OOS 78

Korrinoth 9, the party’s first night in the Shadowfell, walking back to Rau Deikum’s home from the tower. It occurred between sessions 36 and 37. 
== Transcript == 
Lei: 
the silence is a bit uncomfortable. lei breaks it after a while. "um....it's good that you guys did the ritual. you mentioned...dyana was there?" 
Teer: 
Teer considers for a moment, remembering all that happened. "She was there at Bromwich, the village which the ritual site was at, when we arrived. We managed to avoid her, but unfortunately entered a... altercation with her forces. When they didn't report back, it drew the attention of Varren's forces." 
Lei: 
"and varren ended up showing up there ahead of schedule." 
Teer: 
"Indeed. He arrived when we were only partway through the tunnels leading to the site. We were able to beat him there, but, there was still a fight in the end." 
Lei: 
"what happened exactly?" 
"something about kitano??" 
Teer: 
"Er. Kitano didn't show up until the end, when... Kiono was hurt, he appeared out of her shadow to fight Varren. But, Varren was already weakened at that point, and fled. So Kitano went to go fight Dyana to buy us some time." 
Teer glances at Plosi. 
"To be honest, everything was a bit confusing at that point. One second we were holding a defensive position for Kiono to do the ritual, then I remember waking up and we were already fighting Varren." 
Lei: 
"i wonder how long kitano has been following us? based on his actions, he still seems to believe kiono's lie?" 
Teer: 
"Who knows. If he can hide in people's shadows, it's unclear what he may have heard. He must have a lot of faith that Kiono is duping us." 
Lei: 
maybe she is, lei thinks but does not say. 
"what was doing the ritual like exactly?" 
Teer: 
"Er, everyone gave some blood, apart from myself of course. Then we really just barricaded ourselves in and let Kiono work." 
Plosi: 
“Right. It was more about the, um, supervising.” Plosi lets out a wistful sigh. “I devised so many traps...” 
Lei: 
"barricade? supervising?" 
"traps??" 
"and how exactly....did you give blood?" 
Plosi: 
“Right, because Varren’s forces were coming, and we’d rather not have been interrupted, so I went about using the ball bearings and caltrops and dead manticore...” 
Lei: 
"dead what now?" 
Plosi: 
“It’s like a poisonous lion.” 
Lei: 
lei is trying to take everything in, but it's so much. it was only a couple of days for them, right? then again, there is never a dull moment with this group. 
"okay, so you made it to the ritual site, and you barricaded yourselves in to keep varren from interfering. was the site anything like the one in the desert?" 
Teer: 
"Er... sort of. There were a lot of doors on the way that only Kiono could open. It was more of a labyrinth structure though." 
Lei: 
"so it wasn't hidden or anything? you mentioned the village wasn't, like, a cult or whatever, right?" 
Teer: 
"I mean, it was a little bit hidden. It was through a labyrinth. The village itself wasn't a cult, though, as Kiono initially thought it would be. They were just people living nearby." 
Lei: 
lei thinks she heard something for a moment and stops, then continues on. just being overly jumpy. then again, this is the shadowfell. 
"right. how did varren's forces get in, if there were doors only kiono could open?" 
Plosi: 
“They had a battering ram.” 
Lei: 
"what?! a batt-- how many forces did he have? was the village in on it?? how close was this place to the village??" 
Teer: 
"A small army, no, and decently close," Teer answers. "We were unable to check back up on the village before escaping, but hopefully with what happened to the ritual site, it means Varren will move on and ignore them now." 
Lei: 
assuming they didnt hear the sound of a battering ram and come to check it out, only to come face to face with an entire small army. 
that sure is one way to get around magical doors, apparently. noted. 
"um.......so they caught up to you, but not before you set up traps and did the ritual?" 
Teer: 
"Mm. They had their forces split up into several smaller teams to try to locate the actual site. We were lucky, and Elaina's group found us first. Kiono was able to complete the ritual that would prevent Varren from using it - but, unfortunately, I don't believe she finished aligning the leyline. We'll need to return there at some point." 
