26 Cuersaar 837

Heroes of the Netherdeep | Outside the walls of Emon (Tal’Dorei) 11/02 Session

• The party wakes up to Jon making breakfast and Pandora shining her new rapier. Rodreck asks the party for aid in a Spirit Session to get back his Summon Undead spell, and Pandora agrees while Adrian refuses, citing his avoidance of spirits and getting involved with spirits (which Rodreck says might be wise). Paige reluctantly joins, and the Spirit Session does not go horribly wrong (as it has the last few times). The spirits are normal, if a bit tragic and leaning towards dead from farming accidents. Rodreck remarks that this is how they normally are, and Paige learns she forgot her participation in a prior Spirit Session.
• Rodreck gives Jon a cold reading, “Love conquers all things. You should surrender your decisions to love.” Jon blushes at this, and gets very embarrassed. When Pandora asks if his reading was legit or not, Rodreck says that’s a secret he’ll keep.
• Pandora has Orpheus test her bacon, and Paige adds spice to the eggs, which leads the group to question Orpheus’ hunting habits. The party finds several squirrel-sized bundles of webs in the trees around them. Paige remarks that it is terrifying, because Orpheus is a cat-sized spider, and Pandora ignores that. Orpheus jumps twenty feet up a tree, which proves Paige’s point.
• Paige is disguised by glasses and some hair gel (and the removal of her hat), and Pandora, Rodreck, and Adrian are horrified by her admission of using 3-in-1.
• As the party discusses what to do with Tully, Pandora points out that Tully herself isn’t a problem, it’s her connections.

“I don’t think you understand how Tully is. Tully has not… Tully is… Okay. Her strengths lie in her connections. She is a puppet master. She’s a true orchestrator. She doesn’t get physical. She’s not like me. I’m very on the field. I have my boots on the ground. I prefer to do as I command. I like fighting. She does not. She likes her pretty things and her luxuries and her immaculately styled hands and blah blah. The issue isn’t going to be her. The issue is going to be those around her. So killing her would be easy. It would just be a matter of everyone around her.”

• Paige says that she has a political investment in understand the average person’s perspective, and wants to talk to more soldiers and get an idea of what they think of the whole conflict. Pandora points out that they aren’t the driving force of any of this, which Paige does not appreciate, and insists on understanding the soldier perspective. Pandora and Paige agree they can’t just kill Tully outright, as they’d need someone to fill that power vacuum. Adrian expresses a desire to do some sleuthing outside of Emon’s walls, and says he might be able to help them find someone to fill the power vacuum.
• Pandora throws out the idea of using the Orb of Telepathy, should she be able to get something off of Tully, and the group discusses possible messages that could be sent should they kill Tully. Pandora suggests what she calls a “Stilben Necktie”, while Paige offers the idea of framing the Clasp or hanging her in the gallows.
• As the group prepares to depart, Pandora lends Paige her Cloak of Invisibility, with the understanding that Paige should use it if she needs to hide from the Clasp, but that it only has a two-hour duration and shouldn’t be used frivolously.
• Aida stumbles out of the Tiny Hut to join the group, and calls Jon a good boy when he gives her breakfast and a mocha latter. He blushes wildly. Aida asks Pandora what the plan is, and Pandora explains that Paige wants the common-folk’s perspective, so they’re going back into town to get more information and decide what to do with Tully.
• Paige and the party talk to a lizard woman in her thirties with emerald scales named Eratos. She curses frequently, and is essentially subcontracted to provide the Freedom Fighters with boats. Paige learns that the Freedom Fighters are vicious against dissenters, with the lizard woman warning her not to criticize them too loudly. Paige suggests striking, and the lizard woman informs her they’re out for blood, and want to do nasty things to the nobles. The lizard woman also remarks that in her view, the nobles are stealing from the working class and contribute nothing worthwhile, and the only thing worse than nobles are wizards because wizards freed them from the dragon and these problems wouldn’t exist if the wizards hadn’t done that. She suggests they go to leadership if they want answers to their questions.

Notable Detail: non-standing army recieves a paycheck, which is strangely organized for the types of forces amounted.

• The party splits three ways: Jon and Aida sneak back into Emon without telling the others, Paige, Rodreck, and Adrian head to different taverns to eavesdrop (and, in Rodreck’s case) plant rumors on Pandora’s orders, and Pandora heads into the encampments to better understand Tully’s plans and try and find some of her contacts.
• Rodreck buys drinks and starts the rumor of a noble wizard woman assaulting the Clasp at a farm last night, which Paige engages with and plants false details about: chin-length red hair, held herself like a noble, wore a mockery of peasant clothes, mud smeared on her face. Paige spends the rest of the time drinking, while Rodreck goes from bar to bar in different disguises continuing the rumor’s spread. Rodreck also gets very fucked up by the time the party needs to meet again.
• Adrian has one drink, before switching to lime water and speaking with the most imposing person at the Drunk Duck. He meets Vigo Gellen, a commander of some sort generous with praise and careful not to drink. Vigo tells Adrian he doesn’t like his mind addled, and when asked about how many soldiers he commands, he tells Adrian the lists change daily. When Adrian explains that he’s independent - not contracted or enlisted - Vigo asks for his specialty. Adrian informs him he finds things, and Vigo hires him to find a tunnel into Emon for 600 gold - 300 up front, 300 upon completion. Adrian spends the rest of his time listening for rumors, and doing some subtle investigating in the taverns. Adrian hears a lot of whispers of their plans to topple the Council of Tal’Dorei so they can finally be on top - lots of socialist rhetoric.
• Pandora notices that Tully is purposefully keeping the Myriad and Clasp initiates mixed and moving, making it nearly impossible to distinguish one from the other or start fights. She was not able to locate any base or central organizational location, and that is by design. Initially, Pandora realized her initial thoughts on Tully were correct: she’s playing both sides of the field, ensuring that no matter what happens, she wins. She has put a brilliant plan together, and it is (thus far) successful. Pandora, despite her resentment of Tully, admires the ploy, and can’t help but miss when her life was as simple as long-term manipulations and backstabbings rather than apocalypses and ascensions.

