Headbangers & Cliffhangers

## **Synopsis**

In Chapter 72: Headbangers & Cliffhangers, the party split in two and went their separate ways… Graven and Beezaura to the coastal township of Wampurani-Na – and Erland, Safira and Orba to the west where they'd mosey on through Na-Qhusi on their way to meet with Selas.   The roads themselves were safe to traverse but not without incident – as the Na-Upa bound group spotted a pair of notable travelers on the first leg of their journey.

First, a tattoo artist named Butez was looking for someone who knew the spell Mending, as he'd splintered the tools he commissioned from a fletcher in Na-Garwas.  Unfortunately the party member that had access to that kind of magic was not with us, though his business was of some interest – especially to Erland, who had a certain marking that he wasn't particularly fond of… or at least not fond of others seeing it for what it was.

A little further along the road and Safira recognized the mysterious halfling Pibraf Lazruud Vodzothengi – the very same that tipped us off to the pawnchaser en route to ruining our day at Leopold's Garrison.  Mired in some other business and not keen to talk, he did slip a note into our possession that mentioned there might be a letter for Beezaura at the Mailhouse – and we stashed this information away for later when we were hopefully reunited.

Heading in the other direction, Graven and Beezaura had considerably less luck finding friendly or helpful faces.  Riding in the opposite direction, the tiefling from the Mollefaire wine tasting had evidently caught up to Beezaura – living up to the promise he made way back in Urin-Chupa after soliciting her help to find out more about Orba.  He didn't stop to chat, but we had a feeling this wasn't the last we'd see of him – and we vowed to tread lightly around the Gentle Void here in the city.

Before reaching Wampurani-Na, we were also propositioned by an unsettling man who claimed to have access to Mycrawl – which we had heard about from Leto but had no intention of experimenting with ourselves.  Still, more knowledge never hurt to have, and he directed us to the tavern near the ports called "All Hands On Deck" if we wanted to hear more – a place we'd soon come to realize was quite a hotbed of activity.

In Na-Qhusi we made brief stops by the New Qelqian church and Leto's house – which helped Orba focus her thoughts and earned Erland an unexpected hug, though despite Leto being thrilled to see us he was seeing to his husband's burial and wouldn't be able to meet up and chat until the evening at the earliest.  We promised to find a time to grab a drink – and before we departed he imparted yet another clue surrounding the Myconid trade in Navika-Pura, something we'd have to look into when we found ourselves at the Short Ports later on.

For those of us already approaching the coast, it was time for a little tussle – as a boastful back-alley bare-knuckle boxer agreed to fight Graven after a bit of prodding.  The wager this time wasn't for money, but for advice – and as Graven dropped the half-orc with a resounding blow, we found him to be enough a man of his word to point to Villepont Willoughby, a private investigator who seemed like a promising lead for tracking down Pockets.

Next it was off to the Offices of the Broken Crown, where contracts were available if we wanted to earn some spending money – though what interested us most were the portraits of Safira that were apparently circulating in Navika-Pura.  Without the Writ of Service we'd acquired from Amari Magomet, we couldn't get any more details – so it was time for Beezaura to make a long-awaited stop at Senka Uberti's house of companionship services.

Unsure of what to expect, we found the self-proclaimed "dream maker" to be both alluring and unnerving – though there was no doubt she had cultivated a truly unique experience for her customers.  After Beezaura demonstrated herself to be a reliable hire, Senka quickly opened up about a problem she had: one of her indentured mages that she used to create her expensive illusions had gone missing – kidnapped or escaped, she wasn’t sure.  She had a couple of thoughts on where to start – but warned Beezaura that as an outsider, it might be difficult to get results without the use of force.

Around the same time that Beezaura was planning her next move, Orba had finally arrived at the house of Selas with the hopes of presenting some of the items she had carried so far – across continents and oceans.  Steeling herself, she stepped inside – and though initially disappointed to find that Selas was not home, all dismay was erased as Khlyff Ironcloud himself emerged from a back room, apparently having commissioned something from his right-hand wizard.

Orba wasted no time declaring her purpose for being there, which earned her Khlyff's consideration – though a man in his position has many enemies, and before he was willing to engage in further discussion he demanded that she visit Selas at a laboratory just outside of town to verify the authenticity of the Lady Salandrael's ring.

At long last it seemed like Orba was going to get some answers about why she was chosen for this task.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: one natural one was rolled in this Chapter, by Anthony.