Vicious Eyes and Vicious Hearts

Arc Summary
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Session 86

 * Google Document (4-16-23)

Kain gets up from his desk as four people suddenly teleport into his room. He comments that we look like hell. He asks what happened! We explain that people were waiting there and we were apparently getting scryed on this whole time. At the mention of scrying, Reides gives the crystal ball to Kilwin, since he doesn't want to use it himself. Kilwin intends to use it, but only on people who deserve to be spied on! Reides really wishes that we could get rid of the Tyrian tracker. Kain remarks that it would take very high-level magic. Unfortunately, the only other real option is finding a way to kill him for real. Jorah asks how things in Falas have been. Kain says it's been fine for the most part, just typical court nonsense. Ashara groans before apologizing to Reides, who promises he hates nobles as much as the rest of us. He admits it's weird that he took a job in court, but it's okay! He will attempt to gently alter it from the inside.

Kain asks if we accomplished what we were hoping. Reides shows him the Crest! Jorah explains that Tyrian came for us after our arrival and had the Crest. He asks if there's been any luck house-hunting. It hasn't been long enough for Kain to make much progress though. We figure we'll need to return to our prior room arrangements in that case. Jorah also tells Kain about the wall showing the Crests' locations, warning him that they can't really rely on secrecy to keep it safe. Kain is less worried when he finds out the locations aren't exact and says anyone wanting to steal the Blade would have a hard time with the wards he's placed anyway. Jorah is glad to hear that. Kilwin points out that we know the last Crest's location too! We take a moment to appreciate that we are alive. Jorah remarks that he'd appreciate some free time, especially since he needs to buy clothes.

We leave Kain to his business and find a quiet spot for Reides to identify our haul. He starts with the Drape of the Cursed and learns that it allows the wearer to summon an undead creature at the cost of some of their vitality. It also causes a trail of mushrooms to sprout behind the wearer as they walk before quickly decaying. The robe requires attunement to make the mushrooms grow. The rod is an Immovable Rod, which can hold up to 8000 pounds of weight. The vial contains a Potion of Heroism, which gives the drinker temporary hit points and the effects of a blessing for an hour. Reides decides to demonstrate the cloak's effects rather than just telling the party. He puts it on and makes it billow dramatically. Kilwin remembers seeing cloaks like this in the Exeter and is very excited. Ashara and Kilwin clap. Jorah quietly loses his mind. Although Jorah is the only one who can use a Crest, he doesn't think he's much of a robe person. There are also a number of deep religious philosophical reasons for this. Ashara considers using it as a fashion accessory while sticking with the Bands as her Crest, but decides it wouldn't coordinate with the rest of her outfit. The Drape goes in the Bag! Kilwin says he thinks we'll be better at keeping the Bag's contents guarded now. Jorah wonders why he would ever say that out loud. We all kind of want the Rod but Jorah asks and receives. We also decide that either Jorah or Kilwin should get the potion, and Jorah gets that too. Most of us are cloaked up already. Ashara assesses it for fashion suitability. It's black on the outside and light brown inside. Jorah remarks that black and gold go together well. Kilwin admits that he does really enjoy the billowing. Ashara suggests that Kilwin can use it to interrupt any awkward moments on his date with Grinlief. A cloak that billows without any wind is a great conversation starter! Kilwin thinks that the billow could be a good safe word whenever a conversation gets dicey, subtlety be damned.

We set about our other business. We have two days before the shipment of magic items that Reides was waiting for comes in. Jorah stops by the Stitch in Time to get formal attire for the ball. He orders a green version of the suit that's worn out now. He also asks for Tyrian's crest to be removed from the Cloak of Protection. The halfling tailor sucks his teeth and admits it might be a bit expensive since it's a magic item. The outfit and the restitching will each cost 25 gp. Jorah admits he's not happy but it's not as bad as he was expecting. The tailor says they'll both be ready in three days. Reides and Ashara buy spell components, with Reides picking up enough special chalk for four teleportation circles and Ashara buying a mysterious vial. Kilwin finds a bakery.

Jorah realizes he missed his appointment with Galnur, so he heads over to Galnur's forge as soon as he's not bleeding everywhere. He knocks on Galnur's door and steps back before it can be kicked open. Galnur looks around even though it doesn't really accomplish anything. Jorah acknowledges that he's late but he got held up. Galnur just tells him to come inside. He leads Jorah back to the main forge and explains that the pelagic ore is weird stuff. It turns into a water-like substance when forged. Jorah admits that that's not all that surprising to him. Galnur admits that he's not sure how well it would work mixed with dwarven materials. While Jorah doesn't want to risk Quickbrand, Galnur assures him that Quickbrand is sturdy and storied. He's sure it will survive and the real risk is that Jorah doesn't get a pretty new toy. Assured by Galnur's confidence, Jorah decides that it's worth trying then. He hands Quickbrand over to Galnur. Galnur thinks for a bit and asks the date before telling Jorah to come back in a week. Jorah offers to bring drinks or something, but Galnur says to just bring himself. He goes back to his table, hefting Quickbrand while deep in thought. Jorah wishes Galnur luck, although he doesn't think he needs it. He leaves without foisting payment onto Galnur this time.

When they next see him, Reides and Kilwin ask Jorah what happened to Quickbrand. He always has it! Jorah says he lost it and it fell down a well. Reides and Kilwin ask where the well is! Together we can get it! Jorah apologizes and explains that Galnur is making some modifications to it. Galnur has it! Reides and Kilwin are relieved.

Reides finds a bookseller on his search for a book about constellations. He finds a store run by an elderly halfling woman. The wares are covered in dust but otherwise seem to be in decent shape. Reides asks the halfling bookseller if she has any books on constellations in stock. She's pretty sure she has something and calls Reides "dearie." She uses a ladder to navigate the shelves and finds one. She blows the dust off. Reides sneezes, although the bookseller says she's built up an immunity over the years. The book is called The Canvas of the Gods. It costs 25 gold, which Reides readily pays. The bookseller thanks him and calls him a sweetheart. Reides calls her a charmer! She says when you get to be her age, it's kind of obligatory. Reides is going to pretend he's special though. As he leaves, Reides notices that the store is called the Page Unturned. The sign is shaped like an open book, with the name written in an arc.

At some point, Kilwin messages Grinlief to double-check that he knows when the ball is and say that he's looking forward to it! Grinlief is happy to hear back and assures him he'll be there, wearing his finest. Later on, the whole party meets up at the Outer Wall for drinks. Reides mentions that he's thinking of stepping out of Falas for a bit, since he has some things to ask his father and it'd be nice to check on home. He says the rest of the party is welcome to tag along, although no one has to. Reides does also mention that Jorah has an obligation to Dhudus though. Jorah admits that he was hoping to get out of that. Reides is saddened and asks why! Jorah says it's just so wet! Eventually everyone agrees that they'd like to accompany Reides though. Reides doesn't plan to stay in Aquos very long and wants to leave after the magic item shipment on the 25th. Jorah has his stuff to pick up on the 26th, so Reides agrees to wait until then. Kilwin has an idea that might save the mages some chalk, although he needs to ask permission at the cathedral first. Reides is grateful and comments that the chalk is expensive. Ashara says she's keeping a running tally of how much the party owes her for it. At any rate, Reides just needs to talk to Khavas and Jorah needs to beat up Dhudus. We discuss which teleportation destination is the least bad to get wet before it just kind of devolves into hanging out for the evening. Reides shows Jorah the constellation book. Jorah looks through it, but the names don't match what his mother taught him. For example, what she called the Guiding Star is called the Sovereign Star. Reides is worried that he might have gotten scammed but thinks the bookseller was too nice for that. He also admits that he doesn't know enough astronomy to be able to check the book for accuracy. Although Jorah says the stars are far away for everything, Reides points out they were extra far away for him. Still, they look forward to going over the book together and maybe learning something. Before turning in, Kilwin communes with Alethus. He can't find out what aspect of Slumberjack the orb is bound to or if there's other components to bringing back the people of Port Valor, but does learn that the orb would need to be detached from Slumberjack first.

Ashara sleeps in on Magic Item Day, so the lads and Pepega go without her. In the Market Terrace, the magic item vendors have largely set up temporary stalls rather than have brick and mortar shops. People are carrying around huge boxes and shipments seem to still be rolling in. Barkers are calling out details about their fantastical wares. One says they have potions that will give you the sight of an eagle or let you run and jump as if you were nineteen again. Another asks passersby to behold the Globe of Light, demonstrating a wand that shoots multi-colored lights. Another presses a boot into a small sandbox. When he takes it away, a deer's hoofprint is left behind. Reides is amazed by all of these wonders. Jorah is extremely skeptical of it all. We approach the guy with the boots. Reides says the boots are amazing but he doesn't really see the use of them. The salesman suggests using them to obscure our trail when fleeing pursuers. He shows that it can create the tracks of a large bird too. Reides says it's like a giant Pepega though! Our group tends to stick together though, and we don't do a lot of fleeing at this point, so it doesn't seem like the item for us. This guy has other wares though! He sets down a single die in front of us. Jorah asks if it's loaded. Reides asks what it would be loaded with. The vendor says it's not in the traditional sense and asks Jorah to pick a number. Jorah picks seven. The vendor says come on. Jorah picks six, so the vendor rolls the die and gets a six! Reides picks three, and the man rolls a three. He asks Kilwin to try, and once again, the die rolls a two on command. The vendor says the die might be magic, but we might also be very lucky! We must be very lucky if we found his shop. Reides thinks that might be helpful with the games they play on the Desperado, but isn't sure it's a good idea. Jorah is pretty sure we're going to get kicked out of places for cheating if we try to use that. The vendor says we'll only be kicked out if we're bad at cheating. We're pretty sure we're all bad at cheating. The vendor has one last item, a horn made of goathorn with metal bands. He says it's a Horn of Silent Alarm, which will only be heard by one designated person when blown. It has a range, but at 600 feet, it's pretty wide. We ask the price. The vendor says that's the fun part: We name a price and then haggle! Jorah says it's cool and useful, but lowballs and offers 70 gold, since we have a friend with similar abilities. The vendor is scandalized, and Jorah asks if he's overpaying. The vendor says Jorah is underestimating the horn's potential: Not only could it be used by a lookout for our illicit activities, it could be used to communicate between a split party. Kilwin and Reides take offense to the implication that we are conducting illicit activities. The first offered price is 400 gold. We prepare to walk, since we have Ashara. He then offers 350 gold, although he says we'd be skinning him alive. Jorah says he can keep his skin. The vendor says we can have some muscle too and offers 300 gold. Jorah says the most he could possibly pay is 200 gold, and any more than that would be indirectly robbing an orphanage in Atemcester. The vendor can't do 200, considering the import fees, but does offer 250. Jorah admits he's spent 250 gold on dumber things, and the deal is made. Jorah asks the vendor's name, which is Stevonicus. We also ask Stevonicus for a demo on the horn before we leave. Jorah hears it loud and clear, but Reides and Kilwin don't hear anything. As we leave, Jorah tells Stevonicus he's not the worst magic item dealer he's had to deal with.

We pass someone hawking the Magically Mending Rope. He chops it into pieces before shouting "Voruga!" The pieces of rope then stitch back together when held to each other. Reides is astounded. Jorah messes with his new horn, saying that he's going to test it out on Ashara. However, Reides is the actual victim of the prank. Reides yells out at the sound, and people stop to look a bit. Reides gets mad at Jorah for scaring the shit out of him and tells on him to Kilwin. Kilwin tells Jorah not to scare people with the horn! As we continue shopping, Jorah finds someone who can sell him a golden acorn as a spell component.

Reides looks around and finds a stall selling spell scrolls, hoping for one containing Disguise Self. The vendor offers one with a spell that allows one to appear in the guise of others, which he would be happy to offer to such exquisite customers. Reides asks why he's talking like that, and he says this is simply how he speaks, which he finds is a boon in his business. Reides simply nods. The man tents his fingers. He's got that INTJ stare. The Disguise Self scroll is going for 100 gold. Reides tries to haggle and points out that that's a pretty basic spell actually. The vendor says that's true, but convincing a mage to part with the knowledge and the work of scribing the scroll are much more than the act of casting it. Reides's not sure if he's supposed to keep haggling but decides to just drop the 100 gold. The man accepts it with a flourish. Reides likes his flair and really wants to know his name. He introduces himself as Mistell the Magnificent. Reides is amazed! Jorah has to suppress some snickering in the back. Mistell says he would have a permanent shop if he could get a permit, but alas. He hawks his wares wherever he can. Reides suggests moving to Port Valor and says it'll be back in its prime soon. Mistell responds with another flourish and reaches his hand to his chin in contemplation. Kilwin billows his cape, and Mistell takes a moment to check for a breeze. Mistell admits Reides has a point, since permitting isn't working out in Falas. Port Valor could be quite mystical… Reides says it's a better port location too, and he also knows a really dependable saleswoman he could work with there. She's called the Kraken! Jorah is startled into the conversation. Mistell's face pales. He's never worked with the Kraken before, but he's heard dangerous stories about her. Reides says she's bad if you try to con her, but she's the best of the best if you pay her well. Mistell says he'll keep that in his back pocket. Reides mentions that his boyfriend works for her too. Mistell says his current supply lines are solid, but he'll keep it in his back pocket. He does a little bow and begins trying to attract his next customer. As we leave, Reides says he's hoping to get a lot of people to come to Port Valor so it'll be populated again. He also doesn't understand why people think the Kraken is scary. Jorah asks if they met different Krakens. Reides thinks she's cool and just wants her to get paid. If she gets paid, Aske also gets paid! Jorah sees how it is.

The group passes someone demonstrating a pair of magic boots. They seem to be running a bit faster than normal and when they jump, they jump about three times higher than you'd normally expect. Everyone claps. Jorah has been practicing and is pretty sure he can do something similar with his new paladin abilities. Reides wonders if that means Viglis can jump really high, although there's no much point in that underwater. Jorah asks if Reides knows how high he can jump, and Reides admits he had no idea until he came to the surface. Reides does a little jump to test it out. Viglis's jumping abilities remain a mystery.

Reides looks for a potion seller and finds a high elf dealing in them. Reides explains he's looking for healing potions but is interested in other types too. The elf welcomes us and says they have the full range of potencies in healing potions, brewed in Arc-Delia and of the highest quality. A regular healing potion is about 50 gold. Reides remarks that that's a good price, and the elf explains that they're the most popular offering, so they pretty much run the going rate. Reides purchases two of them! Out of curiosity, Reides asks about the supreme healing potion they mentioned. Those cost 2500 gp a piece. We all go eep. The potion seller shows us the rest of their stock. One is a red vial with a tiny bead inside that expands and contracts. They explain it's a Potion of Growth that makes the drinker big and strong. They also have a Potion of Climbing, which could help any of us scale a mountain. The liquid is in brown, gray, and silver layers, giving it an earth-like appearance. Their last offering is a vial that looks like it's filled with liquid fog. It's a Potion of Gaseous Form, which allows the drinker to fly but not very fast, pass through creatures, resist damage, enter rooms through keyholes, although they can't swim. A full list of effects is available along with the potion for 400 gold. Reides is deeply intrigued. Kilwin and Jorah say they're good and, after some consideration, Reides decides he's good with just the healing potions. We leave and let them deal with their next customer. Reides is having fun, but Jorah thinks he's personally spent enough money for one day.

As the group heads to the Holy Terrace for Kilwin's errand, Reides receives a message from Ashara. She's just woken up after a long night and asks where the group is now. She also asks if she should bring anything. Kilwin and Jorah are okay, so Reides just asks for some porridge if she can manage when he lets her know. On the Holy Terrace, Jorah almost goes to the Temple of the Nameless God before Kilwin redirects him. The group waits for Ashara, who's absolutely winded when she arrives. She has a tube of porridge for Reides and some bread rolls. One is for her, although she gives the crumblier one to Jorah. Kilwin's not sure if it's okay to eat inside, so Jorah eats out here and Reides decides to save most of his porridge for after. Jorah gets out his horn to prank Ashara. As Kilwin scolds him, Reides gives Ashara the rundown on how Magic Item Day works. Ashara is pranked and thinks it's happening again and she needs to run right now. She calms down when Jorah explains the horn to her. In fact, she wants to prank Kilwin, although she doesn't get the chance today.

Inside, Kilwin finds a priestess with somewhat more ornate vestments than the others. She's a short wood elf woman with side-parted hair. Kilwin says he's a cleric of Alethus and asks for her permission to use the cathedral as a sanctuary for a spell that would help him and his friends escape danger if they need to. She's familiar with the spell Word of Recall and says that's fine. Kilwin asks if there's any etiquette he'd need to observe, and she just asks him not to make a mess. He asks if water counts as a mess. It does, and the priestess is now very confused. She doesn't get a better explanation than that we're planning on going somewhere wet. Ashara asks about towels they could set out and Reides suggests sponges, but Kilwin thinks it's best to not impose on the cathedral. Jorah's not sure what a sponge is. Reides says he'll show him. Kilwin asks the priestess her name, which is Saissa, and introduces himself. He then finds a quiet, out-of-the-way alcove where he can cast Word of Recall and teleporting won't be too much of an imposition. With that done, the party heads to the Outer Wall together to enjoy some split pea soup. That night, Kilwin attempts woodcarving for the first time. He tries to make a cow. Ashara helps him by using the Bands of the Archmagi to cast Silent Image and conjure a reference image of a cow. As a result, his first attempt comes out decent. It's not amazing, but it's very obviously cow-shaped. Kilwin thanks Ashara for her help! She suggests making a business of it, although he says it's for Alethus. Ashara suggests putting it in our eventual altar room then! Reides works on his spellbook, officially learning Disguise Self.

The next day, Jorah gets his new drip. The Cloak of Protection is now free of any association with Tyrian, and Jorah can wear it right side out again. We love to see it. Everyone gathers at the Outer Wall, where Reides casts Water Breathing on everyone and starts drawing the circle. Ashara is concerned that we're not leaving anyone behind to erase the circle, especially since Reides wants to keep the sigil a secret. Reides initially plans to lock the door and if anyone follows us, they drown, but Ashara convinces him. Ashara considers summoning a creature to erase it before chilling for an hour and disappearing. Reides thinks that asking Urli for help might be a better play. He goes downstairs and asks if Urli is a good person and if they're friends. Urli is a little nervous about where this is going but says yes. Reides tells Urli that he'll be doing some magic in his room and would like if Urli could erase the chalk left behind when it's done. He also asks Urli to not go through the portal because he might die if he does. Urli is suddenly very concerned that we're about to die, but Reides promises it's nothing dangerous for us! We're just visiting his home and there's a family meeting, which could break bad but won't. The only danger to Urli is if he went through unprepared and drowned. Kilwin points out that the portal should close pretty soon after we go through if he understands this stuff correctly, so Urli should be fine so long as he doesn't try it immediately. Urli is still concerned but agrees to do it. Reides thanks him profusely. He goes back to finish the circle and the party travels to Aquos. As we find ourselves in the secret room at the base of the tower, Reides realizes he should have sent word first. He's pretty sure it's okay though!

We leave the secret room, closing it behind us, and Reides leads the rest of the group to the front gates. There's two guards with harpoon-like weapons who ready them as we approach, but one makes eye contact with Reides, freezes, and pulls his weapon back up. He welcomes back the prince! The other guard very quickly follows suit. We enter the palace, and Reides looks for Kanom so he can have an audience with his father. He gives the rest of the party a chance to bail since Khavas is scary, but we end up sticking together. Reides quickly spots Kanom's wizened features, relaxing near the great doors to the throne room. Kanom greets him, and Reides explains that he's shockingly here on business. He asks if Khavas is busy. Kanom says Khavas is always busy, but he'll check. Reides says it should be a fairly quick thing. Kanom bows as he swims away. We wait a while, but the great doors open and Khavas swims out of the throne room in his full regalia. Other than Reides, this is the closest most of the party has been to him. They can now appreciate what an imposing figure Khavas is, towering over everyone present. Kilwin bows and remains bowing. Reides explains that even though it hasn't been long, he has some bits of business and some personal questions. Khavas waits for them. Reides says that now that he's the ambassador, Khavas is going to have to talk to him sometimes. Khavas thinks that's what they're doing. Reides means properly, officially! He asks if Khavas really wants to do this in the hallway where anyone can hear everything. Khavas admits he didn't think the discussion was of a sensitive nature and we move into the throne room. Reides looks to the rest of the party, exasperated. Inside, Reides tells Khavas about the upcoming ball and remembrance ceremony. He acknowledges how Khavas feels about Karseidon but asks if he has anything he'd like Reides to do there or anything he should watch out for. Khavas says he doesn't know anything that's happened up there in the past ten years and doesn't concern himself with surfacer politics. He thinks for a moment, but comes up with nothing. His spies on the surface were concerned with Reides and nothing else. Reides also asks about using the Laverath name at the event. He was considering using it, but wanted to consult with the emperor about the level of secrecy he should be practicing. Khavas closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He says that a few weeks ago, he would have said absolutely not. He grips at his regalia before saying that it would behoove Reides as an ambassador of Laverathia. He has permission to use his name. Most surfacers aren't familiar with its meaning anyway, so it's unlikely to give too much away. He doesn't expect any sea elves to come out of the water and attend the ball after all. Reides points out that he came out of the water and is attending the ball! Khavas thinks Reides is a special case though. Speaking of special cases, Reides asks for more information on the Wreath of Persana's history, specifically about the triton depicted in the mural in the Temple of the Abyssal Guardians. Khavas crosses his arms. He says the Wreath has a long history, largely passed down through the rulers of Laverathia. While Laverathia maintained isolation, one scion of the Laverath family disagreed. They took the Wreath to the surface with them. Khavas doesn't know much about them after that, and they were stricken from the family records. Laverathia was even less kind to those who wished to see the surface back then. Reides wonders if their name could still be recorded anywhere, but Khavas suggests surface records at this point. Their ancestors were apparently extremely thorough. He also tells Reides to tell Kilwin he can stop bowing now, so Kilwin stops bowing. Reides asks about the rebuilding efforts, which are apparently going well and largely helmed by Viglis. However, Dhudus is also helping him now that he's been released from captivity. Reides also asks permission to contact Khavas through Sending or Dream, but Khavas says to direct those messages to Kanom instead. Reides is visibly disappointed. Khavas then turns to Kilwin and tells him to swim tall. The one known as the Deeplight shouldn't bow their head at every moment. Kilwin is alarmed but thanks him. Khavas smashes his trident on the floor to adjourn the meeting. As Kanom leads us out of the throne room, Reides looks pleadingly back at Khavas. Kanom gives him a soft smile.

With the door closed behind us, Reides remarks that his father is calmer than normal. Kanom agrees that Khavas has mellowed out a bit recently. Reides asks where Dhudus is. Kanom is pretty sure he's still at the training grounds. He also knows that Viglis and Lotlyn are out in the city, having a nice day together. Reides thinks they deserve it! We make our way to the training grounds, where we find Dhudus stabbing a dummy with a trident. He's wearing some of the pelagic armor we recovered too. He looks toward all of us and says Hey. Reides swims forward and hugs him and messes up his hair. Dhudus wraps one arm around him, holding the trident away with the other hand. Reides is glad to see him out and about! Dhudus agrees that it's nice to be training again. Reides says he brought Jorah for the spar! Dhudus remembers that conversation and asks if Jorah is ready. Jorah says he's in the area anyway, although he'll need a sword. Dhudus has him covered and lists a number of types of swords. Jorah says he uses a longsword, so Dhudus throws a pelagic one at him, hilt first. Jorah catches it effortlessly. They discuss rules, with Jorah suggesting first solid hit wins. Dhudus prefers first to yield, although Jorah says they'll be there all day then. He agrees to the revised suggestion of first to yield or get knocked out. Reides is distressed because he knows neither of them are ever going to yield. He forgot how dumb his brother is! Jorah asks if Kilwin's got him in case anything goes really badly. Kilwin says he's got both of them but asks them to please not stab each other for real. He points out that when he used to spar with Eleanor, they used wooden sticks! Dhudus remarks that if they're using wooden sticks instead of real weapons up on the surface, they must not be getting good training. Dhudus and Jorah both enter the arena.

Session 87

 * Google Document (4-21-23)

It's time for a spar! Jorah draws his loaner sword and gets in there. As he enters Dhudus's range, Dhudus takes advantage and stabs him with his trident. Jorah places a Hunter's Mark on Dhudus and strikes him. Dhudus retaliates by stabbing at Jorah's leg and pulling it to the side. This catches Jorah totally off-guard, and Dhudus manages to flip Jorah onto his back. He manages to stab at Jorah three more times, switching his grip on the trident to two-handed, although he only hits two more times. Hunter's Mark does not survive the encounter. Dhudus then swims back a bit. Jorah takes a swing but whiffs. Dhudus beckons Jorah to come in closer. Jorah decides he is not doing that. He rights himself, swims farther away, and gets out his heavy crossbow. Hunter's Mark makes its return and Jorah manages to shoot a bolt into Dhudus. Dhudus gets a second wind, recovering from most of what Jorah's managed to inflict, and swims to the side, taking cover. Jorah goes after him, although he's careful not to leave Kilwin's sight just in case. As he enters range, a trident comes at him from around the corner. Jorah attacks, although he refuses to use his smiting powers. Dhudus steps out and retaliates, flipping Jorah again and driving his trident down at him. Jorah continues to just attack, since he feels that magic beyond Hunter's Mark is cheating here. Dhudus manages to parry the blow somewhat. From the sidelines, Kilwin and Reides suggest that maybe it's time to call it a fight! Reides says they've both proved they're very tough! Ashara remarks that she wants to see this to the death. Dhudus attempts his leg hook again, but Jorah is ready this time, and the blow just grazes his leg. Jorah's next strike connects and, before he can attack again, Dhudus rears back and drops his fighting stance. He concedes! He could tell Jorah was holding back but he was still tough! Jorah promises he wasn't holding back all that much. He thought he was going to bite it for real and Kilwin would need to waste diamonds on this. Jorah sets down the borrowed sword, and he and Dhudus shake hands.