Tully Lore: Tully became both rich and powerful by concentrating in smuggling, burglary, and trafficking.

• Aida and Jon sneak over the wall with the use of the Jewel of Three Prayers’ Invisibility, Polymorph, and Sending. Aida takes Jon to the Temple of the Raven Queen, resolute in her decision to try and contact the Matron.
• Aida meets Pandora’s future mortal enemy, Kolpelgeh, a cunty high priestess of the Matron, and a despicable bitch.

AK Note: These notes are objectively correct, filled only with the truth. Like the news, I report what is indisputable without an agenda or bias.

• Aida asks Kolpelgeh if she’s been able to speak with the Matron, to which Kolpelgeh tells Aida she speaks with her every day (wowwww I guess the Raven Queen CAN communicate, but apparently, it is only in DRACONIC). Aida notices she is snooty about Aida’s inquiries, when Aida expresses worry over her friend and asks if the dragonborn knows where Elsewhere is. Kolpelgeh says it is not here, because like the Matron she lives to be helpful, and tells Aida that she already knows the matter that has sent her here - the apostate.

“You’re connected to the apostate. I know. Drow elf, I believe. The one who…” And she kind of looks at you and purposefully drops her voice thinking that you’re just slow. “The one who’s on the Matron’s shit list.”

• Interesting! Even at the end of the world, the Matron is more capable of being a gossipy bitch than helping!
• Aida rambles about her communication attempts with the Raven Queen, and how she said mean things, and Kolpelgeh suggests she apologize and throw herself at the Matron’s mercy (that, allegedly, exists), to which Aida has to hold back a reflexive gag. She says she would to get her friend back…

“If that’s what it would take to get our friend back. Might as well.”

“Oh. You lost…You lost the apostate then. That’s…adorable. You’re trying to get her back? Where’d she go? Is she roaming through the Shadowfell? Looking for her wayward mistress?”

“Do you have anything else to add or may I finish? Is that how you treat folks who are coming in with decency? That’s not how Ioun would do it. I know Ioun’s followers have more respect than that. Kai has more respect than that. I’m here on a mission.”

“Ioun’s followers weren’t betrayed by one of your friends. So perhaps you should keep better company if you would like to be treated better.”

Lore Drop: Raven Queen is a gossip, and her more prominent worshipers are aware of Pandora as a traitor to their goddess and them, but only know her as a drow elf connected to Aida and the rest of the party.

• Aida shows Kolpelgeh a minor illusion of Rumis/Erevan leaving through the portal the day prior, and Kolpelgeh expresses confusion on why Aida is searching for the Champion of the Raven Queen, who is surely about on her business (Note: being connected to Lolth = bad, being connected to Torog = totally fine. Hypocrite, thy name is stricken from history but is dressed in feathers and darkness). Rumis is not a name the dragonborn pays much attention to. She also tells Aida not to speak the apostate’s name in her presence.

Rumis Lore Drop: Erevan is the Champion of the Raven Queen, and possibly was before. Her worshipers are aware of this, but Rumis’ name is not given much attention, indicating Erevan’s existence as Rumis is unknown by the larger religious community.

• Aida also shows the dragonborn a minor illusion of the letter she received from Dione, specifically the same excerpt she showed Pandora - Dione’s Warning - which Kolpelgeh immediately disregards as false, a lie, and sacrilegious.

She looks at it. She reads it. And then she kind of gets this slightly disgusted look on her face and waves it away. And she’s like, “I don’t know who showed you that. But those are lies. Through and through.”

Aida raises the staff over her head, and it lights up. “You show the Lord of Light some respect.”

So, yeah, she takes your flourish. Like, she doesn’t look threatened. She looks more confused. Like, what? “I’m sorry to tell you that your letter there is a fake, but why are you freaking out on me?” So she gives you that kind of attitude as she says, “What you have there is impossible. It doesn’t match up with the Matron of Ravens. She is beyond such petty things as emotion. She is a force of nature and can barely be conceived of by us mere mortals. Much less defined as a jealous and angry ex-lover is what this sounds like. So I don’t know where you got it from, but it can’t be possible. And I’m really sorry that you’ve been so misled. But, and I mean this honestly, you should find some better friends.”

• The priestess refuses to cast Legend Lore on Aida’s letter using church resources, because she is as helpful as the being she speaks with every day, so Aida grabs the resources for her and comes back. The priestess insists on reading the letter, claiming Aida could have swapped it for something different, and Aida gives up on arguing after some back-and-forth. After reading it, Kolpelgeh casts Legend Lore.

