Rings of Bling is boarded up and barricaded with a note that says “Do not enter, you might die -Wilfred”
Blood Wrath and Beyond has locked door, there is a lit candle inside
As Nim goes to lockpick the door, see someone at the window, waves at you, and then unlocks the door
“Hello there, locked out of force of habit”
“I’m a relative of the shopkeeper”
“He sent me a weird cryptic message, if he ever didn’t come back to come check the shop, and well I can’t even find a body, the locals say he’s passed on, I’m here to pick up the mental”
“Are you here on official investigation, or inquiry about the wares?”
Sarah tries to troll him about killing the original owner and taking the shop
“He kept a journal” who hands it to Sarah
“And his quiver”
“Broken sword”
Not used in a while, back in his adventuring days
He seemed depressed in his letters to me
In his letters from 2 weeks ago, says everything is stressful, he wants an escape, he’s super depressed
May be related to the rings
Were they targeting people who were already emotionally unstable or made the ppl emotionally unstable?
Likely the former
“I’m from Dagdra, he moved back and retired, he wanted to be a merchant, he had aspirations, he seemed so much more lively when we were younger”
He talked about wanting to be a master metalsmith, he wanted the keyholder position, he tried really hard to get a letter of recommendation
“I have a ledger, he did have some interesting things, what r u looking for?”
We get 75% off at one item here from the coupon book
He pulls out a dagger with a weird spatial distorting aura around it
It’s called “heartseeker”
Sense a lot of divination magic coming from it, feels like you can bend luck itself to your will
He said it’s one of his throwing daggers, he said even a monkey could throw it and hit its target
He opens a hatch, and suddenly the room gets really really cold, he pulls out a cobalt blue, desaturated blue, looks like ice and glass, he didn’t tell me he was working on glass
Yul touches the staff, senses that the staff is imbued with evocation magic flavored with ice specifically, can’t tell the details, but there is a charge of a powerful ice-related spell that you could use
He pulls out a test dummy, gives the staff to Yul, goes outside, and lets Yul use the spell
While you’re holding the staff, you can see your breath, your breath is very cold
Yul stands 60 feet away, Yul casts Cone of Cold
Frigid Staff: Once per long rest, you get one use of Cone of Cold.
It is related to Wilfred
He mentioned that this Mr. Dongle guy really didn’t like him, always demanding deadlines, very brutal, he hung over writing a letter of recommendation, he did say that he was going to enter the competition
If you use the coupon, I’ll comp the other 25% but you have to present the staff at the invention competition thing
He pulls out a rapier
It’s very shiny and sharp, it’s more likely to hit things in some regard
Using the coupon, we get the staff of ice
Sticking a middle finger to that dickhole Dongle, I’m sure my cousin would be happy
We’re looking for arrows of aberration slaying
Go into the fletcher’s shop
Arrow of Ice
Arrow of Aberration (bundle of 2)
Regular arrows
Poisonous arrows
Arrow of Arcane Interference (bundle of 3)
100 gold for the bundle of 2 aberration arrows
We have a BOGO for buy one bundle get another bundle free
Nim gets the aberration slaying and the arcane interference
Go to the armorer, oddly short drow, and somewhat average height human
The pair looks at us, there’s soot and smoke all over their face
Feel the heat of the forge
See some red leather armor, the armor maker says she dropped all of the red dye on it on accident, I think it’s pretty sturdy
Some of the armor are imbued with magic
The worst is when ppl come from Opal’s tower asking for stuff it’s the worst
Points at another leather armor, leather color, if you like your spells working, the armor makes your spells work better (may increase your spell save DC)
We do have a coupon, full voucher for one piece of armor
Nim gives Yul the voucher for the piece of armor
Yul gets armor weee
Sarah looks for the heaviest armor
Dwarven plate, looked just like them
The dwarves gave it the seal of approval
It’s on sale for 450 GP
Bloo buys it for Sarah
We all go back to our rooms
We all rest
Nim goes to the reverend to talk with him
The reverend looks exhausted at the temple
Many people are sending their prayers, hoping not to be next, want rings off, but I’m not a miracle worker
Reverend has not met ppl with the ring who’s alive, but ppl claim that they’ve seen it
Nim is asking about gods and the salt water
Reverend hears rumors about ppl worshiping and fantasizing over this “end” and this “perfection” and it seems tied to death
I don’t think the followers of Nyx would do that
I think I’ve read something about an old I suppose, the burning of salt as an offering to scriptures of some god, but I can’t imagine it being Nyx, but it was in the name of death in some capacity
Nim: You’re probably thinking of Nyarlathotep and he’s very evil, highly suggest you dissuade ppl from worshipping that
Reverend: yes, I swear I’ve heard that name before, you see I have not been reverend in this church for very long, but my predecessor, he was an older man, and he mentioned something about, cause he wasn’t alive during, Falteran massacre, his father was alive during that time, he saw many things and heard many stories of those who came from Dagdra, he told me that his father mentioned the smell of burnt salt, not associated with Duessel but something else and I could never quite put my finger on it, but I think there is some dark necromancy ritual associated with burning salt
The flame was transparent
Reverend: Some life stealing ritual, that does seem to be what’s going on here, I will warn you this, from my readings on this ritual, there’s a failsafe, this is advanced necromancy that i would not dream of using, but I’ve studied some of it, from some of the old texts, it was indicated that interrupting this would cause the spontaneous and sudden end of the ritual, the final evolution of this ritual, it’s waiting for a trigger, and once it’s forcibly over, it might trigger everything, if it’s tied to the rings, interrupting the ritual early might cause them all to die
The thing was near the lighthouse
Reverend, looks at map, starts marking the map: you see, there are four corners of Half Moon Bay, one is the lighthouse, one is the castle (north end), then the west and east corner, if this is already in effect, perhaps there are similar pillars (this is just conjecture), what if it’s maintaining an area of control, and by extension, an area where it doesn’t affect those with the rings, don’t do something reckless
Nim: maybe take someone with the ring outside of Half Moon Bay
Besides opal’s tower on the west, there’s Wilfred’s lab, but on the east side is, well, my temple, and I will go investigate this, if there’s anything secret, I’m the only one with access to the basement
Nim: you should check
Reverend: I’ll go do that
Sarah goes to Seliph’s room and knocks
Clarus is willing to give Sarah a chance, is a little annoyed that Seliph agreed to give the sword to Sarah
Clarus wants to challenge you, wants to know if you’re worthy of wielding this blade
He still sees clouded vengeance in your eyes and your soul, he worries it’ll cloud your judgement, he wants to make sure his divine blade in the hands of someone who is clearly… thinking…. clearly (Seliph is trying to sugarcoat it a little)
Clarus wants Sarah to undergo a trial
Yul is pondering the head, staring into the soulless eyes of Theodore
Yul sees a glimpse of the past, see a peculiar looking women patting you on the head, she smiles in her name, you hear the words, the person in the memory is not Yul, it’s Theodore, but why are you the only one? Who is this person, hear a name calling out, “Yul!”
