Session0009

Episode 0009 - What's A Family?
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**Setting:**

The Emerald Highlands - Avallon - April 3rd-5th, 211 AW
**Synopsis:**

* The party travels through the Emerald Highlands, discovering a ruin filled with diseased undead, and the wreckage of an ancient airship, before eventually arriving in the city of Avallon.
* In Avallon, the party restocks on travel supplies, and shops for magic items at the local adventuring guilds.
* The party finds the estate of the deceased Natalie Shaw - now a historic site of interest in the city. Odell arrange for a tour of the estate with a Weavers Conclave escort.
* Harper Wood takes the party to the Sungarden Inn, where his friend Pravi Redroot tells them what she knows about the Free Arcanists Lodge.
* On advice from Pravi Redroot, the party visits the city's orphanage to speak with its matron, Yesora Lune, about Natalie Shaw. They also learn some of the city's history with regards to the Pale Death, and the apparent origin of Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel.
* While exploring Avallon, Rye has several visions from his past life, including his first meeting with Israphel and Passeri.
* The following morning, Odell tours the estate of Natalie Shaw, accompanied by an escort from the Weavers Conclave, where he finds the remnants of her studies in conjuration magic.
* Meanwhile, Jack and a few other members of the party visit the orphanage once again, where Jack reveals that he has been transporting a young gnoll named Pepper, and asks Yesora Lune to care for him for the day.

## April 3rd

After closing the elemental nexus, the party temporarily repairs the damaged bridge, with the aid of Jack's elemental magic, and continues their journey through the Emerald Highlands towards Avallon.

In the evening, the party reaches an ancient ruin of a holy site, depicting the holy symbol of Aedra. As they begin investigating the site, undead humanoids adorned with the holy symbols of many different gods rise and attack. The party battles and defeats the undead.

Studying the bodies of the undead, the party deduces that they were killed centuries ago, and their corpses have subsequently been infected with some sort of disease that they are carrying. Odell speculates that they likely rose to protect the holy site, and explains that during the Gods' War, holy sites of Aedra were used as meeting places for peace talks amongst followers of different gods.

The party makes camp near the ruins, and rests for the evening.

On first watch, a tabby cat approaches the camp. Gragnok names the cat Yuengling and tends to it, and it spends the rest of the evening with the party at their camp.

While sleeping, XVIII has dreams of fleeting imagery of the Emerald Highlands, and broken fragments of what seem to be memories. In these dreams, he hears a conversation between two people named Freddie and Daisy, who discuss the fate of their sick baby. The conversation comes to him in broken segments, but includes the following pieces of dialogue.

> Daisy:"My only baby... our only baby. You can't be considering this, Freddie."
>
>

> Daisy:"If we do this... what kind of monsters are we?."
>
>

> Freddie:"And if we don't... what then? We all starve. This money could save the farm, Daisy. Save us. You heard what the doctor said, there's no hope for the baby. But there still is for us."
>
>

In another fragment of a conversation, he hears Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel talking to Freddie and Daisy, telling them that their child will not survive more than a few weeks. In another segment of the dream, he sees a carriage approaching a castle in the foothills of a mountain range.

After these dreams, XVIII and Rye spend their watch discussing family.

## April 4th

In the morning, Rye presents Odell with a written record of all of the visions he has had of his apparent past life, in hopes of getting Odell's help to arrange them chronologically.

The party discusses what to do about Yuengling, the tabby cat that approached the camp the night before, which still remains with them. Several party members express concern about the oddity of a well-groomed, seemingly domesticated cat in the middle of the wilderness, and they speculate that it might be magical in nature. Eventually, using some divination magic, they discern that Yuengling has been awakened by an *awaken* spell - although it has not spoken to them, and seems to act as a normal cat. After some trial and error, Patches deduces that Yuengling speaks undercommon. He convinces Yuengling to talk to him briefly, and Yuengling explains that it prefers not to talk because people tend to be spooked by such behavior. When asked, Yuengling says that it doesn't know how old it is, where it's from, or how long it has been awakened.

