#u can feel marlee kinda starting to warm up to everybody

[orderofthedyingstar]

RECAP: SESSION 15

The party has just embarked on their (soon-to-be) months long journey on the Long Road, the only real path between the western part of Gosha and So’Joh’s capital city. (CRIT MISS from Rhododendron) the first two weeks’ worth of the journey end up taking an entire month, and Rhododendron (CRIT MISS CON save) ends up giving herself, Jun, and Inigo (CRIT MISS CON save) food poisoning - Rhododendron and Inigo end up getting horribly sick on top of that for the entire first week of travel. Inigo ends up eating weird roadside small-town food for a while afterwords, not trusting even the party’s rations. After she recovers, Rhododendron scavenges some spell components; she also works on ‘Verrix’s’ romance book manuscript for Marlee. She tries to enlist Verrix’s help in coming up with a title for the book, but he just ends up shouting out random baking terms. Rhododendron asks Marlee what she knows about the Crimson Death, and she tells Rhododendron that ‘people were being shitty’ and then healed by Dilong…and mentions Sun Sickness.

Marlee: “Basically, there was like this paladin of Nyvarstra or whatever, and they totally went bazonkers with power, totally fallen, totally rising up against the gods - I dunno, there was like a whole rebellion with it. Even the common folk were with it, he was like super charismatic. Like me. And like, I guess Nyvarstra was like ‘oh, that’s like blasphemy’ so she sent a plague to destroy them all  and show people what happens when you mess with her - props, I get it, I have a bad temper too.” 

Rhododendron: “And then you said there was another person?” 

Marlee: “Ya, another god, one that’s not around anymore, so she’s not relevant.” 

Rhododendron: “Laoteng?” 

Marlee: “Ya, her and one of her kids. They did, like, some healing with some holy warrior or whatever. I dunno.” 

Rhododendron: “So, did Nyvarstra kill the paladin?” 

Marlee: “Yeah, probably. The other legend is that ‘his corpse still haunts the world today’. I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s probably dead.”

Rhododendron asks if an angel was involved in these stories at all, which Marlee denies, but she does bring up the incident a few months back when ‘a bunch of angels went crazy and tried to kill the aasimar’.

Marlee: “People got like, mad about it. I was like ‘calm down, man’.”

Rhododendron: “It didn’t affect you?” 

Marlee: “Um, no, celestials can’t affect me. Ew. I’m like a paladin, that’s like our thing.” 

Rhododendron: “I mean, it didn’t affect me either, so…” 

Marlee: “That’s nice.” 

Verrix: “Yeah, bet it was nice.”

Rhododendron asks Marlee if she knows that she’s in a party with two aasimar, and she says that she’s known - and that she knows that Inigo is fallen. Rhododendron tells Marlee that the angels were after Inigo, to which the paladin says that it’s a ‘little self-centered’ to assume that it was all because of them. After talking to Marlee, Rhododendron tries to ask Inigo a little bit more about his memories, which he’s still very unclear on. Inigo does state that he vaguely remembers Umbra’s plan to steal the crown of So’Joh, and that he was arrested. Marlee, after eavesdropping for a little bit, offers to try to help Inigo with some magic from her - and a somewhat reluctant Jun. Inigo’s a little apprehensive about the idea, but Rhododendron reassures him again that he doesn’t have to change as a person even after regaining his memories.

The group finally makes it past the border and into So’Joh (after breaking and repairing a cart wheel) after four and a half weeks of travel. Jun gives books the semi-translated book from the last temple, where’s he’s made quite a few notes. Rhododendron asks Verrix if he’s come up with a title for the book yet, but won’t accept his only sugggestion (Fifty Shades of Grain). The two of them debate tell Marlee about the author of the book, but feel like she’ll be a little upset that they’ve hid this secret for a few months now. Rhododendron asks Inigo how he feels about trying to regain his memories again, and he tells her that she still doesn’t think it’s a good idea, since he isn’t too happy about the type of person he used to be before. Inigo also says that he’s worried about being around Umbra again, recalling how Umbra could affect anyone’s minds from regular people to creatures (like giants). Rhododendron still reassures him that he doesn’t have any reason to hurt anyone in the party (although Verrix points out to her that Jun and Inigo didn’t exactly get along as teenagers, to which Rhododendron says that Jun doesn’t even look the same anymore, and that he let Inigo go). Inigo still continues to worry about regaining his memories, especially at the risk of harming the rest of the party, but his memories might be the only real lead they have to Umbra’s whereabouts in Nartai/So’Joh. 

