Drinking Your Feelings

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== Blurb ==
* Oh what people will do for love. Join Ailbh, Arethor, and Rusty as they prove that their friend Tess is innocent of a crime she was, admittedly, going to commit and in the process, discover a greater conspiracy to turn friends into lovers. Listen into this actual play podcast while we play Pocket Gumshoe to find out who is at the centre of this conspiracy.
== Non Player Characters ==
* Bonaventura Halevy - made a few deals with each of the player characters, rewarding them for recovering his book, and hiring Tess. Current owner of The Pepperton Estate
* Tess Fleetfur - got into trouble by trying to steal The Whispersong, a magical herbalism book which had already been nicked. Ended the episode in the employ and protection of Bonaventura Halevy, who has promised to protect her against her former employer, The Ancient One (Bob).
* Leug Goldbeard - stole the Whispersong to make a love potion to use on the object of her desire, Alexander McJohn. Things went very, very wrong....
* Saxim Falwars - fungus seller who was mentioned in the episode, but did not appear.
* Ginny Barrelshoulder - owner of the Hasty Hands cleaning service, which Leug infiltrated to get access to the book. Other employees named but not appearing in this episode are Modeda Underheath, Helga Warknocker, and Elsie Brewer, all dwarven cleaning staff.
* Jilenn Copperspeech - Leug's neighbor and an employee of the Hasty Hands service. Leug took her place to get access to the Pepperton estate.
* Seamus Silverkeeper - named in this episode, but did not appear. A dwarven cartographer of rare maps. Lives in Niqamui.
* Marla Odine - cleric of the god of love and romance. Sold paper birds to send love notes throughout the city.
* Kabrel Glaive - a member of the Niqamui Town Guard, guarding the jail.
* Llewelynn Roust - a member of the Niqamui Town Guard, guarding the jail.
* Gruthar Darkgut - a dwarf of the streets, lives in The Shallows.
* Meera Hillhide - a dwarf of the streets, also from The Shallows.
== Plot Summary ==
The dawn breaks on the festival of Love Day in Niqamui.  Across the city, people exchange tokens of affection and the priests of the Goddess of Love stand at the street corners to enchant tiny origami birds that will fly to the source of one’s love.  
In the Fire Breathing Kitten’s guildhall, the paper birds flit through the air seeking their intendeds while various guild members mill about, checking their mail or the quest board. Rusty Surehoof opens a message revealing that his friend Tess Fleetfur asking him to meet her on top of, or within, the local jailhouse. Rusty enlists the aid of Arethor Gowek and Ailbh Goldbeard, and the trio of Kittens head for the jailhouse. 
Upon their arrival, Rusty catches a glimpse of antlers peaking over the roof of the building.  A pair of guards stand watch at the door, though their focus is primary directed towards each other.  Arethor approaches the guards to inquire about getting access to the roof to get a better view of the city’s Love Day festivities.  In what feels strangely too easy, Arethor talks the guards into handing over the key necessary to unlock the door to the roof of the jail.  Our trio climbs the stairs of the precinct sharing hushed conversation about how there seems to be something odd influencing the people of Niqamui.
On the roof of the jailhouse, the trio finds Tess.  Introductions are made, and Tess reveals that she had been hired to acquire a book from the Pepperton Estate.  When she arrived, she found the book already missing.  However, she was spotted by staff, and after evading law enforcement, chose to hide atop the jailhouse to avoid discovery.  The book in question is the Whisper Song, a nearly mythical text on herbal and alchemical secrets.  Tess also tells Rusty that she fears without the book, that her life is in danger from the person who hired her.  
The Kittens decide to return to the Pepperton Estate to investigate and attempt to help Tess. She gives them a set of magical transport stones, which Rusty promptly uses and sends the group of them back to the Pepperton Estate foyer. Their arrival is witnessed by a sharp dressed, fiery eyed gentleman who introduces himself as Bonaventura Halevy - the current owner of the Pepperton Estate.
The Kittens investigate the library and question the devilishly charming Bonaventura, who freely flirts with both Ailbh and Arethor.  Bonaventura shares that the Hasty Hands cleaners (a dwarven cleaning outfit) recently cleaned the library, and his description of the employees includes a woman who strongly resembles the description of Ailbh’s sister. The outfit operates out of the Narrows in Niqamui, and is owned by Ginny Barrelshoulder.  
While searching the library, Arethor spies a book on The Voice among Bonaventura’s restricted section.  Bonaventura is very interested in the desires of the party.  Though he is limited on the details, Bonaventura alludes that much of his holdings, including the estate, are the fruits of successful bets that he has placed.  Bonaventura tells the party that if they were willing to assist in the retrieval of the Whisper Song, he could give them that which they desire - time for Arethor to study the book; the opportunity for Ailbh to copy a recipe from the Whisper Song; an assurance of safety and protection for Tess for Rusty.  A deal is struck, and the party departs to investigate the Hasty Hands cleaners. 