After some discussion, the party agrees to bring Yuengling along with them, and they continue their journey toward Avallon. Around midday, they find the ancient wreckage of a crashed airship, with a colossal sword buried underneath it. As they approach to investigate the crash site, lingering Primordial Chaos in the area forms creatures of living magic, which attack. The party defeats them, resulting in Material Chaos, which they collect.

Searching the crash site, they recover some currency, as well as a magic item that was in the possession of a skeletal corpse within the ship. Odell speculates that the sword was likely being transported for the construction of a titan or colossus, like the Imlaq Colossus. He guesses that it was probably constructed in Mimrinoth. Before the party leaves the crash site, Rye collects the skull of the deceased crew member.

Continuing their journey toward Avallon, the party passes by a farmstead surrounded by ghostly white crops, seemingly plagued by the Pale Death.

Around sundown, the party nears Avallon. As they approach, Rye has a vision of an apparent memory from his past life, wherein he is approaching the city as some sort of festivity is underway. He sees airships and an avatar of Pelor in the air above the city, and notes that the city is surrounded by fortifications and soldiers that are not there in present day. As he approaches the city, he produces a pamphlet advertising a performance by Passeri for the royal wedding.

When this vision ends, Rye tells the party what he saw. He also performs the Psalm of Awakening, so that the party will not need to sleep, and can spend the night exploring the city.

As they approach the city, Harper Wood reminds the party that he was attacked by a group of Weavers Conclave enforcers in Avallon, and advises them that they should keep their magic hidden. He offers to take them to the Sungarden Inn, an inn operated by his friend, Pravi Redroot, who he assures the party can be trusted. He also says that the city's orphanage, run by a matron named Yesora Lune, is a safe place to stay discretely, as Yesora will take in anyone in need. After some discussion, the party stores most of their magic items in Jack's trunk so that they won't be detected, wishing to avoid having to interface with the Weavers Conclave to register their magic items.

With their magic items hidden, the party arrives in Avallon. Within the city, they head towards the Pathfinders Alliance, an adventuring guild where they hope to buy and sell magic items. On their way, they pass by a large gated estate, with a placard outside identifying it as a historic site - the estate of Natalie Shaw. Jack recognizes marking in thieves cant which indicate that Shaw was a respected and benevolent person, and her estate shouldn't be robbed from or vandalized. After some discussion, with a few members of the party wishing to break in to the estate despite the markings, the party ultimately decides to try to get an approved tour of the estate instead, and they continue on to the Pathfinders Alliance. Before departing, Rye writes a note and slips it underneath the door of the estate.

En route to the Pathfinders Alliance, Odell visits a post office and sends mail to the College of Mimrinoth.

At the Pathfinders Alliance, the party sells some magic items from their travels, and buys a bag of holding. They also shop for magic items at another adventuring guild, Rowan House, but they don't find anything of interest that they can afford. When asked about any money-making opportunities in the area, the proprietor of Rowan House says that a large bounty has been issued for the capture of Artoni Nightwind, a bandit captain whose keep is located somewhere between Avallon and Paxeter.

With their business concluded at the adventuring guilds, the party goes to Sungarden Inn to meet with Pravi Redroot and secure lodging. When they arrive at the inn, Rye has another apparent vision from his past. In this vision, he and Israphel discuss the upcoming war between Pelor and Asmodeus, and its effect on their relationship. Israphel expresses the futility of their relationship given that they are on opposite sides of the war, and the two ultimately part, with Israphel saying that he hopes not to see Louche again until after the war.

At the inn, Pravi Redroot welcomes Harper Wood, and asks what he is doing back in Avallon. Harper briefly explains what has happened, and says that he'll be heading to Paxeter in search of the Free Arcanists Lodge next, at Pravi's advice. When asked, Pravi explains that her sister is Binti Redroot - the individual from the Free Arcanists Lodge who hired Jack to smuggle the lorekeeper orb. Once Harper assures Pravi that the party is trustworthy, she tells them that in order to find the Free Arcanists Lodge, they should go to Paxeter, look for Snake Eyes, and say "volo noscere" - which a few party members recognize as ancient draconic for "I wish to know." According to Pravi, this is all of the information that she has about the Lodge, as Binti has not told her anything else for her own protection.

