Last time, the players met with Jarvia, the silver dragon, and discussed steps forward for closing the rift to the gods' realm. Before meeting with her, they hung out at a tavern and spoke with the tavernkeeper about dragons, then noticed a burned symbol above their doors at the inn where they were staying. Brokk determined that the symbol was related to a joy and pleasure derived from playing games, and Aurora felt magically blocked from understanding it further. The following morning, they went and spoke with Jarvia, who gave more information about dragons, described her past, and implored the group to reseal the rift so that she and others could have a say in decision-making rather than have their choices dictated by magical energy. With Jarvia, they decided to go speak to Wing, the bronze dragon, in Vestry and teleported there. They obtained some books, many of which were meant to help them understand who and what Ollie (the mysterious stranger they met in Talon Gorge) was, then went to an inventor's guildhall to try to find Wing. There, their questions about someone named Wing and bronze tools made a red-haired gnomish woman deeply uncomfortable, and they suspected she was Wing. They left an address--Lethanin's parents' house--for the woman in case she found more information.
This time, the party began by discussing the likelihood that the woman, who identified herself as Glint, was actually Wing, deciding that it was highly likely that she was in fact the bronze dragon. Setting to work, they prepared for a meeting with her and shopped for things to make their meeting more friendly and comfortable. They headed to a large marketplace and obtained carrot cake from a baker as well as a fine tea set and a collection of teas. While speaking to the baker, Lethanin was extremely stressed about the situation and muttered something about being beset by dragons who wanted to kill him, and the baker remarked that he must be crazy. Aurora was the one who attended to the tea set, and Lethanin grew frustrated, knowing that his parents would greatly enjoy the tea set, nervous about having to deal with them.
Their supplies purchased, they set out for Lethanin's parents' house. On the way, they were surrounded by a group of bards playing gnomish folk music. Lethanin decided to match their playing and elevate it, basically challenging them to play at his level. One by one, the musicians dropped off, unable to match his skill, until Lethanin was left playing with a half-elven tuba player. They continued to challenge each other and themselves, and the tuba player, a man with a large and bushy handlebar mustache, let loose a barrage of music that left even Lethanin in the dust. Suspicious of a musician more talented than himself, Lethanin eyed the tuba player closely and ascertained that he was in fact Ollie in disguise. Aurora magically silenced the tuba, leading the tuba player, who introduced himself as Oliver, to complain that doing so wasn't fair. Aurora asked Oliver about the symbol they'd seen back at the inn, and Ollie said it was a thieves' guild symbol that meant the location should not be stolen from since it was allied with the guild. As the group continued to interact with Ollie, Aurora noticed that she tended to place a hand jauntily on her hip when telling a lie (or at least, what Aurora identified as a lie) but did not do so when saying things that they could confirm were true. Aurora tested this tell a few times by asking basic questions she knew the answer to, which seemed to confirm her suspicions. Eventually, Ollie left with the other bards to play more music elsewhere, and the group set out for Lethanin's parents' house, hypothesizing on the way that Ollie is both bound by rules and otherworldly, including in musical skill.
Arriving at Lethanin's parents' house, the group met Dodira, Lethanin's mother, who said that his father was away at his workshop and she was just tending to chores. Dodira was delighted to meet everyone and asked what brought them to town. Aurora lied that they had come to obtain bronze alchemical implements because she was an alchemist; Dodira immediately grew suspicious because bronze tools for alchemy would throw off chemical reactions. Aurora pitched a complicated lie about coating the tools in chromium, which would preserve the bronzework but allow for purer reactions, and Dodira acknowledged that she was a metallurgist and was skeptical about whether that was practical or even possible. Aurora said that the process was highly experimental and secret, but would be willing to share details once the project was available to the public, and Dodira voiced high interest in learning more about Aurora's plans and methods. The group excused themselves, asking for a private space to speak with a vendor about the bronze tools; Dodira allowed them use of her study for the meeting. The group went to the study, Lethanin noting how strange it was to be allowed there as he hadn't been as a child, and waited for Glint. Glint arrived, and Dodira was more suspicious when Glint unconvincingly lied about being the vendor Aurora mentioned, already acquainted with Glint and finding it odd that so talented an inventor would make something so improbable.
Aurora led Glint to the study and cast a spell that not only muffled their conversation but also created sounds that appeared to be a conversation about bronze tools. Glint immediately leveled with the group--she admitted to being Wing, the bronze dragon, and asked who told them about her and why they were visiting. The group mentioned a few details--the rift, the gods, the other dragons--but Wing was in the dark about practically everything. She described herself as a practical person who had little interest in arcane secrets and politics. The group caught her up, sharing their meetings with Thomas, Aurix, and Jarvia. Wing was confused, asking if they meant Jarvis, the silver dragon called Nasimar. The group said they'd certainly met with a woman named Jarvia. Wing shrugged, saying, "Good for her," and muttered something to herself about supporting her as though arguing with herself. Wing said that to her, repairing the rift was the most important thing and was shocked to hear that Aurix, who she said was a close friend, would consider anything else. She said that she could try to convince Aurix to help repair the veil, but wasn't sure he would agree given his extreme idealism. Again, she spoke to herself as though arguing, saying, "We can trust them, Abe." The group continued to discuss options and strategies, with the group looking for good next steps and more information, and Wing growing increasingly twitchy and uncomfortable. After a while, she tentatively asked the group to use the chaos of the situation to try to kill Thomas--she said that stability and peace was the most vital thing, but if the situation was already chaotic, taking advantage of that by killing the de facto leader of the chromatic dragons would be a strong move. The party agreed with very little hesitation, and Wing spoke to herself again, saying, "We'll get him, Mary." This caused the group to ask Wing why she kept speaking to herself.
