26 Rova 4715

Sunday

Session 29

Start of Rebellion Turn 5

After the the leadership team discusses next moves and sends the crews out on their assignments, Setrona arrives to ask after the plan to find her brother and the Hellknights of the Torrent. She’s initially very sheepish, but upon getting confirmation from the Ravens of their commitment, she becomes incredibly enthusiastic, explaining everything she knows about the place.

The shrine is on a small island to the southwest of Kintargo, known as The Shrine of Saint Cenex. The shrine was originally founded by sailors to worship a famous Oracle who would go out to sea to find the bodies of those lost there. Eventually the shrine fell out of use and was taken up as a meeting place by the Hellknights of the Torrent, who follow a similar creed to find those who are lost.

there’s some discussion about how to get out of the city without being noticed as traffic was surely being cataloged and it would be suspicious for the group to leave through the gates. it’s decided that Tallulah would requisition the assistance of her organization to help smuggle them out of the city. A raven is sent and a time is set to meet to get out of the city at nightfall.

The group meets up with the organization, including Slimy Carl and Fast Tony, to set sail heading Southeast along the river. They are led to a cavern that leads East, straight under the island. Fast Tony gives an almost incomprehensible description of how to make way through the cave systems to get to the other side, but somehow Ayse manages to get the directions down perfectly, and after quite awhile spent navigating indecipherable tunnels and crossroads underground, the group finally meets up with Below Ground Benjamin who appears out of a man hole in the ceiling of a tunnel. He brings the group up to find a small cavern where Benjamin had been living for apparently quite a bit of time. He pleads with Talula to get a different post, but she deflects, and talks about how much of his branding would go to waste if he wasn’t posted here. Apparently, in order to stave off his increasing insanity, a strange collection of cave paintings had made, left half finished.While he is incredibly proud of them, he was not yet ready to unveil his masterpiece.

Benjamin brings the group to the end of the tunnels, where they finally break out into the open air in the darkness beyond the Southern wall of Kintago.

Session 30

It’s almost pitch black as the party makes their way out into the open expanse south of the city. With boots squishing in the soft, damp earth, the group takes a moment to get their bearings. Realizing that their destination is another mile away, Ham makes use of his tracking abilities and dark vision to take the lead. He begins guiding the group West, making sure to travel with a curve around the city. Eventually the group happens upon the main Southern Road, and with a few buildings nestled up under the city wall, there is a bit more light for the group to see each other with.

The party takes an opportunity to take a break, in which Setrona tries to feel out the rest of the group that she has had less of an opportunity to meet. She asks Ham and Tallulah what’s going on with them, and is quickly rebuffed as Ham tries to shut down any and all conversation in Tallulah’s presence. Tallulah gets the hints and lets slip the secret that Ham seems to be embarrassed about, his recent halfling fancy, causing him to go into a further antisocial spiral. Setrona is a bit put off and gives him some space as Ham tries to push the group onwards. Setrona tries to meet up with him to confront him about his rudeness, and Ham confesses that he’s been stressed out recently due to the friends that he’s lost and how he feels nervous about having to now protect an unknown elements that hasn’t been able to prove that she’s able to hold her own.

Setrona assures him that she can indeed take care of herself, and the group sets off into the marsh. Eventually the group makes their way to the water crossing that leads to the island of their destination. Tallulah, in a moment of pride, clears the entire 25 ft gap in a single leap. Unfortunately for her, no one in the party had noticed the creature that was lurking in the water. with its great insectile jaws it bursts out from under the water, grabs on to her, and begins to pull her back below the waves. combat ensues in the pitch Darkness.

The aquatic bug creature puts up a hell of a fight nearly putting Tallulah on the conscious, but a combination of light from Setrona, encouragement from Lucius, bombs from Ayse, and a good old fashioned whacking from Tallulah, Ham and Zach, finally cracks the creatures carapace and it sinks back beneath the water, ending the fight.

After a moment of respite to heal and rest, the group carries on in towards the center of the island, after some time, Setrona gets a sense for where they are, and is able to guide the group to a path that is barely more than a dirt trial. Following this path eventually leads the group to a strange, hut-like structure in the middle of nowhere. The building itself appears to be made of driftwood, with curtains in place of doors, and strange, multi-colored lights emanating from inside.

Lucius knocks on the wall, and a man whom Ham describes as a “Filthy-Hippie” answers in a strange, slurred dialect of common. Lucius introduces the group as friends and followers of Senax’s mission, and most importantly, family in search of Octavio. Lucius convinces the two hippies that they are in search of aiding Octavio, and they are convinced enough to reveal that Octavio has been given Asylum in the shrine. They reveal that the centerpiece of the hut, a glowing glass orb that is refracting the multicolored light about the place, is actually the entrance to the true shrine below. They move the table to the side to reveal a passageway down, shrouded in mist.