Marlee finishes working her way through the pieces of the story Rhododendron has written for her, and says that she has very in-depth feedback to give to Verrix on it (which he is not looking forward too). Rhododendron gets bored after a while and tries to bother Jun, who says he prefers sleeping (nice, dreamless sleep) - so she has Inigo throw his flute at Jun (21 STR check), and lets him know that Inigo has decided to go through with Marlee’s (and his) suggestion of using Lesser Restoration/Remove Curse to try to restore some of his memories. Eventually, Jun does offer to finish translating the rest of the book on Dilong for her (with only 100 pages left). 

Rhododendron and Inigo go hunting for food to give the party a break from rations, but Rhododendron is banned from cooking, so Verrix offers to cook the deer they bring back…with fire magic, which triggers residual magic from the chocolate he’d eaten in the Brackenwood temple, summoning a fire elemental. The elemental also completely rends the deer to ashes and begins to attack the party. Rhododendron asks Marlee if she thinks the elemental is similar at all the Umbra (Marlee: “who’s Umbra?”), while Jun remarks that the elemental is saying some pretty vulgar things in Primordial (who taught Jun cuss words in Primordial…). The elemental targets Verrix in combat, doing significant damage to him and setting him on fire while Marlee and Inigo miss horribly. Jun casts Thunderstep to get Verrix away from the fire elemental, but the party still has difficulty doing any significant damage to the creature for a few hits, setting Inigo on fire before Rhododendron and Verrix manage to land solid hits on it, Verrix finishing it off.

After the fight, Verrix asks (a pouting) Marlee if there’s a god of deer, but she dodges giving him a real answer besides saying that there’s a god of the Wilds; she’s bitter that she wasn’t able to hit the elemental. The next day, before trying to begin restoring Inigo’s memories, Rhododendron tries to make sure that he’s really ready to start the process (while Verrix eavesdrops). They also talk about Rhododendron’s dancing career, to which she tells them that there’s only a limited amount of time for her to perform as a professional ballet dancer, since the career is so hard on her body.

Rhododendron: “It’s okay to be nervous. I would go through performances and that was the worst part, but at the end it was exhilarating, that release of nervousness.” 

Inigo: “I don’t know if this will be quite the same.” 

Rhododendron: “I think it will! You’ll remember who you are, Inigo. And even if it brings back bad memories, that’s you.” 

Inigo: “Yes, that’s the part…I think I’m afraid of.” 

Rhododendron: “That’s what I’m saying. You should accept that part of yourself and be the person…that is scared of that person.” 

Inigo: “Or I could run away again.” 

Rhododendron: “I would find you.” 

Inigo: “You did track me pretty soundly and very, very quickly.”

Rhododendron: “I’m not gonna let you run away from this, Inigo, no matter how much you might want to.” 

Inigo: “……We have a deal.”

Rhododendron and Inigo (with some very loud flute ‘music’) wake up Inigo and Jun to start the process of trying to restore his memories, with Marlee insisting on wearing her gauntlets around Inigo and his ‘fallenness’. Rhododendron freaks out on Marlee and Jun when Inigo passes out, but neither of them know why it affected him like that. Jun is completely unconcerned, but points out that he was fine after passing out for a week (Rhododendron vehemently disagrees). After a few minutes Inigo wakes up and immediately goes to recover by himself in the cart, while Marlee pesters Verrix about the book he didn’t write and Jun gives Rhododendron the fully annotated book on Dilong - with an additional 200 pages neither of them expected, since he initially thought they were indexes. Rhododendron is absolutely distressed by this absurd amount of reading.

Jun: “We could kidnap a bard for you and have them read you the whole thing.” 

