C3 Session 2

Synopsis

## Summary

The party arrives early in the morning in Mograh. Mograh is a decently-sized town, acting as more of a middle-point than a proper destination. Most of the goods used in town are imported, barring a handful of farmers and craftsmen. These are transported primarily by train, and there is no dedicated airship dock, though there are fields just outside town that can be used. Being located on the border of the Beastlands, the population is very mixed—there are fewer elves than in some places, but there are more bestial races like gnolls and orcs mingling with the humans and dwarves. The police force are called the Thumpers, there primarily to break up (or participate in) brawls, but are not really there to pursue justice. The Fourth Act's airship is located about an hour away from the train station in a nearby field.

The Velvet Amphithere is a massive airship, home to twenty theatre nerds, six ship crew, six "crew" crew, and the party acting as gophers. It also has a built-in stage which is able to be deployed, as it currently is to make up for the lack of a proper dock. As the party approaches, they are hailed and welcomed by a crew member on watch, Dellan. The party immediately returns to their rooms to continue sleeping.

The next morning, Cecily wakes Ward and Luna to get the Super Chamomile. She tells them that they have the next couple of days until the play, so they are welcome to roam the town and take any jobs they feel like taking. After breakfast, they decide to head to the local guildhall to check for posted notices. There is an old man behind the counter, a younger elven woman doing some other work around the place, and a group of adventurers—a lion man with a big axe, a lizardfolk, and two halflings who are likely related. There are a number of notices available:

* Keera Andromeda is requesting weird things that she can experiment with; in exchange she will send things. She also gives far too much information about herself than anything could require except a dating profile.
* Treasure! Someone knows where treasure is and wants help finding it.
* Some hunters are trying to put together a hunting party to go after some dinosaurs that are in hunting season, as well as some guards to protect against predators they might attract.
* Lost Journal - Someone has lost a journal and would like help finding it.
* Find - a torn piece of paper with just a single word left on it.

They question the man about it. He tells them that a cloaked person came in and paid to post it, but partially tore it back down. He didn't remember it enough to recreate it, so he's left it up. They take that notice and the lost journal notices and head out to find the person looking for their journal. They find the location to be a three story building. The second floor has shifted into the building next to it such that the third floor is pressed up against the building next to it.

They knock on the door and hear the sound of scrabbling and a thunk before an aarakrocra opens the door, having clearly smacked their head on something. Inside are so many stacks of books, clearly the thing that tripped the man on the way to the door. He introduces himself as Helion, a researcher working for Versilla, a researcher at the Academy. He had been contacted by his master requesting a journal from the house, but he had been thus far unable to locate it. He seems to be evading the exact truth about things, but the group agrees to help look.

Ward leads the search, ultimately not finding the journal, but he did locate a hidden compartment containing a small vial. Helion explains that Versilla really likes her hidden compartments and that the place is chalk full of them. Ward also located some books of interest and gets distracted reading them. Eck, Vera, and Mira head up to the second floor to continue the search. The books, having been shifted rather dramatically by the falling building, are in horrible, awkwardly tall books. Eck feels something brush against their foot. Vera turns into a rat and pursue the thing. A book tries to eat her, popping her and reverting her back to her normal form, now with a book biting her head. Luna attempts to punch it, but Vera dodges for it out of panic. Eck attempts to pull it off her head, distracting it so that it bites them on the snoot. Vera smacks it with her staff, killing the thing.

The rest of the party joins them, concerned about the sounds they were making. Ward determines that the book was a baby mimic. Helion had no idea that the mimic was there, and has no idea what else there might be. He returns to the ground floor while the party ascends to the third floor. The books are stacked more neatly again, but Vera notices that this floor gives her weird vibes, like they're being watched. She uses Detect Magic and locates six locked containers, two spellbooks, two matching blank journals with matching styluses, and two books that are magically locked. Ward and Eck locate a secret door leading to a nook containing a desk and cabinet. The cabinet pings with two magical items inside; on the desk are a small, blueish journal, a mirror, and a pocketwatch, also all magical.

Ward uses his mage hand to brute force check for traps, discovering that the cabinet does disintegrate the hand when opened. The journal is likely the journal they are looking for. Cloak is unknown, mirror is a silver mirror missing the glass, the pocket watch does not function. The journal is written in celestial script, but not written in the celestial language. Dorean points out the the things in the room aren't really lootable. Eck then finally notices that this building is the location of a dragon's hoard. The party calmly and quickly puts everything back, and go to return the journal and see what the reward is. They return to Helion, receiving confirmation that they did indeed find the correct book. Helion gives them permission to take a trinket or two if they wish, then leaves.

The party gets some lunch from a cart on the way back to the guildhall. The previous adventuring party has left, as has the old man. A goblin woman is wiping down tables and such, while the elven woman is behind the counter gives the party their payment. Luna, feeling bad for having not been able to help with the mimic, gives Eck ten gold pieces for their dragon hoard. Vera assures her that she had things in hand, so Luna offers her ten gold pieces for her hoard, which she accepts. The group then checks out the board again. The dinosaur hunt has been taken, leaving the others and three new notices:

* Help with weird sounds. Something is outside their house most nights, making noises such that they can't sleep.
* Guards for someone hunting ingredients in the hills nearby. (100gp + healing potions + hazard pay)
* Join the Thumpers!

They decide to go speak with the person who knows where the stuff is to see what the job entails. If it's too involved or long, they will help the person with the weird sounds that night, then help the person travel to the hills. They take a short rest to identify the items and heal before going to find the person who posted the treasure notice. The meeting time for the Treasure! notice is in the evening at the Last Wrastle. It is wrestling themed, with photos of wrestlers on the walls, at least one of them containing a picture of the proprietor, a minotaur. A cloaked person is in the corner of the tavern, determined to look like a quest giver.

The party approaches the figure and begin asking about the job. They explain that their boss is a bit tied up and needs to be untied so they can get the stuff. Eck notices that this is three kobolds in a trench cloak. They explain that their boss stole something from a feathered guy, who then captured their boss. It is revealed that Versilla definitely was a dragon who they will now have to go steal a goblin from. There is a small passage that the kobolds found that led to where their boss has been bubbled, but had to leave because of the sniffer. They question the kobolds about what a sniffer is, and determine that it might be about the size of a bear possibly, and that it smells things. After some discussion, they decide to accept the job and head out immediately. They pull a manhole cover, and the party follows them into the sewers.

## NPCs

### Introduced

* Dellan - theatre crew
* Sapphire - theatre crew, Vera's roommate
* Arlen - white dragonborn, cook
* Old Man - old man guildhall worker
* Melisent - elven guildhall worker
* Helion - aarakocra researcher
* Three kobolds in a trench cloak

### Mentioned

* Talthis Vim
* Kinivrak - student of the three archmages
* Versilla - researcher for the Academy

## Items

* Potion of Invisibility (Eck, from dragon hoard)
* Cloak of Billowing (Mira, from dragon hoard)
* Mirror missing the mirror (Vera, from dragon hoard)
* Openings and Closings - Spellbook (Ward, from dragon hoard)
	+ Knock
	+ Arcane Lock
	+ Dispel Magic
* Pocket watch (Dorean, from dragon hoard)
* Pair of Copywriters (Ward and Luna, from dragon hoard)
* 300 gp (50gp ea, reward for notice)
	+ Luna gives 10gp to Eck and Vera each for their dragon hoards

 One-Shot C3 Sessions
Someshot 1 • Someshot 2 • Someshot 3 • Someshot 4 • Someshot 5
Goblin Birthday