The count dead dead for real now. Learned some cool things about him by asking really really nicely, including the cult of fish, the sanctum key, and some other stuff. And then we got paid. And then Bloo’s gonna start a strawberry yogurt business while Nim and Lyra bet on the tournament, very legally.
Learns that the count is within half a mile, and that the count is not doing so hot
Without saying a word, Banana walks out, up the stairs
Much closer to the Count
Banana goes up the top of the spiral stairs, see that the door is half open,
Banana goes in, sees a limp body of the count hanging from a noose that was haphazardly tied, the javelin is still in his right shoulder, blood is still dripping
Everyone is following behind at an observational distance
Banana is attempting to cut the noose down
Bugbear: “don’t do that”
Skaga: “Can I have my javelin back”
Skaga rips it out
Banana manages to plop the count down to the ground, he’s just chilling there now
Banana casts spare the dying on the count, who is now stabilized
Bloo ties the count to the chair
Nim splashes water on the count, Bloo casts Detect Thoughts on him when he wakes up
He groans awake
Count: “Where am I, ah shit, what did you do to me”
Count: “Well thanks to you I can have no children”
Bugbear: “We’re gonna kill you in 5 minutes that would severely limit your chances of having children”
Why the hell is the tortle alive I thought I killed him in the mirror…
Count: “You don’t know the forces you’re working with, this is a lot more dangerous than you think”
Nim: “Why don’t you like the two of us”
Bugbear: “How much do you pay me per year, cause I’m gonna kill you and take all your money”
Mar: “Where’s your gold stash”
Detected thoughts: He’s in debt
Bloo: “The count is in debt”
Count: “How tf did you know that”
Nim: “What’s the red fish” ^b483c1
Count: “What fish”
Nim: “The glowing red herring”
Count: “Give it back, DO NOT BREAK IT”
Nim: “What happens if you break it”
Count: “It’s more valuable than your life”
Detected thought: The order of the fish shall be hearing about this. A cult of fish. The other members will not like news of my death.
Nim: “What type of fish do you worship”
Count: “You don’t need to know anything. These are forces beyond your knowledge”
Mar: “Where do you keep your precious stuff”
Count: “Unimportant”
Skaga: “What do you intend to do with the Faewild”
Detected thought: The feywild is far less stable than I anticipated, if only we can merge the fey plane with our own
Nim: “Next of kin?”
Banana: “What’s your relationship with the league?”
Count: “Me? Affiliated with the league? You must be out of your mind, they’ve already stolen everything, you’re not with the league?”
Nim: “No we ain’t smart enough bro”
Count: “Well if you’re not with the league, then what do you want?”
Nim: “Why don’t you like us”
Count: “You? I’ve heard of you”
Count: “No researcher with their salt doesn’t know what happened at crescent grove”
points at Banana
Count: “this is what you’ve freed? You don’t understand what you’ve freed”
Count: “Why did you even go”
Nim: “I was broke and I wanted money”
Nim: “Why portals”
Count: “Surely you know these have been popping off, I’m one of the researchers investigating this phenomenon”
Count: “We still dunno what these portals are or why they’re spawning, we do know that, part of my research involves the faewild, I believe the dimensional integrity of the faewild is better than ours”
Nim: “Why does your mirror kill people?”
Count: “It doesn’t kill people, it’s their own mindscape on the other side”
Count: “It is my attempt at replicating the mirror of enveloping darkness without the bad side effects”
Count: “I wanted to replicate it with serious repercussions”
Count: “I am not the best at my research” ← He’s full of shit
Count: “Look I’ve been trying to find a solution to all these rifts”
Count: “I’m not researching this with anyone else” ← Is truth
Bugbear: “Can you include me in your will?”
