See Ya Later, Crocogator

In Game Calendar: 13th of Chaun

The party discuss what to do next and vote to appoint Rah-Cerves acting documancer. Zelle arrives and delivers messages:

* Harps by the River has additional work
* A man, V, came by and said "the white sword shall fall on those that are in its path". This must be the sword held by half-dragon Semvar. This must be them suggesting they know we lied and are coming from us, Bivouac realizes. The mission to the tower was also addressed from "V".
* The Virtue, (mayor) sent to check on the franchise and said an important government meeting would be good for us to visit when we get a chance.

Zelle also wants money to build out his workshop. The party pay out 200 GP for him to get materials and make the workshop. He also asks us to keep an eye out for raw materials for him.  Doorslam, the courier, appears and delivers a letter and three large packages. The party also hand off the Titavalus medallion to Doorslam, who then goes on their merry way. A receipt is produced and coins fire out, 200 GP in all:

* - **AI letter**: asks letters to come via courier only, temporary documancer kit provided, courier will deliver medallion item directly and safely, with new items AI can register magical items via the AIRs program.
* - **Rah Cerves package**: acting documancer kit.
* - **Hunsi package**: she is now a rank 2 hoardsperson, with new tools, due to success in acquiring multiple magical artifacts.
* - **Aurelia package**: she is now a rank 2 occultant, with new occultant tools, due to success in "redeadifying what was previously dead".

The party plan to head to the tower for their next mission, and decide to stop by the government meeting on the way out. Aurelia wonders if there will be an open bar at the meeting, and casts Augury using her new occultant kit to forecast the future. The answer is NO. Arriving at the town hall, they meet the Virtue privately in his smoke-filled room. He's down in the polls - he'll do a town speech in a week and would like the party to speak on his behalf. They offer 25 GP a speaker, and will bodyguard him as well during the event. The talk will be on the 20th. As they leave the room, Rah notices his papers are nonsense and underneath them are some little smutty drawings. Bivouac turns in their cart/horse and requisition a horse/pony for each party member.

At the NW grove's edge, the party ride through on horseback. An ethereal music is heard, but the party are suspicous, ignore it, and move on, camping for the night later. Aurelia volunteers to watch the whole night. Rah-Cerves takes V aside and asks her not to share his secrets with others, which he thinks she did in the mayor meeting, alluding to his hidden race. During the night, Bivouac has centipede dreams again, and the voice probes him about his journey. He reveals they are heading to a tower, but nothing more.

In the morning, Bivouac asks Aurelia to help him get the centipede out. He feels a centipede in his throat when he reaches in, but it overrides his will and he backs down. Aurelia fools him with Suggestion, and he opens up his mouth to Aurelia while V holds him down. Aurelia rips it out of his throat and wrangles it into a vial from Rah-Cerves, who now has two in storage, as he kept the one from V too. The party set out again, and the grove shifts into a more open, sparse, sodden, and swampy bog. A man in a bright red hat and fancy garb is ahead on the trail. He says he is Anthony the Great, a merchant lost, who asks for help getting out. He's suspicious, no tracks around him. Mama gives him a map to Grace and a cookie, and they ride past, even as he promises great power for his services. They ride along for the rest of the day and camp for the night, now surrounding by marshland and pools of water. Finally on the third day, they come upon their destination: a stone tower right where it should be, standing in the middle of a lake, tilting slightly, 150 ft from shore. V wades in to test depth, and she feels something on her leg drag her under. She sees an alligator-like head clamped to her thigh in the murky water. Bivouac jumps in with a rope and grabs V, the other rope tied to a horse. The alligator leaps onto shore, where it appears to be elongated, many feet, with another head on the other end. It grabs the horse the rope is tied to and starts to make its way back down. V leaps back out and slays it. The horse bolts, still tied to Bivouac, who leaps upon it and calms it down.

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