Chapter 10: Vengeance Quest, Take One

## Monday, August 6, 2351

### Session 74

The party finished their brief sojourn in the Feywild — very brief, spanning only a matter of hours back on the Material Plane — by getting magical tattoos courtesy of Cashmere Goodcraft, a somewhat unsettling fellow with lamplike eyes and an owl companion who, as it turned out, was also his tattoo gun. With the payment of these radiant tattoos left for the Stranger and Sam to worry about, the party left the floating market where Cash works and were led by the Stranger into a cave complex, and from there to a gateway back to Mohkinstsis on the Material Plane. Specifically, into the underground network that the Five use to get around under the city, with hopes of reconnecting with Buhle.

Upon passing through, Samsok immediately forgot everything that had just happened in the Feywild, and the rest of the party did their best to explain before suggesting the full details were best left until his memory could be magically restored. The party swam towards the underground docks Buhle had previously taken them when negotiating with Bri, with Seth riding on Samsok's back, and when re-entering they found some unexpected faces: Ven, the slick figure who had initially led them to their meeting with the Five, and a new individual who they would eventually learn was named Tamir.

Ven was just as surprised to see them unexpectedly crawling out of sewer water as they were to see Ven, but they and their companion agreed to send word for Buhle, encouraging the party to take advantage of the bathing facilities by the market while they waited. The group gratefully did so, with Rorrik and Samsok switching up their look in the process.

Eventually, Ven returned to escort them to a meeting place, where they found not only Buhle but Shamash, and an entirely new figure: a bright-eyed tabaxi named Fiona.

After a debrief, Shamash told the group that they had something in common with Fiona. She too was looking to take down Sabina Sweetney, and the Five thought perhaps the two parties could be of aid to one another. This was a confusing statement for the party to absorb, as Fiona seemed on the verge of an indiscriminate anti-vampire murder spree at any moment. Still, trusting both Shamash's sense of self-preservation and Buhle's general reliability over the course of their acquaintance, the party tentatively agreed that perhaps once the Five had had time to learn more about their situation, seeking out the witnesses they'd left in Pigeon, some sort of cooperation could be found.

### Session 75

Facing this strange new ally, the party attempted to get more information about Fiona, specifically regarding why she was so intent on murdering vampires. According to her, every vampire she'd met had this nasty habit of trafficking humanoids. She had first learned about such practices, she said, while in Kamelot, where she learned King Kamil Koracova was involved, as well as his son, who was killed by someone very brave and cool and awesome. Not her, obviously. But whoever did it — man, they were cool.

Eventually reaching the conclusion that any answers they'd get from Fiona were likely to be indecipherable in terms of truth versus embellishment or outright falsehood, the party was diverted by a brief shooting competition, in which both Alja and Fiona distinguished themselves. Eventually, the two groups — more accurately, the one group and Fiona — went to their respective rooms, settling in for the night. Seth sent messages to Tshering and Ini, letting them know that rumours of the party's death had been greatly exaggerated. Both parties seemed surprised by this news, and Seth learned that Tshering had Greg in his possession, while Ini had been on her way to the Ornons' to collect Seth's effects to deliver to her fathers. Seth encouraged Ini to keep up that charade, but perhaps to take a little while in doing so.

## Tuesday, August 6, 2351

### Session 75 (cont)

A period of downtime for the party. Both Alja and Samsok sparred with Fiona, learning her abundant enthusiasm for violence had not been exaggerated, and that her sense of self-preservation was... not so intact as they might have hoped. It was established that Fiona was from Everywhere, where Everyone lived. Samsok gave her mushrooms, but fortunately no one died. Continuing to talk with Ini, Seth learned that the Ornons seemed to have some suspicion the party was not as gone as they seemed, and that Ini would be staying at the Ornons' for the time being.

## Wednesday, August 7, 2351

### Session 75 (cont)

Another day of downtime for the party, as well as a full moon. The 73rd birthday of Thendrick Shaleback, which meant Seth spent much of the day using her spell slots to catch up with him, then taking short rests so she could do it again, while Thendrick did the arcane equivalent of "Boomer texting." Towards the end of the evening, a surprising piece of information came up: it seemed Fiona was somehow acquainted with Seth's fathers.

### Session 76

When asking Fiona for clarification on how she knew Seth's fathers, Seth received about as much concrete information as one would expect. Fiona had met them... y'know, time! When she just happened to wander through the area! And just happened to stay in their home! Accepting that she was unlikely to get any straighter answers than these out of the tabaxi, Seth resigned herself to wondering about this latest coincidence.

## Thursday, August 8, 2351-Saturday, August 18, 2351

### Session 76 (cont)

A period of (relative) rest, during which the party and their new feline companion remained in seclusion under the Five's guard, occasionally sparring or otherwise honing their skills. They gained a new minder, Tamir, a human man tasked with keeping an eye on them as they waited for news. He bore a strange companion, a kipine named Céleste, who Samsok in particular was quite taken with.

Throughout this time, Seth and Ini regularly exchanged messages, with Ini checking in once a day to confirm Seth was still alive.

Alja, in a quiet moment, asked Rorrik about Samsok's memory loss from the Feywild, in a way that was totally casual and had nothing to do with anything. (It's fine.)

On Saturday the 11th, the party met with Shamash, Buhle, and some surprise visitors: Silas and Zara, as well as Panna Domotor and Natalie Breeuwer, two of Deena Kisinger's companions. It seems that Panna and Natalie had begun to look into your deaths when news reached Mohkinstsis, on Deena's orders, and this investigation had led them to Pigeon, where they met with Silas and Zara and heard their accounts of that night. Upon returning to Mohkinstsis, they met with the Five, and Shamash decided it prudent that all interested parties have a group discussion.

Shamash proceeded to lay out what would later be dubbed Operation Shocker: a three-pronged attack relying on the testimony of those who'd had loved ones disappear in Mohkinstsis and the party themselves; reaching out to the party's powerful allies such as the Ornons and the Karkuts; and staging an attack on Sabina Sweetney's home once adequate information had been gathered and made public, taking advantage of the distraction it would present to try and find concrete evidence of her wrongdoings.

This plan, Shamash warned, would take time to prepare, so everyone involved should take the time to think through what they were willing to risk. It would be some weeks, at least, before they'd be able to move.

The party was able to resupply to an extent, with the knowledge that more of their belongings could potentially be procured by Ini, who was staying with the Ornons' in their old room. As it happens, the need for supplies became more urgent as of Saturday the 18th, when Seth received unsettling news from Earl: a catastrophic earthquake had hit Coppermine, and a plea for aid had been sent out. Deckhun and their companions were going to answer the call for help, as were her fathers. After a brief discussion, it was agreed: the party would try to go there as well, since they had some time yet before a move would be made against Sabina. After speaking with Seth via Sending, Ini also offered to join them. They would do what they could to help Coppermine, then return to take care of Sabina Sweetney once and for all.

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