Rhododendron: “Why can’t you just do it?!” 

Jun: “I don’t like telling stories, it’s boring.” 

Rhododendron: “You’re boring!” 

Jun, sincerely: “Thank you.” 

Rhododendron: “Nine hundred pages, Jun?!” 

Jun: “It’s seven hundred if you don’t read - ” 

Rhododendron, sobbing: “YOU SAID NINE HUNDRED PAGES!”

After a few hours of working through the book and checking up on Inigo from a distance, Rhododendron finally takes pity on Verrix and rescues him from Marlee’s badgering. They return to the cart, and Jun hands Verrix his spellbook to put over his face. They annoy Rhododendron until she goes over to ask Inigo how he’s doing; he’s a little uncertain of things still. Inigo says he remembers some things about Nartai, the Cobalt Keep, and the skull tattoo (a mark of Umbra’s gang). He remembers a little more about trying to steal the crown, that two magic users stopped them before they even got past the gates. He isn’t able to recount much about the person he’d met with the skull tattoo back in Asaraoi, that the dude mostly spoke in riddles, mentioning a library. He also refuses to show Rhododendron his tattoo, saying that it is both invisible and in a ‘bad spot’, even though she is incredibly nosy and desperately wants to know where it is. He does tell her that his tattoo isn’t always invisible, that it reappears when Umbra’s near. Inigo also remembers his favorite food, which is basically just slightly fancy apple pie (but he claims that you can only get it in Breo Shar, where he remembers a part of childhood). They also speculate whether or not Umbra could be a lich, since they didn’t seem to age at all in Inigo’s memories.  

The two of them speculate a little about the future, which Inigo doesn’t have any plans for past Umbra, and Rhododendron is unsure of after rescuing Raz. Rhododendron also brings up the Queen missing, and that Jun was the one who predicted that - and Inigo nearly remembers Jun’s identity at the mention of that until Rhododendron talks over him in an attempt to derail the conversation. As the party heads out on the road again, Raz manages to get a message to Rhododendron via the Sending spell. 

Raz: “Uh…h-hey, Rhododendron. It’s, uh, me. Raz. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Uh, that was a bad joke, sorry…I just wanted to let you know…I’m alive?”

She tells Verrix about the message, and how…kind of pointless it was other than letting her know that they’re still alive. Rhododendron is annoyed with how little they gave her (“the bare bones of a conversation, like always”). When Jun finally wakes up (hours later), she tells him about the message she got from Raz, and he grills her for information before guessing that the spell Raz used was Sending, and that eventually he might be able to learn how to do the spell for her, and tells her how to respond to it. Jun expresses displeasure at the thought of someone else in his head, and they group moves on with their travels.

Verrix manages to navigate the party for a while, spotting some signs from the Masks carved into a nearby signpost, and is curious enough to divert the party off of the maid road to follow where they’re leading - the Mirtree House. Verrix takes Inigo with him to take a peak at the manor, before they both decide that it’s pretty creepy and return to get the rest of their party, pulling the cart up in front of the manor and waking everybody up, much to Marlee’s displeasure. Marlee volunteers herself to stay with the cart while the rest of the party investigates the manor. 

The party enters the manor after Jun casts Detect Magic (abjuration) and Rhododendron picks the lock (15 DEX). They sneak around the building, finding a few once-nice moth-eaten cloaks and a fancy dining room on the first floor, as well as several servants’ quarters and a kitchen. 

Verrix: “Oh, hey, they were probably rich people, so this is totally fine.”

Rhododendron: “You’re just figuring that out?” 

Rhododendron, later: “If you have this many servants you can’t be that nice of a person.” 

Jun: “No, they never are.” 

Rhododendron: “Like, you can acquire wealth without being an asshole.”

They dig further through the manor, with Verrix finding a decent sized safe that he’s unable to open alone, but manages to crack the combination with the help of Rhododendron’s sharp ears. They find some daggers and some deed paperwork to the manor. The paperwork has the surname Mirtree, the names on the paper being Fil’tran and Kirna - obviously elvish. They also manage to find a decent amount of money.