Jorah continues to insist that he wasn't even really holding back, just playing fair. Dhudus says that no one plays fair on a real battlefield, but Jorah argues if it was a real battlefield, he wouldn't be using someone else's sword. Reides inspects Dhudus's wounds and sees that they're superficial. The same goes for Jorah's. Reides remarks that Dhudus has gotten a lot stronger than he was when Reides last saw him in action. He asks where he learned all that! Dhudus says he's been doing a lot of training with Dharsus and Viglis, although that leg sweep maneuver is his own. Reides agrees that neither of them would do something like that, since they'd take the Jorah approach to fighting. Jorah protests that there's a difference between tripping your opponent if you're good enough to pull it off and unleashing the power of the Nameless God on them. Dhudus offers to teach Jorah the tripping maneuver, but Jorah says he's probably too busy with dancing lessons or something. Dhudus is filled in on the ball situation. Jorah hasn't danced since he was a kid and it was probably the wrong kind of dancing for this. It's been a while for Dhudus too. He says most nobles who try to dance with him learn their lesson the first time. Reides says they get whacked repeatedly. Dhudus disagrees because if that were the case, he'd actually enjoy it. Reides insists that's what it looks like! Kilwin heals up both of the combatants. Reides says he wants to see Jorah spar with Viglis now. Dhudus realizes he forgot to ask why we're here. Reides explains he was just seeing Dad and everyone else tagged along, except Jorah who was getting dragged along for this no matter what. Dhudus says it was a good fight and would have been boring otherwise. Jorah thinks we've had too many good fights lately and wouldn't mind some one-sided stomps, provided we're the stompers. Dhudus figures we have a lot to do, and he has more dummies to whack. Reides compliments the driftwood armor that the dummies have been adorned with since the last time he was out here. Dhudus says they drifted into the palace courtyard and he thought why not. Reides says he's glad to see Dhudus doing okay, and Dhudus thanks him for checking in. Reides mentions that he wants to check in with their mother before leaving, since he'll be dealing with court and she might have better advice than Khavas. Dhudus thinks that's a good idea. He remembers once that a lesser noble family really wanted him to meet with their daughter, even though he didn't want to. Arlyn talked to them, and they backed off immediately. Reides asks if Dhudus knows where she is. He thinks very hard on where he last saw her before realizing he simply does not know. Reides pats him on the back and thanks him for trying. Dhudus returns to stabbing viciously at one of the dummies, although he already looks kind of bored again. Jorah remarks that he needs better sparring partners. Reides thanks him for his contribution, but Jorah doesn't think he's that good. Reides says that he's probably on the same level as Viglis and Dharsus. Jorah thinks they're better at swords and he's just good at getting hit with swords. Reides accuses him of being too modest because he's extremely tough.

We find some guards who stand at attention when Reides approaches. He asks if they've seen his mother. Staying at attention and without making eye contact, they say she's in the palace gardens. Reides thanks them and the rest of the party follows him to the gardens. They're the spiritual center of the citadel. Light filters down directly from the surface, piercing the colorful flora and fauna that permeates the area. Many colors are interspersed along the walls and floor, and rocks are covered in colorful algae and sea sponges. Floating near the top of the garden, someone in a flowing shawl tends the plants up there. Reides recognizes Arlyn and swims to her. She heard he was here and gives him a big hug. Reides tells Arlyn that Jorah beat up Dhudus. Jorah swears it was really close. Arlyn says that's very impressive and they'll need to keep their eye on Jorah. Reides fills Arlyn in on the ball situation and asks if she knows anything about the Falassian court, even if it's outdated. She admits she doesn't know any specifics. She knows that nobles are nobles though. She remarks that she'd be surprised that Reides is going to something like this if she didn't know he had ulterior motives (despite Reides's protests that he's the ambassador now). Reides is just curious to know if there's anyone up there who'd want to skewer him like a fish on a stick. Arlyn offers some general court-dealing tips, which the party readily accepts. While she's not sure what kind of danger we might need to look out for, she warns us to look out for double meanings. For example, if someone says "It's nice to finally meet you," they could be being nice, but they also could be implying that you should be more available to meet. Arlyn's heard that one a few times. She says it's petty, but nobles tend to be petty. Kilwin lists out the positions of two of the suspects before Jorah stops him, since we could be being scryed on at any given moment. Ashara asks if we should switch this to a telepathic relay, but Reides would prefer to just talk to his mom and leave some of the details out. Arlyn suggests that, in any case, we keep an eye out for someone with their head above the clouds, far above their station. Everyone's going to be pompous, of course, but our mark will probably be especially so. Ashara suggests that the opposite may be true if the person has fallen from grace, remembering the fall more than flying. Arlyn agrees that this could be true and that a person in that position could also have much less to lose. Reides asks if Arlyn had any dealings with Karseidon's court, but apparently Khavas handled most of that himself. She knows that Khavas had to deal with a spellcaster, though, since Karseidon wasn't one himself and needed one to make contact. Arlyn has a few more pieces of general advices, such as not to be so nervous (directed at Kilwin), to find an excuse to leave if you ever find yourself in a compromising situation (even if it's that your hippocampus is on fire), and to avoid agreeing to anything you normally wouldn't. Arlyn says this is especially the case if alcohol is involved. Jorah tells Kilwin to make sure he pays attention to his date. Arlyn didn't realize it was that type of social engagement! Kilwin says we all have dates and elbows Jorah, which confuses everyone. Jorah points out that he's not the one who's mom is right there. Kilwin admits that he was just trying to get Jorah back and embarrass him a little but now he thinks it backfired. Arlyn asks Reides for the deets. Reides is very embarrassed but explains that he spoke to Aske a month in advance, and when Aske said he'd come if Reides wanted him there, Reides said he did want him there. So Aske is coming and he has a date! Arlyn gives a wide knowing smile. Jorah assures her that we'll look after Reides and hopefully demons won't burn the whole place down. At least we won't have to worry about any krakens (except the one). Jorah knocks on his crossbow. Arlyn assures Reides that she and Viglis and even Khavas all have faith in him, so he doesn't need to be nervous. Reides thinks Khavas could stand to show it a bit more, and Arlyn agrees. She gives him a big hug and ruffles his hair, saying "Give 'em hell, Little Storm."

Arlyn prepares to go back to gardening, but Reides has something else he wants to discuss with her privately. Jorah and Kilwin offer to step away, and Ashara wants to check out the library anyway. Arlyn suggests they don't go too far though. Although Reides points out that the guards know the surfacers in our group, Arlyn tells him that some new guards have been hired recently who might not! Ashara suggests that Reides and Arlyn could come with us and have their talk there. Arlyn agrees to come along. Reides leads the way to the library, which is now populated by scholars and sorcerers milling around and doing research. Everything has been cleaned up since we fought the aboleth here and it's been restored to its former glory. Reides and Arlyn go to the library's trident-shaped inner chambers while the rest of the party floats in the outer section.

Alone with his mother, Reides switches to Primordial and tells her how he came down here to talk to Khavas. It actually went surprisingly well, and Reides thinks Khavas seems calmer than he has in the past. Arlyn agrees that he's mellowed out. Still, when he asked permission to contact Khavas magically, he just got told to talk to Kanom instead. Reides admits he's frustrated and that, while trust is a two-way street, he can't help but feel that his father doesn't think he's worthy of his role. Although Reides knows he hasn't done much yet, he's trying really hard and doesn't want to mess this up. It's hard to even talk to Khavas! Arlyn's advice is to go to this remembrance ceremony, knock them dead, and come back to Khavas triumphant, not leaving him any choice but say Reides did a good job. Reides appreciates the sentiment, but tells Arlyn that he knows his title was her idea and she made Khavas do it. Reides has never wanted his approval before, but now he's conflicted. Arlyn is confused and asks if Khavas told him that. Reides says he did and that she shouldn't be surprised because Khavas listens to everything she says. Meanwhile, Reides feels like he and Khavas are trying to speak foreign languages to each other. Reides admits he needed to let some steam out, though. Arlyn agrees that she often gets a different translation of Khavas's words and actions, but swears she never told him to appoint Reides as ambassador. She just suggested that the position existing might be a good idea. Arlyn's a scapegoat here! She says this is all new to Khavas too and he's actually really awkward. Reides is doubtful about this, but Arlyn says that this is part of her being able to see a different side to Khavas and that Reides needs to trust her on this, even if it takes time. She says that Viglis is great down here, but she thinks Reides is the only in the family who can stand the tests of the surface. Reides just wants Khavas to talk to him in a real way, and recognizes that means he has to put effort into talking to Khavas. It's just all happening so fast! Arlyn asks if he's having trouble keeping up and suggests a two-pronged approach: They'll both work on Khavas until he's nice. Reides is glad to know that Khavas did support his new position, but Arlyn reminds him that she's still his #1 fan. Reides says he's hers too, although she points out that he has some stiff competition and isn't sure he can beat Lotlyn. Reides says he'll give her a run for it though! Reides says he'll check on his friends but thanks Arlyn for the talk. He hopes he'll have good news soon. Arlyn is sure he will!

The rest of the party is gently struggling with the fact that they don't know Primordial. Ashara looks for information on cosmic winds, needing to ask around for a scholar who speaks Common and mostly finding people who know the section for it but don't know if there's anything specific on it in the library. Eventually, she finds someone who can definitively say there's no scholarship on cosmic winds here. Kilwin looks for a random book in Common and finds a children's storybook called "Persana and the Hunter." It's the story of a sea elf who was assisted by Persana and teaches that all who respect the seas should be afforded Persana's grace. Kilwin thinks it's a nice story! Reides returns and asks how everyone's library trip went. Ashara asks if there's a language exchange programs and why some of the scholars didn't speak Common. Reides says some people here are pretty set in their ways and Primordial is the language of Persana, so that's why some people stick to it exclusively. There are classes though, and that's how Reides learned Common growing up!

We're more or less ready to go, but Reides gathers a vial of sea water first. He also grabs a sponge out of his bathroom to show Jorah. Jorah asks if it's a plant or something. Reides explains it's an animal fiber. Jorah wonders what kind of animal grows fur like that. Reides says it's useful, and Jorah can see why. Reides mentions a time when he covered Dhudus in jelly and they had to use sponges to clean him up. Reides offers the sponge to Jorah because there's plenty down here, but Jorah is okay. One side is more abrasive, as if it's for removing barnacles. Reides gets ready to draw the teleport circle when Kilwin asks what he meant about covering Dhudus in jelly. Jorah agrees that's a good question. Reides tells the full story about how, when Dhudus was about one year old, Reides covered him in jelly for fun. Dhudus loved it, but Reides got in a lot of trouble. Dharsus did not think it was funny. Reides is pretty sure Viglis did, though, even if he tried to hide it. Reides would do it again, though, if he could get Dhudus to cooperate. Kilwin says he could! Reides thinks he might need to change the jelly type, though, since Dhudus doesn't like sweet stuff as much anymore. Kilwin thinks we have learned so much about the world and each other from this sponge. Reides offers it to him, but Kilwin says Reides can keep it.

Reides draws the teleportation circle and takes us to the official nexus in Falas. There's a loud splash as a bunch of water rushes through the portal with us. Kilwin hopes they're used to weird things happening. Jorah just wants to be dry. The Falas nexus is similar in scale to the one in Atemcester, but not as grand. Reides dries everyone off with Presto Chango, as well as our immediate surroundings. He thanks everyone for coming with him, and the rest of the party thanks him for having us along. As we make our way out of the nexus, we see a number of mages going into and out of various rooms just like us. When we leave the building, we realize we're on the High Terrace, the second tallest after the Royal Terrace. We find some benches by a stone planter with a large tree growing in it. We decide we can speak semi-privately there, in the shade. Ashara suggests we all go out to a nice dinner together. Kilwin suddenly realizes he forgot to test the Cloak of Billowing underwater. While there's a river nearby, Ashara and Jorah don't think that's the best idea. Reides says we'll probably be back in Aquos soon enough. We quickly return to the point as Ashara points out that reading an etiquette book is one, but practice is another. She thinks Kain might be able to help, although Jorah's not sure he'll have time. Ashara says he stretches his work out to fill the day though. Reides offers to show us, even though he just said he doesn't know surfacer etiquette. Ashara also brings up the prospect of dancing lessons. She invites us along, although none of us are sure just how much dancing there will be. Jorah doesn't think the Kraken seems like much of a dancer anyway. Ashara suggests we meet up at 6 and she'll ask Kain for fancy restaurant recommendations in the meantime. We can wear our fancy outfits and pretend we're other people for an hour or two. Ashara also offers to pay as thanks for welcoming her to the team, even if it's a bit late. Jorah says that's not really necessary, so she removes him from the offer. Reides asks if we're planning on doing any recon before the ball, although it would have to be subtle. Kilwin suggests checking in with Kain to see if he's finished with the reports. Ashara uses Sending to let Kain know we're back and ask if it's okay to drop in. Kain responds that it's fine and he's almost done with his work for the day.

We make our way up to the Royal Terrace and meet up with Kain. Ashara gives him a big hug and says we went for a swim. Kain remarks that she smells salty! Reides and Kilwin ask about the reports, but Kain wants to keep working on them until the last possible moment. Some of them are tough to gather info on, and he wants it to be as useful as possible. Kilwin admits he's just nervous because the ball is getting closer and feels unprepared. Ashara asks Kain about fancy restaurants and he says the Brimstone Boutique on the High Terrace gets good reviews from the nobles. Jorah is afraid for his coinpurse. Kain says the cheapest meals are about 2 gold. We're used to a meal being about 3 silver! Jorah comments that he used to make that much in a whole month. Kain advises against bringing our own flask or food, since that's frowned upon. Kilwin suggests we could eat light and then meet up at the Outer Wall for real food and a debrief. The party likes the idea. Ashara also asks about dancing lessons. Kain says he could find time most days as long as he knows in advance. He offers to arrange lessons for the rest of the party too. They agree to at least come for moral support. Ashara appreciates this because the last time she danced, it went very badly. She would like a healer present! This makes Kain nervous. She explains that last time she danced, it was pre-pod and resulted in the destruction of a lot of lab equipment, including so much adamantine. Kain doesn't think that's possible, but there were apparently vials of something that could make it possible. Jorah's not sure he wants to join in on this. Ashara expresses exasperation with "round-ears," but Jorah says she can call him whatever she likes as long as he doesn't have to dance. Ashara offers to bring Kain back some cake. Reides asks if there's a general guest list for the ball. Kain says there is and we can request a specific name to be announced under. Reides asks to be announced as "Reides Laverath, Ambassador of the Depths." Kilwin asks if it's okay for him to just be "Kilwin of Cowersby" but isn't sure if that would draw negative attention. Kain says it should be fine, although Ashara suggests adding a "sir" in front. Jorah points out she can't knight him, but Reides can! He says Kilwin has a better title down there though. Jorah just wants to be "Jorah Wolfwood" and would prefer the kraken-slaying thing not come up. Ashara decides to use her last name even if it's hard to pronounce and will be announced as "Arcanist Ashara Mlezzane." We briefly discuss cover stories, although we're the Champions so we might be okay? Kain says to be prepared to answer questions about why we're there, since nobles can be really nosy. There's basically no chance we'll run into any of our marks at the Brimstone Boutique, since every group gets a private booth. While we could scry on them, Kilwin has some ethical concerns about scrying on someone he doesn't know deserves it. Kain asks if he can come along for dinner, and with the rest of the party's permission, Ashara says yes.

In the roughly three hours before dinner time, Reides wants to hit the library and see if he can learn anything about the mysterious triton hero. Kilwin offers to go along and help, since otherwise he'd sit around and get nervous about everything. He could do literally anything else! Jorah suggests panicking about how nervous he's getting. Kilwin is worried that that's not that far off. Reides reminds Kilwin of Khavas's advice. Kilwin says it's weird that Khavas was nice, but he was being nice. Reides says that Kilwin's the Deeplight and he's a badass and if anyone's rude, fuck em! Kilwin says he'll give it a try. Jorah also tags along to the library, but Ashara stays behind with Kain. At the library, Reides and Kilwin start researching while Jorah wanders around and lets out some pent-up energy, looking at books about demons he's already read. Reides realizes he might not find anything that mentions tritons by name, so he looks for accounts of heroes with fish-like features or blue skin. In the mythos section, which has a lot of books about the legendary heroes, Reides finds an interesting book called The Forgotten Hero of the Depths. It details a person from the Draconic Conflagrations with mysterious origins. He could breathe underwater and saved people trapped under ice during the Draconic Conflagrations. He was a spellcaster and used fire magic to make a hole in the ice before diving down. Unlike Lyvernia and Audha and the old Jorah, this hero wasn't noticed as much. People didn't know what to make of him and some were actually afraid of him, as they had never met anyone like him before. This author seems to have painstakingly accumulated all the information and stories they could. Reides feverishly reads through and takes his own set of painstaking notes as Kilwin watches in awe. Eventually, Reides encounters a name: Daiven. It's unclear if that's the hero's real name, but that's the best information available. He wore a violet cloak and a silver circlet with blue gems embedded in it. He worked with the other heroes in repelling the chromatic dragons to Dregonus and displayed an affinity for water and storm spells. He was also extremely tight-lipped about his origins, so there's less written about who he was than what he did. Reides is very very hype! Kilwin suggests that, now that Reides has a name to ask about, we've met some elderly people that could know more. He says Glasny isn't quite old enough ("only" 400), but Ninleyn from the Council of Elders in Malino're could know something. Jorah, having moseyed back, suggests that there could be hidden archives, possibly at the palace. Reides complains about this guy being "tight-lipped" even though he was also very tight-lipped not long ago. Reides wants to find a way to pay honor back to Daiven, though, and he doesn't think Khavas would be opposed now. He also just wants to know about his predecessor for the sake of it. Jorah admits doesn't know much about the other Jorah, since he was mostly just embarrassed about his name whenever he came up. Reides says we can research the old Jorah next time, and Kilwin throws in Audha Wyrmaxe for good measure. They realize, though, that they just have enough time to get to the Outer Wall and get ready for dinner. They all run over to the Outer Wall, with Jorah using his divine power to run faster. Kilwin is baffled. Jorah also uses it to jump up the stairs in the inn. Urli asks where the fire is! Kilwin and Reides present themselves so Urli knows they didn't drown. Urli concludes that Jorah is just showing off.

The lads all get changed into their formalwear. Jorah's outfit is simple and very green. His cloak is blue on the outside but green inside, and his shirt and pants are green to match. They're also somewhat looser than what he normally wears. His hair is back in a ponytail. He's wearing his holy symbol around his wrist and a golden acorn around his neck but is otherwise mostly unadorned. Kilwin is wearing brown pants and an orange collared shirt, more fitted than his casual clothes. He also has a white knee-length jacket with gold trim embroidery, held together by a red sash. The outfit had a capelet that he replaced with the Cloak of Billowing, and he's wearing his holy symbol as usual. Reides is wearing a puffy white shirt with black pants and a black underbust corset. He's also wearing an oversized purple coat as a cape with silver-blue trim in a wave-like pattern. The coat also has the symbol of Aquos embroidered on the back in the same color, although it's covered by his hair. Reides is also wearing the Wreath of Persana with the blue peacock feather Ashara gave him worn inside it. There's a string of pearls around his neck and he's also wearing real shoes. Kilwin admits it feels really weird to not be wearing armor. Reides feels like he's wearing too much clothes. Jorah admits he doesn't really love it either. As the party heads downstairs, Urli asks what the occasion is! We tell him it's a fancy dinner and he says to enjoy! Kilwin mentions that we'll probably be back for real food, but Urli advises splurging and then coming back and telling him about it so he can steal the recipe and sell it for cheaper.

The group makes their way to the Royal Terrace to meet up with Ashara and Kain. Ashara is forsaking her shades for the night, so she's holding onto Kain's arm for guidance while it's still light out. She's wearing a champagne-colored beaded gown with a somewhat scandalous neckline. She's also wearing a champagne-colored shawl and the necklace Kain gave her. Kain also helped rebraid her hair. He tried to match Ashara's outfit and is wearing a puffy white shirt that gets tighter at the wrists, a champagne vest, a blue sash, brown pants, and boots that come up to the knees. Everyone says everyone looks very nice! Ashara calls herself Kain's arm candy, but Kain assures her she's more than that. She says she's got a weapon on her arm, and he advises her against saying that.

The group makes their way to the Brimstone Boutique, a flat, stout building made of white stone. It has stained glass windows that let in the evening light. The interior is dimly lit and there's a podium with a young human man standing at it. There's also red velvet seats along the entranceway for people waiting for their reserved tables. Kain waves to the maitre d' and says he has a reservation for a party of five. The maitre d' takes us to a private room with a circular table and booth. Everyone filters in but makes sure that Ashara gets to sit next to Kain. Someone comes with water and wooden menus and tells us about their recommendations and the day's specials. Ashara asks for a bottle of wine for the table, but doesn't know whether to get red or white. Jorah prefers white wine, which makes the decision even though he's really fine with either. As we look over the menu, we see that the most expensive meal is 10 gold. Ashara says that's not that bad! Jorah and Kilwin say that's an incredible amount of money for a single meal. Ashara points out how much gold we all have, but Kilwin says it's weird that we have that much gold! Reides sees oysters on the menu. He's been craving them and they're "only" four gold so he decides on that. While Reides offers to pay for his, Ashara insists on paying for everyone, including Jorah. We save her life all the time, so it's fine! Kilwin and Jorah are whispering to each other in confusion. Kilwin asks if a "shrimp cocktail" has chicken in it. Jorah doesn't know! The server comes back and Reides asks if the oysters are good. They say they're the best in the imperial citadel! Kain orders a steak, while Ashara gets a salad with potatoes. Kilwin picks something at random in the low-to-mid price range because he doesn't know what half of this stuff actually is, so he gets the Falassian broil. Jorah gets the roast pork. When the waiter is gone, Kilwin asks and learns what a broil is. Ashara starts a toast to us, even though we don't really have a name. We're the Champions? Kain mentions an archaic form of "Valorian," Valoris. For example, if Reides were from Port Valor, he could call himself Reides Valoris. Everyone thinks that sounds pretty swag. The party has their first toast as the Champions Valoris! Ashara orders a bottle of red wine too. The food is fantastic and, while nothing will ever compare to Arlyn's oysters, Reides has to admit these are pretty close. Kilwin remarks that he didn't know they made food like this. Kain's steak is the worst dish and he remarks that it's not as good as he remembers, but it's still good! Ashara shares her salad with him anyway. As we eat, Kain gives etiquette advice. He admits it's a hassle, but he did have to learn it all too at one point. Falassian and Aquosian dining etiquette turn out to be quite different utensil-wise. At one point, he has to stop Reides from opening the oysters with his hands. Reides realizes that Dhudus literally warned him. Reides is curious about chocolate cake, since Aske mentioned it, but balks when he sees it's 10 gold. Ashara orders it anyway over Reides's protests. It turns out to be a whole cake, though, so that isn't so bad. Everyone gets to try it, and it's decadent.

As the night winds down, the waiter brings the bill and Ashara doesn't let anyone see it. She begins to look horrified, though, and is convinced to flash it to the rest of the party, who sees the dinner was 85 gold. The rest of the party offers to contribute. We do not know if tipping is customary or included in the bill. Kain says that tipping is more the custom in Villane and on the eastern coast. Jorah is very cynical about the waitstaff getting paid here, despite Kain's assurances that Falas has minimum wage laws. Once she realizes that this is the total cost, Ashara is back to insisting on covering the whole thing. On the subject of the ball, Kain says that Eurystheos might be able to get us out of a jam, although she'll be busy so it's best to not rely on her too much. Ashara also mentions the cloak signal. Kilwin demonstrates the Cloak of Billowing to Kain. He apparently had to enchant one of those early on in school. Jorah believes it. Ashara comments that she had to trap souls in crystals back in her day. Reides says he's just feeling the heat. Kain assures him that it'll be colder in Chillbreath, although he knows the outfits can be uncomfortable. Kilwin is too overwhelmed by the fancy restaurant experience to tell if he's joking. Reides is more worried about the weight of kingdoms, but Kain says he'll get used to it with time. Jorah assures Reides that there's a few barons he's worked for in the past that he wouldn't mind yelling at, just in case they give Reides any trouble. Kain thinks it's good that we have each other's backs, although it's not in our best interest to fight too much. Ashara asks if he could make a list of nobles who are especially nosy or annoying that we should avoid, but Kain says it would be impossible to finish before the ceremony. Reides reminds Ashara of Arlyn's advice to just say she needs to powder her nose.

The party leaves the Brimstone Boutique behind. Kain offers his arm to Ashara and tells the rest of the party that he'll be in touch when the reports are finished. He and Ashara head back to the Royal Terrace, while the rest of the party starts to go back to the Outer Wall. As soon as they round a corner, Jorah reaches into his bag and takes out the Horn of Silent Alarm to blow on. Ashara hears the horn and screams that it's happening again. Although Kain says there's no horn, Ashara insists on running, dragging him along.

