#Marlee definitely needs glasses lol

[orderofthedyingstar]

RECAP: SESSION 14

The party is off on the road to Asaraoi, the last major town before it’s just the Long Road between them and the capital city of So’Joh. Rhododendron asks Jun about how his journey out of So’Joh went, but he doesn’t supply too much information beyond saying that there were bandits and a druid colony in the forest near the Long Road. He also supplies some information about the upcoming ‘Night’ of Endless Rains, and how they’ll probably end up getting stuck in Asaraoi since they’re so close to Yulong’s Fingers and that entire portion of the country will be completely flooded (and underwater). Rhododendron also tries to ask Junzabout a dance show he’d attended a while back but like always Jun is very reluctant to talk about his time as the Royal Seer, but does mention that Inigo was at the show with Umbra. He keeps making the noise from the horses’ hooves louder to avoid talking, much to Marlee and Verrix’s confusion.

Rhododendron: “VERRIX!” 

Verrix: “Hmm? What?” 

Rhododendron: “What do you think we need? Verrix?!” 

Verrix: “What??” 

Rhododendron: “What do you think we need in Asaraoi??” 

Verrix: “What did you call me?!”

The party plans on getting their final round of supplies before the Long Road, including a map of So’Joh. Verrix is still bitter about his cloak, which got fixed when Dilong saved their lives in the temple, but with silver stitching. While reviewing their supplies, Inigo says that he has a tinder box and then immediately drops it over the side of the cart. Jun mentions that he wants to break into the palace for the supplies he needs, including a glass eye worth 100gp. They also debate asking bandits on the road about Umbra, to which Jun offers to pick through the brains while Rhododendron suggests that Verrix use his powers of persuasion - which Marlee expresses some doubt in. Inigo still isn’t able to recall very much from his past memories.

Jun supplies a little more information about So’Joh and Nartai, including the fact that the criminal organization the Masks are a prominent figure in the capital - but Verrix isn’t worried about them. Rhododendron asks Jun if he’s worried about running into anyone in So’Joh, and but he says that he wouldn’t be recognized since he had someone help him (“paid a lot of money to”) change his appearance. Rhododendron pesters Jun about his appearance, and he continues to avoid giving an answer. Eventually, after repeated bothering (and some guilt-tripping) from Rhododendron, Jun gives a bare description of what he looks like, including that he has a tail. Rhododendron asks Jun if he thinks that the royalty in So’Joh are looking for him, to who he says that he doesn’t think that they care. Rhododendron thinks that the Emperor is probably looking for Jun on some level (and assumes that the child who died was the crown prince, which isn’t true since the child was a princess and wasn’t first in line to the throne, but Jun doesn’t correct her*). He tells her that he’d rather be dead than be the Royal Seer again.

*he usually uses ambiguous pronouns w no descriptions when giving info about ppl he doesn’t want to talk about, and rhododendron has a habit of filling in the blanks w her assumptions and he just tends to go along w them lmao

Rhododendron also manages to remember that the 80-day timeline on Queen Lunette’s return reward has passed, but the party hasn’t heard anything yet about the outcome of that. They wonder about who her replacement might be, and Jun expresses some concern that the Emperor of So’Joh might try to get involved with Gosha.

The party finally arrives in Asaraoi, where Verrix stocks up on some explosive crossbow bolts and Rhododendron gets rations and basic supplies for the road. She also asks around about a glass eye but doesn’t find anything even close to what she’s looking for. Marlee pesters Verrix about working on the book he’s ‘writing’ again, and Rhododendron gets him a forgery kit and a bracer for Inigo (but she doesn’t give them those gifts yet). Inigo looks at the wanted posters and wonders if he knows any of the people on them, while Verrix manages to recognize Jun’s description of what he actually looks like - and finds out his legal name; he points it out to Rhododendron.