“I need to sign it”
Bloo: “He’s casting mage hand!” He casted mage hand and is holding a remote
Bloo stabs him in the heart
Mar swoops in and catches the remote when the mage hand fizzles out
Detect thought: something about Frosdir and Frostwwind (in northern Fusilla) about the grant request
See a letter drafted to Mr. frostdir but most of the ink has dried, puddle at the bottom, previously didn’t see it while in this room ^6ba98d
The letter is unfinished, it appears to be a letter of request
More papers in his desk, first paper that you see is what appears to be an IOU that was just signed by him, and then unpaid taxes, dodging the IRS for the last 20 years
See bribes and requests of grands
No one really cared to help fund him
Letter was last ditch effort to get more notoriety
See paper in the back sealed in a glass container
It’s the deed
While this is happening hear a scuffle and a flash of light (it’s the middle of the day)
Bugbear yoinks the deed from Nim without her noticing
Bugbear recognizes the remote, it’s a bluff, it doesn’t do anything
The flash of light is visible from the front door, it’s from the side
Nim opens the window and sticks her head out to look, and sees lots of fizzling corpses with 0 blood
Hear grunts of “HARRGGHH” as well
We all decide to head out except Bugbear cause he has a house now
Everyone else goes to the first floor, walks out, and sees two figures, one of them is Seliph stabbing someone as he smites it from the inside out, he is tired
See another figure, “Think that’s the last one of them”
Enter Max’s new character, a paladin, “Hell if I know”
Seliph: “Oh hey”
Nim: “You’re late”
Bugbear hands the orb to Nim in exchange for the deed Bugbear stole
Seliph: “Sorry I would’ve joined you inside, I see… where’s the bugbear”
Nim: “He’s a capitalist now” (Bugbear invented capitalism)
Seliph: “We’ll be surveying the property now, would’ve joined you but we got jumped, keeping eye on the perimeter not expecting anything, I’ve been busy, I take it y’all are okay”
Seliph: “Where is the count?”
Nim: “The count decided to stop breathing, he committed suicide”
Seliph: “Okaaay? Seems like his personality”
Mar: winks aggressively
Seliph: “The guild will protect you, no legal repercussions”
Seliph: “The Fusillan gov. allowed this operation because this estate has not been paid for”
Nim: “Umm do you want the orb it’s kinda heavy”
Mar: “Do you know what the orb is??”
Nim: “We left the interdimensional rift downstairs”
Seliph: “This orb should be a medium through which you can amplify rifts. He’s been doing elicit research after being denied grants, decided to investigate him after we discovered he’s a bastard”
Seliph: “I’ll be taking this orb”
Nim: “Make sure to feed the fairies bananas, Cosmo and Wanda”
Bloo: “Could you bury the kenku?”
Mar: “extend a contract to this creature as well, you should”
Seliph: “So you’re the kenku… reincarnated”
He believes Bloo
Seliph: takes the orb, “Why don’t we debrief at the tavern? I’ll be dispatching a squad to clean up around here. Where is the count’s body?”
“What body?”
Seliph: “As long as the bugbear doesn’t desecrate the body he might be evicted”
Seliph: “Oh and this is Sarah, Sarah has been helping us graciously, I hope y’all get along”
Σαρα: Aasimar Paladin
Σαρα: “Remember the time I poured milk on your face”
Seliph: walks away red faced
Seliph mutters: “They’ll get along well :/“
Canonbury, Fusilla, the Tavern
Goes to the tavern
Nim: “Can I get a glass of milk for Seliph”
Sarah: “A round of milk!”
Bartender: “It’s on the house” >:D
Seliph: “We have the orb now, what other findings did you see?”
Seliph: “Think it’s connected to the rifts opening up, but we don’t know the count’s allegiances, knows not allied with The League of Larcenists, which would spell disaster, we’ve uncovered the fact that he’s in a monumental amount of debt, and no living relatives so the debt just dies. Unfortunate but we still get stipends. The guild should still work. Frostdir is a current apprentice of miss Novis and this is in the northernmost region of fusilla with the most recent sightings of rifts” ^d861f9
The region is kinda desolate, at celestial peak there’s even more connections to the faewild and rifts and fae creatures, thankfully most of them are docile, celestial peak has lots of faewild appearing now
Most impacted areas
Other affilitations?
Bloo: “He’s part of the cult of fish”
Seliph: “I’ll report it, and I’ll let Lady Novis know”
Nim: “Are there any sanctuaries?”
