C3 Session 8

Synopsis

## Summary

The course of the events of the evening are planned to be four hours, from people arriving to people leaving. Dorean, a former soldier, is in her element, keeping the peace and keeping an eye out for potential problems. Invicta, escorted by Gilbur and his dogs, approaches Dorean. She didn't expect Dorean to be associated with the Fourth Act. She and Gilbur had decided to go together, having Noticed each other now. Eck is similarly in their element, outside amongst a large amount of people. The triplets have decided that Eck is their leader and are following them around everywhere. Eck has directed them to assist by creating a line of kobolds standing guard. A few children decided that this seemed fun and joined the row.

The show itself is a dramatic retelling of the very historic events of the time the raptor-mounted, warlike clan known as the Muppets assaulted a magical castle. Ward recognizes this to be from the early chapters of the semi-historic novels Star Walk. As the play progresses, Luna and Ward notice a letter being slipped mysteriously into Ward's pocket, vanishing skillfully into the night. The note is crudely written, as though written on someone's lap before being given to him. "I'm in town for something unrelated. Thought I'd stop to see the show. Didn't realize you worked here. I'll leave you alone. –E" Ward begins looking for Elliard, but is unable to locate him.

Other than Dorean intimidating the crap out of a couple of drunks who nearly fought, the night went by without incident. After their work was done, Luna questioned Ward about the note, having noticed that it was a smaller person who had done it. Ward attempts to brush it off as nothing, but she insists. Not letting up, the two head into town in search of Elliard.

Helion and Versilla retrieve the triplets. Versilla tells Eck that if they're near the Platinum Disc in the near future, she expects that they'll be there for a while in the future. Dorean attempts to see Invicta off without making a fool of herself. Invicta gives her a lingering touch before departing. Mira, very proud of Dorean's impressive intimidation earlier, expresses that pride as Invicta leaves. The message is misunderstood, but Dorean is encouraged nonetheless.

Luna, Ward, and the Hat Man head into town. The Hat Man observes that this is a terrible idea, to which Ward can only respond with a withering glance. When questioned what his plan is, Ward disguises his answer as explaining it to Luna. He is hoping that Elliard can give him information about where Commander Falkan is, or whether he is still working for him at all. They manage to get a lead to the Bottom Barrel Tavern. It is a seedy, hidden spot. Ward joins Elliard at the bar, and the two chat. Elliard expresses some regret over having stabbed Ward's hand; Ward attempts to leverage that regret for information. Elliard is no longer working in the same kind of work, no longer able to handle the use of human resources, so got a transfer; you can't just leave the organization. He is unaware of where Falkan is, despite having looked himself. Falkan is from north of the [barovia] lands; he isn't there often, though, so that information is only minimally useful. Elliard twists a ring on his finger, creating a bubble of silence around them. He explains that he is in charge of overseeing the transportation of supplies to Kitheroc; he isn't even directly involved in the delivery itself. Nobody anywhere is fully aware of the full plan; nobody even knows the name of the organization, so he simply refers to them as Shady Motherfuckers. The two part amicably. Ward fills Luna in on what he learned as they return to the ship. The decide to wait to tell Mira what they learned until they actually head to Kitheroc.

Eck is falling, having tumbled into a hidden crevice on the slopes of the dormant volcano he was scouting. They smack into a tree root on the way down, wind knocked out of them, and continues to fall into the cavern below where they land in a pool of ice cold water. The ripples in the water glows, a bio-luminescent algae activated by the movements. As they climb out, they find the front of a building, unlike the design of other structures on the island. The walls of the cavern seem to be cooled lava flow, so this building was likely buried by the volcano. Intrigued, Eck begins to explore the site. Something stirs as they enter, orbs of of light illuminating the hallway which leads to a great round chamber. A single probably-dwarvish skeleton sits in the center of the room, likely one of the people who built the temple. However, the mural on the walls of the room, the section of the structure that survived the volcano, does not depict dwarves. It instead depicts a kobold in a sort of martial arts pose, one palm raised to the sky, the other aimed at the ground. Behind the kobold is a red dragon whose flight mimics the pose. The other images seem to be part of a sequence of poses, all leading to a final image of a dragon superimposed over the kobold. Eck, excited by this discovery, begins to mimic the poses. After a dozen rounds, there is a rumble and the skeleton's eyes begin to glow with a blue light like from the halls and asks, "Young one, would you follow the way?" Eck enthusiastically agrees. The skeleton observes that is had been a long time since anyone had been there, and even longer since someone had shown such enthusiasm. His master, Schvarogk, had once shown such enthusiasm and had mastered the techniques and became a dragon. Eck is delighted and wishes to follow in this path. Each of the disciples created a temple at which Eck might study to learn the secrets of their arts and memories of Schvarogk. The skeleton teaches Eck meditation, which causes a power flow from the skeleton into Eck. The memory of mastering the movements on the walls flow into their mind. The skeleton and roof are obliterated as Eck is enveloped in light and propelled into the sky. Eck has wings long enough to land on the ground, dissipating into motes of blue light once unneeded. They sprint off in search of home to tell Snowcap.