The party also finds out that the people of Asaraoi sacrifice a volunteer from the town every year during the week of the flood, and are understandably horrified by this (or, Rhododendron and Verrix are). They talk to one of the clerics at the local church about it, and she’s very nonchalant about the whole thing. She also mentions that the town (as well as the town of Moyoto) pay the ‘Bloody Price’ (in sacrifice, again)  to the local giants of Giant’s Pass to keep them from attacking their towns. Marlee gets increasingly annoyed/bored with the cleric’s retelling of the Night, and she insists on being the one to talk about the myths behind it.

Marlee: “Anyways, she didn’t know what she was talking about.”

Marlee talks about how Yulong, the goddess of the ocean and storms, worked with Laoteng and Nyvarstra to give people life. She’s known for having a volatile temper, shifting just as frequently as the ocean’s tides used to. Yulong once fell in love with a mortal (that Marlee says was probably ‘young and hot’) and Yulong’s grief was so much that she flooded the entire world for weeks until Ardrin and Nyvarstra punished her for harming mortals indiscriminately and trapped her deep in the ocean. Marlee thinks that Yulong was being overly dramatic.

Rhododendron: “Have you ever been in love, Marlee?” 

Marlee: “Y - no, but I would like to.” 

Rhododendron: “I don’t really think you’re an expert on the subject.”

Marlee: “She still took it way too far, like it couldn’t have been that good. Like two weeks? She was like, drowning people, oh my gods. She needs to, like, chill.”

Marlee also mentions that there are different versions of the story, such as their love being forbidden by Laoteng or Zelia also having been in love with the mortal and killing them for revenge over not choosing her. Rhododendron remembers that the party still needs a map, and Marlee points to an excessively massive one on the wall, saying that they’re easier to read (and glossing over the fact that she might actually need glasses).

Rhododendron: “We don’t need more details, we’re going straight to Nartai, which is the biggest detail on the map since it’s the capital - ” 

Marlee: “Oh my gods, we can go shopping??” 

Rhododendron: “How about we go shopping after we find Raz?” 

Marlee, delighted: “Oh! Ah, your little boy-toy, oh that’s cute.”

Rhododendron: “I…don’t want Raz to be my boy-toy…”

Rhododendron escapes the conversation after that, taking Jun with her and leaving the rest of the party behind with Marlee at the tavern. She also wants to investigate the church again to see if they can find the town’s sacrificial volunteer.

Rhododendron: “We’ll have to explore the realm of your available emotions eventually.” 

Jun: “I’m good, we can stick with none.” 

Rhododendron: “I don’t know, it’s probably be good to know if you can feel…certain things…” 

Jun: “Hmm, no, not really, I can’t really see any benefits.” 

Rhododendron: “You don’t want to know the spectrum of pain you can feel?” 

Jun: “Uh. What I felt in the temple was enough. Don’t gotta experiment with that.” 

Rhododendron, upset: “Okay, whatever. Let’s just go. To the church.”

Rhododendron talks to Asaraoi’s sacrifice, who seems pretty calm about the whole situation. They ask her about where she grew up, and whether or not she loved the people in that town and what she’d be willing to do to prevent her family from getting hurt - what lengths she’d go through to keep the people she loved safe. They never really reach an understanding over the matter, especially since worship of Yulong is very limited or nonexistent in most of Gosha. The volunteer cleric tells Rhododendron that she looks lost, and that maybe she needs some sort of Guidance. Rhododendron is relived that the sacrifice is willing rather than forced, and also decides that they need to bunker down their horses in one of the warded stables before the floods come. They return to the party to discuss where to store the horses and Marlee offers to pay for them since the rest of the party is ‘so broke’.

The party decides to stay in the cart outdoors for now, and Rhododendron gives Verrix the paper and ink she bought (for writing the book) in front of Marlee before taking it back later. Marlee tries to teach Inigo some basic hand games (like patty-cake). Rhododendron tries to get through another section of the book Marlee lent her, getting progressively more embarrassed as the material gets increasingly strange. Jun lends Rhododendron his spellbook to hide the cover of the smut book from curious passerby, which she snoops through - she finds out that it’s a very old children’s textbook on Arcana that he’s written notes in and shoved extra papers into. She asks him about why he’s carrying a children’s spellbook with him, and he admits that it hurts to think about too much and would rather not continue on with the topic.

