Beneath the Mask

"**Beneath the Mask**" (1x04) is the fourth session of the first Boiling Sea campaign. The party gathers at the Guttering Candle to have a evening of relaxation before heading out of town the next day.

### An evening's rest

After reconvening at the Guttering Candle, the party settles in with ale and wine to talk and be merry while they can. Amber informs them that in five days, the Plum Blossom Festival will be coming to a close, and is usually celebrated with feasts and drinking. She recommends getting hold of a cart or horses in order to return in time. Roan overhears this and offers up his own cart and horses (named Darling and Scruff) as he's not going to be needing it while he stays in town.

Eventually Gryffin appears, a little on edge but looking to share a drink or two. Heka notices the others in the tavern looking at him strangely. Not with open hostility, but curiosity and a little bit of wariness. Gryffin doesn't seem to be aware of the looks and joins the party at the table, informing them that Kaitin has headed north to Dunadain in search of the people who mistakenly killed another member of The Brotherhood of Embers. Rhys calmly asks Gryffin how Kaitin came upon this knowledge, and he falters a little before telling them that Kaitin got it out of him by threatening him with blackmail once more. He warns the others not to underestimate Kaitin.

### Rumours

Gryffin leans over to Heka and mentions that he has only seen someone like them once before - when he was very young, in Neufarragh. There was a blue air genasi with horns similar to Heka's being transported in a palanquin. The memory stood out to Gryffin because of the short zaps of lightning in the genasi's hair. He tells Heka he knows what it's like to be one of the only one of their kind around.

At one point, Heka leaves to drink, and Amber pulls them aside. She tells him that they ought to not get too close to Gryffin. A year or so ago, his mentor Morti was found murdered. There was a short trial and no-one was charged, but she tells Heka that it's not like he wasn't mourned. She says that Morti was a rough fellow but she got along with him just fine. A lot of people suspect that Gryffin was the one who did it. She tells Heka to be wary, and Heka asks if they should be wary of her as well. She laughs and tells him to be wary of her most of all - it's her job to know what's happening in town.

### Lifting the mask

Heka and Gryffin get noticeably drunk, and Rhys offers to walk Gryffin home. They talk at his door for a moment, and Gryffin invites Rhys inside, but Rhys turns him down. Thistle pokes fun at them after the pair make their way back. The direwolf takes her spot outside of the tavern, and the patrons nearby seem wary but no longer surprised. Word has gotten around that Thistle generally means no harm.

Back in their rooms, the group discusses their plan for the next day. To take the cart, head out to the east, and track down where this rumoured hideout is. Heka says that they need to show the others something, particularly if they are going to be travelling together. He proceeds to remove his mask and the bandages covering his mouth, revealing that his lips have been sewn shut with gold thread. Additionally, there are gold tattoos or markings on their forehead and cheekbones. There are varying levels of reactions, but due to the party not wanting to pry into each others' business (except Rhys but he's holding back), they accept this new revelation of Heka's while keeping an eye on him.

The conversation moves on, with Sirius revealing the information they gathered from Angela Barrowthorn. There's a rumour of a silkdust vein to the northeast, and their father was driven out of town when the locals did not believe his warnings of silk sickness. Sirius says as much as they know about the sickness, that sometimes it takes years to show itself. From the little their mentor, Bailey, told them about silkdust tattoos, they do know there is some danger of "overcharging", and the tattoos "going bad". Vaita tries to recall what she knows, but is faced with memories she would rather not think about, and zones out.

### On the road

In the morning, the party takes the cart and horses left out by Roan, and heads into town to gather supplies for the journey. There is a small commotion - four Hand of Flame soldiers are escorting Gryffin, who appears to be under arrest. Vaita immediately leaps off the cart and tries to disappear into the crowd, but the movement catches the eyes of one of the guards. Rhys also jumps off and asks a couple of nearby vendors what's happening. One is the half-orc son of the halfling woodcarver from the other day, manning the stall by himself. He doesn't know anything. Sirius commands NUTZ to make noise, and the little construct starts honking, pulling the attention from Vaita. The guards command Sirius to move the cart along so they can get by to the jail. Rhys asks another vendor what is happening, and the vendor says that Gryffin is being arrested for murder.

The party regroups, deciding not to cause a scene to try and stop the guards from taking Gryffin. Vaita is nowhere to be found until they head out onto the road, where she jumps back up into the cart. A conversation ensues, where Vaita pulls from her pack a dirtied tabard with the symbol of the Hand of Flame clearly visible. They express that if they are caught, they are *fucked*. Heka immediately offers his mask, but Vaita refuses.

### Molotov cocktails and murderous cockatrices

While on the road, the party comes across a rocky outcropping emerging from a muddy fork in the road. They are ambushed by two *Black Dragon Wyrmlings* and five *Cockatrices*. The horses panic, and the mud makes for tricky terrain. The fight is hectic, and Vaita launches a molotov cocktail that they constructed, ordering Rhys to light it up. The teamwork is effective, and Rhys launches a number of firey spells that the rest of the group have not yet seen. This culminates in Rhys releasing a *Burning Hands* spell at three of the cockatrices surrounding V, and triggers something in his mind. A voice whispers into his head, "*Unleash*", and the fire grows in power and appears more unstable. The session ends there.