TPW Summary: Act III, Scene v - Sessions 9 & 10

Act III: The Olden Days and the Next Generation

Scene v: The Grandmaster's Election

Present Party: Athena, Nytra, and Sylyeras.

Setting: The city of Jarna, capital of the kingdom of Saspar. Briefly, the port city of Sevord in the kingdom of Stovald, across the Northwest Sea.

The night had gone by without a single concern. No one in The Dusk had attempted anything on Northina Selezi or Amarius Mallory. Whatever Ego was planning wouldn't happen yet, the party supposed.

With this knowledge, and knowing that the tournament was due to continue, Athena and Nytra decided to split up while at the tournament. Simon Cleves, Finn's former party member and headmaster of the school the tournament was taking place in, was able to get Athena placed in the infirmary. Nytra decided that she would go with Minnie and watch the tournament from the lower stands. Finn and Simon would be further up, in the luxury boxes.

Nytra and Minnie spotted several people like the ones they'd seen before, milling around, watching them and others. They acted as though they hadn't noticed, but made sure to be aware of where they were and what they may be doing.

Hephaestus
Tiefling Life Cleric
of Lathandar
(Art made by me, using
Heroforge)

Athena was surprised to find Hephaestus the tiefling there, who she'd met with one of Sylyeras's friends: Eros. He also worked down here, with members of his local church. His son Oliver and Odette played together in another room while he and Athena worked.

The first match was Pharius versus Horace Undersong, the halfling warlock who had defeated Ego. It was a close match, but Pharius was lucky, and managed to defeat Horace. Both of them were brought to the infirmary. Unlike Northina, Horace roused rather quickly, and he praised Pharius for the match before wishing him luck in the final round.

Pharius Veladorn
Drow War Mage
Odette's Father and Candidate
for Grandmaster
(Art by Shinyno on Tumblr)

Kelryn Sequestriel, the drow swarmkeeper ranger, and Tide Graynil, the water genasi aberrant mind sorcerer, had their next match. Handily, the swarmkeeper had won it, and Athena watched as Tide threw a small tantrum in the infirmary. Kelryn and Pharius looked at each other, acknowledging that they would be the final match.

There was a short intermission, where Minnie and Nytra took the chance to get a couple of snacks before the last match. The man in front of them, they realized, looked a bit too similar to the people they'd been suspicious of.

Off in the distance, they heard a whistle.

The man in front of them lunged into action, and stabbed Minnie. She and Nytra fought him off until he started to run. This stabbing was not the only incident. Other people in plain leather armor had stabbed several people in the concessions area and then taken off running. Guards chased after them.

Shortly after, they met up with Finn, who ushered them into the infirmary with Athena and Pharius. Hephaestus and a few other clerics left the room to check on the injured. The room was put into lockdown after that. The party discussed quietly what might be going on, and where Ego might be now, in all this.

Ego LaFontaine
Gnome Arcane Trickster / Wizard
Lieutenant of The Dusk
Candidate for Grandmaster
(Art by Mike Peterson)

Athena scried on Ego, and saw him in an area outside, speaking to guards. He was being tended to by a medic; it looked as though he'd been stabbed. The party concluded that he was feigning his own innocence by turning himself into some kind of victim... but he hadn't been at the arena, and he certainly wasn't there now.

Once they were allowed out of the room, they were told that, obviously, the tournament was canceled for the rest of the day. The party invited Pharius and Minnie to stay with them for their safety, and they agreed. On the way, they discovered that their incident had not been the only one. In addition to the stabbing in the arena:

- Several people in the city's central plaza had been stabbed.

- The presshouse for the newspaper - the Sasparian Star - had been set on fire, but only one room was severely damaged. This presshouse in that same central plaza.

- This was where Ego was, and they overheard him say that a human man matching Harry's description was responsible for the attack. He was giving orders.

- The party thought that Ego might think Harry was still around, and was attempting to frame him. It was clear that The Dusk didn't consider him a friend anymore.

- Another local tavern had been burned completely to the ground.

- A candidate for grandmaster - Northina Selezi, who Athena had saved last night - died in a tragic murder-suicide at the hands of her grandmother: Callietta.

Northina Selezi
Half-Elf College of Lore Bard
Former Candidate for
Grandmaster
(Art by @gigi_avila on Twitter)

They went back to Simon's house to regroup, hoping that Sylyeras would be home at this point as well.

~~~~~

In Sevord, Sylyeras took Harry to the docks to wish him well. He paid his crew in advance for the next few months, and instructed them on where to bring Harry.

He asked Harry to use the Sending Stones to let him know that he was okay, and Harry promised he would.

Puck, Finn's satyr friend and fellow warlock, brought Sylyeras back not long after the party returned to the house. The first thing he did was try to comfort Athena, who had made a very difficult decision: Jarna wasn't safe for Odette. She needed somewhere safe for her to go. Finn offered Rugathore, Aldea, where she could stay with his husband, or Lanti, in Midtia with his friend, Confidence Milton. Finn was already going to go to Midtia, to try and rally support against Ego; he could take her along. 

Odette Lavigne
Pharius & Athena's Daughter
(Original Art by Brandon Dunn on
Art Station)
(Recolored by Athena's Player)

Pharius also tried to comfort Athena, and she asked if he would talk to Odette. Odette had been asking questions about him, now that Athena has designated him as someone like "Uncle Syl" - someone she could trust to keep her safe. Pharius didn't tell Odette he was her father, not yet, but he assured her that he was an old friend of her mother's.

The party decided that their investigation was best done once the newspaper came out in the morning with all the information.

The next morning, Puck took Finn and Odette to Midtia. Finn would be gone for a week, to make sure he could drum up sufficient evidence against Ego.

Athena cast Commune, hoping her god, Kelemvor, would have some answers.

- She asked, "If we don't investigate anything today, will we miss any vital information or evidence in regards to the violent events that occurred in Jarna yesterday?" Kelemvor answered, "Unknown."

- "Was Callietta Selezi responsible for the death of her granddaughter Northina and her suicide?" Answer: "Unwillingly, yes."

- "Did the cult attack the presshouse in an attempt to gain control of the Sasperian Star?" Answer: "Unclear."

Sylyeras and Athena also asked Simon for help again, getting them into the Selezi house, where a relative from Delasta had come to claim the bodies of Callietta and Northina. Athena wanted to use Speak with Dead on the bodies, to learn more about what happened. The relative gave them permission. They learned the following information:

- The last thing Callietta remembers is sneaking in to her granddaughter's room to kill her.

- She claimed she'd made mistakes and several deals with shady people - an assassin's guild.

- This morning was when she was told to kill granddaughter and then herself.

- A human man, again, matching Harry's description, was the one who'd told her to do it.

- The last thing Northina remembered was writing in her journal at her desk.

- She didn't see who killed her.

- She didn't have any apparent affiliation with The Dusk.

- Athena had mentioned that Odette was her daughter to Northina when she was alive. Northina had not told anyone.

Sylyeras contacted Harry, to make sure that he was safe and let him know that The Dusk was framing him. He said, "Make sure you keep your head low."

Harry replied in such a way that made Sylyeras remember how he'd been before the cult: "I'm on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Can't lay much lower."

~~~~~

ART LINKS

https://shinyno.tumblr.com/post/168555192674/commission-for-stelera-of-their-dd-oc-cropped

https://studio12point.blogspot.com/2019/07/d-character-art-halfling-rogue.html?spref=pi

https://twitter.com/gigi_avila/status/1275117539534782464

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/A9obLN