The next day, Ward writes a letter to Victor Zarius along with the corpsewillow heart. He spends the rest of the day studying Doreans mysterious potions in Dorean's room. Vera accidentally bullies Dorean into asking Invicta out to lunch. Invicta arrives home from a shopping trip as Dorean is on her porch. They bring the groceries in together, and, once inside, Dorean asks if she wants to get lunch together. She agrees, and the two head to her favorite restaurant, a small cafe looking over the river. Invicta questions Dorean about her not removing her helmet and observes that Dorean is a nice person and is glad to have met her. Invicta has an article coming out soon that she is pleased with. The rest of their afternoon is pleasant. Vera spends the rest of her afternoon being accosted by Alibi and Sapphire as they destress before the next performance. Mira and Eck spend their afternoon practicing throwing Eck.

Ward discovers that the potion Dorean found doesn't do anything necessarily, though there is a chance that drinking them might do something. It seems to be a partial product, the base for some other potion. When Dorean returns, he requests that she show him wear she found them. He is concerned that she might have taken the supplies from Elliard and wants to check on that. The people who worked for the Shady Motherfuckers wore no symbols, so the logo on the crates mean nothing to him. They then set off to the alley to investigate the surrounding area. He doesn't find anything particularly interesting around the area, but does find a key on the body that was there. The alley is located between a warehouse and a meat-packing facility. The warehouse seems to be a simple shipping facility. Dorean remembers the other half of the posting that she had found on the body as well. The mystery becomes more mysterious, and with no answers in sight, the pair returns to the ship so they aren't late for work.

Aloten comes to the show the second night, bringing along the healing potions she had promised them. A pair of pickpockets try to work the crowd, but Eck, Mira, and Vera deal with them with a lack of subtlety. The next day, Dorean, Luna, Eck, and Mira spend most of the day sparring and training, Vera chills with the cast, and Ward, having spent the night working on his own work, sleeps most of the day. On the final night, Hobbs and Vinter show up, greeting Dorean, once again surprised that she's working there. Invicta makes a second appearance, also greeting Dorean; she is doing a review of the play this time. Telectus the doomsayer also makes an appearance.

Ward and Vera spy, in the far distance, a pinprick of light. Two lines part from it along the ground. A Shard Incursion is happening. They race to the stage and alert everyone, which starts the immediate and understandable panic. Everyone is able to get out of the way fast enough, as well as the airship, though part of the stage was clipped. Something within, sliced by the shard, writhes. Mira recognizes the creature, a deep space star spawn. Normally the size of an asteroid, this is only a section of it. Green blood pours out through the walls, tentacles reaching out. The bit of creature here is sentient and upset. Mira is very concerned about this.

## NPCs

### Introduced

* Elliard Methuss
* Old Man's wife

### Returning

* Invicta
* Gilbur
* Clyde
* Bunker
* Veresilla
* Helion
* The Triplets
* Cecily Cardew
* Aloten
* Melisent
* Old Man
* Hobbs
* Vinter

### Mentioned

* Commander Falkan
* Stephen
* Schvarogk
* Snowcap

## Items

* Corpsewillow Heart (sent to Victor Zarius by Ward)
* Minor healing potions (6, payment from Aloten)
* Regular healing potions (3, payment from Aloten)
* Antidotes (2, payment from Aloten)

 One-Shot C3 Sessions
Someshot 1 • Someshot 2 • Someshot 3 • Someshot 4 • Someshot 5
Goblin Birthday