Citadel's Shadow II, Session 45

Citadel's Shadow II, Session 45 was a session of the Citadel's Shadow II campaign, played on 22 September 2019 (UTC) (21 September 2019 for some participants).
== Personnel ==
===Game Master===
*GM: played by Alden Loveshade
=== Player Characters ===
*Fern the Siegemaster: inventive fox-person student played by Rail Runner
*Kyrie Kelevan: human priestess of Damira played by Michael Lee Viviano
=== Prominent Non-Player Characters ===
*Alarra Gormann: deposed princess of Bortania
*Alicia Neel: young human daughter of Oren Neel and Clia Neel
*Andrea Maldonaldo: human priestess of El Templo de Grebonia de Milspar
*Bertino Cortez: thalosian priest of El Templo de Grebonia de Milspar
*Jinxi: androgynous human jester with poppet Jack
=== Special ===
*Juan de Fulmando: sword-wielding human alchemist usually played by Alden Loveshade
== Events ==
=== 1742 ===
Flowering 26/Gillihís 26 (Lordsday/Odía) (continued): Fern the Siegemaster (using the travel name Donghai Fern) and Kyrie Kelevan ran out of the mostly underground El Templo de Grebonia de Milspar (Temple of Grebonia of Milspar) in Milspar, Millisymph.  They had heard cries from librarian Rudibert Puddifoot of "¡Una bomba!  ¡Una bomba!"
The temple was located near a crossroads in the northeastern section.  There were buildings in the southeastern and southwestern section, while the northwestern section was an open field.  Fern went to "la bomba" (the bomb)  in the center of the crossroads, and Kyrie talked to the crowd of Trynsern speakers to get them away from it; some were very close, including a boy ouf about 12 years old who was write next to it while a woman a little further back was looking at him, waving, and screaming in Thisslam.
"La bomba" was an object in the center of the intersection of the two roads.  It was black, somewhat oblong, about half a meter long (about half a yard).  It had four pipes or rods coming out the top with flame coming out each one of the four.  On the side was the roughly written word "bomba" in red.  The flames were blue at the bottom and yellow at the top.
Fern had never seen an explosive device that looked like it, and was very puzzled.  It seemed to be made of metal. Fern said, "This is indeed a rather weird bomb, maybe not even the real one."
Kyrie continued yelling a warning in Trynern to the assembled people to move away from the device as they didn't know what it was and it might be bad.
Still examining the device, Fern noted that demon dust flame is typically orange, although in fireworks it can be mixed with other chemicals to give it different colors. But alcohol cold also be used for an explosive; it could burn blue at the bottom and yellow at top.
Fern wondered at the the device appearing to be made of some type of black metal. Explosive devices Fern knew about were made out of something that broke open easily like clay.  In addition, an explosive device would typically be lit at one place, not four as that would reduce the pressure inside the device.  Fern thought it didn't look like a real bomb.
However, it occurred to both Fern and Kyrie that the device could be magical.
A thalosian priest of Grebonia, Bertino Cortez, came out of the temple and started warning people in Thisslam.
Both Fern and Kyrie looked for some liquid to try to extinguish the flames.  Kyrie grabbed the glass of carrot juice that had been on its way to Fern; however, the juice didn't look orange as expected, but brown.  Kyrie smelled it, but it didn't smell like anything she recognized as flammable; she handed it to Fern.  To test that, Fern dipped a piece of string in the liquid, then held it over the flame; it didn't burn at all well.  Fern smelled the liquid, but it wasn't something familiar.  It smelled like some sort of non-alcoholic drink with a scent that was just a little like chocolate.
Fern didn't want to take a risk with the liquid, and asked for something else.  A man handed her an alcoholic drink he got at a tavern; Fern declined it.  Bertino said he would get some water.
However, Kyrie cast extinguish fire, and the four small fires were extinguished.  Bertino then came out with the water.  Fern kept it just in case.
Fern tried looking inside the four tubes, but couldn't see what was in them.  The tubes were welded to the "dome" part.  It looked like there werer scratches or marks near the opening of each tube, as if something had been placed inside each tube that could scratch the metal.  Fern smelled the openings, and was certain she smelled very strong alcohol.