Seliph: “What kind”
Nim: “Just in general, maybe the fishy kind”
Seliph: “Well the closest I can think of is one of the ports, there could be something in Vasara, it’s more an estuary than something else. But I know in Vasara there is such a thing. There’s a lot of fish related economics at other ports, Half moon and Trinity bay in Hyritia but I do not know”
The sanctum key is for the fish
Seliph: “ty for the info, I’ll have the scouts look. Bugbear?”
Dangerous and sneaky he is
Seliph: “I’ll send the scouts with extra manpower and not be caught off”
Seliph: “Also payment”
YIPPEE
300GP split between Nim, Lyra, Banana, and Mar, completion payment, “kind of jumped the gun but we can trust em”
Hands bloo and skaga a sack of 200GP to split
Seliph: “I have a few requests, if you (Sarah) would like to join this group of people I have a few other requests if you’re okay with more work”
Seliph: “Regarding the Count’s research, did it happen to list any names of other affiliate people?”
Mar hands him the journal, Seliph looks at the names
Seliph
“I think it might be far more urgent to meet up with Lady Novis myself”
“I unfortunately have to stay here to produce duties as the chair”
“I hope Sarah will be a nice ally in my stead”
“In any case if you would like to accept this request it’s coming from me personally, please deliver this journal to Lady Novis”
“You said there was a fish cult? You might want to ask her about it”
“She has a knack for finding interesting things about interesting people”
“What exactly do I mean? She’s a bit of a loner, it’s honestly a miracle she found an apprentice at all but this young Horace Frostdir man seems quite adept and well-studied”
“She’s the highest ranking member of the guild”
She should be over in Frostwind, the fastest route might be by sea and be safer, the tides are quite calm right now
It’s the start of spring rn, so the waters are calmer
Alternatively go towards Ashfall and then Parli the capital and maybe find her at her home, her personal residence is in Lake Novis, her family is who the territory is named after, she might have a way to get to Frostwind faster
This journey will be long and arduous but it’s entirely up to you
If you decide to go sea route and snake around, just know a few things, be wary of pirates and I will have your trip paid for by the guild
Mar: “YACHT PARRRTYYY”
Lyra: “What kinda pirates”
Seliph: “It appears to be independent but as always any pillaging groups could be affiliated with the league of larcenists, could be a retaliation group by the Dagdran government, but that’s a rumor please don’t spread it, pirates are very gunho about sticking to their personal code”
Seliph: As I’m sure you’re aware, the betting counter should be open now, but please I hope you find the new addition to the party is nice, well, please do not tell me the stories you hear about me, because sigh because I would rather keep that to our childhood, anyways bye, if you decide to go by sea please tell me I’ll get you tickets
Bloo runs out, comically fast for a tortle, to find the strawberry yogurt guy
Seliph:
Discovered that Count Canonbury had contacted Novis for funds as well as her apprentice
The count failed magic school, University of Southern Canonbury
Pretend to be a professional warmage
He was very interested, but it quickly fell apart when we figured out it was an eldritch cannon but in terms of casting spells he was not the best but flunked out with the hgih hopes of studying under Lady Novis
He got angy when rejected, went to his family, we dug up a lot of family history, but let’s just say we’re gonna be looking for someone else to fill his role, but he didn’t have much power anyways
We decide to go by sea to Celestial Peak
Lady Novis has her way of teleportation, maybe you have heard of her by her other name the “Jade Dragon”
Seliph wishes us good luck
You can always ask the bartender for me
Canonbury, Fusilla, The Tournament
It’s the finals, Vasara Adventuring Company vs the Battling Bard-barians
The BBs have different instruments that are actually swords, axes, or bows
5v5
Hear this guy screaming “Hello there, there bartering station is now open, cmon down! Please stop vandalizing my signs” as you see where “Your mom” used to be there’s a frantically nailed slab of wood
“The final round is about to go in, the pay is gonna be the highest”
Sarah goes back to look for Seliph
The betting guy keeps looking at Banana
“The favorite team, in an unusual upset, the VAC is on top”