Episode 165 - Bird-er Mystery

The party decides where to even begin with unraveling the mess caused by the murder of Baldur Oakback. And to do that they contemplate a few plausible, unnecessary, and completely ridiculous ways to gain freedom to roam the castle with such a high alert level and how to make it possible to keep Jaela hidden while doing so.

## **Story**

To not rouse any suspicions, King Titus Harper acknowledges the invitation to have breakfast from Griggs, and he, Nyx, and Jett Razor head on over. Aludra joins them, and she tells them that neither she nor Jaela could have killed Baldur Oakback. They were with each other all night. Aludra eats the bacon.

They first thing they need to do is have Aludra take them to where Jaela is being kept hidden, but they're also told there is a lot of commotion and no one is allowed to leave the keep. They try to sneak by a guard with Nyx distracts him, however Harper trips over a chair leg and causes a whole table to fall over. Jett Razor is quick on his feet and a great showman, and he spreads out a tablecloth before him and pretends to be a bit bashful about not having done the trick right, while in reality Harper and Aludra are hiding behind it and continue to sneak away. The display causes a few more guards to come by and watch as Jett performs a few more magic tricks until Nyx announces that Jett has an appointment to make, and the guards are perfectly fine with them leaving this room as long as they stay inside the keep.

Aludra takes them deep, down inside the mountain through a maze-like path, until she unlocks a tiny room where Jaela is waiting. They can't clear Jaela's name without finding the person who actually did it. Aludra shares information about the murderer, Tipsy Two-Fingers, that tried to kill Bucky, and they share information about the Jackal Mask Assassin who tried to kill Harper which Jett takes offense to since he was the one hit by the poison dart. He tells them lots of people want to kill him, he follows that up with another one of his tall tales and says that he is the person that is responsible for the Fall of House Vidalis. They need more information, so they need to find known associates of Tipsy Two-Fingers, investigate the crime scene, or find a tavern. As a very last option just come out and deny that Jaela was involved. But they also need to find out why anyone even suspects Jaela is the one that did it since no one should know she's here.

Harper once again casts *Seeming* on Jaela to make her look like Ashayara Dayne, and out in the hallway the happen to bump into Aludra's mother Yllanys. She has guards escort everyone back to their quarters why she can talk to her daughter alone. With the rest out of earshot, Yllanys' tone changes, and she demands to know where Jaela is. Aludra denies that Jaela is anywhere in Deephome and demands back to know why she think Jaela is even involved. Her mother says that the symbol of Erathis was carved into Baldur's body, and something was done to him so his body has been magically aged to a point where he can no longer be revived. She also tells her that there are hundreds of people outside looking for blood. Look for Aludra's head as revenge for the death of the only heir of House Oakback. The two continue to argue more until Aludra storms off.

Aludra rejoins her friends and shares with them the little bits of information she was able to get out of her mother, and the party feels they at least have some clues to work with to begin their investigation. And just in case they get into a fight that might break Harper's Seeming, they come up with a plan to disguise her as a tiefling, by attaching two mead horns to her head, hidden while she still looks like Ashayara Dayne, but will be revealed when the spell ends or breaks. They think the disguise is well made. It isn't.

## **Trivia**

* The introduction of "Nika Strong!" as Nika Howard's new opening catch-phrase.
* Dr. Frownsmasher told Harper that he should apply humor whenever he feels stressed. And now that he's a dad... dad puns.
* Jett refers to Jaela as Aludra's bird.
* Jett tells Harper that Ashayara Dayne is not his bird.
* Jett says he loves birds while pointing to a cooked pheasant on the table. Then says that it reminds him of all the birds he's shagged.
* Harper, Aludra, and Nyx think that birds might be girls, but it might also be actual birds, or bird-like people. He might be into people with feathers, like some people are furries. He might be a birdy.
* Harper draws a picture of a bird with boobs and shows it to Jett to see how he reacts
* House Wyrmsbane and House Oakback control about half of Deephome each.

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - King Titus Harper
* Jennifer Cheek - Aludra Wyrmsbane / Nyx
* Nika Howard - Jaela
* Mike Bachmann - Jett Razor

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Griggs
* Dwarven guard
* Yllanys

### **Locations**

* Deephome
	+ Wyrmsbane Keep

### **Inventory Updates**

* +2 mead cups as horns
* +1 bad costume

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [NEW] [Active] - Prevent the impending dwarven civil war
	+ [NEW] [Active] - Clear Jaela's name
	+ [Active] - Find Baldur's murderer
		- [NEW] [Option A] - Find known associates of Tipsy-Two Fingers
		- [NEW] [Option B] - Investigate the crime scene
		- [NEW] [Option C] - Go to a tavern
* [Active] - What are birds?

### **Quotes**

**"Okay, we have *two*... we have two mysteries to solve. One's more important to me. It goes... Bird Thing. Dwarven Civil War."** ~ *King Titus Harper*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ Jennifer - 12
	+ Bachmann - 11
	+ Tim - 10
	+ Nika - 7

* **Stealth Check** to get by the guard
	+ Jett - 20
		- Bachmann sneaks in a **Secret Check** with a 12 DC
			* 14 - Success - Effects unknown. "Jet lives another day," says Bachmann.
	+ Aludra - 15
	+ Harper - 7
		- They party is tiptoeing by when Harper trips over a chair leg and the whole table falls over with a giant crash.

* Jett - **Performance Check** to save the situation
	+ 14+13 - Success - The guard looks over to see Jett Razor holding up the tablecloth and says, "Sorry mate, I haven't mastered that one yet." The party uses the table cloth to keep sneaking by.

* Jett - **Stealth Check** to continue towards the exit
	+ 3+4 - Fails - The guard asks to see more magic tricks.

* Harper - **Insight Check** into whether Jaela and/or Aludra killed Baldur
	+ 18 - He believes they did not do it

* Aludra - **History Check** for knowledge about who might have done it
	+ 14+4 - Remembers the person in Bucky's room trying to kill him

* Jett - **Charmisma Check** to charm Yllanys
	+ 5+5 - She pays him little mind

* Jaela - **Deception Check** to disguise Jaela as a tiefling
	+ 2+5 - She thinks her costume is amazing. It isn't.