Session 3

> "So a frog, a druid, and a hamster all walk into a pond....."
>
>

## A Kazko Quandary

The party began the session in the Kodai Library of Tengoku, having shelved temporarily their desire to seek out the Cinder Brigade to investigate alternative, and hopefully less treacherous, missions. Receiving a list of pressing tasks from the guild, the group eventually settled on taking a triplet of tasks:

1) The escort of Archivist Ayen Ivran to the town of Piscaris.

2) The acquisition of samples for the Kodai Library of the strange fish that have been caught in the waters near Piscaris in recent months

3) The investigation of a tower called Marcel's Retreat in the area near Piscaris.

The party met with Ayen Ivran, and eventually decided that transit by boat would be optimal, allowing them to arrive in Piscaris in two days. Gorbit managed to charter a boat from a fellow Crekara farmer and founder of the Pondskipper clan, Nysony Pondskipper. During their time loading aboard the ship the party saw a covered crate being unloaded from the ship, and as they departed a man in a rebreather flanked by members of the Cinder Brigade approached the crew left behind, apparently seeking to purchase the cloaked crate.

## Tadpoles for Tadpole

En route to Piscaris the party took part in their myriad past times, with Illumi attempting to thieve from Nysony's quarter as Griblet took to deep sea fishing. Gorbit attempted to practice his calligraphy, failing in the process, while Astrid bemoaned not even being able to do that.

The boat eventually made it's approach on the shore of Piscaris, and it was during this approach that Griblet felt a strange tugging on his line. Almost effortlessly reeling in the line, he discovered the creature accosting his line to be a luminescent, fanged tadpole creature. It attempted to attack his face, but its struggling was ultimately halted by Gorbit capturing it in a vial of ink.

## Everyone Do the Alignment Shuffle!

Docking in port, the party had a decision to make with regards to its first destination. Gorbit wished to visit a bar to sample the local brews and ideally gather some information on their tasks. Testing out some planer, but cheaper brews, the party eventually managed to redirect the conversation with the bartender to the subject of the strange fish. During this discussion Griblit and Gorbit both partook in a mug of ale fit for the giant Grippli Gorbit, and thus the size of Griblet. Griblet failed to resist the potent brew, passing out from the him-sized brew. Gorbit retrieved his friend, placing him in his bag for later, and soberer, retrieval.

The bartender explained that if the town had an expert on the matter it would have to be Buck, of Buck's Exotic Fish, but Elder Nooht Bran would also likely have insight. Teasing the forces that be with a party split, the group decided they should instead stick together, heading as a group to Buck's.

The party discovered that Buck was more than a tad eccentric, but largely interested in the purchase of exotic fish. The conversation swung to the purchase of Gribblet, which Gorbit humored to the distaste of his party. After also selling off the tadpole Gribblit had acquired, Illumi became irate, lashing out at Gorbit and ultimately knocking him unconscious.

Everyone was ok with that.

Recovering from his inebriation, Gribblit then began to discuss the sale of Gorbit, which all members of the party agreed to as being an acceptable idea but ultimately decided against. The conversation swung back around to the strange fish appearing in the town, which prompted Buck to introduce the party to a strange, three eyed eel he had had sold to him several months back.

At the end of all of this, the total body count on Alignments resembled

Gorbit: Lawful Good to Neutral Good

Illumi: Neutral to Chaotic Neutral

Gribblet: Lawful Good to Neutral Good

Astrid: Largely unaffected, the closest thing to a bystander in all of this

## Elder Bran: Master Baiter

The party proceeded to the house of the villages elder, Nooht Bran. Knocking on his door, the party was greeted by a woman who introduced herself as Fee, who notified to the Elder to their arrival before proceeding back to her work. Stepping into the mayor's hall, Gribblit remarked on the extremely impressive array of fishing trophies hung throughout the hall. Elder Bran summoned the party to his office, explaining that he was not able to provide much more insight into the fish than had already been provided to them. Nooht did know, however, that the man who had caught the three-eyed eel the party had acquired was a friend of his by the name Eddard Argent, who had not been seen in town since taking his boat out to Cracked Rock about a mile offshore.

