Session 26: Go Forth to Level Four!
The party gets out of their audience with the lords at around 2:30.Clarence abstains from overindulging, while Rutana and the Sprite drink Sartorii under the table.
Amongst the crowds is chatter laughing about how the church brought out the wrong box and had to go in for another, but otherwise no one noticed anything.
The party is spared hangovers, but Sartorii does not remember the last five hours of the day. The Sprite rode her shoulders and steered her safely home.
Morning rises, Clarence and the Sprite the first to wake. Clarence grabs the mail, two letters and a parcel.
The parcel has the royal seal.
The first letter has a little pink wax seal with a large S.
The second letter has no seal at all.
(The tower gets named for the first time. Woodwatch Tower. The letters are addressed to the Stewards of Woodwatch.)
The parcel contains the real medals! They were cast and engraved just last night.
Also contained within is a letter of apology for the first set being destroyed, gratitude for yesterday's heroics, and an official declaration stating the investigation is to be handled by the party.
Questions of religious nature are to be brought to Arabella, and questions of a lawful nature are to be brought to Astrafel.
The S-marked letter is written in pink ink.
In a week's time, on the 10th, Anskadel wants the party to come to her potion shop. She has a proposition for the party.
The second letter contains plain paper with black ink.
It's a brief letter that congratulates the party on their perceptiveness, and a warning not to do that again if the party knows what's good for them.
It is signed with an upside-down pentagram.
Sometime today or tomorrow, Besh may show up at Woodwatch to collect on protection money.
That aside, time to hunt down a cult!
The first step of the investigation is visiting the church to check out the remains of the exploded box.
Being the day after a bank holiday, the church is absolutely packed.
The party leaves the judicial section and heads into the less-bustling church section. A couple less isekai'd folk remain, still being tended to by Sibyl. Once greeted, Sibyl directs the party back to the clergy offices, leading them to the large oak doors bearing the sigil of Abadar. Here they part, Sibyl returning to her duties and the party entering Arabella's office. It's a bit more cluttered now, but with space on the wall for a painting of Arabella in her early 20s, standing next to a very large and imposing armored man, clean-shaven with a long pony-tail. A smirking, messy-haired bard in posh clothes and a lyre stands beside them, a male ranger about Arabella's age with long, golden-blonde hair, and what appears to be a goblin of sorts holding up a bottle of glowing green liquid rounds out the group.
Sartorii recognizes the armored man as Astrafel, sans facial hair and pink mustache.
Rutana notices that the ranger's hair and eyes are the same as Glory's, the champion of Arastel. from Greenwall.
Arabella welcomes the party in. She slots a ruler into the book she was reading by way of bookmark and offers the party chairs.
"I hope you enjoyed yourselves yesterday, and I am sorry it had to get so...extreme. So. Any ideas? I know that you were put in charge of this quite suddenly, but to be fair, you were quite convenient."
The party shows her the threatening letter they got.
She crinkles her nose at it in disgust.
"The thing I am noticing about this, is how simple it is. The cult is known for how ostentatious it is. Asmodeus is not known for being a simple man. But this...this is almost something I would send out, a legal statement."
The letter is plain enough that Arabella can't really glean anything else from it, but she offers whatever other aid she can give. The party states they would like to inspect the remains of the box.
She takes one last look at the painting, straightens it, then leads the party downstairs.
"Given the size of our city, we receive requests that may not be feasible for small chapters of our order. We have plenty of resources to put into talents that are asked of us, like cursebreaking. While we do favor the divine, a certain amount of the clergy have experience in the arcane and we work dutifully with the Arcanum to keep our people safe."
She leads the party past some labs. In one is a man pushing a quarterstaff through a bracelet loop. The bracelet snaps down to the size of an eyelet, snapping the staff in half. Further they go, to a locked, barred door. Beyond is a row of five iron doors. She opens the first on the left, revealing a slapdash pulley system on the ceiling, a half-burned coil of rope, and a blast mark on the floor.
Arabella leaves the party to it, instructing an attendant to wait by the cell door to lead the party out when they're done.
There are a few unburned pieces of wood left, implying the explosion was more kinetic force than fire.
The hinges and latch are mostly untouched, cooled by now. The medals are slag on the ground.
Perception checks ahoy!
Clarence examines the wood, and notices it is plywood with a veneer to make it appear as mahogany. Whoever did this swapped the boxes.
