Session 4: Of Monsters and Men

Once more, a recap of our most recent session:

* Our party started off with failed Wis Saving throws, resulting in strange dreams and nightmares.
	+ Ramzi saw a vision of a young water genasi with dark curls, blue eyes and green skin asking where he had gone. The dream ends upon the striking of a large serpent from behind
	+ Tato had a dream featuring a voice that sounded like their own, from a time they cannot remember. A glowing rock on the bed of the lake they'd been around draws their focus and, in an attempt to swim to it, ends up causing them to drown and awaken in a sudden burst
	+ Marcus' dream was a lot more tame, with him enjoying one of the few moments that he holds dear; when Eora would do yoga under the setting sun and he'd be carving interpretive poses of her stances. It is with an incredibly insight role that he realises the Eora with him in the dream may have been the true Eora, and he learns that there are words she cannot say for fear of their safety. The dream is shattered when she lets a sentence stray too far to the truth
	+ Morgan's nightmare was a stone-cobbled room with bars stretching towards an endlessly black ceiling. A sick drow woman and the elderly tabaxi man tending to her are both familiar to him, and held dear. The dream ends after an apparition that looks so much like his younger self, but with hair cut too short to ever be him, tells him he was supposed to stay West, and get enough money to save them.
* After a night of uneasy sleeping, our heroes head out to have breakfast with the PM and their accidental kidnapper, Ecath Medfras
	+ Upon seeing him not in his office, Flow goes to find him whilst leaving the group to snoop around in his office.
	+ They find a series of strange tomes all about the history of Chaera and the Feathersense line
		- They also find a picture of a young Elven girl, Lyza, no older than 10 years old, rough and feral-looking
		- There's also an article about the girl having thrown a Chaeran guard 10m, with a blurry picture of a copper/goldish young dragonborn in the background
	+ A history check by Ramzi reveals that Ecath Medfras was an illegitimate child and was essentially sent to the front lines of the war as a child so that he might perish under the banner of patriotism. Not only did he become a great war caster, he was captured by Chaera and spent most of his childhood as a prisoner there.
		- It would seem that, at some point, Ecath was associated with this Elven girl while in Chaera
		- Ecath also has an incredible drive to protect children and it has been his main advocacy for the last 5 years of his tenure.
	+ Ecath arrives, notices that they were snooping but is unable to see through their deceptions
	+ At breakfast, they meet a human man, Tyreese Banksia, the Petradorian Ambassador
		- It is clear no-one really likes him much
	+ Breakfast is a tense affair but some questions are answered:
		- Entari is Ecath's 'Shadow'
		- The explosion was beyond what he had asked or expected
		- Their only intention was to collect Ramzi
		- Marcus' mother and brother were assured to have 'always been safe'
	+ When asked to clarify why he would pick such a dangerous man to be his 'shadow', Ecath explains he didn't pick him, he literally emerges from his shadow from time to time
		- Entari appears from the inky black, his body coalescing as oozing ink
		- He demonstrates the ability to cast a shadowy shield which he explains was used to keep the twins safe
		- He is noticeably irritating to Morgan who keeps his gun pointed at him the whole time
		- It is in a quiet moment when he is asked what his number is
		- A failed deception reveals he is, indeed, a previous member of the Facility
		- His number was 061, the number concurrent to Chartreuse's
		- Not only that, he is incredibly fond of Chartreuse and Voldi, even if he seems somewhat hostile to the tiefling
		- When trying to persuade him to tell them more, persuasion checks that were too low only ends with him explaining that, while he is a monster, he must keep his mouth shut to protect the people he loves
		- And then he disappears
	+ The group spends the rest of the day looking around the markets, and checking out the casino
		- Tato re-meets an old friend, the gunslinger kenku, Nighting Gale
		- A later reveal shows that Gale and Morgan are arch nemeses
		- A tense gamble between the two results in Morgan winning by a hair and Gale leaving in a huff
		- Marcus casts a spell that makes Gale walk away in a direction for 8 hours while a wild magic surge turns him into a potted plant for 6 seconds
	+ At the end of their evening, the group begin to head back to the Parliament for the night
	+ On the way, across the training pit, they come across a creature disguised as Tyreese, smirking up at them
		- The numbers 109 are on their wrist and it becomes apparent that their tattoo stays with them regardless of what form they take
		- Changing back to his changeling form, the unknown assailant shows off a myriad of forms of the party's loved ones
		- This includes Duchess Elyon, Eora, a water genasi child and a younger Morgan-looking teen
		- The changeling retreats but leaves behind blurry mirror images of these people
		- Combat begins
	+ After combat, the Changeling comes back and laughs, saying he has been looking forward to a challenge and 'surely the boss wouldn't mind'
		- As he goes to step forward, a dagger is thrown at his feet and, above them, Entari appears briefly before fading back to shadows
		- With a sigh, the Changeling retracts his next attack and offers to show Tato a portion of the truth
		- The session ends with him grabbing their hand and the two disappear in a puff of smoke

Our next session returns on November 3rd, 2021!