces that the party intended to fight against. The last time they'd spoken to Kolvar, he'd stated that any conflicts The Dusk would have with the party would be "strictly business" going forward. Right now, all they could hope for is that Kolvar would keep his word.

~~~~~

A few things happened while the party waited for their invitation to the Senate hearing.

Yera initiated a conversation between Athena and a staff member of the house, an elderly tiefling woman named Silence. Silence was mute, hence her name. She used hand gestures, like her own type of sign language, to communicate. With the help of the Sending spell, the two of them actually managed to have a meaningful conversation.

Yera also sought out Vanan, another, sixteen-year-old employee at the estate, to see if he knew where he and his younger sisters were going to go when Boris received the money. He wasn't sure because he didn't really know where these new places were that she was telling him about. So, the two of them found a map in one of the offices and she showed him. It made him feel a lot better.

Lastly, both Yera and Athena made their way down to Lower Gilden, where they could shop without the potential of getting arrested.

~~~~~

The invitation for the Senate hearing came in a couple of days, and it invited Boris along with his whole party. Yera opted to stay behind, but Athena and Finn came along.

The Senate building was made of white marble, and decorated with statues of metallic dragons at the front, climbing the columns, on the roof - all over. The room where the hearing was conducted was a large amphitheater-style room. The party entered on the floor, and the eleven senators sat higher up. Seated even higher up than them were the three members of the Erdian Triumvirate. They had a kobold taking notes, and a kenku that they were essentially asking to be a recording device of sorts.

Boris gave his testimony regarding what the cults were up to. Finn provided all the paperwork. Boris gave several reports about the cult's capabilities, and the atrocities that they'd committed.

The one thing that the Senate seemed a little hung up over was The Dusk, which was to be expected. Clearly, the Erdian government had some kind of relationship with them. Boris assured them that the support they were looking to gain from Erdia was monetary - resources to gather armor, food, supplies, and the like. They would not be implicated in any other way.

After much debate amongst themselves, ultimately, the Senate decided to sign the document, pledging their support. The senators and Triumvirate said their goodbyes to Boris and thoroughly ignored Finn and Athena.

With that out of the way, the party returned to the estate, and shut themselves in an office, hoping that no one from The Dusk had followed them from that meeting while they discussed their next move.

Many ideas were tossed around, but ultimately this was the decision:

- Boris still had to maintain some kind of presence here to remain in the good graces of the Triumvirate and not get assassinated. Of course, he'd also have to trust that The Dusk wouldn't try anything either.

- Certain staff members couldn't be released from their employment due to criminal records. He'd have to inquire about bail, and bailing all of them out at once would be incredibly suspicious. That was another reason he'd opted to stay.

- The rest of the party would return to Audacity with the remaining staff who no longer wanted to live in Erdia and who would be getting hefty sums of money to start their lives over. They'd cross the border with them into Saspar.

- There was also the issue of Paprax, Sora's husband and Balthazar's father, who was a wanted criminal. Finn assured the party that with a disguise spell, and some forged paperwork, anything was possible.

Boris withdrew the money, and handed it out. The staff said their goodbyes to each other, and the party said farewell to Boris, wishing him luck. Boris also gave Yera and Athena components for some larger spells in the form of expensive gems and diamonds, as well as 1,000 gold each.

This very large group made it back to Audacity, and with successful Deception rolls to get Sora and Balthazar in and out again because of their relation to Paprax, they crossed the border with no issues. Finn took care of the magic to disguise Paprax, and they got him out too.

The party continued further into Vesnurk, the nearest town in the kingdom of Saspar to the east, and also Venus and her family's home.

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