Lei: 
"did elaina get involved then?" 
Teer: 
"She aided us in keeping his forces at bay, yes, and then escaped with us to Oceanside." 
Lei: 
"how did you--okay, no, one thing at a time." well, this is successfully keeping her mind preoccupied from other things. 
"why couldn't kiono finish aligning the leyline? she intends to align it for the school of transmutation now, right?" 
a battering ram, though. where is varren getting support and funding for these forces and weapons. 
Plosi: 
“The ritual site exploded.” 
Lei: 
is it something you can create through some type of-- 
"i'm sorry what?" 
Teer: 
"It blew up. I am... not really sure how. I mentioned waking up and we were already fighting Varren." 
Lei: 
lei blinks a few times and stares and plosi and teer. 
"to be clear, that was not something that was supposed to happen?" 
Teer: 
"No, I don't believe so." 
"The place was quite... decimated." 
Teer shakes his head. "Regardless, where we stand now is Varren got away. He was stopped for the time being, but we'll need to return to Bromwich and finish the leyline, as well as try to beat him before he can reach the next site." 
Lei: 
“do you know which one he’s heading to next?” 
“and did the explosion cause any...um....” 
“...anyone to get hurt?” 
Teer: 
Teer makes vague shrugging hand motions. 
"Yes. I think so, sort of. And no one we know, but Varren's army must have took some damage." 
Lei: 
“you think so sort of?” 
“is kiono....” 
“hm.” 
“so you did the ritual but it exploded so the leyline couldn’t be realigned, then you fought varren, he got away, and kitano fought dyana. and elaina was there. and then afterwards you went to oceanside. is that right?” 
Teer: 
"Uh..." Teer deliberates a moment. "Y-es. Yes, I believe." 
Lei: 
“and you used the compass to get to oceanside, right? how long until that can be used again?” 
Teer: 
"We have about two weeks." 
Lei: 
“okay. so why did you choose oceanside?” 
Teer: 
"We... didn't know where you were, at the time, and we were planning to take care of Squire's passenger next as one possible option." 
Lei: 
“why did you not go that route?” 
Plosi: 
“We wanted to get you back first.” 
Lei: 
bites her lip “oh. sorry about that...” 
“how long were you in oce—wait. how did you get to the shadowfell?” 
Teer: 
"Talking to Jinri and Boskin, we found out how time works differently on different planes. We couldn't afford to go somewhere like the Feywild to help Squire yet, when that could cost more time here - uhhhhhhh" he shifts at her question. 
"Well, the compass plane shifts now, so that's pretty neat." 
Lei: 
“okay, makes sense.....” looks apologetically towards plosi’s direction 
“it plane shifts now? how?” 
Plosi: 
Plosi gives Renn a subtle thumbs up and flashes a smile. 
Lei: 
looks away from plosi 
“wait, i’m getting ahead of myself again... so elaina is in oceanside now. im guessing her cover is blown?” 
Teer: 
"Indeed. Not sure where she was off to now, but Varren will have seen her with us." 
Lei: 
“hmm, okay.” 
“so where is varren headed next?” 
Teer: 
"Erm. I'm not sure what the next - one moment, I'm sure she's awake, I will ask." Teer raises the sending stone to his mask. "Kiono, we're filling Renn up to speed. Where is the location of the next ritual site?" 
"Also sorry to bother you all if you're busy, I hope you're still safe over there." 
Kiono: 
Kiono may not respond right away because she is busy. "The location is between Wolis and Mudwall. I..." She sighs. "I no longer know what we can expect from there, but if they haven't also been... If they are still devoted to reviving the Devoured, beating Varren there and doing our ritual should be a simple matter." 
Teer: 
Teer is holding up his wrist close enough that Lei can hear the response. He looks at her first to see if she has any further questions. 
Lei: 
“okay.” 
“‘no longer know what we can expect’, meaning you dont know if there will be a cultist village there?” 
Kiono: 
"Right. As far as I was aware, all four villages were still... cultist villages. So far none of them have been." 