This other person looks, she walks away, patting you on the head with a sinister smile, as she walks away your vision fogs up, your arms are restrained, and the next thing you know, when you come to in your memory, your chest feels very tight, hear the words “This is the one”
We go to breakfast, we go to a breakfast place, their specialty is very creamy fluffy egg sandwiches
We have a couple hours before the competition begins, notice a big crowd in the town square
People are preparing for the competition
We need to submit the artifacts before 10am
We decide that Nim goes to rob Dongle’s lab as well as check the basement for the salt pillar
Sarah and Bloo go submit the stuff to the invention competition
We go to the submission booth
Sarah gives him the cube, “it has lightning in it, what would you like it to be called? And what’s your name?”
Sarah: “My name is Seliph Orsterra”
Gives Sarah a ticket stub, make sure to hold on to it, it’s tied to the form that I just filled out, proof that it’s associated with your entry
Bloo: my name is Green, and the staff is “Very Cold Staff”
Gives Bloo the stub, be back here 15 minutes before the competition begins so we can go to the backstage area
The competition is at noon
Dongle is a deep gnome
Sarah stands in front of him and looks down at him
Sarah: “I asked you a question”
Dongle: “I’m busy”
Sarah: “You’re busy dongling?”
Dongle Labs
Yul and Nim go to Dongle Labs
Nim picks the lock, and then the gate open
Hear a loud voice: “Thank you for trespassing at Dongle Labs. Please get the fuck out.”
The voice is coming from the gate
The gate repeats itself
Walk in and close the gate, continues speaking
Yul casts Silence in a bubble around the gate, the gate shuts up
The front door is unlocked
Walk in, met with living room and kitchen
Yul sees 2 bananas on the countertop
Nim locks the door behind them with her extra lock that she randomly has
It looks like the interior of a house, see a comfy couch, see the fireplace, see the kitchen
Notice something odd, in addition to why tf is this a house, notice something odd about the pantry door, it looks like the door to a walk-in pantry, you see a staircase going down
See in basement room, see a locked door, and some crates
Check the crates, see a note and a little speck of metal
Note: my magnum opus, no not this time, every single time I think I’ve made it, I cannot, ugh
Lots of anguish in the note
The ugh is bolded and large
The speck of metal resembles a broken key, it seems to have been thrown there, angrily, sitting in a dent in the crate
Has the teeth of the key, but not the key handle
Nim takes the teeth, uses thieves tools, and tries to unlock the door, hear a clink
The door is opened
See a giant steel floored room with something on fire and a forge right next to it which is on fire
Inside see soot and blast marks, things have been exploding in here
Aren’t any work stations, it seems like there’s a strong air of cinder and metallic dust flying through the air, the ventilation isn’t good it’s hard to breath
See lots of candles lighting up the room, the candles are very hot, the wax is dripping liquid on the base
Notice another door to the right
Also notice a weird crystal at the end of the room
It is incredibly hot near the crystal/forge
A book is on fire
Nim summons a mage hand, as the mage hand gets too lose to the book, it burns
Yul tries to pour bath water on the book but the water immediately boils and turns to steam
Yul attempts to close the book
Yul manages to shut the door
Now the heat isn’t emanating from the room, but at the same time, in the town square
Dongle: notices something, looks up, I’m sorry I have to attend to things, he looks over at the crowd, I’m sorry everyone, I have some urgent matters I need to attend to, so if you’ll excuse me
Bloo casts Sending to Nim to tell her about the fact that Dongle is leaving
Nim responds to tell us to stall
Sarah goes up and yaps to Dongle, yaps about being the mayor and how Ms. Stonefire is dead
Dongle: I have evidence of happenings that have been going on, I think I know exactly what you are here to inquire about’
Dongle snaps his fingers, and see some people lurking on the roofs throwing something, throw a bunch of explosives into the crowd
We are surprised
Dongle snaps on his greaves, I would’ve liked to do this when there are more ppl around and he starts dashing away