Rutana notices an almost imperceptibly small maker's mark on the inside of the latch; a little crown with a W inside of it. Clarence and Sartorii make the connection to the King in White. Sartorii thinks further information could be gleaned about the King in White from either information brokers at the docks, from the Arcanum, from the castle, or from Besh.
The Sprite notices a strand of black hair caught inside of a hinge that had gotten blasted into the corner of the room, avoiding getting burnt. He carefully extracts the piece of hair and bundles it into a handkerchief.
(The party knows three things about the King in White; he was involved in the making of this box; he has a quest for the party, which he paid them handsomely to entertain; and he hates the gods as evidenced by the title he introduced himself as.)
The party decides to move as one during their investigation, and head to the Arcanum first.
The receptionist, Cedric, just so happens to have wings, similar in shape and color to Sartorii's, and turns his head to appraise the party, much in the same was as Sartorii turns her head to appraise him. Bird to bird communication. He flutters out to greet the party and holds his hand out. The Sprite flutters up and returns the book he checked out to Cedric. Cedric tosses the book up into the air, where it's snatched by an imp and carried off to its shelf.
He then returns to his chair, which has notches cut out of the back for his wings.
Sartorii steps forward to ask for any information about the King in White. She asks quietly, as it's a library, but not fully whispering.
Cedric's eyes contract a bit. "...Why do you want to know?"
"...Come with me," he says at length. He starts to put out an out-to-lunch sign, but thinks better of it and whistles sharply. His assistant, the earlier receptionist, rushes out. "Fendril, take care of the desk while I am gone."
Cedric leads the party off to a side room. He ushers the party in, and bends down to enter himself. Seven-foot tall bird. He sits in a very large-backed chair, wings splayed to fit, and waves the sconces and fireplace to life.
"I would not mention the King in White in this company."
In mixed company, or in public?
"In any company where people strong in magic are known to gather... Arcanums. Universities."
Would you explain why? We know of him, but no strong details. We have reasons for wanting to know.
Cedric slowly inhales and exhales. "The King in White was once a student here, a long time ago, when he was but a child. He has a fierce, fierce craving for knowledge, if nothing has changed about him in the intervening years. Working with him can often be...dangerous."
He pauses, then nods. "He is human. I knew him, before I was master of the library. He was 15, perhaps 16, and he was researching forbidden magics. I tried to stop him, took the book from him, and he became incensed." He holds up his left hand to show his missing pinky. "He took my finger and the book, and he fled that night, stating he had outgrown us. The King in White... I do not think he is a monster, but I would take great care in dealing with him. He only values himself. Other people, he values only what they are worth to him."
What is his actual name?
"I do not know. He joined at 13, 14, and he joined under that sobriquet. Perhaps he knew when he was young what type of person he is. I thought I knew him once..." He rubs his left hand.
For legal reasons did he go crazy.
"Why do you want to know?"
Sprite explains king offered a job.
"I will tell you this. I know you. I have seen you in the papers. You are a mercenary group, you do good deeds. You would not be in danger with him. It would not be in his best interest to hurt you. You are strong, beloved. People would notice. It would not be too dangerous just to talk to him. Just...be cautious. In my line of work, I am no stranger to those who chase power. We are trained to spot that in our students, for every lich was once an acolyte."
Sartorii asks about the book.
"That book, that dark thing... It was a holy book of Urgathoa."
Rutana recognizes the name Urgathoa. She is a deity, the goddess of disease, gluttony, and undeath. Her symbol is a fly with its midsection replaced by a skull. She is depicted as a beautiful woman, rotting in a gradient from head to toe until by her sternum she is naught but bones. Her followers engage in excess above all else.
The Sprite asks if Cedric knows of any other connections this man might have, having seen his crest on a latch somewhere.
Cedric waxes on about how it is wise for a wizard to learn crafting skills. In the span of a decade, the King in White could have learned anything, crafted anything.
So the King in White is determined to a fault, but he considers the party an asset as he sent for them, so approaching him would not be immediately dangerous.
"I will ask one thing of you. Do not mention the King in White to Archmage Nemmerle. It is a wound in his heart that has not yet healed."
Our lips are sealed.
Cedric nods, then stands and snuffs out all the lights. He opens the door and waves the party out.
Sartorii thanks him for his time, she knows it was a sudden question.
"Honestly I am glad you asked. I will not even charge you for my time, to encourage you to be safe, to come to us with questions of a magical nature."
The party then levels up to 4!