"We don't exactly keep in contact with each other. Maybe.... maybe that's why..." She grows quieter as she concludes her statement. 
Teer: 
"That's why... what? Is everything alright, Kiono?" 
Lei: 
talking out loud to herself “i wonder if there is somebody who could scou—no, that’s dangerous. and elaina is no longer an informant. hmm, maybe—“ zones back in to what kiono and teer are saying 
Kiono: 
"Y-yeah. It just... is strange that... that my village might have been the only one to stay on course." 
"Maybe we didn't keep contact because it was lost to outside forces." 
Lei: 
“there was no trace of cultist activity left there?” 
Teer: 
"Not that we saw, I believe. The town didn't seem to know much at all about the site." 
Lei: 
“sorry, um—“ 
toward the sending stone “are all of the rituals at these ritual sites relatively performed the same way?” 
her voice has gotten a bit quieter 
Kiono: 
Back on task, she returns to a somewhat more confident (for Kiono) volume. "They are essentially identical, with an increased component cost with each subsequent ritual." 
A pause, then matter-of-factly, "It takes more blood each time." 
Lei: 
“what type of blood is required? does that change?” 
Kiono: 
"It is always fresh humanoid blood. The source must be alive when it is taken. If we collect it beforehand, it is viable for twenty-four hours." 
Lei: 
“okay. good to know. do you have an idea how much you’ll need next time around?” 
Kiono: 
"The next will require [150HP]. The clan remaining in-tact would be helpful, as they can provide more sources." 
Lei: 
“okay.” makes a mental note 
“what is the likelihood of—um, what caused the, er, explosion?” 
asks gingerly 
Kiono: 
"If I'm not rushed, nearly 0%" 
"The longer I can take, the safer it is. I... tried to do it too quickly last time....." 
Lei: 
“how long is optimal?” 
Kiono: 
"A total of three hours from start to finish." 
Lei: 
“okay. it’s likely given the circumstances that you’ll end up in situations where you will have to rush. so it sounds like explosions are likely.” 
“though i’m sure there is a way that can be found to get three uninterrupted hours.” 
Kiono: 
"I was in a hurry because Varren was breathing down my neck." 
Somewhat tersely, insulted maybe. 
Lei: 
“i wasnt trying to—“ comes out sharply 
“im sorry.” quiet 
“i’m just trying to understand what is going on and what the next steps are. you successfully completed the ritual with all of that going on around you. i’m sorry if you feel...” sigh “im sorry.” 
Kiono: 
A pause, then somewhere just shy of mild irritation, but probably not lying, "It's fine." 
[translation: it hurt, but she'll let it go] 
[Also, the DM just stated that Kiono apparently found a Loud setting for the sending stones, so we can in fact Conference Call.] 
Teer: 
[Oh heck yeah] 
Lei: 
another sigh “now isnt the time to talk about it, but i have some questions to bring up later. is there a way to scout ahead and find out the state of the location between wolis and mudwall? how do we get the blood in the event that there are no cultist volunteers? is there a way we can learn more about varren’s activities now that elaina is no longer able to help with that? his plans have been interfered with twice now; i highly doubt he’s going to let that go or continue with the same plan without any adjustments.” 
“do his forces know what he is doing and support that? how does he recruit them?” 
“varren has been around for a long time, but hasn’t always had the same plans or looked the same way. what is that helmet?” 
“...sorry, i was just rambling.” 
Teer: 
"I'm going to have to put a limit on you, three questions per breath." 
Lei: 
laughs lightly “yeah. topics for later.” 
“there is something i want to ask about dyana now though. um, what was she like?” kinda glancing towards plosi 
Plosi: 
“Um— do you mean when we saw her, or, in general, before...” 
Teer: 
Teer, awkwardly, low voice into the sending stone, "Er, do you want me to keep you on the call, or would you prefer to get back to work? I can't guarantee she won't ask me to call you again." 
Lei: 
to teer “i wont. any other questions for her can wait.” light smile 
to plosi “when you saw her at the ritual site location.” 