Session 88

 * Google Document (5-5-23)

After their fancy dinner, everyone heads back to rest for the night. Reides thanks Urli for removing the chalk circle. There's still traces but it's not recognizable, which is all he needed! Over the next few days, Kilwin starts researching Audha Wyrmaxe for his own sake. Jorah goes to the library with him and tries to find anything on cults following Alzrius. Kilwin doesn't find deep lore about Audha, as most books about the legendary heroes here center Lyvernia. He figures he'd probably have to go to the Exeter for that. He does manage to sate his curiosity. Audha was one of the heroes that ended the Draconic Conflagrations (the official name of the period). Audha was born clanless but became known as the Wyrmaxe due to her signature weapon. Eventually, she accepted that title as her clan name. In battle, she used her inner anger to fuel her attacks. She was integral in slaying the dragon commonly known as Poison, beheading them with her namesake axe. That battle was one of turning points in the effort to drive the dragons from Lyvernus. When the Conflagrations ended, she retired and returned to the Exeter, where her newly founded clan was highly honored due to her heroics. Even today, there's still a small Wyrmaxe clan in the Exeter, although they've declined in influence since Audha wasn't particularly interested in encouraging her clanmates to leave descendents.

Jorah's search is much more difficult. He spends a lot of time looking and asking library aides for assistance. Days pass with no success until, after a week and late in the day, Jorah finds an old book that almost seems hidden away from the rest. Inside, it mentions the name of an old group in passing, the Heritors of Flame. They worshiped the everburning flame of Alzrius and opposed Alethus, considering her light heretical. Jorah puts the book back where he found it and decides to content himself with having a name. Reides sends a message to Aske telling him that he's staying at the Outer Wall if he arrives in Falas early. Aske responds that he's on the ship over, but he'll keep it in mind and might need to do some clothes shopping when he arrives too.

When he's not at the library, Kilwin finds some time to attend services at the Cathedral of Alethus. It's been a while since he's really had the chance! The sermon is about how the blessings of Alethus are all around us and include her light, which simply reveals our surroundings. Kilwin feels somewhat more in tune with Alethus. For the first time in Kilwin's experience, they open the cathedral's roof, letting natural light in like a skylight. Kilwin is very startled, since he thinks the roof is breaking, but a nearby elderly woman tells him they do this all the time. Kilwin really enjoys the effect and is impressed by the mechanism! He leaves the service feeling spiritually refreshed.

Reides takes a trip to see the Falas River. It takes him a day to get there and a day to get back, so he takes some time to check it out. It's probably the widest river he's ever seen, with a stone bridge leading across. The water is visibly darker than one would expect and filters northward toward the ocean. It doesn't seem to be polluted, though, and has a normal river smell. It's unnerving but nice! It's also more striking from an aerial view, but still a sight to behold close up. Reides sticks his arm in up to his elbow and watches as it disappears from view as he touches sediment. When he takes his arm out, it looks darker from the water, but returns to its normal skin tone when it dries off. Reides goes swimming! He waves at the passersby. However, the water is thicker than what he's used to. While he can breathe it, it's a little unpleasant, similar to humid air. Reides returns to Falas and updates the party on his findings. Kilwin is glad the river isn't dirty! Reides is glad too, since he's heard stories about rivers near big cities. He mentions not having seen a lot of people or houses around the main road though. Urli overhears the conversation and chimes in. He explains that the main port of call for Falas on the river is to the north of the main road. Generally, goods are sailed to Rivermouth and then transported by land to Villane or sailed down the Falas River to the Falas port. From there, goods are generally transported over land to Falas proper, with some destined for Blackpool afterward, since the river is difficult for larger ships to pass farther south. Reides would like our house to be by the river, although he didn't see a lot of buildings near the main road and figures the water probably isn't very potable. Kilwin would be fine with a house by the river, and Ashara suggests renovating a warehouse if we can't find a regular residence. After some discussion, the party realizes that they don't want a house so much as they want a mailbox. Jorah is instantly opposed to the party getting a house at that. He doesn't want people knowing where to send him bills! Kilwin points out he has the money to pay them now. Jorah asks why he'd do that. Kilwin says it's the right thing to do like 90% of the time! Ashara also requests that the rest of the party attend dance lessons with her and Kain the next evening. Everyone agrees with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Jorah, who hasn't actually learned about the Heritors of Flame yet, admits he could really use a break from research.

The next morning begins the month of Chillbreath. Jorah goes to visit Galnur in the morning. He knocks on the door and, as usual, dodges it as Galnur flings it open with abandon and looks around. Jorah reminds him that he asked him to come. Galnur invites Jorah inside. Quickbrand is on the table, with one side of the blade replaced with the pelagic ore. Galnur says it took him forever to get it to work like that and that Jorah can use the dwarven side for land and the pelagic side for underwater. Jorah examines the blade before wondering why Galnur is still living out here. Galnur doesn't know what he means: It's great and also cheap as hell. Jorah also says that Galnur's better at this than Fron, since he's not making him smelt the two sides of the blade himself. The sword feels a bit lighter as well, although it only seems to be a benefit underwater. With business done, Jorah tells Galnur he'll have to suffer through a ball soon and wants to do something enjoyable before that. He also happens to be flush with cash at the moment. He asks if there's anything Galnur would want, suggesting a meal or drinking magmawine. Galnur thinks for a while, making faces and pulling at his beard. In the end, all he wants is for Jorah, if he ever meets any of the Fluxtwists again, to show them the new Quickbrand and tell them Galnur doesn't need them. He adds an additional request, though, telling Jorah to get out of his house. Jorah obliges. Before Galnur closes the door on him, he stops and calmly tells him to press the button on Quickbrand's pommel if he wants a good time. He then closes the door. Jorah stands there for a bit, absolutely befuddled. There is, in fact, a new-looking button on Quickbrand's pommel. He calls out to Galnur, but receives no response. Eventually, he gathers himself long enough to quietly slip a platinum piece under the door. As Galnur yells that he heard that, Jorah calmly walks away.

Back at the Outer Wall, Jorah gathers his friends and warns Urli that he's about to pull out a sword. Urli asks why! Jorah says he had it worked on and wanted to show it to his friends. Urli says that's fine but asks him to do it behind a wooden divider in the corner so he doesn't scare the other customers. Jorah insists that such a fine and noble weapon deserves to be shown off! Reides teases Jorah for being such a paladin. Jorah moves the gathering into one of the party's rooms without further argument though. When he takes out the blade, Reides stares at it and lightly touches the pelagic side. He asks why Jorah didn't tell him about this and calls the new Quickbrand amazing. Jorah says he didn't know it would work. Reides is still in awe of the blade, as if he's seeing a piece of home where he didn't expect it. Jorah also shares the mystery of the button and admits he doesn't want to press it without a healer present. Kilwin asks if he'd rather have him in the room or just outside the door. Jorah was thinking of just heading outside the city to avoid possibly setting any fires, although he doesn't think Galnur would try to blow him up. He's just not sure how quick response to a fire would be around the wall, especially by Galnur's place. The group agrees to head out, although Reides and Kilwin agree that the button probably doesn't do anything like that. They both suggest that it'll make something light up. Outside Falas, Jorah presses the button. The runes that spell Galnur's name begin to glow blue-green as the pelagic part of the blade is pushed out. Quickbrand begins to split into two shortswords, with different sets of runes. The dwarven blade reads "Quickbrand," while the pelagic blade reads "Seabrand." Both shortswords carry Quickbrand's level of enchantment. Everyone is extremely impressed! Reides says he has a good feeling about Jorah carrying a pelagic blade. Jorah puts the swords back together into Big Quickbrand.

That night, the whole party shows up for dance lessons. Kain and Ashara have been practicing together for a while at this point. Kilwin is just here to watch and hang out! He nervously hangs to the side. Reides wants to dance, so Jorah volunteers to be his partner. They're not the world's best dancers, but they're fairly in sync with each other and manage not to step on each other's toes. While Ashara and Kain have the moves down pat, Kain does accidentally scuff her shoe and apologizes profusely. Ashara is deeply upset about her cool boots. She says if she didn't love him so much, she'd throw him in the hell dimension for that. Hell dimension aside, he says he's very lucky she loves him! He offers to fix it later! Ashara accepts but is still upset about her shoe. Reides remarks that underwater formal dancing tends to be more flowy and also uses vertical space a lot more. Jorah has a hard time picturing Reides at a formal ball. Reides says he snuck out of a lot of them, but couldn't get out of everything. Jorah has a much easier time picturing that. After the dance instructor is gone, Kain asks the party to meet him at his desk tomorrow at whatever time works for them. He has something for us! Ashara says she was planning to surprise Kilwin with a trip to the bakery for croissants but can work around that, especially since it's technically not a surprise anymore. We decide that morning works best so we have plenty of time to process things. Kain teasingly tells Ashara not to be late. Before the group splits up, Ashara invites Kilwin to dance with her. He nervously agrees. She asks who he expects to lead between him and Grinlief and he admits he's not sure since neither of them know how to dance. Jorah suggests that Grinlief would lead. Ashara says there's no harm in learning both parts but this time she leads and Kilwin follows. Kilwin scuffs her shoe again and they stop the dance for a full minute while Kilwin casts Mending. Kain gives Ashara A Look. At the end of the dance, Ashara says that Kilwin wasn't bad and was also not completely stationary, so he should be fine. She thinks he'll probably do better than Grinlief. Kilwin doesn't think she should assume that! He did say he couldn't dance, but Kilwin suggests that he might have been being modest for one single time in his life. Jorah says it's possible, and Reides agrees. Jorah says maybe Aquos could also fly, which gets a chuckle out of Reides. Reides isn't sure if Aske knows how to dance, but the two of them are very in sync generally so they'll probably be okay. Jorah suspects that the Kraken is a better dancer than he is. Ashara agrees that Jorah is gonna get dipped on the floor. Reides asks if it's okay to use Mage Armor at the function. While the wards wouldn't prevent it from being cast, it would cause complications that Kain would prefer to discuss in detail in a more secure location. The shimmer would also be fairly noticeable to the prominent mage guests. Kilwin expresses interest in followup dance lessons, and Ashara promises to keep everyone in the loop about when they're happening.

The next morning, Ashara is already by Kain's desk when the rest of the party files in. Kain is seated, clasping his fingers and resting his head on the desk. Kain's gathered all the details he could: who had the most opportunity to get Karseidon alone for an attack, who had the most to gain, who had the most to lose, and something else that will have to wait until the end. We'll see why!

The first report is on Horus Fornathrius. As chancellor, he had quite a bit of power to gain through the loss of a more established monarch. He consolidated a fair bit of power in the wake of Karseidon's death and, as chancellor, would have had a number of opportunities to meet with the emperor privately. He was quite solemn at Karseidon's funeral. Kain stops to ask if we have any questions. Reides asks if Fornathrius and Karseidon were friendly or if their relationship was strictly business. Kain says he wouldn't call them friendly. Fornathrius was old even then, compared to middle-aged Karseidon, and they didn't have much common ground outside of work. Jorah asks if Karseidon was the one who appointed Fornathrius. Kain explains that, while the emperor has the final say on such appointments, the chancellor is actually elected by the Falassian council that works underneath them. This council includes the Minister of War. The chancellor has the most direct contact with the emperor, but can be overruled by them at any time. Kain admits there could have been bad blood at the end if Karseidon overruled anything Fornathrius was really pushing for, but he's not aware of anything like that.

The next suspect is Keld Norre, a middle-aged half-elf with long black hair and a prominent widow's peak. He had the most to gain from Karseidon's death as he was able to consolidate power due to Eurystheos's weakness in her early reign. He had the least opportunity to get Karseidon alone, though, as they really only met at council meetings. He seemed quite angry at the funeral, although Kain's not sure why. He and Eurystheos were still quite shell-shocked from the whole thing. Reides asks if he's hot-headed in general, but Kain says Keld is usually pretty even-tempered. Jorah asks how he got his position. Kain explains that council members are elected by the people directly and candidates campaign for the seat. Most of the campaigning takes place in Falas proper, since that's where most of the people live. Prior to campaigning, Keld had his own set of accolades. He had served in the Falassian Army for some years. Before Eurytheos was born and when Kain was about 5, there was a skirmish with Villane where Keld became known as the Demon of Twin Gods Pass. While the rest of his unit perished, Keld managed to stave off the entire attack by himself. After that, Villane gave up their ambitions for territorial expansion. Jorah thinks he's heard about that. Reides asks if it's something widely discussed and if there's songs about it. While there are some songs, Keld tends not to be very forthcoming about the details of what happened. Kilwin points out that we are looking for someone demon-connected and, title aside, that sounds kind of suspicious. Reides agrees he could have tapped into something.

The next suspect is Diol Wyrmspine, a middle-aged scarlet tiefling. The dishonor of losing Karseidon weighs heavily on her reputation, although she retained her position due to financial considerations, as Karseidon's coffers were burned through quickly after his death. She was appointed more directly by the emperor. As the captain of the imperial guard, she had many opportunities to set Karseidon up. Jorah asks if she was the one investigating the assassination. Kain explains she was and wasn't able to find anything. Admittedly, she was in a good position to cover her tracks if applicable. Jorah doesn't think a blow to reputation matters that much if you have other motives. Diol seemed out of it at the funeral, not entirely mentally there. She also has some war stories of her own, including some skirmishes of Villane. However, she made her reputation in the annexation of Quadroad, pushed for by Fornathrius, some 30 years ago. At the time, Quadroad was part of the Western Elfgroves. Diol's victory in that battle led to her appointment as the Captain of the Drakeguard. Kilwin had occasionally heard people talk about how much harder it was to ship goods when Quadroad was owned by the elves, but hadn't really made any connection there. The town's connection to the Elfgroves is also responsible for the increased amount of Cysebelle worship there. Karseidon wasn't wholly dedicated to his work and was generally quite personable. He was always walking through Falas and taking trips throughout the empire to meet as many of his subjects as he could. This naturally made a lot of trouble for Diol, but the position was a great opportunity for her. Karseidon didn't seem strongly connected to his guard and, while he and Diol talked sometimes, Kain's under the impression that it was pretty much just small talk.

Next is Damien Wright, a middle-aged earth genasi. Kain comments that all of the suspects are middle-aged except Fornathrius. They have literal onyx skin and white crystal hair. Easy to pick them out of a crowd! As we can figure from Kain's relationship with Eurystheos, the Imperial Mageguard works very closely with the emperor, so Damien had many opportunities to set up Karseidon. They lost the most in the fallout, though. They were completely replaced in their job and disgraced. The Imperial Mageguard is the emperor's last line of defense, even above the Drakeguard, and their failure was seen as unforgivable. After Karseidon's death, Damien became disillusioned with the empire and left for a few years. They returned about four years ago and established themself as something of an ambassador to Atemcester due to their magical prowess. They seemed afraid at the funeral, although it could have been either the possibility of being discovered or just the impending consequences of their failure. Kilwin asks if they have a connection to any specific seat on the Circle of Eight, but Kain has no idea. Apparently, their recent activities were pretty difficult to find information on. He knows they studied in Arc-Delia though, and you have to be extremely talented to be accepted there when you're not a high elf. Reides asks if they've been accepted back into the court, but Kain says they're pretty much tolerated. Reides says oof. Kain admits he's not sure why Damien ever came back.

The last listed suspect is Jorlief Dartson, who met with Karseidon numerous times to discuss funding for various projects. Given his contributions, he could have secured an audience with Karseidon pretty much whenever he wanted. He's very financially savvy and profited off the turmoil after Karseidon's death, although he seemed generally sorrowful at the funeral. Jorah asks what he looks like. Jorlief's hair is graying to white and he usually wears it tied back in a ponytail. He wears small round glasses and has a trim white goatee. He has a posh upper class accent. Reides asks if he's a more snobby kind of posh or flamboyant. Apparently, he's actually quite stern and strict. Knowing his son, none of us really saw that coming. Reides speculates that he might have a soft spot for Grinlief though. Kilwin certainly hopes so! It's been a while since Grinlief's been in Falas, though, and Kain doesn't really know what their relationship is like. Reides asks what causes Jorlief has supported. Kain has a list including repairs for the outer wall, funding to St. Vashreen's Law Academy, investment in most shops on the Market Terrace, as well as a number of smaller projects, such as the commission of all of the Drakeguard's current armor. Apparently, the list goes on and we could be here all day. We get the idea though! Jorlief also owns a decent-sized mansion on the High Terrace. Kilwin asks if Kain knows how Jorlief originally got his money. Kain says he was born into wealth and you'd have to research the family history to know more.

Kain explains that all of these suspects were in town at the time of Karseidon's death and, given the nature of how he was killed, would just have to set up a private meeting with him to arrange it. Any of them would easily be allowed into the palace, although Karseidon had no known plans to meet with anyone that day. Kain also has one last thing to show us. We need to know the full facts of the night of Karseidon's death. Kain doesn't know all the details, since he wasn't there, but Eurystheos was. It's hard to ask her to recount it, though, all things considered. Kain did magically preserve her memory of it, in case it ever needed to be revisited. He takes a dusty spellbook from under his desk, as this isn't a spell he needs to use very often. Kain casts the spell and pulls a golden strand of light from his mind, which floats above the desk. Kilwin confirms that Eurystheos knows we're doing this. Kain directs us to put our hands on the strand and warns that what we're about to see is quite gruesome. He casts again, circling his hands around the strand and our hands, causing the party's vision to fade into blackness. When our eyes open, most of us feel smaller and we realize we're seeing through the eyes of a teenage Eury. We're in the Falassian royal gardens, where a thunderstorm is raging. The view turns to a broken window. Eury's arms turn away as she begins looking into the rain, covering her face to try to keep the water out. She runs into the gardens, where the flowers are wilting under the force of the rain, making loud splashes as she runs. She stops cold at the sight of a body, face down in a bed of Falassian tulips with a still-bleeding wound in his back. The blood mixes with the rain water and seeps into the flowers. Eury kneels into the mud and we feel a sense of despair and hear a wail, although none of us are sure if it's the wind or coming from us as Eury. Then we notice a bit of white cloth with a rose embroidered into it, lying on Karseidon's back. Our vision goes back and we're back at Kain's desk.

Everyone seems a bit shaken. Kain explains that he had to keep that memory in mind for years just in case anything like this ever happened. Reides asks about the cloth. Kain explains that it's not Karseidon's and it's probably a calling card from one of the Pale Cloaks, the assassins' guild from Seaton. The rose embroidery was specifically used by an assassin known as the Pale Rose. The Pale Rose was once the leader of the Pale Cloaks, but seemed to have retired as they hadn't made any kills in 20 years. When Karseidon was assassinated, the leader was the Pale Shadow, who still leads the organization today. Kain's not sure why the Pale Rose would return for this one kill, although their calling card could have been faked. It would have to be someone outside the guild, though, as the Pale Cloaks have strict rules against impersonating each other. Kain also thinks it would be hard to find a matching design, and the cloth left with Karseidon's body matched the real thing to the exact stitch. Kilwin asks if any of the suspects has special ties to Seaton, although they've all done business there, either in support of Karseidon or on their own. Kain also doesn't think they'd need to go to Seaton to arrange this, as the Pale Cloaks have liaisons all over. He also confirms that Eurystheos was the one who reported the body to the Drakeguard, so she seems to have been the first to have found it. It's also hard to say how the positioning of the broken window might have played into the attack, but it would have allowed the assailant to climb through. The investigation turned up very little and it's still a mystery how the assailant escaped the palace. Guards were posted at the front door, and the wards would have dispelled any illusion magic hiding an escapee on the way out. The rain also would have made it hard to scale the walls. While someone could have been invisible inside the palace, it would have ended as soon as they crossed the threshold to leave. Kilwin asks if any of the suspects lived at the palace, like Kain currently does. Kain says that Damien resided in his current chambers at the time, but the wards end at the threshold. Kain turns invisible and demonstrates, becoming visible as soon as he steps into the hallway. Kilwin says that if the door wasn't being watched, that might not be much of a problem though. Reides asks about relations between Falas and Atemcester. Kain says it's good enough, although there's complaints that Atemcestari exports are too pricey. It's possible that someone could have something to gain by unsettling those relations though. Kilwin wonders if Damien isn't too disconnected from the court to be able to serve as a current contact for the Burning Knight there, but they've been back long enough that that's not necessarily true.

Jorah, who's been taking notes this whole time, rips off the bottom bit of the page and turns it around for us to see. It's a good summary of the information we've received. Jorah's notes point out that Fornathrius's involvement could implicate the entire Falassian council and that Jorlief has a direct connection to the Drakeguard. There are two things crossed out: a note stating that Jorlief was unlikely to be capable of the murder considering his son, and "Empe" written at the bottom. Kain confirms that the plan is less to figure it out now than to goad one of these people into making a mistake and revealing themself. We're not sure we're up to this but we're gonna try! Ashara asks who Kain suspects. Kain admits he's been thinking it over for the past ten years and he's still not sure, but Keld Norre doesn't sit right with him. Reides asks about Damien's connection to Aquos, but Kain thinks it's unlikely that they know anything about it. Someone had to return the Crest and, while Kain supposes Damien could have had a hand in it, he doesn't know the details. If there was a mage involved, it would have been Damien, but Kain suggests that Karseidon might have sailed out there himself. Kilwin asks more about the relations between the Falassian Empire and Villane. Apparently, after the battle in Twin Gods Pass, Villane wasn't sure their forces could stand up to Falas and surrendered. Eventually, the Falassian council selected and chose a new duke for Villane, a halfling named Errol Mountainfall who continues to rule. Kilwin is confused since Villane isn't part of the empire, but Kain explains that it was a vassal state for a while. However, Karseidon ended that arrangement since he disapproved of the council essentially installing a dictator. During Duke Errol's rule, the Empire has been able to trade freely with the Duchy of Villane, although sailors aren't allowed to step far out of port. When they stop at Cemouth or Northrune, they drop off goods, get paid, and get out. Karseidon stopped the council's efforts at expansionism. Keld's appointment to the council was after that. There was also a skirmish with Seaton five years ago, during Eurystheos's rule but pushed for by Keld Norre (with support from Fornathrius). The Falassian Empire wrested control of Blackpool away from Seaton. The main goal was better control over the Falas River. Eurystheos was opposed to it, but was inexperienced and didn't know how to handle it. Without Karseidon's intervention, Cemouth and Northrune would likely also be part of the Empire. Kain suspects that Fornathrius doesn't bear much love for Villane. The conflicts over Quadroad, Villane, and Blackpool are the wars that the Falassian Empire has been involved with in the past thirty years: The five years since Blackpool have been peaceful and Eurystheos vetoes any attempts at expanding the Empire coming from the council. We note that the Pale Cloaks are based in Seaton. We also note that we're going to need some time to process this.

Reides asks how we're supposed to socially approach literally any of these people. Kain points out that since Reides is also being introduced as an ambassador, it may be easy for him to approach Damien due to their similar jobs. Kilwin admittedly has a good in with Jorlief, and Jorah points out that walking around with a well-known philanthropist's son on his arm might open conversation with some of the others too. Kain admits he doesn't know Keld very well, but is under the impression that he's really into armor and armor upkeep. Kilwin supposes they technically have that in common. Kain knows Diol a bit better and knows that alcohol is a good topic of conversation with her. He wishes us luck with approaching Fornathrius. He has no soft spot to be found. He was born into a high household and has no family, no close relationships, no heirs. Fornathrius relaxes in the gardens sometimes, so we might be able to approach him with that, but Kain asks us not to quote him on that. Kilwin notes that Grinlief would love to be involved with all this but we can't tell him, at least not first. The rest of the party is pretty sure that Grinlief would blow our cover immediately, whether he intended to or not! Kilwin thinks we might be able to bring him in if he knows it's meant to be secret, although we'd have to rule out Jorlief as a suspect first. Reides clears casting Mage Armor if he needs to with Kain, although Kain declines Kilwin's offer to meet with Eurystheos to cast a protective spell on her. Kain promises he's very good! Reides says it wouldn't be a bad idea to have an extra layer of protection, but Kain says that casting any spells on her wouldn't affect her anyway with what he's devised. While we can cast Sending to each other within the barrier, Kain advises against it since we'd create a lot of alarm by casting in front of people. Reides suggests we establish a safeword like seaweed to use if we're in trouble. He also says he'll kill someone if anyone hurts Aske! Asked about the venue, Kain says the ceremony will be held in the Sunshaft Ballroom, which is designed to let natural light in. While the Pale Rose's involvement is a mystery, Jorah suggests that it might have just been a job for them. That's about all Kain has for us and this might be the last chance we really get to talk to him before the event. Jorah mentions what he's discovered about the Heritors of Flame. Ashara says she'll stay at the inn from now on, so that she won't get in the way or distract Kain. Absence makes the heart grow fonder too! She promises to visit often. Kain says she'll have to meet him in the hallways while he's eating but doesn't try to stop her. He takes a deep breath and clenches his fist before saying that he doesn't say this kind of thing very often: "Let's get this motherfucker." He excuses himself, though, as he's late for about three different appointments now. He'll see us around though! As the party leaves the room, Ashara telepathically tells everyone individually to take an indirect route back to the Outer Wall so we're not followed. Outside the palace, Kilwin says he's going to take a bit of a walk before heading back, but Ashara says he needs to get croissants with her. She offers to pay, but he says she doesn't need to and, after Ashara inspects her coin purse, covers it instead. Jorah heads to the Temple of the Nameless God to pray for a while. Even when people are there, it feels empty. Reides actually does take a walk.

