Abyses 54: Will You Sign My Petition?

# TL;DR

* The party revealed the whole story, including The Contract, to Keeper Hegemole, Ylsa, and Chagae.
* The party convinced Keepers of Flame to exclude those speaking against Errde from their Zone of Truth, in exchange for giving the Keepers’ possession of The Contract.
* Gartokarr has not confirmed that he would speak against Errde.
* Ylsa will speak against Errde.
* Ylsa advised the Acquaintances to either sit out of the proceedings or convincingly disguise themselves as Duergar.
* Bernhol discovered that the method to reveal the hidden writing on the ESK contracts is applying water.
* The party sent Chilly and Beegee out onto the Darklake to wait out everything.
* The Stone Guard raid on the Mindflayer hive is set to take place in 6 hours.

# Savant’s Residence

* Benhol and Fergus returned to their rooms in what used to be the home of the Council of Savants.
* There they saw a large wooden crate in front of Ivis’ door marked “For: Swollen Eyes” inside was the Derro Ivis attempted to spare from the Stone Guard’s ire, beaten nearly to death. He was stripped bare and had an image of a crown crudely carved into his head.
* After testing various fumes and mixtures Bernhol was able to discern that the secret to revealing the invisible messages on the ESK’s assassination contracts was, frustratingly enough, mere water.
* Fergus read through the Gray Alchemist’s journal, which was mostly about his professional exploits as the ESK’s poisoner. However about halfway through the book shifts focus:
	+ Two damaged Mindflayer’s shuffled into the ESK’s lair, they were captured and nearly executed. But the Gray Alchemist managed to talk the ESK’s leader into using the Illithids to increase their psionic power.
	+ The larger of the two Illithids teaches the alchemist a new brew, the smaller trains the others how to manifest psionic duplicates.
	+ When the brew is complete they pour it into a basin and the larger Illithid descends into it, and his body dissolves leaving a brain.
	+ The ESK then begins allowing the remaining Illithid to warp their bodies to enhance their powers.
	+ The brain then produces tadpoles the ESK allows into their mind to grant even greater power.

* If made more digestible, the journal could prove to be an especially convincing piece of evidence.

# Head Keeper Gartokarr Xundorn (Hegemole)

* While Bernhol and Fergus were pouring over documents, quite literally in Bernhol’s case, Ivis and Rat King sought out the contact Hgraam listed as the most influential: Gartokarr Xundorn, leader of the Keepers of the Flame.
* It turns out that without Errde’s intervention, Gartokarr is a difficult man to get a hold of. Instead they spoke with Keeper Hegemole, one of the Keepers’ upper echelon who had helped the Acquaintances slay Thumberchud.
* The party explained their grievances with Errde, the ordeal with the Mindflayers, and used The Contract to assure him that convincing the Deep King to penalize his chief guard may be easier than expected. Stressing that they had no intention of using it to besmirch the Deep King.
* Hegemole explained that all the Keepers’ would love to rid themselves of Errde, but are wary of her retaliation should the attempt fail. And he is doubly wary of associating with a group showing off documents that threaten the Deep King himself.
* The party agreed to Hegemole’s request to hold onto the original version of The Contract at least until he could verify its authenticity and get Gartokarr’s opinion on how to proceed. He allowed the party to keep the copy Rat King made as a sign of trust.
* After laying eyes on the young Elder Brain and verifying the party’s story via Zone of Truth, Hegemole assured the party that anyone who stands against Errde in the coming meeting will not be subjected to Zone of Truth.
* He also said he would suggest to Gartokarr that he speak against Errde himself and force her into a Zone of Truth, but could not promise anything.

# Clan Head Ylsa Henstak

* The party explained everything to Ylsa, including The Contract. She had some difficulty digesting the situation but the evidence combined with her good relationship with the Acquaintances was enough to convince her.
* Ylsa was childhood friends with Errde, however after Errde became captain of the Stone Guard she began using her authority to gradually seize wealth and influence from the merchant clans, Clan Henstak included.
* Ylsa agreed to speak against Errde, as a witness of Errde’s gradual corruption and victim of her abuse of power. Creating the narrative that Errde was too focused on quenching her own thirst for power to notice a Mindflayer hive festering beneath her own nose.
* Ylsa advised the party to find out which Keeper would be overseeing the discussion and bribe them to only target Errde and her allies with the Zone of Truth, and was surprised to hear the Acquaintances had already done what they could to arrange for just that.
* Ylsa also advised the party to either not be present for the discussion or disguise themselves as Duergar. As if the Deep King learned of outsiders with as much influence as the Acquaintances were currently demonstrating he would likely have them imprisoned or worse.
* Fergus and Bernhol could pass for Duergar with the skilled application of a disguise kit, but Ivis and Rat King would require magical means. To assist she lent the party a Ring of Last Visage, which could disguise the user as whoever last used it. However it only lasts an hour so they would need a Duergar nearby to repeatedly activate the ring. Preferably one the Deep King would not recognize. Ylsa offered Chagae for this role, but only if the party could not find another Duergar.
* She also gave Rat King a psychic dampening cloth to drape over the jar he had the young Elder Brain in, echoing Hgraam’s warning that any attempt from the brain to harm or psionically influence the Deep King would be interpreted as high treason.
* Most importantly, Ylsa gave Rat King a jar of candies so unfathomably chewy that the entire jar may be just enough to keep Rat King’s mouth shut for the whole proceeding.

# Chilly

* The party regrouped at the Savant’s old residence and exchanged information. Then they headed to the Rabblerouser Arena to ask Oundrock Rabblerouser to speak against Errde as well. However, the Acquaintances were intercepted by Chilly and Beegee who requested to speak about the sensitive situation.
* Fearing Errde may have ears in the walls she gifted to the party, they decided to rent a room at the Bullette’s Burrow and speak there.
* Chilly explained that Errde implied she would harm him and Beegee if he shared information regarding the Mindflayer hive or refused to show up for the raid taking place mere hours from now.
* The imminent raid was an issue for the party as well, as Ivis suspected Errde would not overlook the timing of the Acquaintances' arrival and the destruction of the hive.
* Ivis proposed framing someone for the destruction of the hive but could not think of anyone who would be believable or deserving. Chilly suggested asking Turvy if he knew anyone from his time in the arena who would be vanglorious enough to take the credit willingly. Rat King suggested framing King Reven, as he is capable enough, seemingly has some presence in the tunnels, and doesn’t have nearly enough problems. Ivis also proposed fleeing or hiding until the big meeting, but no consensus was reached.
* The Acquaintances put a pin in the discussion to help Chilly escape the city, so that he may one day fulfill his promise of teaching Rat King how to use guns. The party decided the most expedient and surefire solution would be to have Chilly and Beegee wait on the Darklake for 3 days until after the trial had passed.
* Chilly bought a dinghy just large enough to fit himself and Beegee. And Rat King gave the pair more than enough deluxe rations to last the ordeal. They were able to make it past the city limits without issue thanks to Bernhol making Beegee invisible. The Darklake is neither safe nor pleasant, though for the time being it will do as the pair’s makeshift salvation.