After ten minutes, as the spell…detonates is a great word for it. As the spell takes hold. You see her eyes, her golden eyes start to glow. They glow a bright gold. And then that gold becomes a white. And then that white begins to project out of her eyes. And you see her jaw kind of go slack-jawed a little bit. And you realize that her face is frozen in this kind of mid-silent scream. As her beautiful golden eyes frost over. Well, it’s more of a burning than a frosting. But they turn pure white. And after about thirty seconds of watching this. You see her fall to the fucking ground. She just full-on fucking collapses. The letter slips out of her hand, and she hits the ground gasping.

• She takes three levels of exhaustion and is blind, mumbling apologies to Aida for reading that which wasn’t hers to read. She reveals the letter is as much a part of Aida as her name, and she can’t lose it. It has been blessed by a celestial, and this is her punishment for reading it. She makes a blindfold for her eyes, and stumbles away from Aida, telling Aida she needs to find answers elsewhere, and is not welcome in this temple. Aida notices that the blindness is likely not permanent, and it was most likely Dione who punished the priestess.
• Afterwards, Aida visits Gilmore as a treat, and Jon reads two books in the Temple of Ioun - How to Capture Your Princess: a Collection of Dating Tips, Advice, and Tricks Written by, for, and to Men & Fitting a Square Peg Through a Round Hole: the Curious Mobility of Oozes
• Pandora spends an hour attuning to her rapier - Silken Spite - and gains the following benefit/detriment: in exchange for her racial darkvision, she has a new range of senses related to sets of eyes hidden by her skin. Should she choose, she can open up to three additional sets of eyes to gain access to Darkvision, Blindsight, and True Sight.
• Aida uses Presti to hide the signs of exhaustion from her time with Gilmore, arriving with Jon just before Adrian to meet the group. She and Jon go over what to say to the group, and Jon tells her he’d lie for her. It is very sweet. Aida slaps his back and gives him a kiss on the cheek for his help.
• Adrian remarks that Aida has a glow to her, the first person to notice such a thing.
• Rodreck is still drunk, throwing up, and rambling about how death has no meaning, to which Pandora resists the urge to argue with him over.

“You know I can still taste grave dirt.”

“What?”

“In my…my mouth.”

Rodreck Lore Drop: Rodreck was buried alive at some point in a grave, most likely by his mother.

Rodreck’s Poem

Oh Lenore, do you still watch me?
Why won’t you let me be free?
You are not worth the title Mother.
I escaped the dirt you wished me smothered.
Except I can’t escape the memory.
I still taste the soil thanks to your treachery.