The party meets up at the Outer Wall in the evening. We say hi to Urli! He remarks that Ashara being with us is a sight. She asks if she's a sight for sore eyes, but Urli is worried her boyfriend might kill him if he says that. She's worried about that too! Ashara asks if she can start a tab like her friends. Urli jokingly asks why the rest of the party hasn't been paying him and takes a hammer out from behind the bar. He promises he's kidding, but now we know the hammer's there! Urli couldn't hurt a fly though. Reides and Kilwin are skeptical about that claim, although they don't think Urli would hurt a person. Urli says he simply naturally repels flies, so he doesn't have to! They know not to mess with him! Reides asks Urli if he could do him a favor and possibly direct any handsome half-elf men asking about him to his room. His boyfriend is coming to Falas! Urli asks Reides to write a description of him and Reides writes a very flowery and gushy description of Aske. Urli asks if he really had to dot the i's with hearts. Reides says yes! He also tells Urli to stay away because Aske is his. Urli makes no promises! Kilwin asks if Urli could help him out with something similar, although he clarifies that Grinlief isn't really his boyfriend and might not stop by the Outer Wall at all. Urli gives the paper to Kilwin, who writes a description that's clearly filtered through romantic affection. Urli asks if we'd like some drinks and receives a resounding yes. Ashara asks if we can take the drinks to our rooms, and Urli says it's fine as long as we don't spill anything. Reides points out he can clean it up if we do! Urli offers him a dishwashing gig if the adventuring thing doesn't work out. Ashara asks if he hires people with criminal records, and he says it depends on the crime. Urli asks who wants ale and who wants to spend more. Reides gets red wine despite Urli not being especially enthusiastic about the label. He receives a whole pitcher! Kilwin orders ale, promising to spend more another time, so Urli sets out the gallon for us. Jorah buys two shots of firewhiskey, downing one immediately and nursing the second one. Reides is impressed with the wine! It's a regular Falassian red, apparently. Reides notes it's not as good as rip currant though. Urli says he's making things up now, but Reides explains it's a fish thing. He offers to bring some to Urli sometime, but Urli says to be careful because he might want Reides to start importing it for him then. Reides thinks that could be fun though! Now that Urli is suddenly on boyfriend duty, he asks what's up with the boyfriends. He seems a bit surprised that we're going to the remembrance ceremony. He notes that Jorah doesn't have a date, but Kilwin points out that Urli was there when he was being set up with one, although he was really hungover at the time. Urli admits that's why he usually doesn't drink on the job. He notes that we're really filling up his establishment then!

We take our drinks to one of our rooms, where Ashara casts Telepathic Bond on the group. Ashara says she saw what Jorah wrote on the bottom of the page. Jorah didn't bring that up for a reason though. If it's true, there's nothing we can do until the knife is already in our backs. Kilwin and Reides are very confused. Ashara and Jorah reveal that they're discussing the possibility that Eurystheos and Kain are behind Karseidon's death. The other two are baffled. Jorah points out that they both gained the most from Karseidon's death, removing their respective predecessors in the process. Reides doesn't think Eurystheos wanted her position and her "benefitting" is just how dynasties work. Jorah says we only have Eurystheos's word on her desire for the throne. Reides does think that Kain is suspicious though and might be jealous. Jorah points out that he's the Imperial Mageguard, but Reides thinks Kain might have wanted the throne instead, having been raised as Karseidon's son. Ashara thinks memories are malleable and that what we saw could have been magically manipulated, especially since the two of them knew it would be used. Kilwin points out that Eurystheos was only 15, but Jorah says she was already 15. Reides really doesn't think Eury could be involved but does agree that Kain is suspicious. Ashara says she loves him to death, but she worries that the death part could come sooner than she'd like. She moved to the inn because she couldn't sleep with someone she thought might be involved in this. Kilwin points out that the last Crest, owned by the Heritors, is located in Villane, which could be connected to the puppet government installed by the Falassian council and implicate someone there. It could be unrelated though. Reides is worried about Laverathia, since he knows from his parents that there was a mage involved in contacting them. Damien definitely knows about Aquos and possibly its location! Kilwin asks why the Blade of Lyvernia is still in Falas if Eurystheos and Kain are behind everything. We saw it on the Crest map and they would've had every opportunity to just turn it over before now. Reides agrees and intends to defend Eurystheos as hard as he can. He does admit that there could be a conspiracy between multiple people, but doesn't think she would ever have anything to do with it. Jorah thinks that Eurystheos probably didn't know her father was going to die, assuming the memory was accurate, but was otherwise in on it. If it's true, though, we'll just have to flee Falas, so he doesn't think it's worth truly investigating. He has suspected Kain for a while though. Ashara asks why Reides didn't share that with her, but he points out that that's her boyfriend and he didn't want to stick his nose in! Ashara's not sure what to think and asks Kilwin to consult Alethus, but he feels that this is something she'd want us to solve through our own efforts. Jorah says that Julia always said that if you live every day like you have a knife at your back, you won't really live at all. Ashara did that and doesn't really feel like she lived since she slept in a pod instead. She wonders how to investigate Kain and Eurystheos. Reides points out that Ashara is the one best positioned to investigate Kain. He didn't like that Kain didn't let Kilwin help protect Eury, which Kilwin reluctantly agrees was weird. Reides also felt uncomfortable being directed to bring concerns to Kain instead of being about to speak directly with Eury. Reides admits that his offer of assistance to Eury puts him in a good position to feel her out, but he doesn't want to take advantage of that because it was a genuine offer. Jorah, rapidly getting drunk, asks what the difference is. Kilwin asks if he is okay. Ashara decides to run recon on Kain. She asks Reides to help her roleplay not being suspicious, but he's not really comfortable doing that. The two mages both recognize the spell Kain used to show us Eury's memory as Encode Thoughts. Ashara also knows that he would need to use a spell like Modify Memory first if he wanted to present something false, as well as some of Modify Memory's limitations.

As Reides suggests that he could probably just be usual inquisitive triton self at the ball, Jorah mentions that he has a secret new spell to show off. He takes his new golden acorn and summons a bestial spirit of the air, which takes the form of a spectral owl. It perches on Jorah's shoulder and scans the room before preening. Reides is amazed! While he can touch it and feel its feathers, it's also clearly not of this plane. As Reides pets him, the new owl looks at him warily. The new owl looks much fiercer than Pepega, who is simply a baby. Kilwin asks if the owl has a name. Reides insists that Jorah give it one. Jorah doesn't want to, since he's one of a thousand spirits he can probably summon. The owl is just one of the locals and they'll probably never see it again after tonight! Reides gently smacks Jorah and tells him to name the owl. The owl spreads its wings, prepared to defend Jorah if he's whacked again. Jorah asks if the owl has a name and receives no response. He tries again after casting Speak With Animals. The owl says "No name." Jorah asks if he wants one. The owl says "Fine." Jorah tries to think of a good one, but it's not easy. He rejects the name Firewhiskey before deciding that this owl is a hunter, so his name will be Atl Atl. Atl Atl accepts his new name. Pepega and Atl Atl are formally introduced to each other. She perches on Reides's shoulder and strikes a pose. Atl Atl stares at her for a moment before squawking. They're friends! Ashara realizes she has a way to ascertain Kain's involvement: She can read his thoughts. She plans to ask his permission as she's sure he won't object to some basic questions if he's not involved. The rest of the party doesn't oppose this, but tell her it's her relationship so it's her decision. Jorah asks what Atl Atl thinks. Atl Atl says "No opinion." Reides notes that Jorah is very drunk and offers to walk him back to their shared room. He notes that they'll have to separate once Aske is in town. Jorah says it's fine and he doesn't mind being in the room while Reides and Aske do what they gotta do! Reides notes that Jorah is extremely drunk and needs to go to bed immediately. As he leaves, he tells Ashara to be careful. He doesn't doubt that Kain loves her, but desperation can make a monster out of anyone.

The next day, Reides tries to brainstorm some icebreakers. Kilwin asks him to pass on anything more general he can think of, and Reides says he will, although he's mostly thinking of his own situation. Kilwin's not really sure how to organically bring up the topic of armor with Keld, although complimenting the pauldron might be the play. Reides says armor guys simply love talking about armor, so it'll probably work. Kilwin mentions that he might need to let something slip about the Plate of the Ancestors to test Keld's reaction, and we might need to let some slip in general to lure the culprit out. Ashara has a dilemma about her plan to read Kain's mind. Reides and Kilwin both tell her that it's her call, while Jorah is actively opposed to mind-reading in general. After doing some coin flipping and not liking the answer, Ashara decides to go through with it, although she respects Kain too much to do it without his permission. She plans to be transparent about her suspicions and let him say no if he wants, even though she realizes this might be hurtful to him. She asks Kilwin to come with her. He agrees and decides to take a walk around the Royal Terrace, keeping an ear out. Jorah and Reides stay at the Outer Wall as humanly (and tritonly) far away from this as possible. Reides gets a fish sandwich, fulfilling one of his personal side quests.

Ashara uses Sending to ask Kain if he's free, and he confirms that they can meet during his lunch walk. They'll have to walk and talk while he eats, though! Ashara enters the palace's main hall and sees Kain eating a sandwich. A third of the sandwich is gone and his mouth is full. He gives Ashara a little wave. Ashara, very nervous, asks what flavor it is. Kain admits he's not sure, since he grabbed it in a hurry and didn't check. Kain suggests they walk together and Ashara is about to let him lead the way before Kain questions why she's not walking alongside him. Ashara starts nervously rambling asking about the ball, asking if Kain is still okay with the champagne color palette. He's fine with it! He questions if that's really what Ashara wanted to talk about, and Ashara is about to say that's all. Instead, she decides she needs to get this out. She assures Kain that she loves him but after what her friends experienced with Slumberjack and everything with the suspect list, she's been having some thoughts. Kain is alarmed and asks if that's why Ashara moved to the inn and if Ashara is breaking up with him. She asks if she should. Kain is absolutely blindsided. She says she needs to know if he's on our side. He assures her he is. She asks if he's keeping anything from us, but he isn't sure what he'd be keeping. Kain is very confused, but Ashara says she doesn't know who's on the demon's side at this point. She explains that she respects him too much to poke around in his brain without his permission, though, and if he doesn't let her, she'll just take his word for it. Kain says that he's of course not on the demon's side and asks where this is coming from. Ashara explains that she thinks the culprit is someone not on the suspect list. Kain admits that that's a possibility, but anything could be possible. Ashara then asks if Kain thinks Eury could be the culprit. Kain is genuinely shocked and asks if Ashara is well. He's not sure what's gotten into her but assures her that he would never do something like that and neither would Eury. He points out that he was nowhere near Falas at the time of the assassination. He respects Ashara wanting to cover her bases and trusts her, but promises she has nothing to fear from either of them. He also says that if he was working with the demons, he'd be long gone with the Crest by now. Ashara doesn't think he would as it would be part of a plan to gather all six of the Crests in one place and have the party do the legwork. She expresses anxiety about what will happen once we get all the Crests and that we might be playing into the Burning Knight's hand. Kain does agree that someone could strike while everyone is together and the ball could be both the safest and most dangerous place. On the other hand, Kain wants to put an end to this and the thought that six Port Valors could happen terrifies him. Ashara asks that if Kain stabs her in the back that he at least do it nicely. Kain, sandwich going uneaten, remarks that this hasn't been easy on any of us. He reminds her that he fought the gorgon to try to get the materials for her stasis pods. She calls him handsome and heroic for that. They say that they love each other, although Ashara figures she should probably stay at the inn to give him some space and not sour things further between them. She thinks he might need some time to decide if he wants to break up with her. Kain admits it's a possibility. He doesn't want to force her to stay if she has those suspicions about him either, and admits he wouldn't want to share a bed with that person either. He pulls out a pocket watch and says he's going to be late for a meeting. He hopes he assuaged some of her worries. She promises he did and says she'll hopefully see him around. He says he'll see her around. Before he goes, Ashara asks him to let her down easy if he does break up with her, since she's not used to this. Kain holds her gaze for a moment before saying "Right" and turning away, striding away less confidently than before.

Ashara finds Kilwin out on the Royal Terrace and immediately begins to cry. He doesn't have a handkerchief, so he lets her cry into his blanket instead. She tells him she might not have a date to the ball. Kilwin desperately tries to think of something reassuring to say and gets as far as "I mean" several times. He does point out that she has other dresses to wear to the ball if she doesn't want to match with Kain anymore, but Ashara intended those to be regular dresses and not a breakup wardrobe. Kilwin also suggests that, with some time, there's plenty of other people in the world! Ashara doesn't want other people though, she wants Kain now that she knows he's good. She wonders if she should give him an apology gift, but Kilwin advises giving Kain at least a few days of space. He admittedly doesn't know how breakups or potential breakups work, but neither does Ashara. On the bright(?) side, Ashara is absolutely sure Kain isn't involved with Karseidon's death, but says she deserves it if he is. Kilwin asks if she wants to stop at a bakery for a consolation treat on the way back to the Outer Wall, but Ashara says she'll probably start crying on the spot if she sees bread. Kilwin offers to shield her vision if they walk past any bread sellers and they make their way back to the rest of the group.

Arriving at the Outer Wall, Ashara immediately sees Reides eating a sandwich and starts crying again. Reides asks what happened and Kilwin explains that the results were good but it went very badly. Ashara asks Reides to put the sandwich away, so he stuffs the rest of it into his mouth. Ashara says that it's not Kain but she might not have a date to the ball. Reides asks if he broke up with her and she says he hasn't yet. Reides thinks that's a good sign and that it's understandable that Kain might be offended and need space. Ashara also notes that Kain did say he loved her, and Reides says he might come around after he's had time to think about everything. Reides thinks that this is a wizard suggestion, but an apology note might go a long way. That way, he'd be able to read it on his own time and think it over. Ashara realizes that she still knows the teleportation circle for Kain's bedroom. Kilwin suggests delivering the letter normal style instead. Ashara also reveals that she brought up her suspicions about Eury. Reides says "Oh Gods." Ashara figures that Jorah should be filled in on the situation too. She then spots him across the bar, staring at the rest of the party in absolute horror. Reides tells Ashara he's glad she didn't do the mind thing and glad that she was always planning to ask him first. He assures her that she'll be fine. Kain is busy and overwhelmed right now and things will be okay. He offers Pepega for hugging, which Ashara gladly accepts. Pepega snuggles against her as she gently hugs her.

Session 89

 * Google Document (5-12-23)

Ashara goes up to her room to furiously write her apology note. Pepega goes with her for comfort. The rest of the party stays downstairs. Reides knows we shouldn't do too much in terms of recon, but suggests walking by Jorlief's house, just to get an idea of what we're dealing with. Kilwin says we'd have to be really careful not to stand out to not just make everything worse. We might be recognized! Jorah agrees, but Reides thinks it'll be fine we're literally just walking past like normal people. Kilwin is won over by this and agrees to tag along. Jorah thinks he'll stand out too much, like Reides isn't the bluest man in the city. Reides still thinks it's fine because we're literally just going to be passersby. Reides thinks that Jorlief will have the biggest house on the High Terrace. Kilwin nods along. Reides also thinks Jorlief will have a giant statue of himself. Jorah highly doubts that. Philanthropists spend their money helping people. Kilwin agrees that Jorlief being "stern" is also a point against Jorlief having a giant statue of himself. Kilwin has something to do in the Market Terrace, so he suggests Reides come with him and they cut through the High Terrace to get there. Jorah stays behind in case Ashara needs company and also because he doesn't want anything to do with this.

The wealth on display in the High Terrace is obvious. One house does stand out as the biggest. It's one of the closest to the elevator between the High Terrace and Royal Terrace. As Reides and Kilwin walk, they pass by some nobles doing their afternoon errands and get some side eyes, but no one seems to be really paying attention to them. They're just normal men! The large house is surrounded by a tall iron-wrought fence, with a shorter hedge in front of it. Together, they almost totally obstruct the view of the mansion. Reides tries to look for giant statues anyway. The hedge is immaculately maintained, the iron is free of rust, and there's no sign of leaves on the ground. Reides and Kilwin walk for a few minutes and the house continues. They are both scared. It's the biggest house Reides has seen on the surface that wasn't a literal palace. Eventually, there's a break in the hedge with a large pristine iron gate. There's also a little brick pole with a brass plaque reading "Dartson Estate." Leading inside, there's a whole cobbled street leading to a small square. There is also a huge statue that's clearly of Grinlief, even from 100 feet away. Kilwin starts walking faster! Reides, completely vindicated, stops to stare at it. It is very clearly Grinlief in a decent amount of detail. His monocle is rendered. He's leaning on a cane that seems to be made of brass or gold. There's servants milling about farther in, taking no notice of Reides. Reides catches up with Kilwin and they discuss. Kilwin's pretty sure Grinlief's on good terms with his parents now! They'd probably take the statue down otherwise! Reides thinks that's true, but maybe Jorlief just looked a lot like Grinlief when he was younger. Kilwin's not sure they'd have the exact same fashion sense, though. He also feels like he's not supposed to know this. He needs some time to collect himself. Reides keeps an eye out for any other plaques identifying our suspects' homes, but given the excess on display, it seems like plaques just might not be in vogue at the moment.

Kilwin leads the way to the Stitch in Time, where he'd like to buy some handkerchiefs after the Ashain Incident. He also wants to see what kind of embroidery is available and if it's comparable to what we saw of the Pale Rose's calling card. The same storekeeper, named Feldin Cobblecat, is there. Apparently they offer plain, monogrammed, and custom embroidered handkerchiefs. Kilwin thinks he'll just get a plain handkerchief, but wants to see an example of the embroidery if Feldin has one. He shows Kilwin a handkerchief with two embroidered rapiers pointing in opposite directions with vines connecting the edges. It would cost 10 gold. Reides asks if Feldin made that himself. He did! He handcrafts a lot of the shop's wares. Sometimes his son comes in to help, but he really enjoys traveling more. Kilwin and Reides are very impressed! A plain handkerchief costs 1 gold. Reides suggests that Kilwin take a page from his boyfriend's book and get one with his own face on it. Kilwin is about to object when Feldin, alarmed, reveals that he remembers that commission. It is, in fact, the Dartson one. Reides is winning today!!! Kilwin simply cannot believe it. He eventually collects himself enough to ask if it was Grinlief, but Feldin says it was the older one. Kilwin and Reides are confused until Feldin clarifies that Jorlief commissioned embroidery of Grinlief's face and also it was on a throw blanket. Then they are honestly more confused. Kilwin orders a plain handkerchief and one embroidered with the image of a cow holding a flower in its mouth for 5 gold. It will be ready in three days, and Feldin takes Kilwin's name for the order.

After leaving the Stitch in Time, Reides suggests that maybe Grinlief IS estranged from his family and did the estranging himself. Reides has sat for portraits before and thinks that was bad enough, but a statue has to be worse. Kilwin could see that being the case. He admits he's even more afraid to talk to Jorlief now because this is a very strange dynamic to untangle. Reides buys another 100 gold worth of teleportation chalk. With errands done, Reides suggests going by the Dartson estate again. Kilwin's not sure he can handle it again, but Reides talks him into it. They have to make sure the statue is real and still there. They walk down the same street as before, but this time, as they approach, the estate's gates are pushed open by servants. Kilwin and Reides make way but keep walking because they are just normal, innocent men. A tall, thin older man walks out of the gates. His face is stony and almost seems angry, as if his face is just contorted into a perpetual grimace. He walks with a cane. He turns back to his attendants and briefly thanks them before he starts walking toward the Market Terrace. Kilwin and Reides do not follow him because that is how you get caught. Reides does turn back to look, though. Jorlief has longish gray hair, pulled back into a low ponytail. His clothes are lavish and made of dark silk. He's wearing no visible images of his son currently. Also, the statue is very much still there.

Back at the Outer Wall, Ashara finishes her letter and sends it off with a guard, telling them to wait until the night to deliver it. She then proceeds to get extremely drunk off magmawine. Urli asks if she's good for it, and she promises that she has plenty of gold. He didn't mean the money though! She promises she's been trying so so hard to be good so he should let her have this. Behind her, Jorah silently mouths "whiskey," and Urli pours Ashara something from an unlabeled bottle. As the day continues, Jorah begins to mouth "water" to Urli instead. Ashara begs Jorah to sit with her at the bar, so he does. Soon, Reides comes in and announces to the whole bar that there was a statue. People are alarmed at first but go back to their conversations soon enough. Reides begins to tell the story to Jorah and Ashara about how there was a huge house and also very much a statue (which Kilwin confirms). Jorah is flabbergasted. Ashara starts crying when Reides mentions that the statue had a gold cane, so Kilwin loans her his handkerchief. He explains that he's getting an embroidered one too! Ashara is excited to see it. Reides continues the story into the Stitch in Time. Ashara is excited by the reference to Grinlief as Kilwin's boyfriend, but Kilwin clarifies that their relationship status has yet to officially change. When Reides gets to the blanket, Jorah and Ashara need him to back up and explain that again, which he does! Reides doesn't want to defend nobles but says that's weird even for nobles. Jorah admits he feels bad for Grinlief now. Ashara speculates that the statue is some kind of soul-swapping vessel like the warforged, but Jorah suggests that Jorlief is just really weird, and Reides thinks he just really loves his son. After a moment, Jorah questions if a statue is really that different than sitting for portraits which is a thing nobles obviously do. He saw portraits of Reides in Coralpeak Citadel! Reides assures him it's very different, and Kilwin whole-heartedly agrees. Reides is also pretty sure that there's a million paintings of Grinlief in that house. The party agrees that Kilwin is the only one who has a chance to discover this, but Kilwin's not sure if Grinlief would even want to go inside. Kilwin is still nervous that he's not supposed to know any of this. Reides points out that the statue was very much publicly visible, although they agree he can't know about the blanket. Reides also mentions that we actually saw Jorlief. His expression situation reminded him of Dhudus with some added anger.

Ashara fills in Kilwin and Reides on what they missed at the Outer Wall. She's pretty sure dance lessons are off for the night, although she offers to lead informal ones in our rooms. She asks Urli permission to dance downstairs too, which he grants as long as she doesn't bother the other customers. Reides suggests a pre-party at the Outer Wall, since everyone will probably gather here first. Maybe getting drunk beforehand is a bad idea though! Kilwin suggests coming here after to celebrate, assuming everything is fine. Everything will be fine!! Reides thinks that sounds like the play. Urli pours some more water for Ashara out of his unlabeled bottle. He asks if Reides and Kilwin want anything and, after their adventure, they frankly need it. Kilwin leaves it up to Reides and Reides leaves it up to Urli, so they both get firewhiskey (dubbed Reides's usual). Ashara says she's going through it so she needs something special. Urli tops off her water. She loves it and asks what it's called so she can get it at other places too. Urli explains it's a special drink and that all bartenders know when someone needs it. She apologizes for undermining his professional knowledge. He pats her on the shoulder. She expresses excitement at the idea of meeting Keld Norre. We think it might be harder to scope out the others though. Urli overhears and mentions having heard some gossip throughout the years about Keld. The party begs him to spill. Urli explains that Keld makes a big show about being Falassian and stands to gain from that: He can't be elected to the council unless he's from the Empire. There's whispers, though, that he's from somewhere outside the Empire. Ashara questions why that matters since Keld is a war hero. Urli says that the rumors aren't clear on where he's from though. Jorah wonders if he's from Seaton. Kilwin wonders if he's from the Western Elfgroves. Reides wonders if he's from Davenport. Ashara says it doesn't matter to her where he's from. Urli clarifies that it's not a character judgment at all, but that's what the rumors say! Kilwin says we love gossip. On that subject, Reides asks about the Statue. Urli has heard of it and explains that everyone is a little curious about the Dartson estate. No one knows why it's there like that, who that man is, or why so much art was commissioned of a specific man. It's been a few years since all that happened, but occasionally newcomers will see the Statue and understandably have Questions. Kilwin, who has fallen into hysterics at this point, tells Urli that there is a surprise coming. Urli says okay then! He also admits that this isn't the most noble district, so what whispers he has probably aren't the most accurate. We might get more at a nicer establishment, but those barkeeps also get paid better to keep their secrets. Urli brings up the story of Karseidon, and Reides and Kilwin play dumb and ask what happened. Urli explains that two public officials were disgraced when he died, with one sent away and the other put on retainer. The captain of the guard fell in standing and the Mageguard went into exile, although it wasn't actually mandated. Urli implies that they weren't welcome to most people, who liked Karseidon. Apparently, Diol used to frequent the Outer Wall years ago, before she got her status. Reides asks if she had a signature drink. Urli has to think about it but remembers her as partial to wines, especially Falassian red. It may have been a sign of her higher ambitions. Urli observes that Reides has a lot of questions today! Reides says he's just killing time! No dance lessons tonight! Urli remarks that there's no better way to bolster your spirits than with spirits.