Wing grew desperately nervous and insisted she wasn't crazy. The group pressed her, asking who she was talking to. Wing broke down and told them that as a dragon, she could not have a romantic partner without risking massive loss when she outlived them. But she couldn't keep herself from adopting a child. Her first child died in the war against the Daltoners hundreds of years ago; after a long time of grieving, she adopted another. This child died in a cave-in in her mines, and she again grieved and eventually adopted another, who would later die treating a plague. After hundreds of years, she allowed herself to adopt again, and her daughter, Mary, was murdered by Thomas as a way to hurt her for opposing him. Wing explained that she'd personally fought Thomas for a thousand years and couldn't get close to him, but the party could potentially get to him. The party was largely sympathetic; Brokk felt for Wing and promised her they would kill Thomas if they could, Aurora stressed that her relationship with her own adopted mother made her understand the pain Wing described, and Lethanin was more reserved. In the end, the party asked more about learning the stakes of the situation and how to get closed to Thomas, and Wing suggested speaking to Vuthiejir, the black dragon, who she said was somewhat reasonable. The party had heard a similar thing from Aurix and Jarvia, and they resolved to visit Vuthiejir next. Wing admitted to having created a blueprint for a telescope for Vuthiejir was a way to buying her safety when Vuthiejir found Wing wounded after a battle with Thomas. The group resolved to find Vuthiejir in Mishara.
Wing magically created a set of bronze alchemical tools to continue the group's cover story. Lethanin asked Wing about Ollie--Wing said she was no expert in the gods, but Brokk suggested that Ollie was Olidammara. Wing reiterated that Vuthiejir may be able to help with this as an expert on the gods. Wing excused herself, saying she'd take care of some necessary business and then depart for Torga to speak with Aurix, and she hurried from the house without saying goodbye, which raised Dodira's suspicions further. The group said their goodbyes to Dodira and hurried to an alleyway across town in a quiet area for privacy. They used their magical message tool to speak to Jarvia, who was pleased that Wing was on board and hoped that she could talk sense to Aurix. Jarvia wished the group luck with their journey to Mishara and offered help in any way she could. Brokk recognized that being a demonic orc created to kill elves would be a complicated situation in Mishara, wondering about how best to disguise himself. Aurora suggested challenging Ollie to a contest to see who could disguise Brokk the best, but Jarvia cast a spell through the message portal that transformed Brokk into a very average elf. Aurora then used her magic to teleport the group to Mishara as close to the black dragon's lair as possible. They appeared on a disused dock on the far, mostly uninhabited, swampy side of the island, where Brokk and Lethanin spotted an astronomer's tower far in the distance.
And that's where we wrapped up for this session. It was a great session all around. We managed to continue to reveal the mystery with Ollie, and by the end of the session, the party has completely realized that she is Olidammara, the goddess of rogues, which I also extend to things like games, luck, contests of skill, curiosity, and musicianship--this is why Ollie has been so eager to play games, why she's not entirely trying to hide her identity, and why she's not exactly opposing the party on any front (yet, at least). We got some good old-fashioned goofing around in markets and some lower-stress moments to just relax, which are incredibly important in the high-stress scenarios in a lot of campaigns. We got to deepen the characterization of Lethanin with a visit to his mother's--I must say, Lethanin's player role-played the heck out of being frustrated by his very attentive mother. We got to meet Wing, who is near and dear to my heart, and give the group a bit more of the support they need to get started. (It's worth noting, they are just happening to visit the dragons in an order that has benefited the story so far--I have not altered what the dragons would want to suit the pacing or narrative. They've just visited dragons in an order that really makes for some fun storytelling.) The suspicion with Dodira has opened up a fun angle where I can have her pestering the party for more information given that her hackles are up. And they're moved on to Vuthiejir, which promises to be a highly exciting meeting.
I want to acknowledge an upcoming change, or at least, shift of focus. We're four (really three and a half, but let's say four) sessions in. At this point, the group has met four of the ten dragons and one god (that they know of). They have a sense of the stakes and their strategy. They're moving forward. The prologue is effectively over. The game proper has started. Now, traditionally, I don't like to frontload exposition and postpone core game elements, but there was just so much to establish here, and the players were down for it, that I took the liberty of backseating my player characters a bit. But now, as we transition from telling them what kind of story this is and into character moments like Lethanin's parents' house and Aurora's connection to adoption and Brokk's identity as an elf-killer, it's time to change things up a little. The group has been dropped nearly twenty miles from the observatory, where they presume Vuthiejir will be found. That's not an instant's travel. They'll need to traverse the swamp for a distance to get there. Even if Aurora hits them all with a flying spell, I can give them plenty in the way of distractions, obstacles, and delays. And in that time, I have plans.
Brokk's player recently sent me a message about looking forward to seeing Brokk's connection with death as a character. I hadn't done anything with that yet, and to be honest, I didn't know that was a goal of his. But now that I do, I can have moments waiting for him in the swamp. All it takes is a lost dead body or a decaying animal corpse or both to give him a good character moment that he can guide himself. And Aurora's player told me that she looks forward to discovering when her backstory kicks in more fully, when more things with the Fey might come up. It's a long way to the observatory--there's room for that too. And Lethanin's mother has presented a fun angle for play: should Dodira start sending Lethanin messages pestering him ever more persistently about what he was up to in Vestry, what will Lethanin do? What might it mean for the party if Dodira takes her suspicions elsewhere? There's a lot to figure out before the group reaches that observatory.
That's all for now. Next time, the players will try to make contact with Vuthiejir and make some more sense of what's happening all around them, and who knows what else? Until next time, happy gaming!
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