Kyrie looked to see what the crowd was doing; some were watching, and some starting moving on.  She did notice that all the women and girls had the top of their heads covered, as did Kyrie and Fern.  But Fern was the only person she saw who was wearing both a dress and a hoodie; the few who did wear hoodies all seemed to be male.
Fern concluded "la bomba" wasn't going to do anything but sit in the middle of the crossroads.  The boy who had been close to it said, "Wow! The fox-lady stopped the bomb from blowing up!"
Kyrie used Sense Danger; she felt a trifle uneasy, but not because of "la bomba."  She looked around.
A woman holding a baby walked up to Fern and said, "¡La zorra encapuchada!" and then kissed Fern on the cheek.  Fern remembered that was a greeting in Millisymph, and kissed the woman on her cheek.
Kyrie started to head back to the temple, but a man near her spoke.  He said to her, "You got everyone away from the bomb and saved our lives! I'm not from around here, but as they say, when in Aborea do like the Aboreans. Guess that applies to Millisymph too."  He kissed Fern on the cheek, and she kissed his cheek back.  Several people greeted Fern and Kyrie, and more than one looked at Fern and said, "La zorra encapuchada."
A man with a Millisymphian accent said to Fern, Kyrie, and Bertino, "Mi jefe he say it is welcome at La vaca negra to drink there it is free. La vaca negra it is there" (he pointed west down the road).
Grebonia Priestess Andrea Maldonaldo said, "Thank you both so much, praise Grebonia and Damira! You are welcome to joing us for for our midday meal cena, that is dinner. You are both welcome to join us then at noon."  The time in Milspar was about two hours earlier than in Trynser City.
The man with the Millisymphian accent said, "I am to take you there you please."  Kyrie said, "I apologize, but we have business with the temple to attend to."  The man said, "El Templo?  Sí.  You can to come later please.  It is this way three, how you say, plots?" (he pointed west).
Alicia Neel, a 12-year-old girl who had come through the gate with Fern and Kyrie but then went to the temple where she claimed she was Kyrie's sister, came over.  She said, "I saw the whole thing! That was amazing!"  She said she would stick with them, and kissed them both on the cheek.
Kyrie asked Bertino about bringing "la bomba" into the temple to be further investigated, but he said he was authorized to make that decision.  Kyrie also suggested to could be moved onto the temple grounds, or into the empty field immediately west of the temple.  Fern and Kyrie then discussed what they could do with it, with Fern saying they could only tell more about it if they could open it.  During the discussion, Kyrie recovered the fatigue she had used.
Fern mentioned possibly flipping the device over to see if anything poured out of the pipes or it there was "anything on interest on the bottom."  Alicia offered to help.  Kyrie and Fern discussed what they could collect the fluid in, whether the fluid could be used, whether or not the liquid or its fumes would be poisonous, etc.
While they were having their discussion, a teenage boy and girl approached it; Kyrie gestured them to leave, but they did not.  The girl and then the boy pushed the device on its side--and Fern was heavily splashed!  A bit of the liquid, which poured out of the four tubes, landed on Kyrie as well.  The boy laughed, the girl ran off, and the boy then joined her.
Fern and Kyrie found the device was not as heavy as they had thought.  Fern saw that the liquid was semi-clear, with some milky blackness to it.  But the "milky blackness" didn't look evenly mixed.  Fern was certain it did not contain demon dust, however.
Kyrie cast a cleaning spell, and she and Fern were clean--and some of the top soil underneath them was gone.  Fern did notice the ground below the device was quite wet and smelled of alcohol; Kyrie suspected any alcohol in that area might have been cleaned of impurities due to the spell.  They also noticed the device looked a little shinier than it had looked.
A young woman from the temple told them it was time for dinner.  Andrea said as Fern had determined the device was safe it could be moved; Fern said perhaps it could be sold, and Andrea said the proceeds could be donated.
Fern opened "la bomba" from the bottom, which was apparently where much of the spilled alcohol had come from.  The device was made of thin metal, smooth inside.  The metal on the bottom, covering a large hole, looked a bit different color that the main part.  The device looked like it was made to hold liquid.  The writing of "bomba" looked to have been written recently, perhaps hastily, and the spilled alcohol had taken some of the writing off.  They got the device hauled off to be stored.