The party asks Pravi Redroot what she knows about Natalie Shaw. Pravi doesn't know much about her, other than that she was a famous and powerful mage who lived in Avallon and died about ten years ago. She says that she remembers Natalie as a kind person, but didn't know her well or know much about her. She says that Yesora Lune, the matron of the orphanage, was good friends with Natalie, and could probably tell them more.

After the party finds their rooms, Rye privately tells Odell about his vision, and asks for Odell's opinion on why his past life would have been hidden from him by Israphel and the archdevils. Odell doesn't have much insight on the situation.

After the party has settled in, Odell goes to the local Weavers Conclave headquarters, saying that he needs to try to get a message to Grenfi Nackle - one of the nine members of the Conclave - about the remains of Halimath Wasanthi. At the Conclave, he asks about getting a message to Nackle. The staff at the headquarters say that they don't have a way to get a message to her magically, as none of them have personally met her. Odell also asks for a tour of the estate of Natalie Shaw, saying that he is performing research for the College of Mimrinoth. The Conclave agrees to give him an escorted tour, and tells him to come back in the morning.

Afterwards, Jack, Odell, Malkoth, and XVIII go the orphanage to meet with Yesora Lune. At the orphanage, Malkoth introduces himself as the grandson of Natalie Shaw. Yesora seems pleasantly surprised to meet him, saying she wasn't aware that Lane - Natalie's son - had a child. She explains that Lane was a troubled boy and a violent bully. Natalie tried her best to raise him well, but he ran away from home as a young boy. According to Yesora, Natalie spent her last years trying to find a way to reconnect with Lane, and working on some sort of magical inheritance for him. Malkoth briefly explains his own relationship with Lane.

Yesora Lune asks XVIII if they are sick, and remarks that they look like someone afflicted with the Pale Death, although she never heard of any babies surviving that disease and growing to be adults. She explains that during the plague years, many magical and medical techniques were attempted to treat and cure the Pale Death, but none were ever successful.

The party asks Yesora Lune if she knew a necromancer named Johann Conrad Dippel. She remembers Dippel, but not as a necromancer; rather, as a young doctor in Avallon during the plague years. According to Yesora, Dippel tried to find a way to cure the Pale Death, but was never successful. She characterizes him in positive terms, describing him as a kind man who always tried to help the sick children, and revealing that he lost a child of his own to the plague. She also reveals that Dippel adopted several sick children from her orphanage during those years, taking them into his charge in hopes of finding a cure for their disease - though she never heard of him successfully curing any of them. The party speculates that XVIII may have been one such child, and asks to see records of Dippel's adoptions.

Yesora Lune provides the party with records of Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel's adoptions from her orphanage. The records show Dippel adopting 12 children over the course of the plague years, all of whom were given names by Yesora. Yesora also mentions that Dippel would travel to the farmlands in the outskirts of the highlands and try to help people there as well.

XVIII notes that the racial makeup of the adoptees matches what they recall from their time in Dippel's service; in particular, the records show the adoption of one aarakocra named Keelan, and XVIII recalls only ever working with one aarakocra, whom they remember as XV. XVIII also notes that there are fewer khenra adopted from the orphanage than he remembers working with. He does not mention these recollections to the rest of the party.

When they are finished speaking with Yesora Lune, Jack makes a sizeable donation to the orphanage, and the party returns to the inn.

Meanwhile, Rye visits a shrine to the Aegis Deities, where he makes offerings to all 12 gods. He attempts to speak with Israphel at a shrine to Pelor, asking him to talk to him or give him a sign. He has another apparent vision from his past life, wherein he is sitting in a crowded church, listening to Passeri perform a magical song. After the performance, he and Israphel - only a stranger sitting near him at the time - remark that they wish they could play as well as Passeri. At Louche's insistence, the two ask Passeri to take them on as students. Passeri - who comes across somewhat eccentric and dumfounded by their request - ultimately agrees.

## April 5th

In the morning, Odell returns to the Weavers Conclave headquarters to inquire about his tour of Natalie Shaw's estate. The rest of the party remains behind to attend to other business, suspecting that the tour will require them to show licenses to practice magic.