A few days pass. Reides begins to go sicko mode on his spellbook, while Jorah uses the Immovable Rod to do some pull-ups. On Chillbreath 5, Kilwin sends a message to Grinlief, telling him that he's at the Outer Wall if he wants to meet up before the ceremony. Grinlief responds that he does want to and will be there in a few hours! Kilwin immediately begins to panic. Ashara and Reides assure him he will do fine, while Jorah would prefer to not have anything to do with this. Ashara offers to ask any awkward questions on Kilwin's behalf, since she hasn't met Grinlief before. She also asks what Kilwin will say about Slumberjack, advising him to keep it very vague and general. Jorah says it's nothing personal but he thought he had six more days to mentally prepare for this. Kilwin says it's okay and Jorah should take his six days. Jorah hangs out upstairs while the rest of the party goes down. Kilwin positions himself at a table easily visible from the door. Reides and Ashara sit at the bar. Reides gets ready to eavesdrop and Ashara asks Urli if there's any letters for her. He apologetically tells her there's nothing yet. Reides assures her that silence is a good sign, because Kain is reading her letter and taking it to heart. After literally just sitting there for multiple hours, the door swings open and the familiar figure of Grinlief Dartson trudges in. He doffs his cap and places it on his chest before looking around and waving at everyone in the tavern. He says greetings! Kilwin gets up to meet him. Grinlief notes that Kilwin has made some changes! Kilwin just says the armor thing is a long story, and Grinlief says gold looks nice on him. Grinlief spots Reides at the bar and makes his way over to say hello. He also notes that they have a new friend. Before Ashara can introduce herself, he says he's got this and goes deep into thought. Ashara is nervous and psychically asks Reides if she should be ready to blast. Reides says it's just how he is and she should just smile and nod! Grinlief reveals his brilliant deduction that Ashara is controlled by her glowing arm, an ancient automaton given form and flesh. He's pleased to meet her! Kilwin immediately starts trying to intervene and also apologizes to Ashara. Ashara aggressively says there's no need! She shakes Grinlief's hand with her flesh hand and says her arm tells her things! Grinlief introduces himself as Grinlief Dartson, saying the Dartson part noticeably quieter. Ashara asks why he whispered that and to speak up because her arm is just so loud! He says it quieter again. He also notes that Kilwin had two other friends and asks where they are. Kilwin points out that he had three other friends actually. Jorah is upstairs, while Erak and Slumberjack (known to Grinlief as Rilineth) struck out on their own. Grinlief admits he forgot about Jorah. Reides starts laughing. Ashara tells Reides it's better than what he got. Grinlief says the trip wasn't so bad, so Ashara asks if he came by boat or airboat or what. Grinlief says it wouldn't make much sense to travel on a boat over land, although he starts contemplating attaching aerocrystals to the bottom of a vessel. He loves the theory! Ashara says she's heard a lot about Grinlief! Grinlief wishes he had heard more about her, but realizes communication is a bit limited! Ashara says there's no need because he absolutely got it first try.

Kilwin finally manages to ask Grinlief if they can have a quick aside. Grinlief would love that! Kilwin blushes but takes Grinlief aside to explain that Ashara's arm is a prosthetic. Kilwin admits it's very cool and kind of a unique one, but it's a mobility aid and she is not an automaton. Grinlief is confused at first because he has the words prosthetic and anesthetic mixed up, but feels bad once Kilwin explains. Kilwin assures him that you learn something new every day and pats him on the arm. Meanwhile, at the bar, Reides assures Ashara that that's how Grinlief is. It's understandable that she's upset, but Grinlief is ultimately harmless and Kilwin likes him a lot! Ashara is considering taking off her arm and beating Grinlief with it, but says she won't. She does wonder how, out of the dark glasses indoors, the emaciation, the purpleness, Grinlief latched on to the arm that she has trauma about. Reides thinks that maybe he just thinks the arm is cool! Reides thinks Grinlief could just be into mechanisms and things. He takes another drink. Ashara asks Urli for some firewhiskey. Urli is absolutely motionless except for the occasional stroking of his beard. He is staring at Grinlief and putting the pieces together. He pours a glass of firewhiskey and downs it himself. He was warned, but it's a lot! Urli eventually comes to and gives Ashara some real booze. Urli says it's one thing to put a face to a statue, but another to put a personality to it. Ashara mentally tells Reides that she wishes the real thing was as quiet as the statue. He tells her to be nice.

Grinlief and Kilwin return to the group. Grinlief wonders where Jorah is. He'd like to see him! Reides offers to go get Jorah. Ashara offers to go with him, but Reides says it's fine and she can stay here! Once Reides is gone, Grinlief says he'd like to apologize to Ashara. Ashara says it's not necessary, but Grinlief says it is. Kilwin corrected him and he feels he behaved poorly. He admits that his field can be guesswork at the worst of times and sometimes even at the worst of times, but he should still try to do what's right. Ashara asks what he considers right, but Grinlief doesn't seem to understand the question. Ashara decides to just offer to start over and pretend that didn't happen. Grinlief is good with that, and they introduce themselves normally. Ashara tells him not to worry about her last name, since he won't be able to pronounce it. They say it's great to meet each other! Grinlief mentions that Kilwin helped him with a rough spot a while back. He's sure that Ashara has noticed that her friends are very capable. Ashara agrees. Grinlief specifically calls Kilwin dependable, and Kilwin giggles.

Upstairs, Reides goes into his room and says "Wolfie, it's time." Jorah asks what he means by Wolfie. He asks if the entire imperial army is with Reides or if Alzrius is downstairs. Reides says no, but Kilwin is downstairs! Jorah looks meaningfully at Quickbrand. Reides asks why everyone wants to kill Kilwin's crush today! Jorah doesn't want to kill Grinlief and says Quickbrand would be for his own protection. He doesn't like that Grinlief remembers him! Reides assures him that Grinlief actually forgot him completely. Jorah agrees to go down to support Ashara. Reides also takes Pepega downstairs.

When Jorah comes down, Grinlief greets him but almost forgets his name again. He offers handshake, which Jorah accepts. Jorah asks how he's been holding up. Grinlief says a mayor's duties are never done, although he sometimes wishes they were. It's nice to get a little vacation like this. Kilwin asks how things are, and Grinlief says Vila's Watch is doing fine. He's been able to open up the town quite a bit and trade has been flowing through. He mentions that Drakov and the Vizinis asked about us too! The party tells Grinlief that we miss them! He says that things were rough for a moment, but they're doing well now and the Dark Oak Tavern is open for business again. Grinlief also mentions that he's staying at the Falas Guest House, which is nice but running his pockets a bit. He asks how the Outer Wall is, and it (and Urli) get rave reviews from the party. Grinlief also asks how long we've been in town. When he learns it's been two weeks, he figures that we've probably gotten accustomed to the city! He admits he needs to get re-accustomed himself and take a walk. Kilwin asks if he'd like some company! Grinlief pauses before saying he doesn't want to be too conspicuous, since these are his old stomping grounds. Reides laughs a bit, considering how Grinlief entered the tavern. Reides says he and the others are really really busy, so they won't be to tag along anyway, but he and Kilwin should have fun! Ashara says she wouldn't want to intrude anyway, since it can be so hard to relax around new people. Grinlief says it's fine and she's welcome to come along! In fact, she should come! Ashara says she can't because she's very prone to crying right now. Grinlief suggests that Reides should take a break from studying, but Reides says it's fine! He also thinks that Ashara coming along would be a win-win: If she's okay, she'll have a nice time and if she starts crying, it will draw attention away from him! Kilwin admits that he was expecting that sentence to end a different way. Reides convinces Grinlief to just take Kilwin with him. On his way out, Grinlief tells Ashara to feel better. She tells him to just go. Kilwin swears she means it in a nice way. After they're gone, Ashara continues complaining about the arm thing.

Grinlief wants to go to the Market Terrace, which is good with Kilwin! Grinlief walks a step ahead the whole time, pointedly avoiding the High Terrace. Grinlief wants some food after a long journey and also to get an apology gift for Ashara. He was thinking of a parasol because it would be more fashionable than her glasses. Kilwin thinks she might like that, although it would have to match her aesthetic since she's actually very fashion-forward. Together, they pick out a black, lacey parasol. With that done, Kilwin admits he doesn't really know any of the local restaurants. Grinlief doesn't either, since it's been a few years since he was in town. Kilwin remembers Grinlief saying he'd only been in Vila's Watch a few months when they first met, so he's a bit confused. He apologizes if he's prying though! Grinlief explains that he didn't want to stay in the city after graduating from St. Vashreen's. First, he went south to Laketon and found that it was very different. Then he went up to Quadroad and actually stayed in Port Valor for a while. After a while, he wanted to go back to Falas but he also didn't, so he went to Vila's Watch, where he could be close but not there. Kilwin asks if he likes it there, but thinks that since Grinlief's the mayor, he might have to say he does. Grinlief assures him it's nice and things have really been looking up there. He remarks that it's strange being homesick for a place you don't want to go back to. He says that's enough sad talk though! Grinlief spots a random diner and directs Kilwin toward it.

Grinlief holds the door for Kilwin. Once they're seated, Grinlief starts fumbling with the menu distractedly. Kilwin switches between watching him dreamily and trying to read his own menu. Grinlief does not notice this. He calls the offerings pedestrian, but figures he'll order the soup. Kilwin gets some ham. Grinlief says it's on him. Kilwin says he can cover it instead since adventuring has been pretty lucrative lately, but Grinlief insists. He says it's a gift and points out that he got a gift for Ashara, who he just met. He thinks it would be wrong to not get a gift for Kilwin who's been talking to him on and off. Kilwin concedes. The food arrives, and Grinlief does not seem very enthusiastic about it. Kilwin asks how it is, and Grinlief says it's as good as meat and water can be. Kilwin says that can actually be pretty good! He asks if Grinlief is okay. Grinlief says he's very adept at concealing his emotions, so it may be hard to tell but something is bothering him. It's about his father. Grinlief explains his father is a very important person around the city and it's not that they don't like each other. In fact, Grinlief thinks the problem may be that his father likes him too much. When he hears people talk about Jorlief, it sounds like they're describing a completely different man than the one he knows. He mentions that when he was attending St. Vashreen's, Jorlief funded an entire new wing of the school. He also commissioned a statue of Grinlief. Kilwin blurts out that he saw the statue but wasn't sure if he should bring it up. Grinlief is mortified. He was hoping his reputation just preceded him and no one recognized him from a big statue. He supposes it's one way to build a reputation though. Kilwin figures this is a good time to warn Grinlief that Jorlief will be at the ceremony, which Kilwin did not know when he invited Grinlief and did not think really mattered when he found out. Grinlief goes pale. He thinks it might be okay for a night though! It's not that his father loves him in a bad way, it's just a bit suffocating. Kilwin can imagine from the statue thing. He mentions that it is very publicly visible from the street. Grinlief groans. He made his exit before it was erected so he didn't know the particulars and was hoping it was somewhere inside or something. Kilwin is so so sorry about all of this. He tries to think of a positive spin but mostly fails. All he's got is that Kilwin does agree that it's weird and so does the rest of the party. In fact, Kilwin imagines that most people would be on Grinlief's side here. Grinlief supposes that's something. He's made a commitment to Kilwin, though, and he's going to honor it even if it gets awkward. Kilwin says he's caused plenty of awkward situations himself and that's just fine. Grinlief doesn't think that's true, so Kilwin recounts the "nice table" episode from Malino're. It turned out okay but it was mortifying! Grinlief understands that Kilwin just had to know if there were hags there, though, and admits he's done his fair share of awkward things in service to an investigation.

Grinlief admits he doesn't really want more of the soup, so he's ready to go. Kilwin offers some of his ham, but Grinlief says he's just not very hungry. After Kilwin finishes up, Grinlief offers his elbow to help Kilwin up. Grinlief walks on, not giving Kilwin a chance to let go (although he wasn't going to anyway). Even so, Grinlief attempts to hold the door for Kilwin again and is confused when Kilwin doesn't pass ahead of him. Kilwin eventually points it out, laughing, and Grinlief lets go. On the way back to the Outer Wall, Grinlief wonders if Ashara even wants to see him again. Kilwin says he can go first and check! Grinlief holds the door and hides behind Kilwin, who sees Ashara and Reides in the same seats as before. Reides is eating another fish sandwich. Ashara seems to be holding it together, so Kilwin says it should be fine. Grinlief approaches Ashara and offers the parasol. She loves it and she hates that she loves it. She accepts it, asking if Kilwin got it. Kilwin admits that he helped pick it out, but it was Grinlief's idea to begin with. Grinlief apologizes for his earlier conduct, and Ashara says it's water under the bridge! Reides asks if Grinlief still thinks he's a drowning victim. Grinlief still thinks the pallor of Reides's skin is concerning, but it could be natural since it hasn't changed in months. He has officially changed his mind. He wonders if he should search for another gift, but Reides says it's fine. He just wanted to know! Reides shakes Grinlief's hand. Grinlief now notices and compliments Reides's webbed hands. Grinlief does have to be off, but he needs to get his outfit in order in the coming days. He asks what Kilwin will be wearing, since he wants to try to match. Kilwin offers to show him the outfit. They go upstairs together, and despite a minor mishap where Grinlief bursts in the wrong (thankfully empty) room while Kilwin keeps going, they make it there. Kilwin shows him the outfit, as well as the Cloak of Billowing that he's wearing. He shows off the billowing, and Grinlief is as impressed as Kilwin thought he would be. Kilwin's not sure he'll make it billow at the ceremony, since his friends said it'd probably draw too much attention, but Grinlief encourages Kilwin to do whatever he'd like. As they go downstairs, Grinlief says Kilwin knows where to find him and also he knows where to find Kilwin. Kilwin tells Grinlief not to be a stranger and that they know where to find each other before observing that Grinlief just said that. Grinlief shakes Kilwin's hand and whirls on his heel before leaving the Outer Wall.

Reides and Ashara press Kilwin for the deets, which he readily shares. Ashara asks if Grinlief makes Kilwin happy. When Kilwin says he thinks so, Ashara says she'd put up with almost anything for him. Kilwin thinks it went well! Reides and Ashara both hear Good Signs in his description of the date, which they are officially calling it. Reides admits he lied about being busy. Kilwin appreciates it, although he says it would be fine if Reides had wanted to tag along.

On the 6th, Kilwin picks up his handkerchief. On the 8th, the doors of the Outer Wall open and boots echo off the wooden floor. The Kraken says we should have told her what tavern we were at, but she made it anyway. Jorah says he wasn't sure if we would still be here, although he admits it should've been mentioned either way. Reides defends himself by pointing out that the Kraken did not enjoy the Sending Experience. The Kraken asks if he's ever tried sending a letter. Reides points out that he doesn't have an address for her, but she says that's not her problem. She smirks for a moment. She asks if Jorah has that bottle of magmawine for her. He does, but he orders two glasses of it instead. The Kraken eyes them before he slides one over to her. She chuckles and adds some of her own flask's contents to the drink. She says it's good to see we made it out. Meanwhile, Reides stares in awe of how cool she is. Jorah asks how her journey went. He imagines the storm cleared up after a while and hopes it was easy. The Kraken says it wasn't too bad, although they lost a few people. Everyone processes this before she chuckles and says she's kidding. The seas were clear, and she's not sure if that had anything to do with us, but she appreciates it. Jorah and the Kraken make a toast to journeys. She then asks what this whole event thing is about. Jorah explains it's a remembrance ceremony for Karseidon. She asks if there will be booze. Jorah says yeah. The Kraken is officially in. She stands to leave, since she has an appointment. Before she goes, she turns to Jorah and tells him to wear something nice. He asks if green is fine. She says it works. The Kraken leaves. Jorah asks Urli how much that brief conversation cost him. With the friends and family discount, it's 80 gold. Jorah calls Urli a hero. Reides begins to wonder if we just collectively hallucinated the Kraken being here. Ashara asks if Jorah wants to swap dates, even though she technically doesn't have one at the moment. Jorah refuses, since he can't dance with Kain. Ashara concedes that if he did, she would have to kill Jorah. She says she's happy for all her friends, although the rest of the party assures her that things will work out for her. Ashara encourages Jorah to ask the Kraken out for a lunch date or something. Reides doesn't recommend Sending, although Ashara says she'd do it for Jorah even if the Kraken is scary. Reides goes outside to look for the Kraken, but doesn't see her. He calls out for her, which alarms some people, but he gets no response. Kilwin, unsure where the Kraken is staying, sends a message to Grinlief. He hopes everything is peaceful at the Falas Guest House and warns him that it might get busy with some of his friends' friends coming in! Grinlief says he'll be sure to greet them if he recognizes him, which is the opposite of what Kilwin was hoping for, but he lets it stand.

On Chillbreath 11, most of the party is busy with last-minute preparations. Ashara is still waiting for her response. Reides is also visibly anxious, since Aske still hasn't arrived. He tells Jorah that he doesn't think Aske is coming and starts worrying that he might have had an accident out at sea. Jorah thinks Aske can handle himself just fine, but suggests using Sending. Before Reides can really think about that, Urli calls up for Reides to get his ass downstairs. Reides is confused why Urli would be calling for him before he realizes it must be Aske. He sprints down, with Jorah slowly following. Below, Urli is holding a note and comparing Aske to his description. Urli is pretty sure it's a match, supposing that Aske's hair is pretty nice. Reides leaps onto Aske and clings to him, so Urli counts boyfriend watch as a success. Jorah tells him he does good work! Aske says things got dicey but he made it! Reides admits he was worried and starts patting Aske down for signs of injury. Aske promises he's fine, just late! Reides reminds Urli of the last thing he mentioned in the boyfriend watch note,  although he has to clarify that he's not talking about the two swords thing. Urli pours Aske some firewhiskey, conversationally bringing up that he heard Aske can use two swords at once. Aske thinks that's a pretty normal thing to be able to do, though! Reides points out he can't do that, but Aske is pretty sure he could if you just gave him two swords. Reides thinks Aske is very much overestimating his potential for swordsmanship, hugging him tighter. Jorah waves at Aske, who manages to get a hand free to wave back. Reides tells Aske that the Kraken is in town and she's Jorah's date. Aske is surprised she actually showed up! He figured it was a lost cause. Reides explains he used Sending to contact her, although she was very clear about not liking that. He does a lovely impression of the Kraken saying she mislikes this way of communicating. Aske tells Jorah to Have Fun, Kids, immediately asking him not to tell the Kraken he said that. Reides also tells Aske that Ashara's relationship is going through a rough patch, so she's kind of emotional right now. Aske is sorry to hear that and promises to use a light touch with her. Reides also tells him that Kilwin's date is in town and, although Reides wants to keep the surprise, advises him to take it in stride if he says anything weird. Water off a duck's back! Reides assures Aske that he's a good person with good intentions, but he did just recently learn that Reides is not a drowning victim.

Aske realizes that he still has to get his clothes situation in order. He threw a bunch of stuff into his pack, but he's not sure any of it will work with what Reides picked out. He might need to get some emergency nice clothes. Reides thinks Aske would look nice in anything, although Aske wants to match! As they go through things, Jorah offers to talk to Urli to split off into his own room and give Aske his current bed. Reides and Aske want to share a bed, though, so it works better if Reides is the one to split off, leaving Jorah with a double room to himself. After going through everything together, Aske thinks trying to get a rush job from the tailor is the way to go. Reides assures him that what he has is fine, but Aske doesn't want to be too out of place and also wants to look nice for Reides. Reides gives him a little kiss before they head over to the Stitch in Time. Feldin gets to work on a matching Aske outfit. The outfit consists of black pants, black boots, and a white buttoned shirt, similar to Aske's normal attire but nice. It has pearl buttons with light blue diamond-shaped embellishments around them, and the shirt's cuffs have a white and blue wave pattern, matching Reides's jacket but with an inverted color scheme. Aske also has a purple sash that matches the color of Reides's jacket. He does a little fashion show for Reides, who applauds. When Aske asks how much it costs, Reides insists on paying. Feldin charges 17 gold, but Reides pays him 18 as thanks for doing a rush order. Feldin knows how it is!

On their way back to the Outer Wall, Reides asks if Aske has ever had a sandwich. Aske has. They're new for Reides though, so he really wants Aske to try one of Urli's! At the tavern, Reides tells Urli to get this man a sandwich, the fried fish kind. Also the good kind! Urli explains he's only got one kind of fish. Reides explains to Aske that he's had like a million of these sandwiches because they're so good, and they're basically all he eats now. Jorah asks what Reides will do if he already ate all the fish. Reides swears he will catch one and make it the right kind by sheer force of will. While Urli is busy with sandwich-making, Reides makes some sparks with Presto Chango to show off the spell to Aske. He explains that he learned the spell because of him! Aske loves it and is very impressed! Urli presents Aske with the fried fish sandwich and asks him to be a gentle critic because he thinks his boyfriend might kill him if Aske doesn't like it. Reides assures Urli that he doesn't murder his friends, and Urli jokingly ducks behind the counter. Aske takes a bite and deems it pretty good! It's not as good as what his mom used to make, though. Reides understands from his recent oyster experience. Later on, Reides reminds Aske that the ceremony is kind of a work thing so it might not end up a normal ceremony. Aske understands and still wants to go through with it.

The day of the ceremony arrives and Ashara still has no response. Kilwin and Reides assure her it's going to be okay. Reides points out that Kain has been really busy lately! Ashara plans to leave the necklace Kain gave her at the inn, but Reides convinces her to bring it in her purse, just in case. She also wears her hair down since Kain's not around to braid it. Aske is the first of the dates to arrive, since he's already here. He's wearing his new outfit. Next, Grinlief arrives in a prim, proper white suit with an orange neckerchief. He's also carrying a red cane. Kilwin tells him he looks great! He spots Aske and goes to introduce himself. Jorah smiles worriedly at Aske from behind Grinlief. Reides introduces his boyfriend Aske. Grinlief doesn't comment on the name, instead screwing up his face in thought. As everyone starts to get nervous, Grinlief asks if Aske is a sailor. Aske is surprised and asks how he knew! Grinlief explains that Aske has a salty air about him and carries himself like a lot of sailors. Kilwin is sincerely delighted. Aske thinks Grinlief must really know himself! Reides tells Grinlief he's so happy for him. Grinlief appreciates it, but doesn't see the need. He's only been wrong twice, after all! Reides notes that we never heard Grinlief make any deductions about Jorah. Grinlief has to think for a second about who Jorah is. Jorah says it's okay, he forgets too sometimes. The door swings open and the Kraken enters. She's wearing a green dress with a small brown jacket. She walks up to Jorah and asks if he's ready to go. Everyone looks to Ashara, who says she's waited longer than she thought she'd have to. Time to go! Reides tells Grinlief and the Kraken that they both look great. Grinlief gives a little bow. The Kraken looks at Grinlief and says nothing until she looks back to Reides and gives a hesitant thanks. She claps Jorah on the shoulder and says it's time to go. As the group walks to the palace, Reides clings to Aske. Kilwin swings his hand in grasping distance of Grinlief's for the entire walk, never actually reaching for it. Grinlief doesn't seem to notice. Jorah and the Kraken walk together normal style.

Outside the palace, there's a sizeable crowd being directed through temporary fences by guards. At the door, there's a court usher who takes each of the party's names and checks us off his list. Inside, the entire layout has been reshaped by fences set up to guide people toward the Sunshaft Ballroom. At the doorway, there's a line where a herald is taking people's names and announcing them. Kilwin ends up going first and is startled by how loudly he's announced as "Kilwin of Cowersby." It reminds Reides of home! He goes next and a brief hush descends over the ballroom as "Reides Laverath, Ambassador of the Depths" is announced. "Jorah Wolfwood" is announced normal style. Ashara gives her name begrudgingly but is still announced as "Arcanist Ashara Mlezzane." She immediately starts looking for a drink. The party enters onto a balcony that looks down on the ballroom floor. There's stairs leading down there as well. The balcony surrounds the ballroom floor, providing walkways and seating areas. On the other side of the room, large tiles lead up to three large mosaics of the sun. The evening light filters through large arcing windows, which direct the light toward the mosaics. A servant approaches the party and hands out some event programs. The ceremony will begin with opening remarks from the current emperor, followed by a free period, followed by a tasting of some of Karseidon's favorite drinks, a charity auction (the proceeds of which will go toward infrastructure improvement in the outer districts), and a closing where those who knew Karseidon will be able to share their stories about him. Past the mosaics, there's a small platform where servants are setting up chairs. We all look around for any of our suspects. It's hard to pick any particular face out of the crowd, but Ashara does spot Damien Wright. She points them out to Jorah. They are wordlessly gliding across the floor, making their way to the seating area. They're wearing a long dark gray coat with a blue ascot tucked into a black shirt underneath. They quickly disappear into the crowd. Ashara grabs some drinks from a servant and starts going to town. Jorah tries to suggest that she should take it easy, but she angrily tells him to shut up repeatedly. He gives her a disappointed look, which she returns.

We make our way to the seating area and try to eavesdrop on the surrounding chatter. Most of us catch people wishing Eurystheos would just go up so they don't have to keep sitting. Kilwin catches something about Keld Norre but doesn't quite make it out. Ashara hears someone saying Norre is sitting by the left side. She wants to make her way over there, but we're stuck in our seats for now. Soon enough, an entourage emerges and walks down the center aisle. There's many members of the Drakeguard, walking around Eurystheos, who's wearing a long red dress. Kain is trailing behind, still matching with Ashara. Ashara pointedly looks away and covers her ears when Reides explains to Aske that that's the boyfriend she's having a rough patch with. Kain uses magic to amplify Eurystheos's voice. She explains that this marks the tenth anniversary of her father's death. As each day passes, it becomes more obvious that everyone misses him terribly. He was a good man, which many will confirm. She pauses. She says that tonight is for celebrating his memory, remembering his life, loves, and accomplishments, and, as he would want, having a little fun. She pauses again and looks over the crowd. She explains that if anyone wants to speak to her, she'll be holding a meet-and-greet on the side of the ballroom. She would love to hear from everyone, as she's sure that many of us have wonderful stories that will take her back. She takes a breath before saying that that's enough from her and to enjoy the night. She steps back from the podium and gestures at everyone to stand up. Chatter erupts as people stand and start to mingle.