Rhododendron: “Why are you a wizard still?” 

Jun: “Cause it’s useful.” 

Rhododendron: “…And why does that matter?” 

Jun: “Cause there’s probably people that want to kill me.” 

Rhododendron: “But you’re not in a country where people want to kill you anymore.” 

Jun: “Kind of about to be, though.” 

Rhododendron: “Yeah, but you don’t have to be, is the thing. Why are you here?  Why are you helping me? Why have you stayed so long? Why are you still seeking magic when you don’t have a heart?”

Her line of questions triggers an emotional response in Jun (very bad CON save), who doubles over in pain while his eyes roll in the back of his head. Both Verrix and Rhododendron freak out, with Verrix insisting that she’s killed him. It takes about an hour and half before Jun’s pupils reappear and he passes out. Marlee checks in on them a few times during this, and tries to ask about what happened but Rhododendron refuses to give her an answer (even though Marlee says she is “the epitome of good”).

Marlee: “Do you need me to heal him?” 

Rhododendron: “I don’t think so, I tried a few times and it didn’t do anything. It just kind of burned up in my hands.” 

Marlee: “Ow, always kind hurts though, like a slap.” 

Rhododendron: “That is not how I cast Cure Wounds.” 

Marlee: “Oh, well. Maybe one of us is doing it wrong. Could be me.” 

Verrix: “Yeah, maybe.”

After turning down Marlee’s offer to cast Cure Wounds or Lesser Restoration on Jun, the party decides to take a long rest, leaving Inigo and Verrix on the first watch. Inigo teaches him the hand games that he and Marlee were doing (both of them roll extremely well). Marlee and Rhododendron take over the watch after them, and Rhododendron tries to ask Marlee about the smut book…

Rhododendron: “YOU’RE INTO THIS?!” 

Marlee, completely deadpan: “Ya, it’s hot.” 

Rhododendron: “Are…you hoping this will happen to you at some point???” 

Marlee: “It could.” 

Rhododendron: “Oh my gods, oh my gods. I don’t even know what to say to you right now. I’m not even halfway done.” 

Marlee: “Oh my gods, you’re not even at the best part.” 

Rhododendron: “What’s…the best part…?” 

Marlee: *winks*

There’s a day left before the rains start, and Jun still won’t wake up. The party heads into a room at one of the inns in town, crowding into a room with a couch and a bed. They debate trying to protect the door against thieves before deciding that they 1) have way too many people in here for a thief to want to rob them and 2) don’t look rich. Verrix still sets up a simple trap to make noise with some spare junk to rattle if someone tries to get through the doorway. When they look out the window they can see the sacrificial cleric walking through the town as the rain starts to pour. It takes a few hours for the rain to start flooding the town about four feet from the ground. Rhododendron, Inigo, and Marlee play go-fish and strip poker while Verrix stares out the window and watches fish (and jewelry) and shapes in the darkness float past.

As the next few days pass the party splits up to spend time away from each other in the main hall downstairs, with Marlee trying to pair random strangers up with each other. Rhododendron spends some more time going through Jun’s spellbook. On the forth day Jun finally wakes up, and he admits that he’s having a hard time telling what is real after having prophetic dreams for the past few days. After Rhododendron spends some time doting on him, they speculate about Inigo and Umbria’s connection to Zelia, a whether or not that’s going to come up at all as they get closer and closer to confronting Umbra. Jun still struggles with understanding how much information to share, and doesn’t really want to share things about the future that might not come to pass.

Rhododendron: “You don’t have to lie to me.” 

Jun: “I just don’t really know what to say, there’s just stuff you shouldn’t have to worry about.” 

Rhododendron: “I mean…you don’t really have a stake in my heart, though.” 

Jun: “I don’t understand…?” 

Rhododendron: “You don’t get to decide how I feel, is what I’m saying.”

Jun: “That is true, I can’t even decide how I feel.” 