## "What Did I NOT Learn to Do in the Forest?"

The party took Elder Bran's boat out to the Cracked Rock, experiencing along the way highly inclement wind and current that threatened to dash them against the island. Astrid, calling upon his previous experience in the forest to expertly pilot the boat away from the island (somehow).

The party circled the island, eventually encountering a cove that they proceeded to explore. Inside the cove they found the wrecked remains of a canoe. Searching throughout the cove, the party managed to find the remains of a campsite, a set of fish drying upon a fishing line, and a strange locked tackle box coupled to an intricately carved fishing rod.

Illumi managed to find, deeper within the cave, a blocked off passage which he and Gorbit slowly unearthed. Illumi proceeded to explore the cavern, coming to face with the corpse of a Beholder that appeared to have been locked in a struggle with a necromancer. As Illumi and Gorbit inspected this scene, Astrid made contact with another kind of dead, in the form of the Ghost of Eddard Argent.

Argent was clearly distressed, requesting of Gribblit and Astrid that they assist him in escaping the island and finding his precious favored fishing lure. Gribblit consented, but first elected to inspect the scene before Illumi and Gorbit. The group then discovered that a passage lead deeper into the cave from this battlefield, ending in an underground lake. Gribblit attempted to fish from this lake, pulling up briefly a strange, eel-like creature that tethered itself to Eddard's glowing tackle.

## Battle Against an Unknowable Foe

His curiosity overwhelming his sense, Gorbit lept into the subterranean lake, hitting the water with a splash that stripped the air from his lungs and prevented him from breathing anything but the waters of the lake. The party attempted to leap to his aid, attempting to retrieve the massive Grippli as a shadow in the lake crept towards him, calling out to him in the tongue of the deep.

The strange beast made quick work of Gorbit despite the efforts of his friends, and as the party discussed the abandonment of their friend to his fate a strange power came over Astrid, compelling him to join the ranks of the lake's shadow.

Despite the best efforts of Illumi and Gribblit, the monster managed to pull Astrid to the edge of the lake as he lept into the abyss--to the horror of Gribblit.

## Memories (And Scars)

Gribblit and Illumi returned to town, meeting with an Elder Bran who had been waiting for them on the docks. After explaining the situation to him inside his office, Nooht offered the pair a generous reward and revealed himself to be Thoon, a seemingly benevolent mindflayer. He told the duo that he would be forced to evacuate the town if the Aboleth was able to breach the ward he had set up over the village, requesting of them that they call upon the aid of the Knights of the Crow, a group of monster hunters led by a man known only as Vesper.

## Hunter and Hunted

The pair proceeded to the camp of the Crows, meeting with a man who demanded to know why they trespassed. After Illumi explained the situation they were led to the tent of Vesper, a raven haired man with a venomous tongue. Listening to their story, he appealed to their sense of vengeance. His appeal fell on deaf ears for Illumi, but struck a chord to Gorbit. He told Gorbit of the Hunter's Bane, an elixir that would cause him immeasurable pain, but also grant him the strength to exact vengeance. Gribblit quaffed the elixir, fainting shortly thereafter.

Vesper explained that Gorbit's transformation would take the span of a few days, and that Illumi had no real reason to linger in the camp, prompting him to wander off into the forest in pursuit of Marcel's Tower.

## They're Bureaucrats, I Don't Respect Them

Outside of Marcel's Tower Illumi encountered a strange sight, hundreds of brass spheres shelling the tower as their attacks were repelled. Getting no information from the assailants, Illumi eventually encountered a two tiered brass box that appeared to be ordering the attacks. Struggling to make contact with the creature, Illumi eventually learned that the creature was controlled by a Tridrone, finding one such drone patrolling the tower and giving orders to the brass cubes, Duodrones.

The Tridrone cheerfully sent Illumi off in the direction of a Quadrone, a militaristic brass cube that quickly forwarded him to a Pentadrone #5, a nihilistic politician who explained that he had tried everything short of teleportation in his efforts to breach the tower.

Some negotiating later, Illumi left the tower with a monodrone, one of the seemingly mindless brass spheres, in tow, returning to the camp.

## Next Time?

Vesper, pacts, and vengeance are all coming soon!