Ashara makes a beeline for Keld Norre's general location, but a hand reaches out and catches her wrist. She's startled and pulls back, turning around to see Kain. He says he saw her in the crowd. He clearly hasn't been getting much sleep, with dark circles under his eyes. He'd like to speak with Ashara in private and wishes he had a chance sooner. Ashara spots Keld walking toward the back of the hall, wearing a gleaming pauldron, red cape, and black formalwear. Ashara asks what he wants to discuss. Kain says it's about the letter and everything. Ashara hesitates since she doesn't want Keld to get away, but decides to let Kain pull her to the side near the windows. Kain tells Ashara he loves her. She waits for the but, but there's no but. He says he understands why she thought what she did and that her life has been rough in that regard. Given that, it was natural for her to come to those conclusions. Their time apart has given him some perspective and he needed to see Ashara again to tell her that. Ashara tells Kain that she loves him too and has missed him. It was hard to not just show up at the palace! Kain promises he wanted to get back to her so badly, but genuinely didn't have a spare moment. That's why he had to find her here as soon as he could. Ashara says it's okay since the past week has been hard for him. It sucked not hearing from him, but it also gave her some perspective. She advises him to get some sleep and says she'd ask Kilwin to help him out if they didn't maybe need that magic later. Kain says he's really not doing that badly. He does mention that he hasn't even had a spare spell for Sending lately. Ashara admits that she did do wrong and that giving her the cold shoulder would be somewhat deserved even if it were intentional. She's glad that things are turning out as they are, although she promises she'd put the same effort into this even if they didn't. She takes the necklace out of her purse and asks Kain to put it on her, which he does. Ashara mentally sends Reides a thumbs up! She explains to Kain that she's been dancing with the rest of the party for informal lessons and she would much rather dance with him. She also shares that she's thinking of putting the moves on Keld and reading his mind as they dance, although she won't if Kain objects. Kain doesn't necessarily object, but he recommends caution. Even if Ashara is able to somehow mask her casting, Keld is a dangerous man (even if he turns out innocent) and he definitely wouldn't like that if he picked up on it. Ashara notes this.

Since Kain is free of his duties during free time, Ashara takes him to the rest of the party. Kilwin says welcome back! Ashara introduces him to the dates too. He's met Grinlief already (who is psychically described to Kain as Kilwin's boyfriend), the Kraken says hi, and Aske is introduced as "best for last." Grinlief says it's nice to see Kain again, despite the unfortunate circumstances. He's very happy! Kain's response sounds miserable. Aske tells Kain that he hopes he can some rest after this. Ashara says Kain has to dance with her before that, and the first dance is hers. Kain agrees. Music is playing, and other people are starting to dance, so Reides asks if Aske would like a dance before Reides has to go business mode. Aske would, so Reides does the elbow cupping thing described in the etiquette book Kilwin read. Aske has no idea what it is, so Reides says it's surfacer bullshit. Aske figures it must be noble surfacer bullshit, the worst kind. Reides says he'll show Aske how they do it where he's from someday. As they head to the dancefloor, Grinlief invites Kilwin to dance. Kilwin is surprised but very receptive! Grinlief grabs his arm and drags him along. He explains that he's not good at dancing but does love it for some reason. Kilwin thinks it's about having fun anyway, at least from what he's observed in Cowersby. He admits that he usually doesn't participate, though, and asks Grinlief to be nice if he messes up. Grinlief promises that Kilwin has nothing to fear except possibly some stepped-on toes, a risk that Kilwin is willing to take. Reides watches intently from the dancefloor as Jorah asks if the Kraken is interested in dancing. She tells him to not even try it and directs the two of them toward the drinks. Jorah is frankly relieved. Reides excitedly shares his observations with Aske.

As Kilwin begins to dance with Grinlief, he realizes that Grinlief was, in fact, being modest for one single time in his life. He's good at this! Grinlief does some elaborate footwork that seems to enhance Kilwin's dancing, despite Kilwin not being the most confident about it. He twirls Kilwin around and even dips him. Kilwin has a lot of fun and tells Grinlief he's actually great at this, but Grinlief swears he's not that good. Ashara and Kain perform the steps they learned at their dance lessons perfectly. Kain observes she's still got this down. Ashara admits that she practiced every night, hoping this would happen. As Reides and Aske get started, Aske has some trouble keeping up. He's very obviously not a ballroom dancer. Reides says it's fine, but Aske has another idea. He suggests doing a sailors' dance! Reides is Listening. Aske teaches Reides the steps, and he learns a sailors' jig. No one else on the dancefloor is doing it, but Reides and Aske have a great time. At the drinks table, the Kraken asks Jorah who his favorite is. Jorah thinks it's actually Grinlief skill-wise, even if his partner isn't as impressive. He does appreciate the originality from Reides and Aske though. The Kraken says she will keep this in mind.

All danced out, the rest of the group retreats to the side of the ballroom. The Kraken looks at Reides with interest, so he raises a glass to her. She raises hers back. We also see someone we recognize walk past: a scarlet tiefling wearing a long white dress with a hole for her tail, which is adorned with jewelry. Diol's expression is neutral as she heads toward the drinks table. Through Ashara, we begin to strategize about who will approach who. Jorah seems like the best option to talk to Diol and Reides is very passionate about connecting with Damien, even if he knows he might be disillusioned with them afterward. Ashara still wants to approach Keld Norre. This would leave Kilwin with Fornathrius, who he has no idea how to approach. He admits this and that he at least has a starting topic with Keld. Ashara agrees to let Kilwin take Keld and she'll take Fornathrius. While we're starting to get an idea of who's where, none of us see any sign of Jorlief. Reides very quietly explains to Aske that the business is about to begin. He gives him a little kiss before saying he's going to talk to Damien. Kilwin and Grinlief make their way toward the back of the ballroom. Grinlief sticks to the walls and tries to hide behind clusters of people where he can. Kilwin asks if it's really that bad. Grinlief confirms it is. Kilwin apologizes again, but Grinlief says he couldn't have known. Kilwin promises to keep Grinlief in his sights the whole time, if that helps.

Jorah was going for the booze anyway, so it's natural for him to run into Diol. She seems to be relaxing and comments that they've got some good stuff as she looks over the table. She asks for some stormdraught, which Jorah recognizes as an ale popular in Seaton. Jorah says that's good stuff. Diol asks if he knows this junk, and Jorah says he's heard of it. Diol says she's pretty sure it's from Seaton and convinces Jorah to try it. It's pretty good and tingles his tongue and throat as it goes down, almost as if it's carbonated. Diol explains it's supposed to taste like a storm going down. Jorah's not sure it's that strong, but it's doing a better job than most. Diol asks who he is and if he needs an introduction on her end. He says he's pretty sure she's Diol Wyrmspine but could be wrong. He's not great with faces! Diol says he's great with this face. She asks what brings Jorah here. He explains he helped with that thing in Port Valor. They agree it was tragic, and now they're here at a remembrance for another sad event. Diol gets a far-off look and Jorah apologizes. He explains that he wasn't here for that, but has heard she was. Diol says she truly doesn't know why anyone would do something like that. Jorah mentally notes that her mind seems like it's in a different place and she's looking toward the windows. He verbally notes that it's been all these years and we still don't know who did it or why. People do the most fucked up things. He explains he grew up west of the mountains and they even had a mourning period for Karseidon over there. Diol asks if he's from Atemcester, and Jorah says he's from further south. He notes that Karseidon was very well-liked, and Diol nods. Jorah thinks Karseidon must have made enemies somewhere. Diol's not sure about that, but she says his death was an eye-opening event for the Drakeguard, who really needed to step up in their duties. Jorah says he's only ever heard good things about the Drakeguard, but Diol says that's because they can't afford to make another mistake ever. They can't ever let the emperor out of their sights. Jorah realizes that Diol has been angling herself to have a clear vantage on Eurystheos this whole time. Jorah wishes her vigilance from the gods and the best of luck. Diol orders a tumblerum for Jorah and convinces him to try it. He hasn't heard of it, so she explains it's a goliath drink. They brew it in a reinforced cask, which they then roll down a mountain. The journey is supposed to improve the drink. Apparently, goliaths sometimes get kicked off the Exeter when they try to pursue the most legendary ale. Diol doesn't think Falassian tumblerum is all that great, given the surrounding landscape. Jorah asks if they try to roll it down the walls, but Diol's pretty sure there's a staircase they use somewhere. Jorah drinks and the rum bounces around his throat. It's pretty good! She asks Jorah's opinion, and he says it's pretty decent! Diol admits she needs to do more rounds, but tells Jorah to feel free to say hi and that he seems like a decent sort. She then takes her leave.

Kilwin spots Keld up on the balcony at the back of the room. He's reveling with a few other people, boisterously holding up a glass of beer. He claps one on the back before striding away, down the stairs toward the dancefloor. Kilwin notes that he actually does vaguely resemble Count Corvus but can't be sure without getting closer. He tells Grinlief that he has to go talk to Keld Norre and asks if he'd like to come along or hang back. Grinlief says it's not that he doesn't want to go with Kilwin, but he's heard stories about Keld Norre and thinks the man might not take kindly to him. He hangs back, hiding behind a cluster of people, but promises he'll stay in shouting-for-help range. Kilwin approaches Keld Norre and remarks that he has a nice pauldron! He thought armor wasn't allowed, but he wishes he'd worn one now. Keld says he's been trying to get around that stupid restriction for years. He's very disdainful of his current formal attire. Kilwin begins to fumble. Keld asks who he is and why he's here. Kilwin explains that he helped with what went down in Port Valor. Keld says he got a report on that and it's nasty stuff. He's glad his cousin got out of it okay. Kilwin asks if he maybe knows this cousin. Keld says his name is Corvus Norre. Kilwin confirms he knows him but is surprised that Corvus never mentioned his family name. Keld says Corvus isn't too close with the family anymore, but that's his cousin and Keld loves him anyway. Kilwin agrees that family is family, although his voice hitches slightly. He tries to bring the conversation from one tragedy to another, remarking that things sometimes feel like they're only happening now, but that's clearly not the case given the remembrance ceremony. Keld pretends to look at someone behind Kilwin and excuses himself, brushing past. Kilwin takes a moment to collect himself, worried that he absolutely blew it. He returns to Grinlief, who was watching from behind a crowd. He asks how it went! He noticed that Keld brushed him off and that Kilwin seemed like he had more to say, although he admits he's a little glad about it. Kilwin says he learned some things, like that he and Corvus are related. Grinlief thinks this could be a line to pursue with Keld later on, but Kilwin thinks family can be a touchy subject. As Grinlief talks, he suddenly freezes and ducks further behind the crowd. He tells Kilwin not to look right now (which is good because Kilwin was definitely going to), but he just saw his father walk down the stairs. Kilwin suggests that maybe Grinlief should briefly say hi. He'll be there for backup! Grinlief is reluctant and plans to hide in corners and dark spaces the rest of the night. Kilwin says he does want to spend the rest of the night with Grinlief, but that might be a little hard if he's hiding the whole time. Grinlief admits this is true and ends up letting Kilwin talk him into it. He warns Kilwin that it might not go as he expects though. Kilwin takes Grinlief's arm, and Grinlief thanks him. They approach Jorlief together. As Grinlief calls out to his father, Jorlief's stony expression lights up with glee. As he drops his cane to run over, he yells "GRINNYPOO!" over the entire ballroom.

Session 90

 * Google Document (6-2-23)

Reides roams the hall, looking for Damien. He doesn't make an effort to talk to anyone else. Fortunately, Damien proves easy to spot. They're sitting on an ottoman off to the side of the room. Their hands are steepled under their chin and they seem to be looking toward the windows. Reides notes that they're the only earth genasi he's picked out of the crowd. He attempts to channel his mama and gets in there. Damien doesn't seem to notice his approach, and continues to stare toward the window. Reides says hi and that he hopes he's not interrupting, introducing himself. Damien startles immediately, jerking to attention and saying hi back. Reides explains that he's the newly appointed ambassador of his people, who live in the depths. He gestures toward his gills and ears to demonstrate. He says he heard Damien is also an ambassador and wanted to make their acquaintance. Damien's eyes are still widened in surprise. They're a nice blue color. They cautiously put out their hand to Reides, who gives them a firm handshake. Damien's handshake is weaker, but their hand itself is hard, slightly cutting into Reides's. Reides explains it's his first time at one of these things and he's excited to meet a fellow ambassador. Damien confirms that they are an ambassador to Atemcester. Reides says he's been there! Damien says it's great if you like the spring. Reides agrees that the Everspring Forest is lovely, although he prefers cold weather. Damien says their favorite season is summer. Reides asks if they like the beach, but they admit they just like it when it's so hot that they have an excuse to stay inside all day. Reides thinks that's spoken like a true wizard! He realizes that he's making a lot of assumptions about them, though. Damien says that they were more of a wizard in the past, not so much these days. Reides wonders if he's being too forward but is pretty sure that once you're a wizard, you're always a wizard. Like the priesthood, but with magic! He does have a question about the past though. Damien raises an eyebrow and pointedly looks away. Reides asks if Damien's work has ever taken them to his home seas. Since he works closely with the emperor, he knows that a mage contacted his people some years ago. Damien says they can't remember any details about something like that. Reides says that the surface is complicated. Unfortunately, he can't get a good read on Damien. He does say that whoever it was, he sure appreciates their secrecy! Reides explains that his people are very secretive. Damien's not familiar. Reides says he's an exception to the rule and an open book, though. He smiles. Damien turns back to Reides and gives him a once over. They suppose it's nice to be an exception to the rule. Reides says he's living his truth now and hopes this is the start of a productive relationship. Even if Damien's work is elsewhere, Reides thinks it's good to make other friends too. Damien supposes so. They're still looking around the room. Reides sits down next to them, squeezing in. Damien is startled again and scoots over to make room. Reides confides in them that he feels like people are staring at him. He asks if events are usually like this. Damien says that when you look as different as the two of them do, it happens. Reides wonders if people are scared of him. If so, the feeling is mutual! Damien says it can be fear or wonder, but the true gems are the people who don't give a shit.

Reides notes that Eurystheos must be quite capable to organize all of this. Damien says they heard a servant talking about how she and her mage were worked to the bone in the process. They're still not making eye contact and they're still hard to read, but Reides doesn't think they have any reason to lie about this. They seem to be scanning the crowd. Reides admits he didn't know Karseidon but thinks he seems like a wonderful man. Everyone seems to hold him in such high esteem, and he's glad to be able to pay his respects. Damien agrees he was a good man. Reides asks if Damien worked with him a lot, playing this off as him being new and very curious about everything. Damien says they did, once upon a time. Reides says they at least have the memories, but Damien prefers to not dig those up. Reides understands that. Damien gives a long sigh. Reides says that he thinks Karseidon would be glad they're here. Even as an outsider, he knows these things can be difficult, even if they're mired in pompous bullshit. Damien says maybe and sits silently for a bit. Reides realizes that Damien's gaze has been locked on a point for a bit. He follows their gaze to a figure on the balcony, who quickly turns away and disappears. Unfortunately, given the distance and the crowd, Reides can't make out any details. Damien stands and says they have to go. Reides worriedly asks if they're leaving the whole ceremony. Damien says they're not, just catching up with some old friends. Reides comments that they do have friends! Damien just says "Right" before making their way into the crowd. Reides gets up and attempts to follow from a distance. While the crowd makes things difficult, he manages to make out their white hair moving across the room. They seem to be in a hurry to disappear. They're also making no effort to hide that they're looking for people following them. As their head jerks back, Reides manages to hide behind someone in a poofy dress at the exact moment he needs to escape notice. He sees them go up the stairs to the balcony. Since it's more open up there, Reides decides to wait in case Damien comes down with someone.

Ashara looks for Foranthrius. Although he's not nondescript, it takes her some time to spot him. He seems to have started roaming the room. Ashara approaches him confidently, despite not feeling very confident. He's not talking to anyone at the moment, so she approaches from the front. He's very tall and thin, and seems to be looking down at her imperiously. She says he must be Counselor Fornathrius. She introduces herself and mentions that her boyfriend told her about all the important people here. Fornathrius was at the top of the list! Fornathrius corrects her for calling him counselor instead of chancellor. Ashara admits she's nervous and must have forgotten the correct title. He notes that he's seen her around the palace, often with Kain. Ashara says she's seen Fornathrius too, although she hasn't wanted to bother him at work. She offers her condolences, since she's heard that Fornathrius and Karseidon were close. She thinks it must have been a shock. Fornathrius agrees. He admits they butted heads sometimes, but Karseidon was a good man nevertheless. Ashara thinks he must have been, given the turnout for his remembrance ceremony. She mentions that she has some getting-to-know-you questions for Fornathrius, if he's open to that. He raises his eyebrow as if giving her permission to continue. She asks if he has any gardening tips, since she and her friends are considering getting a place nearby and she'd like to get into it. Fornathrius shakes his head and says she'll have to get those kinds of details from someone else. Ashara has also heard he travels! She asks what would be a nice place to visit this time of year, considering she doesn't like the cold. Fornathrius seems confused by the sudden change in topic. He thinks for a moment before regretfully mentioning that Port Valor would have been nice this time of year. Ashara says she saw the wreckage and it was horrible. Fornathrius agrees. Ashara asks if he's concerned that someone could do something like that. She admits the destruction terrified her. Fornathrius in unworried, since he has it on good authority that the orcs who perpetrated the deed were taken care of. Ashara thinks it's strange that a group of orcs would be so well-orchestrated to pull off something that massive in scale. Fornathrius blames Atemcester for their shoddy security practices. Ashara is also not a fan of Atemcester and says they're rude and too pompous even for her. Fornathrius says they have their uses, and while Ashara says that infinite knowledge of magic is desirable, she'd rather read a book than deal with those mages. Fornathrius agrees and pulls out a pocket watch. Ashara takes the hint and apologizes for taking up so much of his time. She hopes to see him around more often and offers to keep him updated on any gardening developments if he'd like. He says sure as he walks away. As he passes Ashara, he turns and says that the ephemeral nature of flowers reminds him of his duty. Each citizen is a flower, beautiful but fragile, and they must be protected from those who would trample them. He then leaves to continue making his rounds.

Since Ashara took some time to find Fornathrius, and Kilwin was slowed by staying with stealthing Grinlief, Jorah and Reides were able to talk to their marks first. In fact, as Reides waits for Damien, he sees Keld come downstairs and watches as he's accosted by Kilwin. Fate tragically prevents Reides from intervening. Since the drinks table is near the stairs, Reides spots Jorah there. As Reides grabs a drink, they fill each other in. Reides says that Damien was acting weird and went upstairs to talk to someone. Jorah speculates that that might be why they're here. He says he didn't get anything new out of Diol, although Reides thinks that could be a good thing. Reides feels like Damien held it together until they spotted that person on the balcony. Jorah reminds him that we have to treat everyone as a suspect until we've solved the case, which Reides already knows. He's still watching the staircase. As Jorah starts to say they should try to find the others, he's interrupted by a single word that echoes throughout the ballroom: Grinnypoo.

Reides silently wishes Kilwin luck, while Jorah watches in shock. Ashara attempts to disguise a laugh as a cough. Grinlief wrenches his arm free from Kilwin's as he takes a ready stance, preparing to fend something off. Jorlief breaks into a full sprint and smashes in Grinlief for a bear hug. There's his boy! Grinlief looks to Kilwin pleadingly. Kilwin mouths "sorry" as he tries to figure out if trying to pull Grinlief free will only make things worse. Jorlief says it's been so long since he saw Grinlief, but Grinlief doesn't think it's been all that long. He tries to wrench himself away but fails. Grinlief introduces Kilwin to his father. Kilwin says he's here with Grinlief! Jorlief holds out his hand limply, which Kilwin shakes anyway. Jorlief unenthusiastically accepts this. When Grinlief mentions that Kilwin was the one who convinced him to say hi (he thought it might be nice!), Jorlief suddenly seems much more welcoming. He shakes Kilwin's hand with vigor. Grinlief points out that it's only been a year. Jorlief says it's actually been eleven months and thirteen days since they last saw each other, but close enough. Jorlief steers Grinlief toward the stairs and balcony, picking up his cane on the way. It's time for them to catch up! Kilwin follows. Jorlief asks if he's thinking of coming along, and Kilwin says he assumed he would. Although Jorlief tries to make this a family gathering, Grinlief insists that Kilwin come along, and Jorlief relents. Upstairs, shocked onlookers stare and gossip as Jorlief finds some seating. Jorlief sits with his legs crossed and his cane in his lap. He asks where Grinlief met Kilwin. Grinlief looks to Kilwin pleadingly and asks him to tell the story. Kilwin says they met in Vila's Watch, where he and his friends were hired to help Grinlief out with some trouble there. It quickly becomes apparent that Jorlief doesn't know where Grinlief lives, and Kilwin's face drops. Jorlief asks what kind of business, and Grinlief explains that he does investigating on the side with what he learned from his degree. Jorlief comments that St. Vashreen's has been sending him letters ever since Grinlief graduated. Grinlief mentions that Kilwin is very helpful and nice. He scoots his chair over, slightly behind Kilwin. Kilwin admits he likes helping people and that Grinlief is nice too! Grinlief says he's too kind. He asks how Jorlief has been! Jorlief immediately begins droning on about projects and daily happenings and business deals that Kilwin has no reason to care about. Grinlief tents his hands in front of his face and whispers to Kilwin that he needs a distraction. Kilwin almost immediately billows. He pretends he doesn't know what's going on! Grinlief also acts surprised! Kilwin keeps on billowing. Jorlief wonders what could be happening, especially since he doesn't feel a draft. No one does! Grinlief subtly gestures Kilwin toward the wall, and Kilwin takes the cue. He suggests looking for the source of the draft! Jorlief admits that a drafty ballroom won't do. Kilwin says they should split up to search! As Grinlief sneaks toward the stairs, Jorlief points out that the draft seems localized around Kilwin, so splitting up wouldn't do much good. He calls for Grinlief before realizing he's gone. He thinks that's just like him, rushing off to search for a mystery on his own. Jorlief says he gets that from his mother. Kilwin admits he doesn't know much about her and asks what she's like. Jorlief says she passed away many years back. Kilwin says he's sorry to hear that. Apparently, the two of them had quite the connection. When she passed, Jorlief combined the love he felt for her with his existing love for Grinlief. He admits he can be a bit much, but hopes Grinlief knows it comes from a good place. Kilwin thinks he does, although he also agrees that it is a bit much. Jorlief quickly leaves, saying he'll find Grinlief and make sure he solves this case. As he heads down, Kilwin keeps an eye out for Grinlief but can't spot him in the crowd.

The party reconvenes by the drinks table. Telepathically, Ashara congratulates Kilwin on taking such a big step in his relationship. He asks if anyone saw where Grinlief went, but no one spotted him. Kilwin admits that he didn't really ask Jorlief any relevant questions. Ashara tells the party that Fornathrius is lovely and thinks that citizens must be protected. He also thinks about Port Valor sadly. Jorah points out he could just be lying. Reides says that Damien was suspicious, although he liked talking to them. They were looking around, but it seemed to be for a person. Kilwin offers to go back upstairs and look around for them. Ashara volunteers to go with him. She asks if Jorah wants to come along and he gives a very firm no. Kilwin also explains how the conversation with Keld went, explaining that he's not sure if he touched a nerve with Karseidon or Keld just got bored of him. Kilwin suspects that Keld just got bored of him. Reides asks if Jorah wants to go talk to Jorlief. Jorah weakly says no. As Kilwin and Ashara head upstairs to look for Damien and possibly Grinlief, Reides scans the crowd for Aske. He spots him on the other side of the ballroom, absent-mindedly chatting with the Kraken. The Kraken's not saying much in response and is looking toward a window. Reides feels bad, although Jorah points out that they both knew it was a job. Still, Reides flags down a server and asks them to bring some drinks over to Aske and the Kraken. Then, they set about looking for Keld Norre.

Upstairs, there's no sign of Damien, although there are a number of exits up there. The main entrance is closed and guarded. There are also a pair of hallways without doors, which have guards posted in front of them. There's also a pair of doors, one on each side of the balcony. These doors are closed and don't have guards posted at them. After some telepathic conversation, Ashara agrees to ask Kain what's behind those doors. She uses a subtle Sending to do so. Kain says those are gathering rooms and should be locked for the ball. He asks what the angle is here, but Ashara doesn't think responding is a wise use of magic. Kilwin suggests that he check if the doors are actually locked by pretending to look for the bathroom. There's clear signage for the actual bathrooms, but he's willing to look a bit silly. Ashara suggests that she do this instead, since she can play up her vision problems. She gives Kilwin her tinted glasses and begins to fumble along the walls toward one of the doors. It is bright in the ballroom, so it is somewhat difficult for her to see, but she plays it up. She pulls the first doorknob, showing that the door is locked. While some people nearby are looking at her and whispering, no one makes a move to stop her. When she's about halfway to the second door, she hears a voice from the side asking if she needs some help. Ashara doesn't recognize her, but she seems to be a noblewoman in a poofy blue dress. Ashara explains that she's looking for the restroom and thinks the first one was in use. The woman directs Ashara toward the real bathroom, which is behind her. She offers to guide Ashara there, offering her arm. Ashara accepts. They walk past Kilwin, who begins to follow from a distance. Ashara asks the woman her name, so she can properly deliver a thank you card later. The woman says that's really not necessary, but her name is Beladria. She's from Arc-Delia. She also makes a point of helping people in need whenever she can. Ashara asks what hallway she was going down, and Beladria says she was walking along the balconies. She dreads to think what would've happened if she hadn't caught Ashara before she reached the end. Ashara also now dreads this, since she's not sure she would've noticed. At the bathroom, Beladria asks if Ashara would like her to wait outside. Ashara says that's okay, since her chaperone is around. At this point, Kilwin approaches, glad he caught up with Ashara, and gives her back the glasses she "dropped." Seeing the situation is in hand, Beladria takes her leave, although she welcomes Ashara to say hi again. Ashara fills Kilwin in on what happened. Hearing that Beladria's from Arc-Delia, Kilwin suggests that she might know Damien from when they studied there. She might even be the person they saw on the balcony. To keep up appearances, Ashara has to try to use the bathroom. Kilwin wishes her luck.