Heroes of the Netherdeep | Outside the Walls of Emon (Tal’Dorei) Session 11/9

• The party relays their progress, and what they accomplished during their separation (a heavily sanitized version from Aida and Jon, of course). Adrian suggests using Speak with Dead to ask the dead about Elsewhere - noting it might be an afterlife - to which Pandora remarks that the party never likes easy solutions (referencing her idea to die). Paige asks if she even knows where she would go, and they bicker before Pandora snaps and says she’s sick of Paige’s condescending “bullshit”, which further devolves until Paige brings up the need to examine Rumis’ broken pendant with Detect Evil and Good. Pandora agrees with the suggestion, stating that they need to figure out whether Rumis/Erevan was being motivated by the Raven Queen or Torog. She guesses that Torog is the most likely, noting the timing matches with the Raven Queen’s banishing of Him, and that could’ve effected Rumis/Erevan (on top of an entrance to Elsewhere being located in the Hells - Nessus - and that being a likely place for a banished Torog to go. She also voices the need to interrogate Squawk, as all of their information is sourced at the Matron and that is an issue if it is Her. Paige agrees.
• The party agrees to return to the inner walls of Emon, and Jon asks Rodreck if he’s okay. Rodreck voices that he’s sad, drunk, and needs to go to bed, so Jon uses Aura of Vitality to cure Rodreck’s hangover and heal him of pain. Rodreck says he’s still bloated, to which Jon suggests punching him in the stomach (as Aida does for him). Rodreck says he knows a magician that died that way, and Jon says he’d Revivify Rodreck. Aida realizes Jon probably thinks Lay on Hands is Revivify.
• Jon proceeds to give Rodreck “uppies” to try and cheer him up, which Rodreck allows. Rodreck and Jon have a very philosophical conversation about misery, death, and joy, with Jon using the Voice of the Tempest’s logic of being joyful (to prevent one from being a miserable spirit) only to be crushed by Rodreck’s brutal insistence of misery being inevitable in the hearts of those you leave behind in death. This leads Jon into an existential crisis about Aida dying, and a silent trip to the edges of Emon’s walls.
• Paige uses Wind Walk to get the party over the wall once more, leading them into the Promenade unseen. They regroup in an alley, and Pandora casts Detect Evil and Good on the pendant, filtering out her own signature to focus. The reading she gets is consecration and celestial, and she recalls that Torog’s signature would be abyssal. This leads her to the conclusion that Torog was not the vehicle of Rumis’ teleportation, but does not rule out His involvement. She tells this to the group, noting that she doesn’t know Erevan’s signature enough to differentiate it from alternative signatures, and that celestial could refer to the Raven Queen, the fact that it was a holy object, or Erevan’s own magic. The consecrated reading is equally vague, though Pandora thinks it just refers to the state of it being a holy object.
• Pandora voices the need to interrogate Squawk, as all of their information is sourced at the Matron and that is an issue if it is Her. Paige agrees, and Adrian says he can assist, playing the good cop to Pandora’s bad cop. Paige says she can be the rad cop, and Rodreck can be the sad cop, while Jon is the bad cop. Pandora groans, and Paige brings up an alternate plan - going to the League of Miracles. Pandora disagrees with the plan, arguing that finding a secret organization of paranoid mages will be difficult, and they’d be better off with the Cobalt Soul. She elaborates with an explanation that she’s probably on their kill list, and that Clasp cells (like Myriad cells) communicate about problems that might grow beyond their borders - like Pandora. She tells Paige that the Myriad has a list of contacts to keep an eye on, as many are inspired by her former boss (that she murdered) and his double-crossing of the Clasp.
• After some discussion, Paige realizes that the golems they fought on the farm the day prior had the League of Miracle’s symbol on them - a wizard’s tower between two mage hands. Pandora informs Paige she saw the Clasp symbol on the outside of Honor Kinnabari’s shop and they come to the same conclusion: the League of Miracles is likely aligned with the Clasp, and is the source of the Clasp’s new grasp on the arcane. Pandora re-emphasizes it is a terrible idea to align with a secretive mage organization that could potentially be aligned with other antagonistic forces - namely, the Betrayers - as opposed to an organization aligned with the Prime Deities, and Paige agrees.
• Because Pandora and Paige agreed, the world must correct itself - thus, assassination attempt number three, because failure never goes out of style. A sizable team of Clasp Enforcers and Necromancers gathers, with one remarking “Found you!” to Pandora - implying that they’ve been searching for her - like Pandora told the group was the case. Paige suggests Pandora surrender, asking Pandora to trust her, and Pandora responds by going for blood.
• Pandora casts Haste on herself, and chases the woman that seemed pleased to find her. Pandora deals a sizable blow to the necromancer with her new rapier (and Green Flame Blade, her Blood Fury Tattoo, and various other features), and the woman responds by summoning a necrotic centipede and using a potion to go invisible, to Pandora’s annoyance.
• Rodreck casts Confusion on a gathered group of two cutthroats and a necromancer, which pairs well with Aida’s Wall of Force. The enforcers attack each other, and the wizard wastes a Circle of Death on them, one that fails to effect anyone outside of the Wall of Force.
• An enforcer outside of the Wall of Force attempts to hurt Jon, and barely succeeds, while the centipede tries to bite Paige and is deflected by a steady Shield spell. Jon fucks up the enforcer with his swords and some smites, while Adrian uses his cigarette to trace runes in the air and cast Hold Monster on the centipede - which is successful. Adrian nods at Pandora, and tells her that she’s “got this”, inspiring her.
• A cutthroat tries to backstab Aida, and fails, bouncing off her Shield spell. Paige uses Conjure Elemental to attack the centipede with an earth elemental, and tells the cutthroat by Aida that she wanted to surrender. The bloodthirsty cutthroat does not appear to care, searching for a crack in the Shield to stab through.
• Pandora lets herself call upon her new abilities, gripping her sword and reaching the shadows to open up her other sets of eyes. She goes for True Sight, opening eight eyes total, and Paige is the only one to see it. In the heat of battle, Paige doesn’t have the opportunity to comment on it, and Pandora does not wait for a comment. She casts Inflict Wounds on the terrified mage, who does not expect Pandora to be able to see her, before stabbing her through the ribcage with her rapier. The woman dies, returning the necrotic centipede to a crab, and Pandora shuts her eyes back up before dashing to rejoin her party.
• Rodreck protects Aida:

So Rodreck looks at this Clasp agent who attacked Aida, and he’s going to pull out his mother’s skull. In a deep voice, he’s going to say, “You really should have left her alone.” As the eyes in his mother’s skull glow a sickly green, and the energy shoots out of them at this agent as I cast Blight at 6th level.

• Aida is very flustered by this, and does nothing but wonder about what Rodreck meant as Jon continues to take hits like a champ (with a Silvery Barbs from Aida to prevent a crit) and deal damage like nobody’s business. The wizard inside the Wall of Force uses Dimension Door to free herself and a cutthroat, transporting them a bit away as they are no longer confused. Adrian casts Destructive Wave, killing the cutthroat that tried to hurt Aida and the enforcer that had been attacking Jon. He winks at Aida, flustering and inspiring her simultaneously.
• Paige’s elemental is able to tell where the cutthroat and wizard ended up with Tremorsense, which Paige tells the rest of the party about. Paige and her elemental go to corner a necromancer named Vicky that hid around the corner from the battle, presumably as backup. Paige compels her true name from her, and realizes she’s a stereotypical mean girl that is really annoying. Vicky manages to avoid a grapple from the earth elemental, and attempts to cast Circle of Death, but Paige and Aida both Counterspell.
• Pandora intimidates the cutthroat into dropping their weapons, but the necromancer attempts to flee:

“You know, I’ve been nice. I’ve only killed a couple of your friends. I don’t know if you know this about me but I’m really proficient in torture, and I do enjoy when they scream. So you can come quietly and I might not kill you. I might not kill all your friends. I might not track down every single person you know and have been in contact with lately. I might go easy but if you keep pissing me off, I’ll take my time with you and I don’t know if you know this, but I can bring you back to life too. I can take as much time as I need to. Are you going to come quietly or not?”