Plosi: 
“Um— businesslike?” 
“I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean.” 
Kiono: 
"I would like to work on this. There's a lot going on here. Maybe... make a list of questions unless it's urgent." 
Lei: 
to kiono “it’s not urgent. can talk later, if i make it through this vampire business. good luck with the tower.” 
to plosi “right, sorry, how to ask it better? umm. well one of the goals is to rescue your lady dyana, and you ran into her at the ritual site. did you pick up any information that may bring you any closer to saving her?” 
“and, um, between her and kitano, do you think....” trails off 
Teer: 
"Alright. Thank you Kiono, let us know if you need anything." 
Plosi: 
“...No. No, I don’t think so. I mean...” Plosi chews on his lip. “...They probably didn’t kill each other. Best case, she killed him.” 
Kiono: 
[Did The Call End Before Plosi Said That] 
Teer: 
[Teer was waiting for Kiono to sign off.] 
Kiono: 
There is a long pause before Kiono says, "Very well. I will update you in the morning unless things turn dire." [click] 
Lei: 
[tone?] 
Kiono: 
[Neutral.] 
Lei: 
“hmm.....” a pause 
“did kitano say anything to—no, can ask about it later.” 
looks at plosi “okay. good to know.” 
added after a second “um...sorry you didnt get any closer to, er, saving her.” 
Plosi: 
”It’s okay. ...Thank you.” 
Teer: 
Teer squeezes Plosi on the shoulder. 
Plosi: 
“How are— how are you guys doing? Anything you want to talk about?” 
Teer: 
Teer stares off into the middle distance and pretends he didn't hear Plosi. 
No wait, that's rude, thinks Teer. 
Lei: 
“i already shared quite a bit. anyway i do still want to know how you came to the shadowfell.” 
Teer: 
"Well, first I had to figure out where you were. Lysaro wouldn't answer my calls, so I took it on good faith that you weren't dead." 
"So I went and talked to Bunraku. He told me that technically you were being concealed... by... yourself. And where you were." 
Lei: 
“wait. im sorry.” pinches the bridge of her nose “i shouldnt have jumped away from your question so quickly, plosi, i just—“ 
sighs 
Teer: 
"Do you have something else you'd like to talk about first?" 
Lei: 
“no.” spoken way too quickly 
sigh “not right now.” 
Teer: 
Head tilt. 
Lei: 
“i just didnt mean to divert from it if, um, anyone else had—never mind.” 
“bunraku then.” 
waits for teer to continue 
Teer: 
"I traded a secret Ephemera had lent me a while ago. He didn't believe me, but I suppose it amused him enough to make the trade. As ominous as those merchants are, they're awfully generous." 
Lei: 
“no one is ever lent secrets.” 
Plosi: 
Plosi puts his hand on Renn’s arm. 
Lei: 
“what was it?” 
acknowledges plosi’s hand with a quick smile, so fast you could easily miss it 
“something that bunraku didnt believe? what kind of secret would that be?” 
Teer: 
Teer decides if Ephemera had told him on a whim, she probably wouldn't care about him passing on the information. "There is a fourth mirror merchant that even the others don't know about. Hence why he didn't already know, and wouldn't believe me." 
Lei: 
“what?! whoa. what does the fourth—and the third for that matter—deal in?” 
“where would ephemera have—ah, well.” 
Teer: 
"Erm. The third deals in... the unknown? Is that right? Bunraku mentioned in the past that if I found them, I might be able to trade for information on Rama va Arel. The fourth deals in... divinity." 
"So you can guess why Ephemera would know." 
Lei: 
“divinity? what kind of trades would those be?” 
Teer: 
"I'm not sure. Powerful ones, I can only assume. I believe you would need to have some sort of divine gift to trade in the first place." 
Lei: 
“for bunraku not to know about it. surely it was kept a secret for a good re—well, maybe not, considering this is meyrin.” 
“well, i’m glad you didnt trade anything really, um....well, i suppose this could have potentially bad ramifications, who knows.” 
Plosi: 
“Divinity, not divination.” 