Reides and Jorah are unable to find Keld Norre, but they do spot Fornathrius, since he's one of the tallest people in the ballroom. Jorah tells the new ambassador to roger up and get in there. Reides is mad but says fine. Jorah does go with him for moral support, though. Fornathrius is strolling around, hands clasped behind his back. Reides flags him down. He's not sure he and his friend properly introduced themselves to him, so Reides and Jorah do so now. They ask how he is, and Fornathrius says he's doing well. Reides remarks that he wasn't expecting this turnout for the remembrance ceremony, but that might have been naive on his part. Fornathrius thinks that if Reides knew Karseidon, he would have had a better idea of what to expect. Jorah thinks the turnout is a good thing. Fornathrius notes that it's surprising that Eurystheos has taken to the party so quickly. Jorah calls it a matter of chance and says he's trying to do some good with it. Reides also thinks it's important for ambassadors to talk to various officials, so he thought he should make a more formal introduction. The conversation turns to Karseidon. Fornathrius calls him a good man but says he was too soft of a leader. It made him well-liked, although he wasn't able to make the hardest decisions needed to protect the empire's interests. Jorah asks if the dust-up with Villane is an example of that. Fornathrius thinks that Jorah is a bit young to remember that. Jorah says the woman who raised him was involved in it. This is a lie. Still, as far as Jorah can tell, Fornathrius doesn't seem particularly skeptical, although he also doesn't obviously believe this. He says that Villane was a strange issue. Their plans for expansion were laughable and they suffered for it. Jorah mentions Keld's stand as an example of this. Fornathrius agrees that was hard for the Villanians to recover from. Jorah thinks that's also the kind of accomplishment that gets you a title, as well as a position. Reides asks what Fornathrius thinks about the stories about Keld. Fornathrius calls Keld brash but says he has a good head. He doesn't know or care if the stories are true, as long as Keld continues acting in the Empire's best interest. Reides thinks that Keld must have it made if the people believe in the stories of his heroism. Jorah says that it must be easier to do right by the people when they're the ones who elect you. Fornathrius says that power can go to people's heads, though. He then pulls out his pocket watch. Reides asks if they're keeping him from the dance floor. Fornathrius says he's just doing his rounds. Jorah asks if there's any personages of note he's spotted that they should introduce themselves to. Reides admits he'd love guidance on introducing himself to people in the Falassian court. Jorah asks about Keld Norre. Fornathrius says he last saw him heading back to the drinks table. Apparently, Reides and Jorah just missed him. They thank Fornathrius and Reides goes for the handshake, which Fornathrius accepts and lightly returns. After parting from the chancellor, Reides says he didn't get anything from him. Jorah thinks Fornathrius might get cutthroat, but really hopes not.

As they approach the drinks table, Keld Norre is double-fisting tankards of ale, with more empty mugs in front of him. He's leaned over the table and seems to be vibing. Reides whispers to Jorah that he's really not good with people like this. Jorah asks if Reides thinks he's any better. Reides says yes! He pushes Jorah gently forward. He points out that he grew up surrounded by jocks and it didn't really work out. Jorah does take the lead, calling to Keld, who turns and blinks. Jorah says he's sure Keld deals with a lot of people, but he's helping show the new ambassador around. He shoves Reides forward. Keld heard one was walking around. Reides offers a handshake, but Keld says he's at a disadvantage since his hands are full. Reides grabs a glass and raises it in a toast. Keld unenthusiastically holds one of his mugs up before gulping it down. Reides says "Cheers" in Primordial, which Keld doesn't seem to recognize or like. Reides explains it's the language of his people and offers to teach it to Keld. Keld says he's good. Jorah says he's not one for stuffy events and he's just here to help friends. He grabs a glass but doesn't actually drink. Keld agrees with that. He doesn't want to shame Reides but he thinks going around and getting introduced to people would make him want to cut his own head off. Reides says he's drunk and numb to it at this point, in the nicest way possible. Keld thinks that's the way to do it. Jorah also remarks that it's weird to him that people are treating this like a party. It seems pretty dark to him. Keld doesn't think most of these people actually knew Karseidon. Jorah says that's why it's so weird to him. Reides agrees with that! Jorah asks if Keld is in the other category. Keld confirms that, although he admits he still didn't meet with Karseidon all that often. Keld calls him a good man until he didn't know how to defend his country. Jorah mentions what Fornathrius said about Karseidon having trouble with the hard decisions. Keld says they're lucky to have Fornathrius: he may be ancient, but he keeps Falas as it needs to be. Jorah says he's heard stories about Villane. Keld calls the Villanians hicks who didn't know what they were messing with. Jorah says he heard Keld taught them, and Keld says damn right he did. Jorah asks what it was like. At Twin Gods Pass, Keld explains that none of his group knew how to fight in the snow, but the Villanians did. They fought to the last, though, and Keld picked up the pieces. Soon, the Empire's numbers advantage became clear and they marched on Villane's capital, taking it for their own. At least until, as Keld puts it, Karseidon ruined it. His face is getting red and his brow is furrowed, doing a very poor job of concealing his anger. He is, at this point, a third of the way through his fourth drink, at least that Jorah and Reides have seen. Jorah agrees that good people died for the conquest of Villane and it's tragic. Keld grunts in agreement. He asks about the current emperor. Keld calls her another softie. He laments that Fornathrius can't do anything about the veto, and the only reason they were able to get Blackpool was because she was inexperienced. Keld claims that the Falassian Empire has enough force to claim the entire continent as territory, but Eurystheos is the only thing standing in the way. He says she'll come around someday. He's a bit easier to read since he's so drunk, and Reides gets the feeling that he doesn't actually believe it. Jorah mentions the whole return of dragons thing that might be another hitch in that plan. Keld says that's just scouts jumping at ghosts, though. Reides mentions taking down one of those dragons, which was very much not a ghost. Keld asks how big it was. Reides admits it was a young dragon, but still pretty lethal. Keld thinks it might have been lethal to the elves, but it wouldn't have stood a chance against Falassian might. Reides agrees that an army would make short work of it, but it wasn't a ghost. Keld mentions the guards posted on every wall, watching the skies, and says a dragon could never make a dent in those defenses. Reides says (with the slightest bit of venom) that where he's from, they know about taking the smallest possible threats seriously. Keld gets his fifth and sixth drinks. Reides asks what it is! Keld says it's piss. Reides is surprised that they'd serve piss here. Keld says it may as well be and they never give out the good stuff. Jorah thinks that's okay, as Keld complains that he already finished the swill he snuck in. Reides offers to bring something from his home next time, but Keld says that what he really wants is the good shit, pointing at an empty keg. Jorah recognizes it as stormdraught. He comments that that's not really for casual drinking. Reides is amazed by the name and wants to try it immediately. Keld complains that it's all gone, and Reides is devastated. Keld accuses Diol of chugging it all down. Reides says he hasn't met her yet, and Jorah thinks this must be a bad memory for her. Reides agrees she has good reason to drink. Keld says it wouldn't have gone down like that if he had been captain of the Drakeguard. Jorah asks if he ever considered joining the Drakeguard. Keld says never and that he was a regular foot soldier, just like Diol until she got promoted after Quadroad. He calls it a slap but says this is where it's at. He takes his new drinks, says "see ya," and walks off.

Reides asks what the fuck that was. Jorah thinks Keld was just drunk, but wonders if he normally drinks this heavily. Seems weird to him! Reides thinks he was forthcoming about his opinion on the emperors, at least. They start going upstairs to meet with Ashara and Kilwin. Jorah manages to spot Grinlief in the crowd though, hiding behind another partygoer. On a snap decision, Jorah grabs Reides to go get him. Reides tries to sneak up behind Grinlief to prank him, but Grinlief is too alert and swivels around. He thanks the gods and asks Reides to get him out. Reides calls him Grinnypoo, causing Grinlief's face to pale and shocking Jorah. Grinlief asks him not to call him that, and Reides apologizes. Grinlief points out Jorlief on the other side of the ballroom. He's pretty sure it's a clear shot to the stairs and that he can hide on the balcony for a while. Reides and Jorah say they were heading that way anyway, so they can help. Jorah shoots a sidelong glance toward Jorlief. Reides goes in front and Jorah takes up the rear as Grinlief stoops over to hide in between them. Reides spots Aske leaning against the wall a ways away. He has his hands in his pockets and he's scanning the crowd. Reides waves at him, and Aske visibly perks up and waves back.

Reides and Jorah spot Ashara and Kilwin and bring Grinlief along. Kilwin's so glad to see him and asks if he's okay. Grinlief says no. Kilwin apologizes profusely and says he really really didn't think it was going to go like that. Grinlief assures him most people wouldn't. Kilwin mentions he said something about, although Jorlief didn't seem particularly receptive. Grinlief is worried about what he said, but Kilwin says he just said it was a bit much after Jorlief said so himself. Grinlief says it's surprising he's as well-adjusted as he is, all things considered. Kilwin whole-heartedly agrees. He also apologizes for dropping Vila's Watch into the conversation, since he hadn't realized that Jorlief didn't know. He thinks that Grinlief covered well though. Grinlief admits he dreads to think what would happen if Jorlief managed to track him down, especially considering his position. Jorah says he'd love to hear the story of how Grinlief became mayor, but they have work to do now. Grinlief appreciates the sentiment and plans to sneak away for a bit. Kilwin offers to confront Jorlief about how uncomfortable this all is for Grinlief, but only if Grinlief wants him to. Grinlief says to just give it time, hoping that Jorlief will calm down. He spots a very nice bit of foliage to hide behind. He likes this foliage! Kilwin offers to help with anything Grinlief needs.

The party switches to telepathic communication. Reides and Jorah share that Keld has a low opinion of both emperors and seems to be politically aligned with Fornathrius. He also seems to have a low opinion of the Drakeguard. Reides thinks Fornathrius was more approachable, although Jorah points out that he has the same opinions as Keld, just stated more palatably (and more soberly). Ashara liked Fornathrius a lot. Jorah wonders why Damien came back. Reides says they seemed very downcast. Kilwin and Ashara talk about their conversation with Beladria and her connection to Arc-Delia, which possibly connects her to Damien. We consider trying to find her again and see if we can learn anything about Damien. Ashara still wants to talk to Keld and asks Reides to distract Kain while she does so. Reides thinks that Kain will be fine with it, and if he's uncomfortable, that's fine too. Kilwin suggests that someone talk to Jorlief because he didn't get to bring up Karseidon at all. Ashara nominates Jorah but agrees to do it herself when he refuses. Jorah admits he'd probably have some very complicated feelings about talking to Jorlief and wouldn't accomplish anything. Reides agrees and thinks he'd go through phases of grief that haven't been invented yet. It's suggested that Kilwin go talk to Fornathrius and try to get a read on him. Reides and Jorah go to look for Beladria to thank her for helping Ashara and see where they can get from there.

Kilwin finds Fornathrius pretty easy to find. He introduces himself. Fornathrius recognizes him as part of the party and remarks that it's terrible what happened in Port Valor. Kilwin agrees, having been there. Fornathrius seems very grave, although he's heard that not all has been lost. Kilwin confirms this and says it's a blessing from Alethus that that hope exists. Fornathrius asks if Kilwin does her work, and he says he does. Fornathrius says it's good to hear that there are those who would sacrifice like that. It's far too uncommon these days. Kilwin admits it's not something he'd ever thought he'd be doing not too long ago. Fornathrius says that when a duty as great as that falls at your feet, it can be daunting. He looks more hopeful now. Try as he might, Kilwin can't get a good read on him. While Fornathrius seems sympathetic, Kilwin can't rule out the possibility that he's just acting. This prospect is terrifying to Kilwin because he rolled really well. Fornathrius continues and says that he's glad that someone knows what must be done, as that sentiment is far too lacking these days. He nods self-assuredly before excusing himself, since the next part of the ceremony is starting soon. Kilwin thanks him for his time as Fornathrius glides away, almost as if his feet aren't even touching the floor.

Jorlief is also easy to spot, cane clacking on the floor. Ashara casually approaches, asking if he's Lord Dartson. She claims to be a big fan of his who wanted to meet him. She shakes his hand, lightly and quickly because she doesn't want to touch him. She says she'd like to know more about him, looking pained as she mentions that she saw an interesting statue outside his estate. Jorlief explains that that's his dear old son, Grinlief, who actually happens to be at this party. Jorlief says he's actually looking for him right now. Ashara claims not to have seen him and asks what he looks like, statue aside. Jorlief says that's the thing with statues, they're nice to look at but fail to compare to the real thing. He explains that Grinlief is about as tall as him, although with a better back, and has dark hair worn in a similar style to his. Jorlief says he used to be quite the talker, although not so much anymore. Ashara asks what happened. Jorlief says he and Grinlief were closer when Grinlief was younger. Ashara's sorry to hear that and says she was close with her parents before they passed. She thinks there's nothing quite like a connection with one's parents. Jorlief explains that he's been trying to be a better father ever since Grinlief's mother passed. He's worried that he might be pushing his son away, but changes the subject. He presumes Ashara is here to talk about his philanthropic pursuits and asks if there's something she wanted to have funded. She doesn't currently and says she's more interested in how he was first drawn to philanthropy and what kinds of projects he has now. Ashara also asks if Jorlief knew Karseidon, since she's new in the area. Jorlief says they spoke on many occasions and he funded many of Karseidon's pursuits. Together, Jorlief thinks they did a lot of good around Falas. He also thinks it would be easier to list the projects he's not involved in around the city. He mentions restoration in the city's outlying areas and the conversion of the remaining water elevators to magic ones. This would also allow water to be better conserved for emergencies. Ashara asks if they're preparing for something like Port Valor. Jorlief says heavens no, laughing it off, but dreads to think of that happening here. On the off-chance that there's some natural disaster here, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Ashara thinks that's very wise. Jorlief says that Falas is a beautiful city and it would be a shame for it to go to waste. Ashara asks if there are others in his position who do the same kind of work. Jorlief asks her to look around the room and guess how many people are engaged with the city the same way he is. He thinks she could count it on her hands. Most choose to hoard their wealth instead of using it for the common good. Ashara asks what good hoarding wealth does and says those who do are no better than dragons. Jorlief whole-heartedly agrees and says, given Falas's historical issues with the dragons, he'd choose the side of the humans. Ashara regrettably likes him. She calls Jorlief honorable and kind, although Jorlief says he's just in a lucky position to help. Ashara says she'll let him know if she sees Grinlief. Jorlief welcomes her to talk to him any time, since she seems very nice. Ashara says if she ever has a philanthropic project that needs funding, he'll be the first and possibly only person she asks. She hopes he has a nice night. Ashara makes her way back to the drinks table to look for Keld Norre, but he's nowhere to be found. She grabs a drink and begins to search.

Upstairs, Jorah and Reides spot Beladria easily as well. Her big blue dress really stands out. Reides keeps an eye out for Damien too but doesn't see them. Beladria seems to be chatting to another noble. Reides approaches with Jorah and tells Beladria that he loves her dress. He reveals that he knows her name because she helped a friend of his. He and Jorah are here to thank her! Beladria says Ashara just got lost. At the school she went to, a lot of students were absolute messes without their glasses. Beladria knows from experience! Jorah and Reides introduce themselves, and Reides shakes her hand. She introduces herself as Beladria of Arc-Delia. Reides says he's also a wizard and asks what Arc-Delia is like. Beladria says it's a beautiful place. Visiting Falas is different and interesting. It's strange to her that the grass here is green, since it's purple in Arc-Delia. Apparently, leylines pump magical energy into the grass, changing the color. The leylines are why they built Arc-Delia there. Reides says that sounds like a trench from his home, which everyone says is filled with magical energy. He'd love to visit Arc-Delia someday. Beladria is sure he'd love it, especially if he's magically inclined. Jorah asks what brings Beladria here. She needs a moment to remember who invited her. Apparently, she was invited as someone's plus one because of a trade deal involving magically engraving some stone. Jorah says more power to her for taking over for Atemcester. Beladria explains that Arc-Delia's services don't replace Atemcester's so much as they fulfill different needs. While Arc-Delia's mages do craft some magical items, they mostly focus on crafting non-magical items through magical means, reducing the labor and costs. Jorah thinks it must be strange being so far away from home with all these nobles. Beladria says she does recognize a few people from home, though. She's not sure where they went, but she saw her college friend Damien earlier. They went into a room a while ago. She points Jorah and Reides to the meeting room door Ashara didn't get a chance to examine. Reides mentions having met Damien, who seemed to be doing a lot of ambassadorial work. It was great to make their acquaintance. He asks if Beladria and Damien are closed and says they seemed reserved. This surprises Beladria, who remembers Damien as bubbly and outgoing. She admits they haven't really kept in touch, though, and this is her first time in Lyvernus. When told it must be a somber time for them, Beladria realizes for the first time that Damien and Karseidon knew each other. She asks Reides and Jorah to offer her condolences if they see Damien. They seemed busy earlier, so she didn't want to bother them. Apparently, they approached a man and began talking to him animatedly. The two of them went into the meeting room. While she saw the man come out, Beladria hasn't seen Damien since. She calls them a good person. Jorah says that good people make the world go round. Reides tells Beladria again that he loves her dress before they take their leave.

Away from Beladria, Reides mouths "what the fuck" to Jorah. Jorah says he can't be inspirational on the spot. Reides means her though, not him! What's up with the man! Loud enough to be overheard, Jorah says maybe they should check on them and see if they're okay. The two of them go to the room and Jorah knocks on the door. There's no response. He tries the door, which is locked now. Reides tries knocking too, but continues to receive no response. They go to get a guard before bothering Kain, flagging down the nearest one. Jorah asks what the deal is with the door. The guard says it's a meeting room and it's locked to keep guests out of any confined areas. It reduces the need for staff. Reides asks if there's any meeting scheduled during the ceremony, but the guard doesn't know of any. They thank him before setting out to find Kain. They find him and ask him about meetings, but he doesn't know of any either. They explain that Damien was apparently in one with a mystery man and hasn't been seen since. The group goes upstairs. On the way, Jorah spots Kilwin talking to Fornathrius and Ashara talking to Jorlief. He doesn't see Keld Norre anywhere, though (or Diol?). At the door, Kain reaches into a pack for the key. Reides says they have to be careful and suggests that maybe someone is just making out inside. Kain pauses and asks if they should interrupt, then. Reides says yes absolutely. Kain unlocks the door and it swings open. Light from a window spreads across the room. There's a table in the center of the room, surrounded by chairs. On the far side of the room, one of the chairs has someone sitting in it, facing away. Reides calls out to Damien, but receives no response. Jorah begins to look for traces of other people. Reides approaches the person. As he walks around the table, he sees a white handkerchief laying on the person's lap. Horrified, he casts Gentle Repose on the body of Damien Wright.

Session 91

 * Google Document: 6-9-23 (nice)

Reides, Jorah, and Kain find themselves in the meeting room with the corpse of Damien Wright staring out the window. Reides puts his wine glass down on a side table before casting Gentle Repose with a look of desperation. Kain comments that this is quick thinking. He kneels to get a better look at Damien. Jorah takes a look at the handkerchief on Damien's lap. It has black embroidery with harsh lines, evocative of a shadow. Jorah asks Kain to compare it to the handkerchief from Karseidon's body, but Kain now says he never got to see that one in person. Reides takes a look at the handkerchief, though, while Jorah examines the room for possible alternate exits. Reides casts Sending to Kilwin, telling him that someone was murdered and to come and bring Ashara if possible. Kilwin immediately starts searching for Ashara. He spots her searching for Keld Norre and asks her to meet the others with him, since something happened. She asks how bad it is on a scale from one to disaster. He's pretty sure it's a disaster since it was Sending-worthy. Ashara agrees to come along.

As far as Jorah can tell, the single set of double doors leading into the meeting room seem normal. There's no key in the lock on either side. As for the room itself, there's a large table in the center, circled by chairs (including Damien's) and a smaller long table off to the side, presumably for refreshments. Across from the door, there's three windows. They're tall enough for a person to hypothetically crawl through, but don't seem openable. They have eight panes of glass each and don't seem to have been disturbed. There's no other doors besides the entrance. Reides cautiously approaches the windows and looks out. He sees the palace gardens below. He says at least Damien didn't fall out. Jorah and Reides agree to wait for Kilwin to check the body. Reides suggests that, given the handkerchief, the Pale Shadow is responsible for the actual killing. They're the current leader of the Pale Cloaks, after all, at least as far as we know. Kain wonders why the leader would go out of their way for this, especially since Damien is currently disgraced and hardly a high-profile target. Reides points out that Damien was distracted when he talked to them and we don't really know their motives in coming here. They may have been a step ahead, a step behind, or this could all be some big messed up coincidence. No matter what, he doesn't think Damien deserved this.

Kilwin and Ashara enter the room, closing the door behind them. Kilwin rushes to examine Damien. Their cause of death is clearly the large red gash under their collar: Their neck has been slit. While there's blood by their seat, the room is in otherwise perfect order and there's no other wounds on Damien that would indicate that they struggled. Jorah recaps the conversation with Beladria that led them here. Ashara offers to talk to her again, although we decide we need a plan of some kind so we don't tell her too much. Kilwin casts Detect Magic to sweep the room and begins to see the weave. He detects a normal amount of magic coming from his friends. However, while the faint aura of the weave is typically all around when using Detect Magic, Kilwin can't see past the windows to the garden. He remarks that the wards are intact then, which is good. There's also a faint trace of magic in a pouch at Damien's waist, which Kilwin points out. Otherwise, there's nothing of note. Jorah starts searching Damien's pocket and just speaks his mind. He thinks the best case scenario is that there's someone going around pretending to be the Pale Shadow who killed someone who didn't fight back. The worst case scenario is that the Pale Shadow is actually here and we have no goddamn idea what's going on. Kain wonders why Damien didn't fight back. As someone who's also been in bad graces with a royal court, Reides notes their personality shift and suggests that Damien might have been in a bad mental state. They may have still blamed themself for what happened and were also being used as a scapegoat by the rest of the court. In that case, it's possible that a knife coming at their throat wasn't entirely unwelcome. Jorah personally thinks it's more likely that Damien trusted their killer and didn't expect them to turn on them. Kilwin wonders if maybe the killer is just really really good at stabbing fast and Damien didn't have a chance to react, giving a third possibility. Kain reminds him that Damien used to be the Imperial Mageguard, though. Reides doesn't believe their skills were actually rusty, and Kain agrees.

Jorah notes that Damien's right pocket is empty but has been turned inside out. They seem to have been robbed after their death. Jorah also gingerly reaches into their pouch and finds a small black marble, clearly usable as a spell focus. Jorah just puts that right back where he found it. Kain notes they should've been made to check that at the door. Jorah calls Damien sneaky and shares his other finding. Kilwin points out that the party were able to sneak in their foci easily, but Kain explains that was a special dispensation since he didn't want any of us to be defenseless. He wonders how Damien got it in. Kilwin wonders if they could've hidden it near the ballroom before the ceremony, but Jorah points out that the guards definitely would've swept the area for anything like that. Reides admits he's having a little trouble focusing with a dead body right here and he feels kind of sick. He asks if Kilwin can help Damien, since he's done it before. Kilwin isn't opposed to the idea but admits that resurrection is a lot more complicated once someone has been dead longer than a minute. He can't drag them back if they don't want to come back and he doesn't have the right offering and it would also take an hour. He agrees when Reides asks if they can maybe help Damien later on. Kilwin says it would be nice if they could live in a world where their name is cleared. Reides admits that he feels guilty since he had just talked to Damien before they hurried off to their death. He can't help but feel like he might have been able to do something. We don't think that we should tell Beladria that Damien is dead and all generally agree that Eurystheos is the only person who absolutely needs to know. Kilwin admits that he feels like he needs to at least tell Grinlief something, since he's pretty sure it's not safe for him to be hiding on his own now. Kain excuses himself since he really really needs to be watching Eury right now. We all understand, assuring him we have this under control, and let him go. Jorah advises him to be alert to shifty people, since the assassin might have seen him go into the room and know that he knows Damien is dead. Kain agrees and smiles at Ashara on his way out.

