Sx14 - Familiars and Foes

***Familiars and Foes*** is the 14th session of the campaign*.* It is preceded by Sx13 — Spirits, Sailing, a Send-Off and Secrets, and followed by Sx15 — Lost In the Labyrinth.

This session takes place over a single day: Kiriaki the 21st of Leontes. Notable moments of this session are Leviticus leaving and Bean-gate.

## The Vine Clearing

The group decide to head to a more private location and Oto suggests they go to the clearing that Dionysus blessed, as it is more likely to be private. In this clearing they begin by Oto showing Adrasteia that he can be used as an Arcane Focus if she is ever without her staff, all she has to do is touch him in some way. As a group we re-iterated a lot of the same things but eventually decided to go down to Artemis Cove with the intention to perhaps confront the man in the tower (Quintus Pterygas) We also learnt that the most recent thing Theobald knew about us was our fight with the riders outside of Artemis Sentry.

I also summoned my Familiar Oni, a Bengal cat with dark purple spots instead of black ones. He likes to sit on Oto's head when he's not doing anything else. Brother Leviticus also casts \*Sending\* to contact Carban - Carban says not to follow him and that he is heading towards Pomegranate Gardens and also that he talked to Khantos; we don't know the last two things.

From there we decide first to head to the Keep to collect our money and then spend a day preparing and finishing any business we needed to finish in the city before we leave south. So then as a group we head up to the Keep to collect our money. We returned to the office of Finte and he gives us 75gp each, but gave Adrasteia a little bit more because she worships Artemis. After this the group split apart.

## Splitting Up (A.K.A Bean-gate)

OTO AND BROTHER LEVITICUS search for Zenne with the intention of questioning him about the intentions of the rest of his party and why they are heading across the continent. Oto went up to Zenne and invited him to come to \*\*Dionysus' Hammer\*\* - a popular tavern in Artemis Sentry to get a drink. On the walk over to the tavern Oto casts \*Detect Thoughts\* and steers the question to his friends, family and loved ones, seeing no one but the rival party in response to the friends.

At the tavern Oto pays the bartenders 20gp to have them leave the bar and give them an empty room, allowing us to question him. However, despite doing everything right (casting \*Detect Thoughts\* again and rolling a 21 intimidation) he seems to be unmoved by our attempts (Zenne seems to be an equal with Oto in skill checks). Oto also dives deeper into his mind and sees a glimpse of his past >\*"Throughout his past you see people dying. You see him fleeing as his wife and children are killed"\* - Zenne's Memories

We also learnt that Zenne is from further south, very likely off the continent and that he is still employed by The Owl and Spear Sect and isn't as separated from The Rival Party as we thought. He does however hint at something big happening. Oto swears to hunt him down and rip him to pieces and burn the remains in sacrifice to his God. As they split up, Leviticus goes to the magic shop to find the others whilst Oto leaves to actively find Khantos.

KHANTOS goes alone to the beach and walks into the ocean for some privacy. It's at the bottom of the ocean that he casts \*Identify\* and learns what his necklace is.

>\*"A set on the lock of Atlas' Domain"\* - The Identify Spell

He swears to no one in-particular to "complete the Evergreen's mission" - it was originally the goal of his parents to free Atlas from his realm. and he reaches out to Atlas for power, and gets some kind of response. >\*"From my plane I cannot give you aid. Come to me and release me and I will defeat your enemies."\* - Atlas

Then he moves out of the ocean to sit on the beach and begins to draw sketches for a bomb, which is where \*\*OTO\*\* finds him. The pair sit together, quietly before Oto asks what he thinks about the bomb. Khantos confirms that he will make it as it's the smart thing to do. Oto asks that Khantos is the only person with any knowledge of it, including Oto, as to protect it and himself. After confirming it Oto leaves Khantos alone.

THEOBALD, LEOVEN AND ADRASTEIA\*\* went to the magic shop to attempt to get more armour for Leoven, and for Theobald to get some magic items.

Leoven in the end doesn't buy anything. They also notice a small amount of blood on a large number of things.

LEVITICUS\*\* also joins them at a point and buys a number of sheets of paper (it is a magic item named \*\*Paper Bird\*\*)

However Theobald finds a bag of magic beans and purchases them, only to ask for a return and then to try and buy them for a lower price. This doesn't go well after many many attempts that fail to get the beans, and expecting a number of things to work that don't (including charms and casting \*Misty Step\* to try and get into the store - it seems to have a number of abjuration spells on the store to protect it from this kind of thing)

LEOVEN AND ADRASTEIA\*\* return to the clearing and attempt to contact their gods (Artemis and Apollo). They are unable to get into contact with Artemis, however Apollo does speak, talking to Leoven.

>\*"What you have been apart of I cannot put my name to. But I think you will have a part to play in the upcoming events. Find the descendant of \*\*Ambrogio\*\* they will be a key player in the following events"\* - Apollo

Ambrogio\*\* - A human man who fell in love with one of Apollo's maidens, named Selene, and was cursed by Apollo to never walk in the sun again, then he made a deal with Hades that if he could steal Artemis' silver bow his soul would live while his body still lives on earth, and then further angered Artemis who cursed him to never touch silver but gifted him the abilities of a great hunter. Despite the curses he lived as one of Artemis' greatest hunters and proving his loyalty to her she gave him the bow and arrows to give to Hades. (Ambrogio was the first vampire as described in Greek mythology)

The two then ask him to pass on a word to Artemis. >\*"My sister is not often on Olympus (...) (to adrasteia) she has mentioned you"\* - Apollo

After everyone returns we decided to take a long rest.

KHANTOS AND LEOVEN\*\* have a quick aside where Khantos confronts Leoven about her Paladin order (The Vallotis) and asks if he can trust her.

She says: >\*"I stand by my past actions" >"Some knights went too far in their 'pursuit of the light'" >"I never went out of my way to order people around"\* - Leoven

It's therefore safe to assume there were times that she gave orders. Khantos tells Leoven that he plans to go after the man in the tower (Quintus Pterygas) but that he wants him alive and alone so that he can question him. Leoven makes an oath to Khantos (a big deal for a paladin) and swears to stand by him and help him complete his task. It seems like as an Oath of the Crown Paladin, Leoven has made Khantos her metaphorical "Crown" and sworn to protect him and help him in his quest. Khantos in return makes an oath to set aside their pasts with Leoven and work together without deceit, but asks that they not tell the rest of the group about their plans. Leoven agrees that the rest should not know and they both go to sleep.

LEOVEN AND OTO\*\* have their usual late night discussion, in which Leoven explains to Oto what slavery is.

## Goodbye Leviticus

The next morning Brother Leviticus collects the group to say his goodbyes and gives the group a selection of gifts.

For \*\*Adrasteia\*\* she gets the Staff of Healing. This allows her to cast various healing spells without using a spell slot, including \*Cure Wounds\*, \*Lesser Restoration\* and \*Mass Cure Wounds\*.

For \*\*Leoven\*\* she got the Amulet of the Devout. This allows her to perform her Channel Divinity twice per day.

For \*\*Khantos\*\* and \*\*Oto\*\* they got a single use blessing which would work on the next roll of their choice. This would allow them to add a d4. And for the \*\*whole group\*\*, they got a shared \*Death Ward\* allowing the next person to drop to 0 to come back up at 1 hp.