Session 15 (12/17/2021)

## Day Nine, Evening

**Back** on the surface Holly returns to the inn and informs the party about what he had been doing. He leaves out the dragon when telling Kaz, Swage, and Esha.

## Day Twelve, Early Afternoon

Back at the Artisans of the Anvil Swage and Pele begin to put the finishing touches on Pele’s new weapon. Pele begins to gather her fiery magical power into herself and push it into the weapon as Swage engraves the name “Fates Flame” onto it. With the last bit of power flowing into the weapon, Pele whispers the command word “Rise” in Primordial sealing the magic inside.

Swage turns his back and begins tinkering with something and turns back around handing Pele a holster for the weapon. She straps it to her leg and the weapon is held in place by a magnet.

Dove begins to wander around Pinechill in search of a bakery. Her keen nose picks up the smell of freshly baked bread and begins to head in that direction. She enters the bakery and comes out carrying a loaf of bread and some butter and jam. She begins to head back toward the inn spreading butter and jam on the bread as she walks, looking up just in time to spot Kaz and Hadwin. She falls into step behind them and offers them each some bread which they accept.

“I’m sorry for the way I acted towards you the other day,” Dove says to Hadwin

“No need to apologize! I didn’t take it personally.” Hadwin replies

“All the same, I’m still going to apologize,” Dove says

Back at the forge Swage pays Flametongue the 20 gold he owed for the use of the forge.

Flametongue pockets the money and says, “You’re welcome back anytime my friend!”

Swage and Pele leave together and join back up with the rest of the group not long after.

Not far down the road, Dove’s ears begin to twitch and some of her hairs start to stand on end. Hadwin gently nudges Kaz and begins to signal for Kaz to look behind him.

Hadwin, getting frustrated that Kaz isn’t picking up what he means yells, “THERE’S A GUY IN THE ALLEY!”

Kaz immediately turns around and the hooded figure Hadwin had seen begins to run, Kaz hot on his heels. The only thing Kaz can see about the figure is that they are very short and very quick, only being able to keep up with them because of his giant stride.

Kaz hears a scraping sound, like claws on a stone floor, and looks over his shoulder to see Dove running along on all fours keeping good pace with him. She leaps into the air and appears to run along the side of the alley for a minute before pushing herself off and pouncing on and pinning the small, robed figure.

“Hi! Watcha’ doin’?” Dove says showing a smile of pointed teeth.

The only response she gets is a groan from the small person she now sits on top of. Kaz claps her on the back, very impressed by her pounce, and leans down to pick up the person. Holding them by the hood of their robe, he can tell that they are a Halfling. He carries them back to the group and Swage uses some smelling salts to revive them. The Halfling wakes up and stares wide-eyed at the people before me, slowly spinning around in Kaz’s hand.

Pele walks forward and asks, “Why are you watching us?”

“Why are you watching me?” The Halfling replies.

Kaz holds him up a bit hire and says in a friendly tone, “Following us is a bad idea.”

Ignoring him, the halfling says, “Is that a fox? He’s cute! I’m not following anyone.”

“You could have come up to use instead of trying to be sneaky,” Pele says.

“What’s your name anyway?”

“My Name? What’s his name?” he says pointing to Kaz.

The group glares at the Halfling.

“If you must know, I’m Gerard Butler III.” He continues

“So, why were you watching us?” Pele asks again

“Because you’re very interesting people!” He answers

Pele, enjoying the compliment stands a little taller and says, “I guess you’re right; we are pretty interesting.”

With that Gerard raises both arms in the air and slides out of his robe and drops to the ground. Kaz attempts to grab him again, but the Halfling dances away from the Goliath's giant hands.

“Do you live in Pinechill?” Pele asks

“Indeed, I do!” Gerard says

Gerard looks around at the group and says, “You are a strange collection of travelers.”

“We aren’t that strange,” Pele replies.

“I beg to differ,” Gerard says

Dove, whose interest was piqued after seeing Gerard’s flashy outfit he wore under the robes begins to ask him if he has anything interesting, he’d be willing to trade. Gerard’s face lights up and he invites the group to follow him back to his house.