Rhododendron: “Just a fact of life: elves are old, rich assholes.” 

Jun, bitterly:  “Yeah.”

After examining their loot, the party makes their way to the master bedroom, where the door immediately shuts behind them. Outside of the window, the view of the sun is completely gone, with it being pitch black outside as though it was nighttime again. Jun casts Detect Magic again (burning a spell slot, much to his chagrin) to reveal that the magic around them is, of course, necrotic (as well as evocation and abjuration). On the headboard of the bed is carved: LOCK THE DOOR, BLOW OUT THE LIGHT, THE HUNGRY ONI HAUNTS THE NIGHT. There are more portrait of elves in the bedroom much like the rest of the house, and no stars in the sky outside.

Inigo tries to open the door but is unable to, and he says that he hears something scratching on the other side of the door - something with sharp nails. Rhododendron tries to peer under the door, also hearing the scratching sound as she approaches the door; it immediately stops when she looks under the door, her own gaze met by a bright yellow eye and a sharp grin. 

Rhododendron: “Is it childish of me that I’m like, ‘we should all get on the bed’?” 

Verrix: “The bed with the ominous carvings on it? The ominous message? …How bad do you think the consequences would be if I broke that window?”

As gas starts to pour out from under the door crack, the party scrambles away from the door, and the smoke solidifies into a humanoid figure with glowing yellow eyes. The oni. Inigo, as always (for some reason) introduces himself to the creature and asks for its name while Verrix and Rhododendron crack nervous jokes at it. The oni shifts its form to look like Rhododendron and begins mimicking her speech - the party engages it in combat (and Verrix does a LOT of damage to it, lots of nat20s this session for Verrix). During the battle, at the end of each round, (the one round it finishes lmao) the oni’s wounds begin to heal on their own - Verrix destroys it seconds later with another impressive blast of fire, but activates his own Wild Magic, which swaps his STR and CHA mods. Verrix ends up getting super buff for the rest of the day, popping open the buttons on his clothes audibly and growing an extra three inches. Verrix runs over and takes a flying kick at the door (nat20) and completely obliterates the door.

The party explores the rest of the manor, finding a few children's’ bedrooms and a guest bedroom, with nothing too interesting in them. Rhododendron digs through the master bedroom again and finds a safe hidden under the bed, finding a few magical items (candies and dentures) and some more money. After scouring the manor a little longer, the party reunites with Marlee back at the cart, who says they were gone for seven hours. Marlee also says that she heard screaming from inside the building, but none of the other members of the party screamed while they were inside. Inigo offers to teach Verrix how to use swords now that he’s strong, but Verrix declines, saying he still doesn’t think that he can take very many hits. 

After that detour, the party returns to the Long Road proper, reaching the edge of the forested area about a month’s travel away from the Great Crossroads. Jun tries to use his portent to help Verrix cheat at arm wrestling competitions with Inigo and Rhododendron while he’s still strong, but Inigo still somehow wins his (nat20).  …As soon as Verrix goes to sleep his muscles disappear. Verrix spends the next few days sulking in silent shame at losing his muscles, and even though Inigo offers to help him work out (and Rhododendron suggests jogging next to the horses) he still pouts.

They begin reaching the most populated portions of So’Joh the closer they get to Nartai and Rhododendron successfully manages to shave off some of their travel time. They also pick up a familiar (to Rhododendron) hitchhiker in Calliope, who has taken the form of a half-elf. The two of them catch up, with Rhododendron introducing her to the newer party members and filling Cali in on what happened to Raz. 

Rhododendron: “Have you ever heard of a man named Umbra?” 

Calliope: “Fire genasi? Then, yeah.” 

Rhododendron: “What do you know about him?” 

Calliope: “Oh, you know, dangerous and deadly. A lot of good stories.”

Rhododendron: “He’s the worst? The WORST?” 

Calliope: “…Depends on who you hear it from.” 

Rhododendron: “We’re going to go kill him.” 

Calliope, smiling: “I hope you make a good story out of it.”