• As Pandora uses her Fey Step to frighten both the cutthroat and the necromancer before realizing that Mommy Lolth wants her to kill both of them, a message the sword conveys. Despite her willingness to offer mercy to the cutthroat the moment before, she decides to kill him without hesitation, and uses blood magic to compel the necromancer forwards from the alley, towards the rest of Pandora’s part, on her hands and knees.
• Rodreck calls for Tale of the Avenger, and casts Hold Monster on the necromancer Pandora controlled with blood magic, paralyzing her. Aida and Jon watch over the one cutthroat left in the Wall of Force that is still desperately trying to escape. Adrian uses a Ghost Step tattoo to appear behind Pandora, and fires a shot off at the necromancer Rodreck and Pandora have terrified, paralyzed, and knocked prone.
• Paige sinks to Vicky’s level, and cuts her a deal for her freedom in exchange for information. She learns that this was an unsanctioned assignment Alina got her to participate in, and that Vicky only did this because she owed Alina a favor. She also informs Vicky that any additional assassination attempts will just result in more dead Clasp members, so it’s kind of pointless to do it. Vicky agrees to run, and leaves, grateful for Paige’s mercy.
• Pandora uses Message to get information out of the necromancer, and discovers that she is a survivor from the previous assassination attempt who wanted revenge on Pandora because Pandora killed a bunch of her friends. Her name is Alina, and this whole plan was her idea, and she ran because she knew there was no hope for her even if she survived. She used Clasp resources to hunt Pandora, and for that she would be cast out (if not killed). Pandora kills her without hesitation, looking her in the eyes as she does so.
• Aida spares the cutthroat in the Wall of Force, telling him to live a happy life in Nicodranas rather than giving up his life for revenge. He agrees, and Aida frees him with only Jon as her witness. She tells him to run, and the “6 1⁄2 foot tall red-skinned tiefling with hoop piercings in his ears and horns that curve back, yellow eyes and digi grade legs” listens. Jon agrees to stay silent on it.
• Pandora Revivifies Alina to interrogate her further, learning that the Clasp got access to the arcane arts after the ruidium started going bad. She also learns that Tully is considered the leader of the Clasp as well - suggesting that Clasp leadership is primarily figureheads. Pandora kills her after, and the ruby spider Lolth sent her as a sign previously sinks into her forehead - though only Rodreck can see it - leaving blood in the shape of Lolth’s holy symbol. Pandora feels incredibly satisfied, unaware of the new scar - elated, euphoric, hungry, and a little horny. Rodreck worries over guards, so the party scatters and heads for the ship.

Lore Drop: Alyxian’s death is the source of ALL Pandora’s problems - the Clasp only sought mages after ruidium began to lose its magical properties as a result of Alyxian’s death.

• As everyone gathers at the ship, Aida compliments Adrian and Rodreck on their prowess in battle and thanks them for having her back. Adrian compliments her Shield spell, and she is flustered. Paige asks Pandora if she is good, when Pandora remarks that she feels great. Paige exchanges a look with Rodreck, pointing to her forehead, and Pandora asks what they are talking about. At Paige’s prompting, she looks in a mirror and finds her goddess’ symbol carved into her forehead, sure to scar but unseen to the unassisted eye once she wipes the blood off. She calls it a blessing, and states her goddess favors her, which makes Paige comment that she’s blind to red flags. Pandora, annoyed, asks Rodreck and Jon to escort Adrian on a tour of the ship so she can talk to Paige and Aida alone. Rodreck agrees, after Pandora promises the conversation shouldn’t involve magic or daggers and she’s not aiming to kill Paige, but Jon is more hesitant. He asks Aida if she’s sure she wants to be alone with her (meaning Paige) and her (meaning Pandora), and Aida says she’ll be fine.

Pandora’s going to start with saying, “We have been out of sync since we got back in Stilben, and it’s becoming a fucking problem. Okay. So, Paige, I’m going to open the floor with a comment. I don’t appreciate your lack of trust in my expertise. I understand you don’t like my methods. I don’t particularly care for yours. But the fact that you question me on everything I say about the Clasp and the Myriad when I’m the one that ran the Myriad, I’m the one that’s involved with criminal organizations, and I’m the one that’s been involved in this organization my entire fucking life, I don’t appreciate it. I don’t appreciate when you’re condescending and act like I don’t understand the consequences of my actions, and I don’t appreciate that you seem to think you know better than everyone all the time just because you’re a fucking wizard. Your turn.”

Paige is gonna just let that sit for a minute. “Yeah. And I don’t appreciate how you don’t trust me. Every single time I tell you, hey, maybe think this through. Hey, maybe not go with your instant gut instinct of murder someone because it’s going to fucking backfire and make things harder for us. I don’t appreciate it when you don’t fucking take that into account. We’re trying to accomplish something here, and we can’t do that if you just, like, go around. Like, if you are indiscriminately killing people who we’re trying to ally ourselves with.”

