#it's a testament to how many weird shit they've been through

[rocicrew]

The Expanse 6.04, Redoubt

requested by @tragedyposting

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e39

"We didn't fucking cause this. We're his legacy." That entire speech from Ashton had big Caduceus vibes.

The necklace that Fearne found was one that Laudna's father gave to her mother on one of their anniversaries. He saved up for it, and got it with three stones to represent the three of them.

Laudna's name was Matilda Bradbury. She "kind of forgot who [she] was" after a while of running from town to town, and used to sing to herself.

oh god I had forgotten about Pate

Laudna's eldritch blast looks like the flame in her chest we saw in the dream realm. When she casts it, she feels what she's always felt — the magic coming from with in her, in her blood and bones, from the weave of arcana within herself. And she proceeds to bonk Ashton in the head with one of them.

"I was born with magic... that's why they [her parents] were so eager to push me out the door, to the castle."

Holy shit, that's one hell of a testament to Matt's character voices being distinct. The cast remembered Ollie's voice after months. The Green Seekers were sent by Shishadri to escort the Bells Hells to Eshteross' estate.

Chetney opens the letter from Eshteross to Shishadri against Orym's direct objection without hearing Orym out at all. I'm sure this will have no consequences in the future

The letter speaks on a couple of his last jobs as a mercenary, recalling the work he's done for her and the good will they have. At the very bottom, it states information about what the Hells are doing, what they've discovered, elements of the Grim Verity and the dangers of the solstice, and essentially says to stay out of their way.

Laudna casts mending on the wax seal Chetney broke. Marisha Ray has committed mail fraud on graph paper in two campaigns in a row

Mistress Shishadri called in someone to cast speak with dead on Eshteross. She has pale, pearlescent skin, powder-white. The hair is long and silver-gray, no eyebrows, with almost elven features but no sign of elvish ears. "Human, but more so — mystical, but like a creepy doll in energy and visage." Her voice is a lot like the eisfurra from the All-Minds-Burn. She wears a pendant of a golden, beaked skull — a symbol of the Matron of Ravens.

"This is the Grave Mystic Weva Vudol. She is a very useful talent when it comes to dealing with the unexpected demise of important individuals."

Her eyes roll back when she casts the spell and the face almost looks like a porcelain mask. There's a weird, sickly sweet joy to her voice as she asks the questions, and when she moves Eshteross' body, it's like moving a puppet.

"When did you die?" Not but a day before. "How did you die?" I was killed by the Legend. "And who was this legend responsible for your death?" The Legend of the Peaks, Otohan Thull. "Were they [the Bells Hells] responsible or involved in your demise?" No. "Do you have any final requests?" To be interred next to Mistress Prudaj, in the Lucid Memorial Mausoleum.

Shishadri asks the Hells to hunt down Otohan (after the Green Seekers turn it down), and offers them a contract, which they accept.

Otohan got that title during the Apex War because of her involvement with the Taloned Highlands and the Apex city Sruwargas, home of the Stratos Throne. The mountains where it resides are known as the Coven Peaks. For the people of the Throne, she was a hero, and for those opposing her, she was a nightmare.

The Stratos Throne holds rulership of the Taloned Highlands, including Imogen's hometown. She vaguely remembers having to hide, fields being burned, strongholds and military installments on the pathways along the mountains.

The death of the previous sovereign brought the Apex War to a ceasefire, alongside the mutual economic destruction that was happening.

Jovahn, Imogen's hometown, is a place where many warriors and soldiers passed through; there were many inns, homesteads, and barracks built for them that have since been repurposed. Otohan could have passed through or stayed here.

Shishadri takes all of Eshteross' letters, and will arrange the Silver Sun for pickup by the morning.

Weva's HP, AC, and levels are all much higher than Orym's. She works throughout the city and the Oderan Wilds, but works for Shishadri. Chetney smells no fey, fiend, or undead essence on her, but her skin is sort of sparkly and opalescent, sort of like that aasimar who was with Kotho back in C2.

She's flirting with Laudna.

She can..... see souls? She says Laudna's "a little dark around the edges... ooh, welcome back."

Pate!!

Keyleth had theories that the attack on Zephrah was a test, a way to test the abilities of Zephrah's defenses, but there was never a second attack.

She would sometimes talk to the deRolos about the leylines, and Orym thinks that that could be related to why Otohan wanted her dead.

FCG tries to identify the toxin residue on Eshteross' weapon. With a 26 medicine check, they recall "poisons, liquids, alchemical concoctions... and you feel with certainty that you have never seen something like this." There is no magic to it, but it's nothing FCG has encountered in the natural world.

