Being in the Spotlight

**"Being in the Spotlight"** is the fifth episode of *Mountain of Mystery*, airing on March 7th, 2023.

The session was DMed by TanisJr93 and hosted on his channel on Twitch.

## Summary

*...continued from session four*
Kahlan checks on Prints as Trouble casts *Cure Wounds* on the Tabaxi, while Cash informs the Druid that she is radiating a Celestial aura. Old Maggie demands an explanation for the outburst, and Prints asks if the inn is haunted, describing what she saw; Maggie denies it, delivering a drink to the Sorcerer. During his run through the streets of Rexxentrum, Sado realizes that he is being followed by a figure running along the rooftops beside him; he stops, and the figure does as well, and the monk quickly scales the side of a nearby building, spotting the figure on a neighboring roof leaning on a staff. He waves to the figure, who nods back before leaping across the gap and over Sado's head, striking the Goliath with two attacks that knock him off the roof before laughing and running off.

Sado recovers and returns to The Crow's Nest, and learns about the entity that Prints saw; when he asks if it may have been a hallucination, Trouble vehemently denies the suggestion, communicate that the entity that the Tabaxi saw was the same one that Trouble saw while she was dead. Lazarus asks Prints to let him know if she sees the entity again, suggesting that there may be something he can do to see what it looks like as well, and Trouble steps away from the group to test her ability to speak, discovering that she can say her own name; she then rushes back to the group to reveal that she can speak on her own, after which she hears Jingles from behind the bar say: "It worked." The Kenku tells Trouble that her voice is beautiful, and the Druid assures him that she will help him find his own voice as well, after which she explains to the party that she saw the entity take something from inside Prints.

She also gives druidcrafted gifts to each member of the group: a brooch of white camellia, pink carnation, hydrangea and ivy for Prints, a brooch of valerian, coriander, gladiolas, and freesias for Kahlan, a brooch of willow, sweet William, chives, and columbine for Lazarus, a brooch of edelweiss, gladiolas, thyme, and valerian for Sado, and a brooch of alstroemeria, tiger lily, cosmos, and marigold for Cash. Lazarus then gives Trouble her share of the payment they received from the Masque, after which Sado heads to bed, and Prints gives Trouble a gift as well: a leather lanyard with two of Trouble's original feathers. Kahlan migrates toward the fireplace with her drink and Lazarus joins her, intending to apologize for Pearce's actions, but she becomes quickly intoxicated and he decides to wait until morning. Heading to bed herself, the Tiefling experiences a strange dream in which she, Sado, and Lazarus are hired along with a Goblin and a Changeling to retrieve a chest from a group of bandits.

The next day, Trouble wakes to find that Prints's fur has regrown, but that her spots have been replaced by three long stripes down her back; the Druid then reveals her true name to the Tabaxi before Prints's Sending Stone activates in her pack and her mother admonishes her for not calling the night before. Prints promises to call later in the day and deactivates the Stone as the two join the rest of the party. Downstairs, Lazarus apologizes to a Kahlan for Pearce's misbehavior, explaining that he's known soldiers who have dealt with what he thinks she might be dealing with; she assumes that he thinks she's crazy, but he assures her that he doesn't. After breakfast, a group of soldiers arrive at the inn to deliver a message to Lazarus from Oliver Schreiber indicating that: "Timetable has moved up. Important events have begun. Meet today."

The group then returns to the tannery where Cash pays extra for a rush order, requesting that the pelt be delivered to the stronghold of Ungebroch, before stopping at a nearby clothier; Trouble purchases several sets of clothes, Prints purchases a pair of gloves and a pair of mittens for Prints, and Kahlan purchases six dark gray cloaks and distributes them to the party, after which the group heads a few streets down to a salon run by a woman named Jezebelle who detangles and braids Trouble's hair. Nearing lunch, they then make their way through the city to the central castle, where they are met by guards and instructed to relinquish their weapons. Lazarus hands over his Kingsguard daggers reluctantly, and the group is led to the foyer outside Schreiber's office where they are approached by a guard who escorts them first to a storage closet where the guard reveals himself to be Pearce.

He reluctantly apologizes to the group for his behavior the previous day, and gives Lazarus an amulet with which to contact him in an emergency; he then shapeshifts back into his guard persona and leaves for an assignment that will lead him to Zadash, speaking in a voice that Trouble recognizes as one she'd previously heard Jingles use. The group is then led to the office of Oliver Schreiber, who commends their actions at the Western Winery and attempts to question Trouble about her experience before offering the group a job: travel to the town of Hupperdook to pick up the prisoner Skyn Zapras and transfer him to Zadash. Kahlan, Sado, Prints, and Trouble accept, and once Cash agrees, Lazarus does as well; the cleric also mentions that his Displacer Beast pelt will be delivered to the stronghold, and Oliver agrees to forward it to Trostenwald, where a seamstress that he and Lazarus know should have it tailored into a cloak by the time they arrive.

The group is led back out of the stronghold, retrieving their weapons on the way out, and are approached near a fountain in a courtyard of The Candles just beyond the castle wall by a small, cloaked figure carrying a staff. Sado quickly recognizes him as the man he encountered on the rooftop, and the figure taunts the Goliath before assuming a combative stance and challenging Sado: "Show me what they taught you, boy."

*...continued in session six*
## Notes

* The events of the session occurred on 17-18 Cuersaar 839 PD.
* Alternate titles for the episode include, but are not limited to:
	+ "Weird Kenku Charades"
	+ "A Thing Called Pants"

## Quotes

* "I wouldn't mind being in the spotlight, as long as I'm not on the spit." – Trouble

## Episode

* Twitch
* YouTube