29 Arodus 4715

Sunday

Session 3:

The party gradually meets at Blackthorn in the morning. Ham whips up some bacon and scramblies to address Larcs hangover. Once the party convenes, they set off towards the livery. The group finds the doors chained and locked, and hear the sounds of dogs barking beyond. Ayse quickly remedies the lock situation with some homemade rust powder, and both Ham and Larc cautiously open the front doors. Finding a vast, dilapidated interior, the group identifies the source of the barking as 4 feral dogs posturing over some scrap of food. Lucius and Vazra take turns trying to scare off the dogs, and after clearing a path are able to get three of them to run off. The fourth, and largest, claims the rat carcass and moves off farther into the livery.

Cursory exploration reveals nothing of note in the area, however once it finished its meal, the mastiff turns to attack after the group gets too close. Somehow the group finally gained a collective conscience as they didn’t kill the dog trying to hurt them. Wild how they were able to resolve the situation without violence despite potentially lethal force on the opposing side. Though the mastiff attempts to maim, Lucius and Vazra are able to frighten the last one off as well. This leaves the group free to explore the remainder of the ground floor without danger. At least until they find what Lucius identifies to likely be a poltergeist…

While navigating the harmless pranks of whatever entity haunts this space, the group finds a signet ring belonging to house Juliak, the defunct former owners of the Livery, and a key that leads to a workroom that had been locked. The groups searches the workroom still looking for clues about the Silver Ravens, and are able to find a trap door. Said door opens into a shaft the runs down into the earth about 20 feet into darkness. Larc bravely takes lead down the ladder, and heroically gets surrounded by rats!

Session 4:

A harrowing clash with the rats draws out Larc‘s other half, Perfidus to swing wild with the best rat-bat at bat attacks as of yet! Once dispatched of the rats, the group questions Larc‘s lucidity and trustworthiness while Perfidus is in control, and while assured that they were safe from his rage, the group agrees to discuss the odd situation further at a safer time. The group pushes further into the labyrinthine basement, happening to open a door unto a group of foul creatures called grimples.

Eight of the boar-snouted, bat-eared, rat-tailed little beasts assail the party. Phasing through the walls, the grimples cover the party in bile expulsions that sicken most of the party. Once the grimple nest was cleared, the party continues to find a room with putrid water and sigils used to create a portal to hell. Guarding this place were two lemures that attacked on sight. Perfidus seemed to recognize these as the the Devil spawn they were and with a now practiced brutality, the group decimate the writhing flesh piles.

Finally stumbling into a semblance of an abandoned hideout, the party searches for clues with renewed vigor after their trials. The site reveals itself to be a former safehouse for the Silver Ravens, complete with resting chambers and caches of valuables. With some effort, the group gathers together quite a bit of treasure, including a heavy locked coffer. The coffer is opened to reveal pages of text written in a code of Celestial and Strix that will take Rexus a bit of time to decipher. With the object of their mission to the Livery in tow, Rexus once again makes clear his intention to restart the Silver Ravens, and asks those who wish to take part to follow him to Longroads coffee house to meet another contact of his parent’s.

Session 5:

The party agrees to follow Rexus to meet his contact Laria Longroad at the coffee shop, now with the Silver Raven cache and papers in tow. The coffee house is bustling when they enter, and the party sees quickly how exceptional Laria is as a barista and owner operator. Rexus is able to flag Laria down and she briskly ushers them, now with coffee inexplicably and instantaneously in hand, back to the private office behind the coffee bar.

After a quick round of introductions and a barrage of flirtation thrown in every direction from Laria, she gets down to brass tacks. She questions each party member as to what they would do if the Dottari came after them due to their potential involvement in the “murders” of CCG members at the protest. Lucius claims he could talk his way out of it, Vazra says he would do whatever it took to protect Larc Ham and himself, and Ayse seemed not to have an answer, instead focusing on flirting back with the robust halfling.

Next, Laria asks the group why they should be the ones to reform the Silver Ravens. This catches the group off guard and slightly on the defensive. Ham and Vazra are the two main voices that respond, saying (in short) that the party are in a position to do something about the increasing tyranny, and that it is not by Laria‘s authority that they take up the name. She admits that she has no say, but was merely prodding the group to see where they would stand, and she’s decided to assist them if they help her.

Laria offers the tunnels under her establishment as a safe haven, though with a slight caveat. She allowed the use of her tunnels as a smuggling pier due to its underground connection to the waterways. A smuggler by the name of Naan had been using the tunnels recently, but she hasnt heard from him in a long enough time that she’s concerned. On top of that, something has been eating the food she left for Naan despite her not hearing from him. She offers the tunnels for the group’s use if they go down and clear out anything that might be down there.

The group descends, finding the trap door in the coffee house cellar after some assistance from Laria. once down in the tunnels, the exploration leads to the smuggling pier, from which the group can see a statue of Calistria out in the water. It is while Lucius is standing at the end of the pier looking at the statue that a massive white alligator ambushes him from the murky water. A short but brutal combat erupts as the sudden frenzy of the alligators assault, grapple, and subsequent death-roll quickly puts Lucius a mere hair’s breadth from death. The beast is slain quickly, though tensions are high as the group flounders multiple attacks in the first few seconds. Once defeated, the alligator releases Lucius and Ham quickly stabilizes him, though he remains unconscious.

