15: The Missing Girl

Previous Session | Next Session

## Summary

### Promises Made

After the battle with the Night Guild, the party regroups in the powder room, where Pim has brought the stone. There, Cat drops the flashbang and tells the gang that the thief they’re dealing with is connected to the Celestine Collective, a group of scientists researching Ark with their headquarters in Lhoam. But Mujie recognizes the thief’s necklace as matching the one he took from the cave in the Wilds after the party killed senior Illumined members Callix and Claudia. At the church, Dabo told Mujie that the necklace likely belonged to Rowi, the older sister of a missing girl from Amerós Village that Mujie promised to find.

With the matching necklaces, the party begins to believe that their thief is actually Tai, but this just creates more questions than it answers: why is Tai working with the Collective? What does the Collective have to do with the Illumined? And not least, what does the Collective want to do with the Glaive?

Seeking some clarity, Cat examines the enchanted stone, and his fears are confirmed: it’s definitely thrumming with Ark, it’s definitely blessed by a Goddess, and he can definitely feel his own lifeforce react. The party puts the rest of their divine jewelry together and feels something similar. Mujie’s rings, Luca’s necklace, and Mahi’s earring all have something like an Ark “signature”—their own unique pulse—and so does the Moonstone, though its signal is weaker. Curious, Luca reaches out to Bartak with his own Ark, and feels a sort of calm wash over him.

Bosco, still set on finding the Glaive but feeling more powerless than ever, heads back for the Compound with the Commander in tow. He tells the party they’ll resume their search for the Glaive tomorrow, and the party turns in for a long rest (but not before texting Dabo goodnight).

### Promises Broken

The party’s slumber is interrupted by the radio and a message from Decco, the leader of the Fishhook Gang. He’s got a message for Bosco, which Mahi “translates” for the team: he’s got the Glaive, and he wants to make a deal. In the hours before dawn, the gang tails Bosco and some of his men to the Cannery on the south side of town. Choosing to watch from the sidelines, the party climbs some scaffolding and sneaks up to the roof. They crack open a skylight and listen as Bosco agrees to a deal he has no understanding of, but before the group can think too deeply about ghost ships, Pim hears a noise, and sees the thief escaping over the side of the building. Mujie follows, only slowing the thief down when he gets her attention with her sister’s necklace. Enraged, she demands to know how he got it, and enters something of a standoff with Mujie. But when Luca lets slip that the party killed Callix, things start going sideways. Tai’s motivations—get the Glaive, prove her worth to the Collective, and eradicate every last member of the Illumined—become clear, but so do her clouded morals. Seeing that she’s itching to get away, Cat casts Hold Person on her so that Bran can grapple her and keep her from running, and in a bid for privacy, Cat also brings the party up into his Rope Trick room. The gang tries their best to reason with her, but she’s not hearing it, and when they remove her mask, they see her for what she is: a hurt young elf fixating on her failures. Tired of adults telling her they know better, she manages to slip her hand into her pocket, and somehow disappears with a crackle of Ark.

### I Not Yo' Braddah, Cuz

The party is frustrated at not being able to get through to Tai, but they press on with their current problems: getting the Glaive and seeing Bosco’s deal through. With a little creativity, Cat seems to appeal to Decco and the Fishhook Gang’s sensibilities by claiming they’ve got the strength and support to rule without the Glaive, and he promises to think about it while the party sets off to take care of their ghost ship problem.

Molucca leads them south to Kupono Village, a modest fishing town right off the beach. The party easily spots their ghost ship anchored on the horizon in the middle of a fogbank. With a storm brewing in the heavy black clouds overhead, Molucca paddles the gang out to the ship, and watches on as they climb up to the deck.

Tira, first on deck, finds herself faced with a crew of undead pirates. The rest of the party squares up for their first encounter with risen foes, and Mujie and Luca rise to the occasion, finding the perfect moment for dealing radiant damage and tearing through the undead crew with ease.

## Quotes

### *IT'S LIKE TEXTING YOUR DAD:*

> “Mr. Eton: Found history book. Will send posthaste.”
>
>

*—Dabo*

### *TURNS OUT IT REALLY* WASN'T *IMPORTANT:*

> “Oh, I got this. I spent some winters in the South Sea growing up. He said “hey Bosco, it’s your boy Decco. We have stolen the enchanted Glaive from the thief and we now possess it. Come quickly to the Cannery to make a deal. Don’t—Uh, there was something else, but it’s probably not important...”
>
>

*—Mahi, interpreting Decco*

### *SMELLS LIKE TEEN ANGST:*

> “How *dare* you, that was *my* kill!!”
>
>

> “When the moon aligns with the constellation Mriga, the Glaive grants wishes. It’s an old legend, but it’s true, it *has* to be.”
>
>

> “If I bring them the Glaive, I can prove to them that I’m strong enough. And they said they’d let me have the wish.”
>
>

*—Tai*