Rhododendron (after Jun’s tried to escape the conversation several times): “……Jun? Remember that I trust you.”

Verrix goes around and pickpockets some merchants while Marlee continues to cause personal drama amongst the others trapped in the tavern with them. He also uses his weighted dice to scam some people out of a few silver, and then runs up to the room to hide out from people in case they figure it out. When a merchant knocks at their door Verrix ducks under the bed to hide with Marlee’s armor while Rhododendron (poorly) attempts to lie to the merchant. Verrix refuses to crawl out from under the bed even after the merchant leaves, insisting that he’s totally fine down there. After failing to convince Verrix to come out from under the bed, Rhododendron leaves the room to search for Jun, who left a while ago to go get tea. Verrix gets bored and tries to put on some of Marlee’s armor, but he can barely even drag the helmet halfway out from under the bed (and critically fails to shove it back under the bed, so he just kicks a blanket over it).

Rhododendron fines Marlee and Jun talking about all of the ‘couples’ that she’s helped create, and both of them tell her that they haven’t seen Inigo in a while. She goes looking for him and finds him up in the attic, which is used for storage. He says that he just wanted some space to think, since he saw someone downstairs with a tattoo he recognized - a skull with a dagger through both of the eyes - since he also has the same tattoo. Inigo isn’t able to remember anything about the significance of the symbol, but mentions that Marlee suggested Remove Curse or Lesser Restoration to try and fix his amnesia, although he’s hesitant since the memories he’s gotten back haven’t been the most pleasant.

Rhododendron: “Listen, Inigo, I have heard quite a lot about the person that you used to be, but I think you should keep in mind the kind of person that you are now.” 

Inigo: “Stupid?” 

Rhododendron: “I, uh - ” 

Inigo: “I’m kidding! I mean, I’m not but I am.” 

Rhododendron: “I just mean that at your core this is the person that you are, and you shouldn’t forget that, even when you remember who you are.”

Inigo: “That’s a lot of forgetting and remembering, but I’ll try.”

After talking about Inigo’s lack of memory and who he might have been for a while, they briefly touch on Raz’s situation and Inigo asks if her ‘little wizard’ is awake yet.

Rhododendron: “Do you not know his name?” 

Inigo: “No, I know his name, it’s just - you kind of dote on him a little.”

Rhododendron: “I don’t dote on him!” 

Inigo: “I’m just saying, you don’t see Verrix doing the same thing.”

Both of them also express their frustration with being stuck in the inn for the better part of a week, and Inigo admits that he’s been helping her with her chaotic destroying and re-pairing up of the couples in the building. Rhododendron begins to worry that Marlee will get this bored while they’re all trapped out on the Long Road together, and try to start things amongst the party members. The two of  them leave the attic, and Rhododendron goes to investigate the halflings downstairs to see if any of them have the tattoo that Inigo was talking about. She eventually finds them, but they aren’t exactly forthcoming on information (CRIT MISS Persuasion).

Rhododendron goes back up to the attic to send up a quick prayer to Yulong while the rest of the party regathers in their room to watch the floodwaters slowly receded. She returns to the room afterwards, and then reminds Inigo, Marlee, and Verrix that they need to wait until most of the crowd has left the building until they try to get their horses back since they’d spent too much time causing trouble. Marlee offers to officiate some weddings to fix some of the broken up couples, but Rhododendron tells her that would probably just make things worse. Rhododendron and Jun find their horses (Tulip and Carnation) just fine, although there are a few less lucky steeds that got partially eaten by the creatures that were moving around during the floods despite the magical wards on the stables.

The party reunited after the crowd has left the inn, and Rhododendron gives Inigo the bracer she got for him (and he starts to feel a little bad about causing trouble in the tavern), making Marlee and Verrix suspect that she has feelings for him.

Verrix: “Did she give you a present too?” 

Marlee, delighted: “She. Did. Not!”

As the last of Yulong’s tears of grief dissipate from the Material Plane, the party prepares themselves to head into So’Joh and begin their months-long journey on the Long Road.