“I am not indiscriminately killing people. I’m trying to make sure…I gave you the opportunity to discuss with the Clasp members when I saw them. I recognized those insignias right away. I didn’t kill them until they threatened you. But maybe I should have let them kill you first, because then you’d know they’re worthy of murder. Because that’s how this goes, isn’t it? It’s not a threat until you assess it as such. God forbid the person with more expertise, experience, and encounters with these people actually knows something that you don’t. That’s what the matter is, Paige. I’m not trying to kill indiscriminately. I’m not killing everyone that annoys me, otherwise the entire city would be dead. Frankly, because a lot of people annoy me. This is about you questioning me every step of the way, even when I’m right. I’m…” Pandora sighs. “We need to work as a team. That doesn’t mean you questioning my goddess. That doesn’t mean you questioning me every five seconds. Sometimes I’m going to make a choice. Sometimes I’m going to make a bad call. That’s just how it goes. You made a bad call with Alyxian, didn’t you? We all fought. We went on your judgment. We freed him. That’s on us. It’s also on you. I’m not the only one that’s made mistakes.”

“No, you’re right. I do make mistakes. But the fact of the matter is that whenever I am putting myself out there, you don’t let me do the thing I’m trying to do.”

“What were you trying to do? You don’t trust me as much as I don’t trust you. The difference between us is that I have trusted you in the past.”

“You didn’t let me finish that conversation with… You never let me finish the conversation with the Clasp. You never knew what was going to happen. I could have probably talked them down. Because like I said, we’ve been trying to ally ourselves with them-“

“No, we were trying to ally ourselves with Tully, who is currently allied with them. She’s not permanently… The thing you don’t understand is she’s playing chess. Those are a set of her pawns, but she has other alternatives. She will throw them away, and if we too closely align ourselves with any set we’ll get thrown away with them. That’s how it works.”

“Yes, and if you’ve ever played chess, you know that pawns are always close to the queen. That’s how it works. And the easiest way to get in to Tully’s good graces is to show that we are trustworthy people and that we can-“

“The Clasp doesn’t matter in that regard, Paige. We haven’t decided if we want… Honestly, if we wanted to get in Tully’s good graces, all we have to do is tell her that the mission she gave us was successful. Because it fucking was. Because of Rodreck. And because of us. We all made sure that mission was a success. That’s what we need to get in her good graces. We don’t need to be kissing up to Clasp members. And they threatened your life. I don’t know how stupid you are, but criminals don’t say, ‘ooh, I’m gonna kill you,’ and then not do it. Now, all I’m asking for is that if I say something’s going to happen with the Myriad and the Clasp, you respect the fact that I have more experience than you in this, and you listen to my judgment without questioning it every five seconds. I also ask that you keep your goddamn nose out of my worship. It doesn’t matter to you. If it’s not affecting you, stop judging me over it. Or no, you can judge me all you want. I don’t care about your judgment. But the fact that I worship Lolth? Not your problem. It’s not even a divinely assigned your problem like it is with Aida. What do you expect? What do you require of me to make this…easier? Because we need to be in sync, we need to find Rumis, we need to go to Vasselheim. And every single time we get into an argument, we’re just delaying it.”

• Rodreck sits at the top of the stairs, just out of sight listening in and not giving a tour.

Paige is just kind of like, just doesn’t know what to say. I think Paige is just kind of staring at Pandora with mostly disbelief, but there’s just like this hintof pity and worry underneath it that I think just pierces. Paige is very conflicted right now. She wants to chew you out. Like, completely. But that’s kind of what you’re complaining about right now, and that’s what you’re putting your foot down about. And who knows if Pandora would recognize it in this moment, I think Paige is just…If Pandora would recognize that Paige is extremely worried about Pandora, about how she’s acting, about how she’s leaning into this very untrustworthy being, and how she is just going whole hog into the deep end, and Paige feels like she is one of the few people who is like, trying to hold Pandora back from throwing herself into a bad situation. Paige is weighing the options of whether she should just give up or not. Whether it’s worth it anymore.

Pandora recognizes Paige’s worry, familiar with its appearance from her conversations with Aida. “I’ve said this to Aida, and I’ll say it to you as well, because I can see your whole thing. I’m not someone that needs saving. I’ve chosen this for myself, and I’m happy with where I’m at. The only thing we need to be concerned about right now regarding each other is about our ability to carry on the mission. I have a debt to fulfill. I’ve made that clear. I’m asking what it will take to make sure that we can cooperate so we can get this going. On you and me, what will it take?”

“I…I…Pandora, I don’t think you’re capable of giving me what I need to be able to trust you.”

“I’m not… I don’t need your trust. I need cooperation. You don’t have to trust me. You don’t have to like me. I’ve said it before, we don’t have to be friends. We just need to cooperate long enough to find Rumis, to do the whole Vasselheim thing, and get this entire ordeal over with. I will retreat back to my shadowy corner, and you won’t have to worry about me again. We just need to last long enough for that. What will it take to buy that much cooperation? Gold? Items? Name your price.”

