Episode 55

Seipora makes waffles the following morning. Anthos gathers everyone together and locks the doors to the common room. He steps up to guide the conversation, reminding the party that Lily quit, that Marisol was right about how they’ve been treating her. He asks why K and Seipora decided to make Lily the group leader? Seipora says because Lily was the only one in the group that had her shit together. Seipora did not want to be the leader. K says he was just going with the flow of things; Lily is strong, shit happens, and none of the others were up to the task. Anthos trusts her to make good decisions. Press was right, Lily hasn’t been given a fair chance.

Anthos suggests that Lily should continue to be the leader of the group. “She deserves a fair chance, the least we can do is give her our respect”. Lily is still hesitant to take up the position. She says it’s hard to understand what the party really desires since no one wants to hurt her feelings. If she stays as the leader, how is everyone going to make sure that they don’t fall into old habits? Anthos acknowledges his faults. He should have helped her, but he didn’t. She appreciates that he recognizes his flaws and glad that he is willing to change. The issues that they are having within the party may be caused by the fact that everyone has their own priorities. This is a concern, being that it would be difficult for one person to reign everyone in. Anthos agrees, but says that they’ve made progress.

Press had given everyone a wake up call. He pledges to support Lily and her decisions if she continues to be the leader. Asks if she will have them. She accepts, but only if everyone agrees to have her. She does not expect everyone to ignore their personal problems. “Do not pledge to me, please. It’s not realistic or fair”. Marisol tries to make a quip but is shot down by K, who tells her to shut up. Lily says that if anyone has a problem with her leadership, they should speak to her in private. It’s not constructive to talk bad about her in front of everyone. They should have faith in her, their concerns are important. People come first before anything. If everyone can agree to her rules, she will give it one more shot. One more. If they fall back into their old habits she will once again step down.

K speaks up. He says that he hates being considered a problem. Lily tells K that she loves him, but she doesn’t like how he sees them as enemies. Not just him, sometimes the others as well. She doesn’t like how he treats them as if they’re disposable. He says that he went with her thing early on. He doesn’t like how she kept him from fighting, doesn’t like how he’s been putting others in danger, but also doesn’t like options being taken from him. Lily says she is glad that they are talking about what’s been angering him. Ingred pitches in, saying that they are all proud of the progress he’s made so far. Lily apologizes for how she’s treated K so far.

Anthos has a proposal. Says that they should look at what to do in the future. If there are issues within the group, they should handle it in between jobs or outside of work. Take it to the pit, stop biting at other people’s throats. It is distracting, difficult, and sloppy. Does everyone agree? The party says yes. Anthos pulls out a long scroll, acknowledging that everyone has their demons that they would rather not discuss. So no one will be surprised, so no one will be caught up in the party’s personal issues, they should write down their concerns and goals. They will prioritize the more important issues first.

Anthos starts, writing down “Immortality Bullshit, Bastard Family, Asshole who stabbed me (Vegzet), Sphinx’s Request, Jobs”. He holds the quill out. Lily writes “Heart of the Sea”. Seipora takes the quill and writes down “Carrion King, Racism, and Self Hatred”, but after some consideration from the rest of the party scribbles it out and writes down “Zombies” instead. Ingred writes down “Tarlies and Celestial Bane Permits”. She insists that the Tarlies are not a priority. K writes down “Conclave of Ebony Wings and Vegzet. Marisol jots down “maybe a problem”, but doesn’t elaborate. Ingred asks if it has anything to do with the things she’s been carving into dead problems. No, says Marisol, it has something to do with her religion. It’s not a cult, just a religious problem. Anthos says that they have to trust that Marisol will tell them all in due time.

Anthos takes the quill back and writes down “Flame Emperor”. New nickname? Gods no! He didn’t really want to share it, but does anyway. Anthos points to the circlet on his head and takes it off. He apologizes for his actions during the previous job. He says that he lost control, and that it was not intentional. He has never done anything like that before. Anthos clutches the circlet and chucks it 10 feet before it flashes back onto his head. It’s cursed. Something awoke, apparently a two-bit mage who calls himself the flame emperor. He’s tried to get it un-hexed but Alex couldn’t do much for him. It occasionally forces its will on Anthos. Seipora says he’s finally made a friend! He looks embarrassed.

Because of the circlet, Anthos takes out the rod and puts it on the table. He admits that he is currently unable to use it and suggests that someone else make use of it in the meantime. Marisol takes it. She asks about the Carrion King as the party discusses their next course of action. Seipora mentions that he is a part of her background, but he’s not actively going after her.

The party agrees that the most concerning issue is the ebony wings. Ingred suggests that she and Marisol should get to work on acquiring Celestial Bane antidotes immediately. The Tarlies would be an easy issue to knock off the list. Lily asks if Press could get them an audience, to which Ingred responds that she’ll look into it. Lily points out that they could hire Koates to take them back to Royal City. They can’t do much about the Carrion King at the moment. She mentions that they could go to Velden City if they take an extra day off. Ingred and Marisol leave the meeting as soon as it ends to talk with Press.

The session concludes with the party meeting back up in the common room later in the day.