When Rhododendron asks about a story, Cali offers up stories about Lady Ambrette and gates to the Underdark, a fallen paladin and the Crimson Death (a story Marlee had refused to talk about very much), and the Emperor’s spyglass. Rhododendron asks about the Night of Endless Rains and the version of the story with Zelia - and the mortal Arietta (wait, where have we heard that name before…), a famous performer. Arietta’s talent as a performer was so great that it caught the attention of two gods: Yulong and Zelia, who started wars over her affection. Cali also supplies that Yulong’s Fingers (the rivers) were formed where her hands last grasped for Arietta as her life slipped away after Zelia struck her down (with a snake/weapon/arrow). Cali also tells the story of the Emperor’s spyglass, of how the Emperor caught spies before they could act, nobles poisoned with their own tainted drinks, rebellions squashed before they could start.

Rhododendron: “Um, the fallen paladin? That one has something to with Sun Sickness, blah blah blah, Nyvarstra, the Crimson Death, um, what about Dilong?” 

Calliope, nervously: “W-what about Dilong?” 

Rhododendron: “Perhaps Dilong’s champion?”

Calliope talks about how Dilong’s champion had magical arrows that could kill or cure depending on who they were shot at, and how they also helped serve Dilong’s mother. She gets interested when Rhododendron mentions seeing tapestries of the champion, although Rhododendron refuses to go into detail. Rhododendron asks after the political affairs in Gosha, and Cali tells her that the Queen has been presumed dead and that a council has been appointed in her place for now. (Rhododendron: “That’s a problem for later.”) They’ve also declared the dragon as some sort of powerful illusion, as dragons are still extinct. Rhododendron and Verrix catch Cali up on a somewhat sensitized version of their adventures the past few months. Cali mentions meeting Raz a few times in Dynafell, since she always tries to visit the temples…since she ‘sort of’ works with people that are big followers of Nyvarstra. And with that, she departs, hopping off of the cart and travelling by herself again.

Marlee pouts after Cali leaves, disappointed by her lack of chemistry with Rhododendron and a little jealous of her storytelling ability (and ease of friendship with Rhododendron, even if that’s…not really true…). Rhododendron offers to tell Marlee the story of how she met Raz, and Marlee gets emotional about their meet-cute. She tries to emphasize to Marlee that they weren’t exactly a ‘perfect couple’, but it’s too late, Marlee has her rose-tinted glasses on, even though she knows that they broke up. Marlee promises to try to find someone else for Rhododendron, saying that she might even find her true love here in So’Joh…even though Marlee thinks that she’s still in love with Raz, since she’s kept an old moment from them. 

Marlee, in tears: “……You’re still in love with them, oh my gods. That’s why you’re going to rescue them. Verrix, we have to save Raz.” 

Verrix: “That’s…what we’re doing.” 

Marlee: “Good, I’m glad we’re on the same page. Wow, Verrix is also a romantic at heart - I don’t know if you know this, but Verrix writes romance novels”

Rhododendron finally tells Marlee that Verrix hasn’t been writing the baker/prince book, but it takes a minute to convince her of this. She tells Marlee that they lied because she didn’t think she’d made a very good impression on Marlee, and felt like Verrix had a better chance at swaying her to join them. Marlee forgives her on the condition that she doesn’t spoil the story - and proceeds to subject her to the same criticisms and comments that she’d given to Verrix.

The finally reach the Great Crossroads, where Marlee insists on finding Rhododendron ‘an outfit for romance’. Rhododendron checks in on Jun, who is extremely unhappy to be closer and closer to Nartai (and the Keep). As soon as he can he immediately goes to sleep to ‘see things’. Rhododendron and Inigo bring up the library in Nartai again, and the fact that Inigo remembered that it sort of had something to do with Umbra…

Marlee and Rhododendron get some supplies (including some much needed fresh vegetables) and clean themselves off of all of their road grime. Marlee also buys her warhammer here. Rhododendron searches around for a glass eye unsuccessfully, and gets some cloth to cover up her silver bow. Inigo buys more weapons, Verrix stocks up on spell components, and Jun swaps out a few of his books.