Ham isn’t convinced, despite realizing and believing that the two mean no harm to the group, that they don’t mean harm to the group, and takes some convincing before he’s willing to descend, pushing through the group to jump down first while the hippies call after saying that true believers will know what to do. Lucius and the rest follow. They descend a ladder through the mist and come out into a strange, partially sunken cavern. A disembodies voice echoes out in the room, declaring a riddle to progress without provoking the wrath of Senax’s guardian. As the voice echoes out, piles of rope strewn throughout the room begin to assemble into a large mass in a humanoid shape.

Ham immediately squares up, but Lucius takes the room in, realizing the riddle refers to a statue of a woman carrying a drowned man. Lucius rushes to the statue, and imitates CPR on the drowned man, which is accepted by the shrine, and the rope golem dissembles again. Taking no chances, Ham charges through the door, weapon drawn, and barrels down the hall with the group giving chase. Ham turns one corner, then a second to come face to face with a heavily armored man, Who decries the intrusion of the shrine, and dares Ham to try and capture the one and only Octavio Sebinus.

Session 31

With Ham face to face against Octavio and his halberd, he flounders a bit but does say that the group is not there to capture Octavio. Eventually Ham looks to Ayse, Tallulah, and finally Setrona to assist him with convincing Octavio, and Setrona is brought to the front of the hallway. After a brief period of shock the two embrace and Octavio finally allows the group in to the room.

The room appears to be a place of reverence, filled with sails that have been wrapped around bodies laid in their final resting place, the bodies of the drowned who have been recovered. Octavio asks about the group asks about what they’ve been up to, asks how they got out of their prison experience, and seems to take an interest in what Ayse has done, being the only one who didn’t go to prison. Octavio questions Ayse about what he believes is their goal, to which Ayse responds that it is “to bring the will of the people to Kintargo.”

Conversations turn to the Silver Ravens asking Octavio for his assistance in their rebellion, but Octavia says that he’s going to need some assurances before he agrees to provide any support. His request is twofold: firstly he has four Armigers who are being held in the holding house that he wants the group to break free; Secondly, in order to ensure that the Silver Ravens aren’t just a group of chaotic thugs, he wants the Ravens to free his Armigers with as little bloodshed and death as possible. He says that if they are able to stealthily release the Armigers without raising alarms or causing concern, that he would be happy to provide what support that he can.

Perfidus takes the opportunity to give Octavia a solemn oath, an oath that the Ravens would do all in their power to attempt to do this correctly. Octavio mentions that the Armature is to be found are named Gerald Rallagash, Benjen Preveau, Hortense Lierre, Desmond Auruda. Out of respect for his Oath, Octavio presents Perfidus with a beautifully engraved, Mithril short sword to show to armigers as proof that the Ravens were sent by Octavio. He mentions the sword was his mothers, and that this detail when told to the Armigers, would provide them reassurance that the Ravens spoke true.

The conversation turns towards what exactly the holding house is and what lies there in wait. There is some mention of rumors regarding a “fiend” that resides in the holding house extracting information “and more”. Ayse thinks that this could be something related to Kytons, potentially from the cubic gate, known as “Shadow devils” from the plane of Shadows. Other mentions of possible options for the prison release turn to a woman by the name of Ruba Fenquay who is a master of forgery. Finally the group accepts the task, and make preparations to leave.

As they are exiting the shrine Setrona approaches Ham once more asking about his time in prison. Ham is initially hesitant to discuss that part of his life, but eventually reveals that when he was very young he fell into a rough crowd older kids. He was always bigger and tougher than other children his age which caused him to fall in with the Rough and Tumble street life. Eventually he became an enforcer for a group that took on a mission against Jilia Bainalus, but when he found out that the mission was actually an assassination attempt, he tried to stop it, but was defeated and left behind as bait to take the fall. He reveals that this group was known as the “Ghostbloods”.

Eventually the group makes their way back across the marsh to the cave exits, or in this case entrance, to meet up with Below Ground Benjamin. Benjamin is quick to welcome them back and doubly so to cover up any new works on his cave paintings. They make their way through the caves back to where Slimy Carl is waiting with the boat to get them back into the city. Lucius takes the opportunity to ask Carl for a favor, to gather a report on what he can find about the holding house, and gives him 72 hours to have it turned in to Tallulah.

After receiving this assignment from Lucius, Slimy Carl pulls Tallulah aside for an update on a private matter. He has a message for her; that her father’s vision will be upheld, and that the “Ghostbloods” will return to the city sooner than expected. With this final message the group pushes off and makes way back into the city. Landing in the southern half just north of the Red Roof District, Ham guides the group towards the Devil’s Threads, a place he knows well will harbor them to wait out curfew. Quickly making Passage through side alleys and back streets away from the beaten path of Dotarri patrols, the group eventually makes way to the building, and ham knocks on the door.

After a moment, the proprietor known as Hetamon Haace lets them in. Hetamon is a familiar face to Ham, as he is a cleric of Milani. The group is let into the shop proper and after a very quick introduction, are left to their own devices as Hetamon heads back to bed.