Alicia, Fern, and Kyrie had dinner at El Templo de Grebonia de Milspar which was pescado y arroz fodalia. (some kind of fish in white rice).  Kyrie got grape juice which was purple, but Fern's "carrot" juice was brown, looking and smelling like the liquid in a glass Fern has tested before for flammability.  Fern did not care for the taste, and said it didn't seem like carrot juice.  Andrea said it was from the carrot bean, but maybe carrots were different there.  Fern said, "Carrot is a root, not a bean."  So Fern got tomato juice instead.
Kyrie asked if the temple had problems like "la bomba" before, but Andrea said they hadn't since the war.  She said, "Some small pranks here and there. most people here do not want to interfere with a temple."
As it was time for siesta, a nap time traditional for Millisymph but not the Empire of Trynser, Fern read a book, Kyrie meditated, but Alicia took a nap.
Fern read that Professor Terri "Smart" Brunt stayed youthful because he surrounded himself with his greatest invention, backwards clocks.  According to the book, the professor said that backward clocks slowed the flow of time, slowing the aging process.
After siesta, Fern noticed the time was about 13:30, and Juan de Fulmando (using the travel name Juan Silvio-Vagle) had spoke of meeting Princess Alarra Gormann when she came through the gate at El mesón de la rosa y el cangrejo (Rose and Crab Inn) at 14:00.  Alicia did not want to go back, and Kyrie said she would be back to speak with Alicia later.
Kyrie and Fern went west back to the inn and passed various buildings including one with a sign with three gold balls and another with a sign featuring a black cow.  They saw the inn up ahead.
Kyrie asked Fern, who was Alarra's roommate, about the girl.  Fern said, "Well, actually I don't interact with her much, I spend most of my free time in the workshop. I'd not say she's friendly, though."  Kyrie said, "Juan seems to worry about her."
They saw a large sign saying "WELCOME GO HOME TRYNSERNOS and Bortanianos!"  (The word WELCOME was crossed out, and "GO HOME" was added at the top and "and Bortanianos" was added at the end.)  The sign with the 5% exchange rate for money that they had seen before was gone.
At the inn, Alarra Gormann said, "But I said you could go with me!"  A man said, "I'm sorry, but we are not interested."  The man and a woman with him left, and Alarra looked depressed.  Nobody was with Alarra now.
Kyrie quietly said, "Looks like we might be baby sitting someone else."  Fern quietly said, "Are we already babysitting someone?" Kyrie said, "I still need to deal with my supposed 'sister'."
Then a man who looked to be around age 30 or so said, " Are you Your Highness Princess Alarra Gormann?"  Alarra said, "I said I am."  The man said, "Excellent, Your Highness (bowing deeply).  I am Gustavo Chavez, a messenger for His Majesty, Rei Geraldo VII."  She received an invitation from the young king of Millisymph.
Then a man and a woman approached Alarra; both appeared to be about age 60.  The man said, "I am Sir Earnest Guzmann. I served your late father. This is my wife, Phyllis Guzmann, who trains horses. We traveled here just to meet you and to support you."  Meanwhile, Jinxi did an entertaining tearing down of the insultingly altered sign.
Kyrie and Fern both curtseyed to Princess Alarra, who told them, "So I can bring six people to Mojarósa's birthday party because His Majesty Rei Gustavo VII said so."  She said Sir Earnest could be her knight, Phyllis her lady-in-waiting, Juan her guard, Fern her scientific advisor, Kyrie her priestess, and Jinxi her jester.  They all decided to go, although Juan told Princess Alarra that he had previous commitments and would have to leave after.  Kyrie and then Fern told Alarra they did not have something fancy to wear, but Alarra said, "Well, everybody will be looking at me anyway.  Oh, and His Majesty, of course."
Juan said he had never seen a king, and would go over what to do in one's presence.  (Citadel's Shadow II adventure 2019 09 21)
====== Copyright by Alden Loveshade ======
Category:Citadel's Shadow II
Category:Citadel's Shadow IIb