Gerard turns on his heel pulls a baton out from his jacket and begins to sing and march. Magic flows out from him when he begins to sing and Kaz, Dove, and Esha all find themselves compelled to march and sing along. Dove doesn’t notice right away however since she intended to follow and march anyway.

Between the parts of the song he’s being forced to sing, Kaz curses Gerard and strains against the enchantment.

The group arrives at Gerard’s house, a large dilapidated Victorian-style house painted to look like a circus tent. He waves his hand, and the door opens on its own, he walks into the building, and everyone follows him.

Realizing that Gerard had tried to control him as well Swage says, “Don’t try to control me again.”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad! I’ve been watching you guys, and you need to learn to have fun!” Says Gerard.

Hearing this, Pele says, “You can’t force someone to have fun.”

Gerard elbows Kaz, “Sometimes people just need a little nudge.”

Kaz looks down with a serious look on his face, “Don’t nudge me again.” Kaz then walks over to a nearby chair and sits in it. The almost instantly breaks, and Kaz finds himself and Jorge on the floor.

“I’ve been meaning to have that fixed,” Gerard says.

Kaz ignores him, sits up, and begins to play with Jorge.

Remembering she had wanted to try and trade with Gerard; Dove begins to rummage through her pack.

“So, what kinds of things do you have for trade?” Dove asks.

Gerard walks over to a door and opens it revealing a small closet full of shelves and drawers filled with odds and ends.

“I’ve got this button,” Dove says, “I found it! I took it off the coat of a city guard.”

Gerard takes the button from Dove and examines it closely. He turns back to his closet and opens a small chest pulling out a “tooth”.

“How about this? It’s the tooth of a mysterious creature.” He says.

Seeing Dove examine the tooth, Hadwin says, “Actually, that isn’t a tooth at all. It’s the claw of a displacer beast.”

Dove accepts the trade and begins to rummage through her pack again for something else to trade. She pulls out an orange knit cap.

“This was given to me by an old dwarven woman during a cart ride we both happened to be on together,” Dove says

“Did she give it to you? Or was it a…” Gerard begins to ask

“No, no. Nothing like that. She knitted it specifically for me.” Dove cuts in

Realizing that the trading may go on for a while, Pele jumps in and asks Gerard if he knows anything about the magistrate’s murder. He tells the group a story about how when he was younger, he saw a spirit rise from the ground in a field not far from the magistrate’s home. He continues the story by saying that before the murder he was out for a walk and noticed the same spirit again entering the magistrate’s home shortly before she was found dead.

“Do you know anything about the obsidian dagger?” Swage asks

"That's quite an interesting tale. Whoever owns the dagger owns the entire town. The founders created the dagger as a key that opens a door or something that contains a vast amount of treasure." Gerard answers

“Now! Would anyone like anything to drink?” Gerard asks

Everyone besides Hadwin and Esha declines his offer. As Gerard makes his way to the kitchen, Esha decides to follow him and see if he needs any help. They both return shortly and begin to enjoy their tea.

“Have you noticed anyone else interesting in town besides us?” Pele asks

“I have! There was an older Dragonborn that I saw go into an interesting part of town but never come back out again.” Gerard says

“Have you ever seen the hooded figures that come to this part of town?” Kaz asks

“Oh yes, but we don’t talk about them,” Gerard warns

“Well, you were a hooded figure,” Dove says

“Do I look like I have a beak or talons?” Gerard retorts

The conversations continue for a bit with Gerard using some sort of magic to make Esha and Hadwin’s teacup make noise while they drink from them.

Kaz, still angry at being controlled stands up and says, “This is insane.” He scoops Jorge up from the ground and walks out the door.

Pele and Dove follow Kaz out and Swage, trying to pull on his boot while hoping behind them on one foot almost falls. Gerard tries to help, but Swage says “No, don’t touch me.”

## Day Twelve, Evening

Hadwin and Esha remain behind in the house, and Gerard invites them into his true emporium. He opens a door and leads the two into a giant warehouse. He starts to clap, and as he does the lights begin to turn on, revealing rows and rows of shelves filled with items.