Ashara suggests that someone else talk to Beladria while she uses Detect Thoughts from a distance. Reides isn't well-versed in thought magic, but he's worried that Beladria will be able to sense her mind being read, especially since she's a trained wizard. Kilwin agrees it's risky but isn't sure it's too risky to be worth trying, considering we might learn the face of Damien's assassin. It's still very risky, though, and we would need an approach for actually talking to Beladria anyway. We're a bit nervous about the direct approach. Kilwin suggests pretending to look for the person at Damien's behest but then starts to wonder why Damien wouldn't just describe them for us themself. Reides likes the general idea but also worries that Beladria might want to see Damien and then we'll have to invent tummy problems for them. If she's not suspicious, she's very friendly and Damien's her friend! He admits this is just the worst case scenario but wants to be prepared for it. Jorah suggests being honest and saying we just can't talk about it. Reides reminds the party that Beladria was the one who swept Ashara away from this room, even if it may have been locked already. Someone has to be anal about these things, and it may as well be the bottom! Kilwin points out that Beladria also directed Reides and Jorah to the meeting room, so it just kind of cancels out. He gets the concern! Jorah is examining the  door, which has a deadlock on it. Otherwise, we would need the key to come and go freely. Ashara goes to find Kain to get the key from him, while Kilwin goes to search for Grinlief. Jorah and Reides hold down the fort while they continue to strategize.

Soon after leaving the meeting room, Ashara and Kilwin are flagged down by Beladria. She noticed them rushing down the hall and wanted to make sure Ashara didn't get lost and everything was okay. Ashara lies that her dress was torn and Kilwin was fixing it. Beladria is sorry to hear that and asks to see the tear. Kilwin and Ashara tell her it's all gone! Kilwin says magic is really handy like that! Beladria asks how Ashara has been, and Ashara says she's had no mishaps other than the bathroom incident and the torn dress. She promises if anything comes up, she'll look for the beautiful blue dress. Beladria thanks her for the compliment and wishes her luck in the auction. Ashara's not sure she'll be able to buy anything because she feels like she doesn't have enough money. Beladria plans to head down soon, and Ashara suggests they sit together. Beladria agrees! They finger wave to each other before parting ways. Ashara thinks she loves her. Kilwin agrees that she seems very nice but is also clearly unnerved by the encounter. Back in the meeting room, Jorah paces back and forth as he realizes the assassin must have a key to this room.

Downstairs, servants are moving chairs and setting up a platform, presumably for the auction. Kain and Eurystheos are at the front, directing things. Ashara heads down. Kilwin scans the room and checks behind the foliage where the party last left Grinlief, but finds no sign of him. He returns to the meeting room, telling the others that he can't find Grinlief. While they suggest he look for Jorlief, Kilwin opts for Sending instead and starts counting words on his fingers. Ashara approaches Kain and says she has a question, but it's a neutral one this time. She asks for the key, which he hands over. She also asks if he's okay. Kain admits he's making an effort to keep his composure, since this is hardly an ideal situation. Ashara assures him that we're on it. We're the Champions Valoris and we fix things! He'll try to take solace in that. As Ashara leaves, she gives Kain a finger salute. He reminds her that the auction will begin soon, since he and Eury still have to keep up appearances. They'll be out of reach for a while because of it. Ashara assures him he's the world's best mage, before correcting herself that it's a tie. Kilwin uses Sending to ask how Grinlief is doing and warn him that things are happening. He suggests not being alone and sticking with Aske to protect him from Jorlief. Grinlief is confused but agrees to look for Aske. He also offers to help if he can.

Throughout this, Reides and Jorah refine their approach to Beladria but figure they'll ultimately have to wing it if she asks to see Damien. They also establish some questions we'll probably need to answer before the night is over. We need to find out who has the key to the room, and we can't definitely eliminate anyone based on their location since magic still works within the palace. We also need to figure out how Damien smuggled in a spell focus, if multiple people have keys to the room and if Damien normally did, and what was stolen from them after their death. Reides also wants to ask Diol if Keld normally gets this drunk at events. He's pretty sure she'll spill since it sounds like there's bad blood between them. Kilwin offers to commune with Alethus to try to determine a few more things about the situation. He opts for ritual casting, though, staying behind as Reides and Jorah go find Beladria again. Reides asks if he looks normal and Jorah attempts to help him put himself together. Reides also takes his prop wine glass with him.

They find Beladria picking herself up to go downstairs for the auction. Reides flags her down. She says she's heading down to the auction, which Reides admits he forgot about. Jorah agrees it's been a crazy night. He also asks what the person Damien spoke to looked like. Beladria asks why he wants to know. Jorah says he and Reides are looking for them. Beladria asks why. Jorah says it's not important! Reides explains that they and Damien had a personal tiff and they're trying to help Damien smooth things out. Just silly politics nonsense! It's hard to play mediator when you don't know exactly who the other person is, though. Beladria tries to think and asks if they have any likeness of this person. She's not great with details but is pretty sure she could pick them out of a lineup. Jorah admits they don't, but asks her to let them know if she spots the person again. She agrees and also tells them to feel free to ask again if they find a likeness. Before she goes, Reides asks if Damien seemed friendly with the person or if they were already fighting by then. Beladria admits she's not sure, as Damien wasn't looking toward her. She wishes Damien the best, though, and would love to see them again. Reides says sure while Jorah looks away and remains silent. While they might have a little more time to mingle, Reides and Jorah head back to the meeting room to report their findings to Ashara. Ashara still wants to find Keld, and Reides and Jorah point out that he's very drunk so he shouldn't be blending in very well. She needs to head to the auction, though, since she made plans with Beladria. She wonders if Kilwin will be late, since he's still casting. Reides thinks he might be but plans to stick with him. Ashara asks if Beladria might be responsible for Damien's death. No one is sure. She goes down to the auction, leaving the key with Jorah as the rest of the party stays in the meeting room. She spots Beladria toward the back fairly easily and manages to secure a seat next to her. Beladria asks if she's excited and Ashara explains that it's her first ever auction. Beladria tells her they're very fun even though she usually doesn't buy anything herself. Watching how much people are willing to spend for things is entertainment enough. Ashara asks if there's bidding wars and if they're supposed to clap when someone wins. Since the auction is for charity, Beladria thinks that would be appropriate this time. Ashara says she'll try to read the room.

Kilwin finishes his spell. He learns that Damien wants to return to the living, but the person who killed them is no longer at the ceremony and isn't the traitor in the court. Kilwin excitedly passes this on. This means Damien more likely knew their attacker, since they didn't accept their death, and that there's a good chance that the Pale Shadow is real, since they've already left. While he can't resurrect Damien on the spot normally, he attempts to call for direct intervention from Alethus. A faint gold string appears but fails to pierce through the night. Kilwin gets the feeling that it was difficult for Alethus to even break through the wards to respond to his communion. He gives a prayer of thanks to Alethus anyway. Reides isn't sure if Damien can hear him but tells them he's glad they want to come back. With nothing else to do here, the rest of the group heads down to the auction. Reides complains that he hates these things, although they might be different on the surface. Jorah thinks there's a lot of different kinds of auctions, though, like silent auctions. Before leaving the meeting room, Reides wonders if we should take the Pale Shadow's handkerchief. Jorah thinks we should take it, and Kilwin thinks we should leave it. They also immediately convince each other and swap positions. Reides gets spooked by the idea of it being used to identify or implicate us, though, and we decide to leave the handkerchief with Damien.

The rest of the party manages to find a group of seats near the back of the hall. Reides looks and doesn't spot any of our friends or foes, although Kilwin manages to spot Ashara a few rows ahead and figures Beladria must be nearby. He worries that we're basically stuck here for the rest of the ceremony, since this is followed by the closing stories and remarks. Reides worries we might be fucked then. Kilwin assures him there must be a way, and Jorah suggests wandering away to at least find Diol if possible. As the auction begins, the party only half pays attention to it. Soon, though, there's an item that catches the party's attention: an antique marble from the Ancient Eras. A curtained stand is rolled up as the auctioneer explains that this marble was recovered 15 years ago and brought to the Imperial Reserves. As they say it will be an excellent addition to any collection, the drape is pulled off the stand to reveal an empty case. After a moment, the auctioneer announces that there's been some technical difficulties. The crowd erupts into whispers. Jorah comments that it's a big night for marbles. Reides wonders how and why Damien took it. Self-defense seems a likely why, but the how is baffling. It's also strange that it wasn't stolen back when they were killed. Kilwin wonders if it maybe just wasn't part of the job. Kain steps up to the podium and announces that the auction will be postponed. He asks the crowd to wait and mingle until everything is sorted out, which should be soon. Beladria is horrified that someone would steal from a charity auction. Ashara agrees whole-heartedly before excusing herself to find the rest of the party and more mingling opportunities. The party begins to look for people. Jorah and Reides look for Diol. While Jorah has difficulty searching while being jostled by the crowd, Reides manages to spot her red tail and lets him know. Kilwin doesn't see Grinlief, but he does see Aske and the Kraken flanking either side of a large, suspicious plant. He heads over. Ashara, sadly, sees no sign of Keld Norre.

As he approaches, Kilwin asks Aske and the Kraken how it's been. The Kraken says he'll be paying for this. Kilwin agrees, and Aske apologizes that it was the only way he could get her to agree to help. He steps to the side, revealing Grinlief crouched behind the plant. Despite the answer absolutely being no, Kilwin asks if there's room for two back there and Grinlief says there is. He bumps into the Kraken as he tries to make room, and Kilwin apologizes on his behalf. First off, Kilwin apologizes for not telling him before that this was a work thing for him. Grinlief says it's fine and that he's actually kind of having fun sneaking around and hiding like this. Kilwin is glad he's managing to make the best of this. He admits the other thing he really needed to talk to Grinlief about was the buddy system, but Sending took care of that. Kilwin explains that he's worried telling Grinlief exactly what's going on would possibly put him in danger. He does say that it's related to what happened in Port Valor, although he promises that nothing like that will happen here. Grinlief says he's worried about Kilwin and asks if there's some way he can help. Kilwin thinks about it but ultimately says he doesn't want Grinlief to get involved because it's scary. Grinlief asks if they should run. Kilwin thinks that would probably be the best idea if things really go south, although he'll have to play it by ear to see if he personally can. He encourages Grinlief to run if there's trouble. Kilwin apologizes again for everything being a mess and offers to try to make it up to Grinlief if he can stay in Falas a little longer. Grinlief says he'll see what he can do. Before he goes, Kilwin asks what stories Grinlief has heard about Keld Norre. Grinlief's heard about Twin Gods Pass and that Keld is pretty brash, although he's apparently calmed down since taking his current position. Kilwin admits that that's pretty much what he had heard but thanks Grinlief anyway. He says he'll see him later! Before he goes, Kilwin gives Grinlief's hand a squeeze. Grinlief's face reddens but he doesn't say anything. Kilwin thanks Aske again, who tells him to be careful. Kilwin promises he will and says Reides is being careful too. Aske smiles and claps Kilwin on the back.

Reides is scared because Diol is literally right there. Her top priority seems to be a big mug of ale at the moment. She leans back by the wall and casually sips. Reides approaches, saying she must be Diol Wyrmspine. She admits she's at a disadvantage, so Reides introduces himself as well. He says he's heard of her, and she hopes it's good things. Reides admits that before the auction, he talked to Keld Norre who was drinking heavily and had a lot to say. Diol says that's nothing new. Jorah asks if that's really normal for Keld, and as far as Diol knows, it is. She admits that she's tried to stay away from him lately, and he doesn't seem too keen to spend time with her either. The last time she really saw him was thirty years ago, when he was more low-key. Jorah observes that three decades changes a person. Reides mentions Keld's stormdraught-hogging accusations as well. Diol says Keld can shove it up his ass. Reides thinks she did him a favor if true, since he was so drunk anyway. Diol asks if he's just here to gossip. Reides thinks gossip is a strong word. He just wants to meet the important surfacers, since it's his first run as an ambassador here! Diol remarks that he's using Jorah's in to approach her. Reides says he's just like a true politician and he'll go far. Diol says maybe but that might not be a compliment. Reides laughs. Jorah asks Diol's opinion on the missing marble. She says it's not really her jurisdiction but no one was expecting a theft since the auction was for charity. Everyone agrees that it's strange that someone would steal from charity and that all this fuss is over a marble. Reides doesn't think she's lying about anything but gets the feeling that she might reveal more information if pressed. He comments that it's a strange thing to stick your neck out for, since the punishment is probably pretty steep if you get caught, even beyond the reputation hit. He asks what that punishment would be. Diol says it would be a hefty fine and maybe a few days of imprisonment if it was one of the guests. Given how rich most of these people are, it's hard to make any charges stick. A servant would face a harsher punishment, though, even if it's not really fair. Reides wonders what Karseidon would think of that injustice. Diol thinks he would disapprove, since he was a strong proponent of equity. While Karseidon had veto power, the Falassian justice system was mostly set up by the council long before Karseidon's reign. Reides notes that the council has a lot of sway, and Diol agrees it's more than you'd expect given the unilateral veto. The party's encounters with Fornathrius come up, and Reides says he's intimidating. Diol agrees that every run-in with him leaves your ass a little more clenched than before. She's also pretty sure Kain will find the marble if he hasn't already. Reides says it's funny to imagine Kain scrambling around, looking for a marble. Diol calls him scatter-brained. Reides thought he seemed in control and made a good speech. Diol says there's a difference between a face and wearing it all the time. Reides asks if she'd like her to elaborate. Diol says that sometimes life throws you a hard lot and all you want to do is cry, but you just have to go out there and let the comments roll off you. Reides points out that Eurystheos trusts Kain, and Jorah says that Karseidon seems to have trusted him too. Diol agrees but maintains that Kain is scatter-brained. He has to be to let a marble fall through the cracks like this. Jorah asks who was supposed to be watching the artifacts. She explains that they were locked in a side room downstairs before catching herself and saying she's not supposed to tell them that. Reides says he's not really that interested in marbles, and Jorah is more curious about the theft itself. Diol puts down her ale, in case she's asked to help search. The mug is mostly empty by now anyway. Jorah suggests that, since every guard and wizard here seems to be searching, maybe they'll ask Damien for help. Diol is looking toward the front of the room, with her ears turned toward Jorah and Reides. She says maybe. Apparently, Damien was the one who suggested putting that marble up for auction. Jorah asks if it's theirs. Diol says they were the one who brought it to the Imperial Reserves originally, and she's pretty sure they suggested auctioning it about two weeks ago. Reides wonders if it might be magical, since Damien's a wizard. He's a wizard too! Diol says maybe. She figures she should at least check in, though, and makes her way to the front of the room.

The party reconvenes at the center of the room. Despite looking very thoroughly, Ashara finds no signs of Keld Norre. Kilwin wonders if he might be having an issue in the bathroom, if he really is drunk, or if he killed Damien and left, although that doesn't make sense since the assassin and traitor are different people. Reides and Jorah share that Damien used the auction to smuggle in their arcane focus and somehow set up a way for them to steal it back. It's possible that the key they used for the theft is what was taken from their pocket. We decide that we should at least check the bathroom for Keld. Ashara and Kilwin go in, Ashara leading the way. There's a few people in the bathroom, but Keld Norre isn't in here and the stalls go down too far to be peeked under. No one is having an obvious bad time there though. They leave and decide it's time to ask around. The party heads back to Aske, the Kraken, and the large plant. As she sees them coming, the Kraken says she's taking a break and walks off. Reides gives Aske a hug, leaning into him. He complains that he has to talk to so many people and it sucks. Aske offers to take Reides to one of his parties next time. Reides would love that! Kilwin asks if Aske or the plant have seen Keld Norre around lately. Reides describes him as a big scary general guy. Aske says he hasn't seen any big scary generals but he did see a drunk pathetic general guy stumbling upstairs. He suggests checking with the staff who helped him. Reides apologizes for ditching Aske and thanks him for his help and also helping with the plant. Aske playfully says it's a nice plant sometimes! Grinlief says thank you.

The party heads upstairs. Through the combined powers of Reides and Kilwin, Kilwin manages to spot a younger server who has a green spot on his apron. The party approaches and Kilwin asks if the man has seen Keld Norre, who the party is worried about. The server doesn't know who the man was, but he did help a very green-looking man to the infirmary. The party describes Keld, and the server agrees the description matches, although his hair was covering his face. He says we'd have to check with the guards to find out exactly where he went, but sick people gotta go to the infirmary. We thank him for his help. Reides points out the barf on his apron. The server holds up his apron before throwing his hands up, saying good night, and grumbling off.

The party begins an intense collective ""mind palace"" session. We decide to treat the assassin as the actual Pale Shadow, since if they've left and they're not the actual traitor in the court, there's no real point in assuming otherwise. Since it would be risky for another assassin to imitate the Pale Shadow, this also means that our culprit probably has some pull with the Pale Cloaks and that the Pale Rose was likely also the genuine one. Since Damien wants to return to the living and the room was in perfect order other than some blood where they were sitting, they seem to have known their killer and not expected an attack. Since magic still works within the palace, it's possible that the Pale Shadow used illusion magic, such as Invisibility or Disguise Self, to get the drop on Damien while they were speaking to someone they "knew." Reides mentions that they described the person they saw as an old friend. While Beladria fits the bill, she would probably see her own double and notice something was amiss. She also definitely remembered guiding Ashara away from the meeting room when she directed Jorah and Reides there, consistent with her being one person who did not know there was a dead person in there. Kilwin suggests that maybe, instead of Keld Norre getting that drunk, that was the Pale Shadow looking to escape the ceremony. Jorah also wonders about who had access to the meeting room and the auction room. Clearly, Damien was expecting something to happen and used the auction to smuggle in an arcane focus. We don't know if one key works on both rooms, though, how many of these keys there are, or if any of our suspects (or Damien) is supposed to have that key. Kilwin offers to stay in the ballroom with Jorah to ask around about the key, but Ashara does that instead, since it makes sense for her to talk to Kain. As Reides and Kilwin talk to the guards about going to the infirmary, Jorah and Ashara move back to the general hall.

Jorah and Ashara scan the ballroom and spot an open meeting room on the bottom floor. There's a number of servants and guards milling about. Inside, there are countless other podiums covered with the same kind of black cloth that was supposed to cover the marble. Kain is in the middle of the room, talking with some servants. As Ashara and Jorah approach, servants try to stop them, but Kain says they're cool. He apologizes, but Ashara notes tensions are high so it's all good. Jorah explains he's having some thoughts but there's people around. Kain notices his apprehension and asks the servants for some space, which they provide. Jorah says we know where the marble is. Kain agrees. So far, he's discovered that someone lifted a key off one of the servants, who didn't report it because they were afraid of being reprimanded. Kain also notes that the same key opens the meeting room upstairs. The servant has no idea who took the key, though. Jorah notes that Damien put it up for auction themself and wonders why. Kain presumes it was for self-defense. Kain thinks stealing the key might have been the easy part, since there's many copies. He even has one himself. Damien would have had to get an arcane focus into the auction, steal the key from the servant, and sneak in here earlier in the day to take the marble. Jorah also mentions Damien's reference to an old friend. He also mentions Beladria. Kain admits he never spoke with Damien much, but he's under the impression they had a wry sense of humor. They might have actually been referring to an old enemy. Jorah says they're still investigating, they just wanted to confirm a few things. Kain suggests investigating the relationships between the suspects now, particularly those who may have worked closely with Damien in the past. Jorah agrees that's the plan after this. He asks how long it'll be before the marble is "recovered." Kain admits he's just stalling for time right now. He thinks he can another thirty minutes to an hour out of it. Jorah says we'll do our best, and he and Ashara take their leave.

Ashara thinks Jorlief is a good source of court gossip. Jorah suppresses a groan, and Ashara says he can stand away from if he wants. Jorah thinks he can work through his distaste, though. Ashara promises that Jorlief is delightful when he's away from his son and claims that Grinlief is always the problem. Jorlief is fairly easy to find. Ashara approaches and introduces Jorah. Jorlief notes that he's seen him around, and Jorah manages to bring himself to shake his hand. Jorlief offers to help Ashara however he can. She mentions having met a friend of Damien, referring to Beladria. Since Beladria was so nice, Ashara is eager to meet Damien themself. While Jorlief knows Damien's name, he's never worked closely with them or the council. He suggests asking someone closer to the emperor, since they might know more. Ashara thanks him for his help. Jorlief says it's nice to rely on people and it's usually important to be kind to those who seek guidance in any form. He's also sure that this marble situation will be resolved in no time.

Jorah and Ashara find Fornathrius next. He's observing the proceedings with his arms crossed. Jorah approaches and comments that it's unfortunate times when someone stoops to stealing from a charity auction. Fornathrius swears the culprit will be strung up for this. Jorah asks if Damien had any enemies in the council. Fornathrius isn't sure, although they did make enemies of the entire council when they failed in their duty. The angriest one, though, was Keld Norre. Fornathrius observes that the two of them argued a lot, although they did tend to hush up whenever he approached. He hasn't seen either of them tonight, though. Jorah mentions running into Keld and asks if it's normal for him to get that drunk at events. Fornathrius admits it is. It's one of the few derelictions of duty that Fornathrius will suffer from Keld, and that only because of Keld's pristine voting record. He wishes Jorah and Ashara luck in finding them, though. Jorah hopes they find the marble soon, but Fornathrius just says this incident will reflect poorly on the imperial family. Jorah and Ashara leave the ballroom for the infirmary.

On their way out of the ballroom, Reides and Kilwin discover from the guards that the party pretty much have permission to go wherever they need. No issues getting back to the ballroom! The infirmary is a long rectangular room. There's an unattended desk near the entrance, with rows and rows of beds beyond it. Most of the beds have curtains drawn around them, but one near the back of the room has its curtains open. Kilwin and Reides go to check that one first. Once they get closer, the figure on the bed starts moaning and groaning, obviously just starting up. It is, in fact, Keld Norre. His face is clearly visible. Reides and Kilwin say hi. Reides explains that a marble was stolen. Keld groans out the words "poor babies." Reides pretends to be very concerned about Keld's health and reaches out to touch his forehead. Keld leans his head away and, when Reides keeps reaching, grabs Reides's wrist. Reides notices that Keld's hand isn't as clammy as one would expect. Kilwin offers to heal Keld's issues. Keld refuses, saying this is nothing he hasn't suffered before. Kilwin doesn't think that's a reason for him to suffer more now! Keld asks if Kilwin usually forces his help on people. Kilwin says yes! He's a terrible busybody and it's one of his faults. Reides confirms this is true. While he's contending with Kilwin, Reides attempts to examine Keld for signs his appearance is an illusion, but sees none. Keld tells Kilwin not to touch him and go back to the ball. Kilwin says he's got a special version of this spell and he won't even have to touch him! Keld says that he'll call the guards if Kilwin touches him. Kilwin casts Dispel Magic on Keld. It has no effect. Keld angrily asks what Kilwin did to him. Kilwin says it usually works better than that! Keld says he's tired and doesn't know what we want. He sits up. Reides notices that Keld's jacket is on the chair next to his bed. Reides apologizes, explaining that he and Kilwin were just concerned but might have just been too forward. Keld seems to buy it but asks to just be left alone. Reides and Kilwin leave the infirmary and start strategizing outside.

Soon, Jorah and Ashara join the infirmary crew. By now, Reides has had the idea to make himself invisible and check Keld's jacket pockets for the meeting room key while someone else distracts him. Reides suggests that someone pretend to be sick and make a ruckus. While Jorah points out that that must be the real Keld considering no illusion was discovered, Reides and Kilwin are absolutely convinced that he's faking. Jorah thinks he and Ashara should just talk to Keld while Reides invisibly sneaks, so that they could also try to get some info out of him. Reides is very nervous about this. Jorah doesn't think there's any harm in Keld finding out that Damien is dead and that we know it, since it doesn't change anything about the situation. Reides is more worried about Keld's reaction than anything else. Jorah promises he's good at running and has other options too. Reides just wants everyone to be ready! Jorah admits that he's getting tired of the subtle approach tonight. Ashara decides to let Jorah take the lead and go along for the ride. Reides casts Invisibility on himself and Kilwin.

Back inside the infirmary, Kilwin lingers near the entrance. As Jorah and Ashara approach, Reides attempts to mask the sounds of his movement by keeping pace with them. Once again, Keld starts groaning once people start getting close to him. When Jorah and Ashara make their way to the bed, he asks what he owes the pleasure to. Jorah says they're here to ask about Damien Wright. Keld narrows his eyes and asks what about them. Jorah explains that Damien is missing and no one can find them, so they're talking to everyone who might have seen them. Jorah had to come for Keld personally. Keld thinks Damien probably ran off crying about their problems into the night. Jorah had heard the two of them had problems, but not quite that much. Keld says he's not one to reward incompetence. Jorah mentions that Damien had sarcastically referred to someone they were meeting with as an old friend. He asks if Keld has seen them at all. Keld says not a one, smirking. However, as far as Jorah can tell, he's telling the truth. Jorah calls out the smirk, saying Keld has some attitude about a missing person. Reides reaches into the jacket pocket. Jorah mentions that Keld is in here, sick, and puking on servants. He says he was a hard man to find. Keld says he's not a man to find, so Jorah calls him a man to drink. Reides touches a cool metal ring with an iron bar hanging off of it. Keld and Jorah are having a staredown, so Reides waits for Keld to start talking again before risking taking the key, since it will be visible for a moment. Jorah asks what Keld knows about the Pale Shadow. Keld's features even out, as if he doesn't want to give anything away, and he says that sounds like a scary name. He says we should know, though, that the Demon of Twin Gods Pass is another scary name, one we shouldn't be fucking with. He reaches out toward his jacket, attempting to grab Reides's hand.