The Narrows is a section of Niqamui heavily populated by the dwarven community.  On their approach to the Hasty Hands cleaners, the Kittens observe a pair of dwarves who seem on the verge of a fight make a declaration of mutual affection.  Arethor questions them to test his theory that the strange influence sweeping the city may be tied to those who have patronized the recent pop up brewery the Stout and Stubble.  It seems highly likely from the conversation, and the Kittens decide to investigate the Stout and Stubble once they have finished looking into the Hasty Hands cleaners. 
The Kittens find Ginny Barrelstout staffing her shop.  She too, has been by the Stout and Stubble, and realizes that she has gaps in her memory and a missing work order for the Pepperton Estate job (though she does recall her team going to the estate and completing their work).  Ailbh investigates the remnants of Ginny’s tankard and reveals that there is some kind of magical or alchemical contaminant in what otherwise seems to be an ale from the Goldbeard line of brews. 
Heading to the Stout and Stubble, the party finds the shop closed up.  Finding this strange for midday, Arethor produces a lock pick and lets the Kittens into the pub.  Ailbh is struck by the resemblance to his family’s tap room back in Cruller.  Testing the taps, Ailbh finds that one line matches the same alteration they found in Ginny’s tankard, though the other lines are also altered.  
Investigating the basement brew room, Ailbh find’s his sister Leug’s cloak hung on the wall.  Strange ingredients not typically used for brewing are upon the shelves including a variety of sweeteners.  A map of fairy crossings in Niqamui and a receipt for Black Nettlecap flowers (a dangerous hallucinogen) are found in Leug’s cloak.  Close inspection of the map shows a location marked east of Niqamui labeled the “Molten Helm”.
Arethor turns up the ashes of the Hasty Hands work order for the Pepperton Estate, which Ailbh is able to restore through alchemical processing.  The work order reveals that one of the Hasty Hands employees, Jilenn Copperspeech, lives just around the corner from the Stout and Stubble. 
The Kittens visit Jilenn and find that she is still recuperating from an illness that forced her to stay home from work.  Jilenn tells the party that she had asked her friendly neighbor Leug to swing by the Hasty Hands and let Ginny know that Jilenn wouldn’t be able to go on the Pepperton Estate job.  When asked if Jilenn had seen Leug recently, Jilenn stated that she had seen Leug taking a carriage east not long ago.  Before they depart, Arethor uses the power of The Voice to wipe Jilenn’s memory of the Kitten’s visit in order to protect the Goldbeard name. 
Cue Ferris Bueller style montage of the Kittens racing east to get to the Molten Helm ahead of Leug.  Slipping in and out of different business establishments’ back doors, athletically vaulting over obstructions, racing through farmer’s cornfields, finally arriving at the ruins of an ancient dwarven tavern - the Molten Helm.  The Kittens arrive just as Leug’s carriage drives up.  Confronting Leug, she assaults the Kittens but is quickly subdued.  
Ailbh questions his sister, and finds that all of her machinations are part of a plan to win the hand of her love interest, Alexander McJohn.  Leug was using the Whisper Song to brew a form of love potion that she was lacing into the ale of the Stout and Stubble.  The Whisper Song did not give the specific sweetener, and in order to correct her failed efforts of perfecting the brew, Leug had tracked down the Molten Helm, which she believed to be the location of a legendary dwarven still capable of imbuing drinks with powerful mind altering enchantments.  With the recipe from the Whisper Song and the Still of the Molten Helm, Leug was sure she could win the heart of Alexander McJohn - that is if it hadn’t been for the work of those meddling Kittens. 
The Whisper Song safely recovered, Arethor and Rusty offer to help Ailbh search the ruins for the fabled still, in order that it too might be secured.  After some significant digging, the trio enter the basement brew room which is conspicuously missing any sign of a still except the gap where one ought to have stood.  Closer examination reveals a small set of fine tools, possibly gnomish or fairy in make, perhaps discarded when the still was removed.  While so distracted, Leug makes her getaway - ensuring that the next Goldbeard family reunion will be an awkward one. 
The Kittens return to the Pepperton Estate with Whisper Song in hand.  Bonaventura, good to his word, provides Arethor with time and opportunity to review the book of The Voice.  Ailbh is allowed to copy from the Whisper Song a recipe for a healing draught that can be used as a panacea for a variety of ailments, except that like all recipes from the Whisper Song, it is too vague about one ingredient to make the recipe without some experimentation.  And as a means of providing Tess with Bonaventura’s protection, he offers her a job in his employ.  So compensated, the Kittens return to Niqamui to enjoy the remainder of the Love Day celebration.
Category:EpisodesCategory:Season 2024