“Pandora… You can’t give me anything right now that’ll make me want to cooperate with you. The thing that’ll make me want to cooperate with you is your trust. We can’t be a team if you’re putting your foot down and telling me not to think and just go with you blindly-“

“I’m not saying go with me blindly-“

“-especially me.”

“I’m not saying go with me blindly. I’m saying stop disrespecting my expertise every five seconds. It was exactly like this in Ank’Harel! I left without a word, Paige, because none of you fucking trusted me. What words did I have to say? I had a plan and everyone-“

“I don’t know, goodbye?”

“Why did you need a goodbye? What made you need a goodbye?”

“I don’t know. don’t fucking know. I’m…I don’t want to be here right now. I don’t want to hear this shit from you.” Paige is going to start heading out.

“No, Paige. No. We’re done with this whole avoidance thing. We still need to resolve what’s going on between you and Aida. I don’t need to know the details, but we need to be in sync.”

“Pandora, you’re never going to fucking get anything out of me that you want unless you trust me and believe me when I say things.”

“What reason have you given me to trust you beyond what’s been compelled by beings and forces greater than us? The whole reason-“

“I don’t know. We’re fucking friends!”

“When were we friends?! When you were constantly berating me? When you were constantly second-guessing every choice I made?”

“I do that because I’m worried about you, dipshit-“

“We solved the Netherdeep case because I fucking thought to save that guy. I thought to use Speak With Dead. I got the answers. But everyone was all, ‘oh, you’re going to kill them. You can’t be alone with witnesses.’ Jon was the only one that cut me a fucking piece of… a break. Jon, who hates me more than most of you, probably. I don’t know why you expect friendship when you’ve never offered it. What, am I supposed to be friends with someone I don’t even know? Don’t think I don’t notice how I know barely anything about your past. You are just as much of a liar as I am. You just use silence to lie.”

“I said my piece,” Paige says, and she’s going to keep walking out.

“No. Because I still have things to say. And it’s not about-“ When Paige continues to walk out, Pandora grabs her wrist to stop her. “I’m so sick of this. I’m trying to have a conversation. I’m trying to find a middle ground. I’m trying to be a peacemaker here. And you’re making it a fucking fight every step of the way. If you want my trust, earn it. If you want my friendship, earn it. I don’t just give freely. And if you actually considered yourself my friend, you would know that about me.”

Paige attempts to break out of Pandora’s grip, but fails. “Let fucking go of me.”

“No, Paige, because I’m… You hold people at a distance just as much as I do. And then you have this weird expectation of everyone else to be different just for you. And you know what? I don’t know what happened with you and Aida. I don’t know what’s going on with that. What I do know is that you and Aida were friends and now you’re not speaking. And quite frankly, I don’t need to know the details. But this needs to be ironed out. And it probably involves you apologizing because you’re kind of a bitch. I’m a bitch too. I’m not saying I’m not. But the difference is that I recognize it.”

“Let go of me.”

“No, Paige. We are having a conversation. I’m sick of this hanging over us all. Because you want to know what’s going to happen? We’re going to go interrogate Squawk and you’re going to make snarky comments and then we’re going to find something else out. I’m going to suggest something, you’re going to doubt it, and I’m going to fucking lose it. And I don’t need to be losing it every five seconds.”

“I said, let the fuck go of me!” Paige uses her magic and fist to shove Pandora five feet away. Pandora responds with a Hold Person, which Paige Counterspells.

“I don’t know why I would trust someone I don’t know and who won’t even have a conversation, Paige. You must be delusional if you think that.”

“I’ve tried having a conversation with you. I have tried so fucking hard to have conversations with you. And every single time I do, you accuse me of being a manipulative bitch.”

“I said that once and then I tried to accept it and then you immediately disproved it. So, I don’t, what, do you want me to just take you at your word? You want me, me, to take someone at their word without proof, without evidence? Aida’s different. I know who Aida is. I don’t know who you are, Paige. Yeah. I know you’re a wizard. I know you get angry. I know you’re sarcastic. I know you don’t like feeling things. I know you speak around things. I don’t know who you are beyond that.”

“Yeah I have my privacy, but do you need to know every intimate detail about my life to understand me? You should know me, by now.”

“How can I know stranger?”

“Of all the shit you’ve pulled, this is the worst thing you’ve ever done to me.”

• Paige leaves, and Pandora approaches Aida with a slightly more sedate composure. Pandora expresses displeasure in how the conversation went, and irritation at Paige for leaving. She also tells Aida that it might be a good idea to make up with Paige, seeing as they have to work together. Aida is cautious in her approach, but gentle.

“I don’t know what happened between you and Paige but you can probably patch it up. You were friends, legitimate friends, and you trusted each other for a long time. I don’t know what Paige has done but I’m sure she probably thinks she feels bad about it, the reality of that is up for debate, but. What I can say is that I’m, I’ve said it before but I’m not your responsibility. My embracing Lolth is not a failure on your part, Aida. I don’t…I don’t believe you have malicious intent with anything and you are a good wizard. I am…I’m glad to be traveling with you and the others, you’re talented in different ways, but I don’t enjoy being in a place where I don’t have control. And Paige makes me second-guess myself all the time with everything and I don’t like it… but I think that you should make up with Paige.”

