Session 8 - A Tale of Two Ports

27/04/5-10

The party burst into the warehouse, and the tiny fey creature darted into a pile of boxes. Milivoj delivered a killing blow to one of the nearby goblins immediately, while Sapphira climbed up the wall on the other side of the room. The tiny fey dashed at Cassinni stabbing him repeatedly, before running away. Most interestingly, as soon as Shiek walked into the room, the displacer beast became timid, almost docile, stepping away from him and effectively leaving the fight. During the fight, the woman who had been interrogating Blazh was revealed to be a green Hag. After a while the fight ended, with the displacer beast running away towards the Oniroden camp, the Hag and the fey creature captured and the rest of the goblins routed or dead.

After defeating the enemies, Valeyo approached Blazh and Simona. Milivoj was surprised to see her alive and her sword was nearby. Inspecting the sword, it didn't seem to be anything special, not her knightly sword. Cassini healed Blazh and he came to. Looking up at group, one of his eyes was swollen shut. He said that the Oniroden told them they could crash here, when they were suddenly attacked by the hag , the quickling and the goblins. When asked about where his goods are, he said that his wagon is hidden way safely.

Apparently, some Oniroden warriors with them before they got attacked, but they were nowhere to be seen. The party revealed to Blazh that they knew what he was doing, but he seemed offended, when he was touted as a member of the Downfall of the Crown. He said he is part of the Independent Cities' Movement. He claims that an engineer of theirs had found a way that the material can be charged with magic. If put in a fragile casing, they planned to blow-up the train, never planning to hurt any people. When Valeyo confronted him about potential casualties, workers still on the train, or those nearby the tiefling said he was prepared to give his life away. Valeyo retorted asking if he was ready to take those of others, to which Blazh said he was.

Shiek pointed out how he had been attacked twice by goblins now and Blazh suggested there might be a mole in their organization. He claimed they don't care about the king, but this railway would move thousands into poverty, while also disrupting the holy lands of the northern folk. Blazh said he is from Stendolin, and the railway would take all trade from Otusta an Stendolin and move it to Dragomir. Soon after, Valeyo decided to bring Simona Valova around as well, but before they could question her, the suggestion was made to move somewhere safer, so the party headed to the Yuzhen Enclave.

With some luck, they successfully transported their prisoners without being spotted by the increased guard presence, which now included some Boyar. As the party was entering the building, Sapphira heard a weird clicking sound coming from the hag. Soon after they were all in one of the bedrooms of the Yuzhen guesthouse. On the way in Milivoj had asked after Ysomir, but was told that he wasn't present, being on a visit to the lord's manor.

When the hag awoke she was asked why she was looking for Blazh. The hag, whose name was revealed to be Sooka, she said she wanted the info on the engineer, who knows how to use the rocks, not Blazh himself. The goblins were ones she had hired. The tiny one is also Unseelie and she claims he worked under her. When confronted with Rosa's name, she tried to feign ignorance, but was seen through. Valeyo asked if she was also protected from death, like Rosa had been, but the hag denied it, claiming that if they were to kill her it would be over for her. As such, she attempted to barter for her life, offering a trinket in exchange. Before Valeyo could trick her into revealing the location of this trinket, Milivoj killed her.

The question turned once more onto Blazh. He confirmed that from the Timorans' perspective, he had stolen the material. His organization had found the engineer who had been working on using the material to make a telescope like device. They encouraged him to try other applications and he started helping them. He is still an engineer and a scientist first and foremost, not fully aware of their doings. Blazh said that they intended to blow up the train when they were restocking. He proceeded to passionately argue against the trainline, saying that the king was selfishly looking to enrich himself after feeling threatened by Otusta, whose size rivaled Dragomir's.

Attention then turned to Simona. The story of how she survived went years back. The peace talks she was sent to attend with the hill and fire giants were a lie. The king had already come to an agreement with them, before sending her out there. The price of peace was Simona's life - the king she had sworn to protect had sold her out. A few years earlier, she had been sent to quell an insurrection by Damnar Inferocaller, whom she had killed. The fire giant's then leader - Brandor Blazeblood, was Damnar' son and wanted revenge. She had been serving the king for 15 years, before he sent her into Brandor's clutches to die. In his overconfidence, he had smashed her with his mace, sending her flying over a quarter of a mile away, confident the fall would kill her, but by some chance - she survived. From then one, she despised the crown, the king, saying she would gladly take the opportunity to kill him.

Suddenly, the small fey came around. He too was questioned and revealed that he and Sooka, worked for the Queen of the Unseelie and begged us not to kill him. In exchange he offered information, pointing out that Sooka should have had a small box with and embossed golden "S" on it. After opening it, Sapphira found 5 metal discs, about 5 inches in diameter and and half an inch thick. In Sooka's bag was also a rose with red petals, which appeared to be covered in a harmless flame. He too was killed afterwards.

The party was left to determine what to do with their two prisoners. Milivoj was convinced that they deserved to be executed, for their crimes. He gave no credence to Simona's claims and abhorred her treasonous behaviour. Valeyo suggested waiting until tomorrow instead, when he would be able to use a spell to extract more information from them. Suddenly Blazh started shouting, sayin they had done nothing wrong and began arguing for his cause, with Milivoj. Valeyo walked downstairs, under pretense of getting a drink and used a spell to communicate with Blazh, suggesting he stopped mouthing off, if he wanted any chance of staying alive. After Valeyo returned to the room with a beer for Otto, the party decided to wait until tomorrow to hand the two over to the guards.