While the alligator fight took place, Ayse noticed another creature lurking behind them in a side chamber, but since it didnt approach, it was decided they’d deal with that later…

With Lucius slung over his shoulder, Ham charges back upstairs to the storage closet, setting Lucius down atop various crates, and searches out Laria for assistance. She rushes quickly to Lucius while mixing a special pour-over red-eye red-roast to bring Lucius back to consciousness.

While this was happening, Ayse spots a set of legs poking out from under the pier. Vazra looks down to investigate, and is able to identify them as the smuggler Nan based on a distinctive ankle tattoo. Vazra, having known the man previously, takes the grave tidings topside to Laria who receives the news with a neutral demeanor.

Once the party takes a moment to rest, and Lucius is ready again to delve downstairs, Ham gets a to-go cup of the Longroad live-strong life-giving latte, and the party descends again to figure out what the strange avian creature that Ayse saw earlier is up to. Upon round the corner into the side chamber, the group is met with a run down living area currently inhabited by a muscular humanoid bird creature that is identified to be a Dire Corby. Tensions are high as the party and the bird feel each other out, but lacking a proper means of communication, the Dire Corby attacks and is slain.

Ham, having taken the brunt of the Corby consternation, downs the now luke-warm Longroad life latte, and the group takes a moment to search the cavern. Ayse decides that his dagger, lost in the water during the alligator fight, needs to be recovered and strongly suggests that Lucius go get it in exchange for saving his life. Lucius points out that Ham was actually the one who saved him, and curtly declines, sparking friction. In a moment of stubbornness, Ayse decides to jump into the uncharted water with little information as to its contents in a brave and/or foolhardy attempt at retrieving his knife. Two minutes of near drowning proceeds as Ayse struggles with his lack of swimming ability, but is able to retrieve the dagger and make it to the statue of Calistria to rest and recover. It is here that he finds a secret compartment in the base of the statue, somehow vindicating the breathtaking (literally and figuratively) stupidity of jumping in. He finds a few items of value and returns to the group.

Session 6:

The party regroups to identify what Ayse had recovered from the statue, finding a magical whip and a compound short bow. With Ayse and treasure secured from the depths, the party travels further into the cavern to inspect and clear the remaining area. They find another alcove that opens up into what may have once been a hall or bunk house with dilapidated furniture and crates of supplies. As Ham rounds the corner, he sees four avian forms of a different ancestry than the one before.

He quickly readies for combat as the apparent leader of this group pulls a kukri in a deadly and practiced flash to ward off the group. Lucius and Vazra step forward to diffuse the situation as Lucius identifies the group to be all Tengu. Vazra seems quite interested in the legends of Tengu swordsmanship and quickly tries to make amends for Ham’s imposing figure and posture. Lucius also speaks with them to ascertain their purpose and story. Attention from the Tengu tears ‘tween the two till finally the tag-team talkers triumph in telling the Tengu that the team is of no threat to them and tensions taper.

The Tengu reveal themselves to be the Fushi Sisters, a group of refugees from Riddleport. Lucius continues to ply them of what they wish to do, seeing as the party needed this space. They say they were attempting to get smuggled out by Nan prior to his death, but have no idea what’s in store for them now, and were simply trapped here by the gator. They introduce themselves as Korva, Jay, Maggie, and Treep. Their leader, Korva, asks what the part plans to do and Lucius gives a coy pitch about a bird themed freedom fighting organization. The idea seems intriguing to the group, so Lucius pushes further, asking them if they wish to join and help build a better home for themselves in Kintargo. After a group vote, the Fushi Sisters agree and become the first official team of the Silver Ravens!

With the cellar sweeping job cleaned up, the group splits to accomplish various tasks before an agreed upon meeting that evening at the coffee house.

• Vazra brings Rexus down to the caverns to start training him in the blade with Corvu’s assistance
• Larc and the other Fushi sisters begin to clean and tidy up the place. Larc proves to work like a machine when it comes to manual labor, surprising everyone with his capability to Lift, Aerate, Reorganize, and Cleanse.
• Ayse does….. something…
• Lucius and Ham go shopping! Lucius makes a quick stop by his pearl guy to liquidate those that were found earlier, then returns to the Aulamaxa estate briefly to set up an incognito delivery of foodstuffs, simple furniture/bedding, and tools to the coffee house for use in the Wasp’s Nest. They then go about town selling and trading the wares they’d acquired the past two days, and ended at the Songbird hall to purchase a wand for healing.

The party reconvenes at Longroads Coffee House just before curfew to discuss the re-founding of the Silver Ravens! In attendance are the first official members:

• Officers:
  – Lucius
  – Ham
  – Vazra
  – Ayse
  – Larc
• Members:
  – The Fushi Sisters
• Allies of the Cause:
  – Rexus Victocora
  – Laria Longroad

All those that are present see to the official charter of this new chapter as Laria gives advice about how to proceed with running a counter-tyrannical rebellious organization. She and Rexus then depart after sharing their wisdom, and the Silver Ravens go about establishing their dedication to Loyalty as a group. They promise to strive towards winning the hearts and minds of the people as their primary means, taking battles on a political, philosophical, and diplomatic battlefield first and foremost.

Then, they begin to plan out their first weeks actions, gaining supporters and new team members.

Beginning of Rebellion Turn 1

LARC starts living with Ham