I think Aida is gonna slowly approach and take your hand and sandwich it between her halfling hands and give it a gentle squeeze, and through it you feel some warmth and you feel healed. “I mean we are in troubling times, Pandora. This is honestly more terrifying to deal with then what’s going on up there I wish for all of us to just get back to, you know, just…just the first part of Ank’Harel, as acquaintances at least. I’ll…I’ll talk to Paige.”

“I know some things, I mean you… You haven’t been the same either, Aida. I don’t mean that as a negative thing, but you’ve been quieter. More withdrawn. And more with Jon. Oh god. Rodreck’s poet rhyming…ugh.”

“That rhymes.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Yeah. I…I mean, got a chance to go on a second adventure, and this is all a lot. Eventually I’ll get the hang of things. But, I don’t know. II’ve been with Jon for the year. So, sorta, he was, you know, confiding in him with a lot of things. Um, and honestly, the air in the ship sometimes gets overwhelming and tense. Negative. And I have to… I have to… I have to seek solace in town.”

“We all have our various retreats, safe havens, places. I don’t begrudge you it. I just noticed it and wanted to tell you I noticed. I’m not telling you what to do, you’re an adult, but rectifying something with Paige might be worthwhile just to get through this mission. When we spoke before you said you didn’t understand why you weren’t back in Nicodranas. Part of it is because you are the most pleasant of us. Rodreck’s kind of grumpy, I’m me, and Paige…is a bitch, but it’s also because of your talent. Each of us is here for a reason as much as I hate the Raven Queen, I can admit that. We have a purpose, we just need to refocus. And part of that involves rectifying things. As difficult as,” and she’ll shoot a glance at where Paige went, “Some of us make it.”

And then, um, I think she’ll give, uh, she’ll put a hand under Aida’s hand and squeeze it, and then let go. And say, “You, you have a pretty good idea of what you’re doing, Aida. Just do what you feel is best.” And then Pandora’s gonna retreat.

• Aida struggles not to cry after the talk, and heads off on her broom to try to find Paige, looking for three hours before resigning herself to returning after a Sending from Rodreck.
• Meanwhile, Adrian, Rodreck, and Jon discuss Aida.

AK Note: Add Transcript Convo Later.

• Rodreck, Pandora, Jon, and Adrian, hear the ring of the on-ship teleporter, but none of them have a single clue what is going on. Pandora, after it continues to ring, yells at it to just ask for what it wants, and realizes it is a teleporter and someone is ringing a doorbell. A man drops off a lace box wrapped for Aida, and Pandora accepts it but refuses to sign for it. Rodreck signs for it with a flourish, and Pandora checks it for traps before giving it to Jon for safekeeping.
  -Rodreck tells Aida the box is on the ship, and when Aida opens it, she finds out it is a gift from Gilmore. A set of bangles and chocolates for each day of the week. She casts Sending to Paige, asking if she is okay, and Paige replies that she doesn’t know and wants to be alone. With that, Aida decides to go visit Gilmore to find some semblance of peace with all the inter-party drama.
• Pandora casts Sending to Dione, asking if Rumis is with Torog or the Raven Queen, telling him she isn’t Aida’s fault (and that Aida did her best), and calling him a coward whilst telling him to do things himself. Dione gives her a glare in the peripheral of her vision for several hours as punishment, and doesn’t answer her. After regaining the ability to recast Sending through her bond with Lolth, she casts Sending again, with a less hostile phrasing of the same question. Dione’s answer is just barely more helpful than silence.

“Neither. Erevan is where needed. Sort your shit. Ask bird about Elsewhere if you need to know. Sort your shit.”

• Pandora loudly proclaims to the ceiling that Asmodeus would be more helpful, and that Lolth has been amazing. Frustrated, she storms off the ship not long before Aida herself leaves, ignoring the urge the sword directs at her to build webs in the magical trees, and heading to a brothel to avoid her problems with an aeormaton named Reishi. Reishi is a naive chronic liar, and Pandora delights in manipulation of all forms with her.
• Paige, alone in the solace of an empty beach, breaks down from the stress of the last few days, and all the issues Pandora unknowingly dug up with her cruelty.

I think the area around here is very cliffy y’know like like a beach surrounded by cliffs, and after she lands she walks over to a cliff face and just starts punching it. Like a lot. Talking under her breath, about how stupid she is and how she should have seen this shit coming, why the fuck did she let herself make friends…How the fuck did I let myself slip up like that god dammit And she keeps punching into the stone over and over again. Until her fingers and knuckles are bleeding. She eventually just can’t take the pain anymore, she turns around, leans up against the rock, and she slides down, until she’s sitting there staring at her hands. She pulls out that lamp she keeps in her bag, just stares at it for a while, and then just starts sobbing. She just curls up into a ball, crying.

In this truly secluded moment, Paige just feels so alone. Like, when she’s punching the wall, she is absolutely thinking that, like, you know, this shit is her fault because of what happened between her and Aida and Pandora, Hell maybe even Rumis, it’s irrational but it crosses her mind. She truly blames herself for everything going south the past few days.

Connections

Why do we care for eachother?
Why do we let them make us hurt?
These feelings we cannot smother.
This pain we can not avert.

But I rather suffer like this-
Then endure tormentous loneliness.
I would be remiss-
If I had to face the world as oneliness.

• Rodreck

Aida’s Adventures in Romance

Rodreck’s Zingers