“Oh, like— like divine beings, not diviners.” 
Teer: 
"Indeed." 
"Perhaps because the mirror merchants are capable of giving information or deals involving each other. If the fourth one is able to trade things of such magnitude, Meyrin would not have wanted people to stumble across them." 
Lei: 
“okay. well. um...” looks down and clenches her hands together 
Teer: 
"Which I mean. I definitely may have just ruined that, if that's true. Huh..." Teer looks down, as if contemplating the ramifications of his actions for the first time. 
Lei: 
“it’s my fault. if anything goes wrong, it’s because of me.” 
Plosi: 
Pat pat pat pat. 
Teer: 
Teer looks at Lei. "I mean... no." 
"I could have chosen to trade literally anything else for that information." 
"My actions are not yours, Lei, even if they are done with you in mind." 
Lei: 
“let’s....talk about this later.” 
“if anyone is going to face meyrin’s wrath, i want it to be m—“ sigh “staying focused. you found out about my location. and then you decided to come to the shadowfell. how did you get here? i’m sure it couldnt have been cheap or easy.” 
Teer: 
"Went right from Bunraku to Noh, asked for a scroll. Just had the compass upgraded to plane shift instead." 
Lei: 
gives teer a Look 
“that sounds incredibly useful. but it still had a two-week wait, right? so then how—?” 
Teer: 
"Oh, he uh... He reset it for us when he upgraded it. He had some sort of microwave device." 
Lei: 
we can go to the merchants to get the refresh period reset. good to know. 
“that is certainly handy.” 
“what did you trade in return?” 
“wait a minute. im getting ahead of myself again.” 
“you said you went to noh? did i mishear?” 
Teer: 
Teer starts whistling robotically. 
Lei: 
lei looks right up at teer’s mask and narrows her eyes 
Teer: 
"I never said I didn't know where the mirror was." He's playful, but there's the slightest hint of guilt under his tone. 
Lei: 
“....oh.” 
“im....glad to know i didnt lose it.” 
Teer: 
"Xelbari told me to 'hang onto' it for safety reasons. I wasn't sure what he meant until later." 
Lei: 
“......oh.......” 
“....okay.” 
“.....” 
“staying focused. okay. what did you trade to upgrade and refresh the compass?” 
Plosi: 
“Teer, pick me up, if you would?” 
Teer: 
"Oh - alright." Teer scoops up Plosi. 
Plosi: 
“Thanks.” 
Teer: 
Teer nods. Unfortunately he cannot beep happily. 
He doesn't quite look at them as he continues to walk. "I traded... well... nothing that should be a detriment to our plans. It was just a toy." His tone is neutral. 
Lei: 
“a toy for a very powerful upgrade.” 
incredulous 
Teer: 
"Well. Everything I had on me when I was buried is now 900 years old, you know, so it's also an ancient relic of my civilization, if you'd like to look at it that way." 
Lei: 
“it’s something that was valuable to you.” spoken very quietly 
Teer: 
"...Yes." 
Lei: 
“what was it?” 
is trying to think of all the things he has on-hand from 900 years ago 
Teer: 
Teer doesn't respond. 
Lei: 
starts to tear up “im so, so sorry, i....” 
“um...” takes a deep breath 
“whatever it is, we can get it back.” 
“im sure there’s a way.” 
“i’ve caused you enough—um.” sigh “im sorry.” 
tone is back to steady by the end of it 
Teer: 
"No, please don't cr - ah, listen it's... fine, Lei. It's... I traded it for something that would help all of us. The group will be more mobile because of this." 
Lei: 
looks up at teer, then to the ground 
“i think that’s all of my questions for now. thanks for filling me in. i have more questions for later, if i make it through this vampire business, but i want to get back into focusing on that matter.” 
Teer: 
Teer readjusts his grip on Plosi and is mostly hugging him. 
Plosi: 
Plosi returns the hug. 
Teer: 
"Right. One thing at a time." 
Lei: 
looks at teer in surprise 
and then smiles 
“yeah.” speaks softly
Category:OOS