“So! What are you looking for?” Gerard says to Esha

“Something magical!” She replies

“Well, everything in my emporium is magical,” Gerard says

“Something nature-related then, specifically mushrooms,” Esha says

He thinks for a minute and then begins to head deeper into the warehouse. Back outside Kaz begins to arm wrestle the other members that followed him out to kill time.

Gerard stops in front of one of the shelves and pulls a glass case from it. Inside the case is a red mushroom with white spots, with tiny white hairs growing off it. A mouth with teeth has been carved into the side of it as well.

“This is the mushroom king,” Gerard says, “Eating it will turn you into the Mushroom King temporarily granting you special abilities.”

Esha is instantly intrigued and digs through her pack to find something to trade for it. She pulls out some poisonous mushrooms, and Gerard accepts the trade. He taps the glass case, and the two items magically trade places.

Hadwin, although impressed by the vast collection of magical items has nothing, he’s willing to trade currently so declines to look at anything. They make their way outside to the rest of the group.

While outside Swage decides to cast Detect Good and Evil, to see if there’s anything suspicious that might lead to clues about the magistrate’s murder. Not far from Gerard’s house, his spell lights up 4 aberrations inside a building. He tells the group about what he sees, and they began to head in that direction.

Pele begins to drum softly and Kaz hefts his maul onto his shoulder.

Just before they reach the house, Swage stops the group and says they should try and prepare first. He first gives Kaz a drop of holy water and casts Protection from Evil and Good on his friend.

Dove pulls out her Demonomicon and uses the spell it contains to summon a devil that she names Waffles. The devil is a small pink creature resembling the fabled Jersey Devil.

Kaz is the first to step onto the porch, and as he does he blows the whistle to summon two spectral wolves and begins to rage.

Kaz sets down his maul, grasps the handles of both doors, and rips them off the hinges, he throws them both to the side and picks his maul back up. He enters a frenzied rage and holds his position just outside the door.

Dove and Swage both move closer to the front, waiting for their chance to attack if they see anything.

Kaz finds himself engulfed in magical darkness and is completely blinded. From inside the house, an energy beam of some kind is shot at him, but he shrugs it off with no ill effects.

Hadwin moves onto the porch, just outside the sphere of darkness that Kaz is in. He can see into the house throw a window but doesn’t see any enemies and decides to wait to attack.

Something moves into the darkness with Kaz and attempts to attack him, it misses twice, however.

Esha moves in behind Hadwin and holds her position as well.

Pele moves onto the porch near a window and breaks the glass out with her boomerang. She takes cover behind the wall and says, “Windows open!”

Kaz, having felt the air near him being disturbed thinks something tried to attack from within the darkness. He takes a reckless swing at the creature and lands a solid hit.

Wax, the wolf, jumps through the window Pele broke and stops just inside.

Wane, the other wolf, jumps through the unbroken window and takes minor damage.

Dove continues to watch cautiously from the back, holding her bow ready and tells Waffles to attack any enemies it sees.

Waffle enters the magical darkness with Kaz and attacks the creature within with a massive hit.

Waffles is hit by something deeper inside and takes a big hit from an icy beam.

Wax is struck with a second beam and is paralyzed.

Swage turns on his flashlight and can see farther into the house and spots a Nightmare Orb, he casts Sacred Flame at the orb but the orb shimmers in the air for an instant and the spell misses.

Hadwin moves closer to the window Pele broke and can see a second Nightmare Orb. He gathers magical power into his hand and shoots a Fire Bolt at it, scoring a hit.

The creature inside the darkness attacks Kaz for a second time, this time hitting him twice.

Esha also moves closer to the window and shoots and Eldritch Blast the orb, she misses, however.

Pele shoots a Magic Missile spell at the same orb and hits it.

Kaz recklessly attacks again and hits the creature, but his second attack misses entirely.

Wax is still paralyzed and unable to move.

Wane attempts to force his way through the closed door in the room he jumped into but is unsuccessful.

Dove moves closer to Swage and can see one of the orbs, she takes a shot and hits it.

Waffles moves closer to the orb that Dove and Swage have been attacking and deals a large amount of damage to it.

Back outside, Swage and Dove find themselves suddenly engulfed in a noxious yellow cloud.