As anticipated, Odell is escorted to the estate by a Conclave magic enforcer, who informs him that he will be monitoring his activity with a *detect magic* spell. Along the way, the enforcer asks what Odell has come to research. Odell says that he has recently met the grandson of Natalie Shaw, and is researching his heritage.

Outside of the estate, Odell finds Natalie Shaw's burial place, with a headstone that gives her name and dates of life, and an inscription that reads "scio quia morti non est finis," ancient draconic for "I know that death is not the end."

When Odell and the enforcer enter the estate, they find the note that Rye slid under the door the previous night. The enforcer reads the note, which says it's from Natalie's "baby daddy" and asks if Natalie is really dead. The enforcer presumes it to be some sort of meaningless prank, and gives the note to Odell.

Within the estate, Odell searches for any clues regarding Malkoth's magic abilities, or other items of interest. He finds that the estate seems to have not been disturbed since Natalie's death. Save for occasional cleanings and maintenance, everything seems to have been left as it was when she died. On the second floor of the estate, he finds a locked door, and asks the escort to open it. The escort says that he is not authorized to unlock any doors or disturb anything, as the site is supposed to be preserved for historical reasons and left as it was when Shaw died. When asked, he says that he does not know what's behind the door, and also admits that no one has come to look through the estate in a long time. Odell also asks the enforcer if he has a way of contacting Grenfi Nackle, but the enforcer says he doesn't.

On the estate's top floor, Odell finds a small office, which seems to be where Natalie scribed spell scrolls. On display in this office, he finds a painting depicting Natalie as a young woman, alongside the other three members of her adventuring party when she was younger: Immanuel Belder, Elrah Saevel, and Ruby Rainsong. Near the painting, he finds a decorative display of three items: a smooth round rock, a kalimba, and a sapphire necklace.

Elsewhere, Odell finds Natalie's library. Searching through her collection of books, he finds texts about the Outer Planes, the city of Sigil in the Outlands, conjuration magic, planar travel, the Star Road, the Divine Gate, and the Hells. On a desk in the library, he finds incomplete notes about imbuing conjuration magic with infernal aspects, and Natalie's attempts to create a tuning fork for the *plane shift* spell, attuned to the Outlands. He also finds incomplete schematics for a device called a Material Resonator, written by someone named Basel Anselmo. Near these schematics, he finds a diagram of Malkoth's amulet, along with notes indicating that the amulet could be used as a key to the Resonator.

After finishing his investigation of Natalie Shaw's estate, Odell departs, and goes to the library to do further research on Natalie. The information that he finds at the library corroborates what the party has learned about her so far.

Meanwhile, back at the inn, Rye expresses an interest in getting a book of imperial law, so that he can try to form a legal defense for Malkoth. Frog and Buttonworth go to Fort Avallon, where they briefly meet with Lady Arlette Ivoire, the Lady of Avallon, and acquire a volume of legal texts for Rye. Afterwards, Frog goes shopping for textiles and alcohol. At Jack's behest, he also purchases toys and books to donate to the orphanage.

Afterwards, Jack, Frog, XVIII, and Rye return to the orphanage. Jack gives the toys and books to Yesora Lune as a donation. In return, he asks Yesora for her discretion, insisting that the donations did not come from him, and that she never met him at all. Yesora agrees. Jack also asks Yesora if she could take in another child for the day, to relax and play with the other children. Yesora agrees, and Jack ends his concentration on an *invisibility* spell. A young gnoll child appears nearby, seemingly having been protected by invisibility. The child introduces himself as Pepper. He briefly greets the other party members, saying that he's been watching their adventures, before running off to play.

When asked, Jack explains that he has been keeping Pepper a secret for his own safety. He doesn't say much else about the situation, promising that he'll explain more later. The other party members don't press the issue further, agreeing to just let Pepper have his fun for the day. Yesora asks Jack if Pepper is his child, but he says that he is not. He says that Pepper's mother is not around any more, and Yesora commends him for taking care of Pepper.

Rye asks Yesora Lune a few questions about Natalie Shaw and her son Lane, and Yesora confirms what the party learned from her the previous night. She also divulges that there was an incident wherein another child died at Lane's hands, seemingly as an accident. Rye also asks if Yesora knows anything about Lane's father. Yesora says that Natalie never spoke of him.