This is the second or third time Matt has described something unidentifiable to FCG in this way — he makes a point to say how strange it is that FCG has never encountered it before or can't remember what it is, like it isn't the item itself that's strange but rather their inability to recognize it. So is this a situation where FCG's memory was wiped? Like they used to know about it but can't anymore because their "memory banks" are damaged or altered?

FCG also identifies the blade itself. It acts as a magical club when wielded as a cane, but when the command word is spoken, the ball on top of the cane becomes a scythe blade. It acts as a greatsword.

To the skyship!

But first, some shopping.

They got diamonds for revivify, and FCG got a 25gp commemorative coin. This is likely for divination, which has a material component of a 25gp "sacrificial offering."

To Yios!

It's a little less than an 1100 mile journey, and it'll take 7-8 days since they're going across the Hellcatch Valley again.

Day 1: No issues

Day 2: No issues

Day 3: Sandstorm! Chetney, Fearne, Imogen, and Orym all rolled below a 5 to stay on the ship, but everyone's tied in one way or another to the rails or the masts. No one actually fell off, but they lose a day of travel.

Day 4: No issues.

Ruidus is flaring. The date would be 30 Sydenstar 843,

Imogen is dreaming of her and Laudna baking in a cabin. "The candlelight goes from orange to a deep, deep red. The door is open, and outside the hut, you see a red cloud swirling. The storm is around you, you can hear the impact of it, the hut creaking and breaking apart. You can just barely see a shape walking into the storm, away from the hut, away from you — the darkened clothed shape of what looks like Laudna, walking away from you. Laudna? No response, just keeps walking. You will yourself to move faster, and your feet leave the ground as you glide until you are right at the back of the figure. You touch it, and it spins around, and instead, it is a darkened ruffled cloak. What you thought was Laudna's hair is tattered shreds of a funeral shroud. You see this scraggly hair in a lavender-like color, and that memory that unlocked, you recognize your mother. 'You need to run.'"

"While that's happening, Chetney. Roll a Wisdom saving throw. 6. You've concentrated on this in the past, the curse that you hold. It is tethered to the history of Catha, and the transformations have always been pulled by that massive white-silver glow in the sky. Ruidus didn't seem to have much of an impact. But as you've been more conscious of these flares, there's been this itch in your belly. Simple. But this time the itch gets stronger. And stronger. Until you can't help but try and scratch for it. You scratch and scratch, and you pull, and you tear. Fearne and Orym, you see Chetney begin to double over and clutch his stomach. Chet? Can you talk to me? You have to pull, you have to be free, you have to scratch, it has to be free. From behind, he tears the flesh away from his torso, and as you watch the skin and hair of the gnomish form flop away, the wolven body emerges with an aggressive howl, the eyes emanating a red glow. Who do you go after first? Orym."

Fearne casts daylight on Chetney, which gives him another saving throw against Ruidus' influence. He rolls 16. It has some kind of effect, but it doesn't knock Chetney out of it. (Meaning that 16 is still a fail against the influence.)

"As far as your consciousness goes, you just have to scratch the itch. This is primal impulse and instinct. You've been here a few times, but this is an odd timing."

Liam playing a battle master is so good. the battle master fighter is easily the most complex full-melee class (and is definitely more complex than many casters), and it's so nice to see the class played with such... poise? ease? skill.

Rolling another 16 save gets Chetney out of the influence and the itch goes away, but he's under half health, so he has to make another save against bloodlust, which he fails. Fearne's daylight spell knocks him out of that.

The flare fades away, and the ruddy moon is left dull in the sky.

But before that, back in Imogen land—

"As you see into the face of your mother, she steps back, and the wind whips her away like she was just strips of cloth. You glance up, and you can see through the cloud, the bright, flaring moon of Ruidus. What do you want? No response. Otohan? Are you here? Nobody seems to be present. Just the sound of strong, dangerous wind. [I reach out and lightning strike the hut.] As you reach out your arm, all the designs on your body, the extended tendrils of energy completely fill your arm and the bolt arcs across the outside of the hut. It burns and darkens, and as it burns up, the wind carries it away like the cloak but a moment before. [I fly up into the air.] The dust around you subsides slightly. You can see the darkness, the stars, beginning to come closer. You concentrate on the moon, and a few moments later, the bright light of the flare dulls, and in that moment, your ascension slows, then stops, and you begin to fall. Faster and faster. Faster and faster, you plummet. You spin and see the ground come towards you — and you wake up."

Sending to Liliana Temult: "Are you there?" "...Imogen?"