Second Run

Managaratha vanishes and Vidan reappears.

Note: we have a few weeks of travel money until we work or pirate or something.

Vidan's briefing:

I'm not sure "where" I was, if anywhere, but I did start to recover some of the memories of the conference we've lost. Apparently, I was involved in a giant Ritual near the end there. The purpose of the ritual was to later restore the memories we would all lose after the spell to remove them. I'm not sure why or whose spell, but that seemed to be a plan. Sadly, things did not go so smoothly. I've a bunch of memories of people I clearly met at the first dinner, but don't remember now. Does anyone know a Luigi? Perhaps from the Orange delegation?

I remember he told me that the Cult had secret and unusual ways of tracking what actions the Breaker was taking. He was saying he might share them with me if the conference went well, but given the circumstances we might wish to pay the Cult a visit and ask about them. I also remember someone called Flint looking up from a dead redcap. He says that if something happens to him, people should tell the queen that Futeau is the traitor. There were a couple of other things, but it's hard to piece it together. Flint's a dwarf.

[Still Gazelle 18] Nesh is hungry, so we get dinner. Perhaps "intel on what the Breaker is doing" should be next - Stella has contacts in the Cult of Alan. Boat in the direction of Orange. We can stop by Middlesea along the way.

A bureaucrat appears and looks around. They want to talk about the invading orcs. Orcs are invading? Yes, yes they are, in the northern parts of Purple. Since the start of the conference, in fact. Is there something that happened at the conference?

Vidan promises to have a report by tomorrow morning, and writes up a very dry recap. (6 successes). The guy appears again in the morning. He skims the report and says he notes the report doesn't say where Vidan was while they couldn't teleport to him (that is, while he was vanished). Maybe at the conference - but he's not sure.

[Gazelle 20] There are noticeably more people in Middlesea's harbor than there were a few days ago. Curious. Vidan thinks about teleport wards, because this could become unfortunate. He realizes that they probably don’t have “teleport to Vidan” as a spell, and Bureaucrats don’t like wild magic, so maybe they have his true name written down? Teleport to the person this form is for? That would be harder but not impossible.

We decide to head back to Middlesea. We get close to the clearing and there are a few people in uniform saying Halt who goes there. Gale recognizes them as Darstan uniforms. Gale says she’s here investigating on behalf of the Pirate Queen.

Hey, there's an army unit of Darstan here! They’re kind of spread out in an odd way, maybe because we can’t see the same clearing they do.

“I understand you work for the Pirate Queen?” “Yes.” “And when did you last speak with her?” “5 days ago.”

“Who are you? For my report.”-- Vidan

Lord Denis, Bordan (priest of Rush), and Hiraz. In service to Duchess Zerbina trying to figure out what happened to her husband Baron Volstak.

When her husband vanished the night of the conference, Her Grace dispatched them.

Vidan explains. Stella ends the conversation saying let’s stay in touch, more or less.

Hiraz follows us as we leave. Hiraz is a Red mage, as it turns out. Diomarch stays behind to give a more complete report. to Bordan. Bordan says he’s in the service of the Baron/Duchess, rather than working for the Church directly.

(Bordan says that there's a Broken miracle and a Time miracle which are different miracles. He doesn't know who the Fourists are.)

An elf - Lutenania - wanders up and wants to know what we're up to and what happened to Scout's eyes and so on. (He knows Hiraz). Their Majesty of the Plains sent him to see what happened to the delegation.

That's not a blue spell, that's a blue extra effort, so whoever cast it is in the middle of a berserker rage, probably. (Dice plus skill >100, epic something!)

People see:
Vidan + Detective: the most crucial Clew. 6. No one else has noticed the Slith tracks yet, sneaking into the keep.
Diomarch 4 looking for Sergeant Susie - badly injured, fighting an orc who is uninjured, several paladins around her.
Gale: 3 looking for the Queen. On the ground covered in blood.
Scout: 6 looking for the King's delegation. Not all in the same place. There's a dead redcap, a running redcap fleeing a dwarf. Westly (fox pooka) is in the Yellow zone somewhere but is hard to see. Vrok (troll) and Astros (high elf) are together - Vrok is guarding Astros while Astros does some sort of green counterspell.
Nesh (6) sees a couple of dead cataurs in a room with several dead saurians, and a couple more cataurs running through the keep.
Stella looks for Luigi - he is barricaded in a room with a wall blocking it, some other non-named Orange delegates are also there.

Scout offers non-privileged information for non-privileged, with Lutenania. He says he’ll think about what might be considered non-privileged and will talk later.

We need a Tarn evidence packet. Vidan will make copies overnight. It includes most of what we know but not, for example, "Nesh is the kid the cataurs want to kill" or "tell the Queen X is the traitor". Also it doesn't say it was the Oasis because we forgot to tell Vidan.

Before dinner, Scout checks for nearby spirits. Where the cliffs meet the sea seems like a place that could/would have them but doesn't. Hmm. Maybe they’re in the big mess? Unclear. Lutenania is a shaman; he doesn't have a spirit with him but he has shaman miracles on him.

There’s some kind of Life connection that Hiraz is strengthening periodically, from inside the keep to off to the northeast (Darstan lands, plausibly). Also there’s a Yellow scry point wandering around looking at interesting things.

At dinner: Lutenania says there is a Green amnesia mist spreading/covering inside. Some green forgetting effect, anyway. (We recall Managaratha saying we were under a green effect that was fading when we first woke up.). We tell him that it's all one battlefield, and all the area effects are hitting everything (like the mist).

Most of what Lord Denis has gotten came from Bordan & Rush, so he knows about the invisible battle. More than ten sides. Red sent 5 delegations - one from each major kingdom one from paladins of Rush.

A half-elven woman (Linda) comes up. Have we any news on her husband, Gyvail? Vidan says he was with Caitlyn and Westrack, and was holding. Linda rolls poorly and doesn't recognize the names. When the orcs attacked, the delegations were working together. Linda says Gyvail is a priest of Orellian.

There are some watches overnight, though we are staying in a smallish house (local renting out space).

(Information from investigations is being cross-posted to the Muddle in Middlesea page.)

Combat

Scout's spirit pokes him and says "Do something about the goblin" as the goblin tries to bonk him in the head.

Vidan DIs everyone into waking up, and thinks there is someone outside.

Diomarch charges outside, trampling the goblin and causing it to lose actions, but the unseelie outside has DI defenses.

Nesh, Gale, and Scout all stabble the goblin.

Vidan heals Scout, while Stella and Diomarch pursue the unseelie. They lose him, and come back.

"Where are you, stupid backup!" - the Goblin

He runs, pursued by everyone and the occasional ineffective lightning fzz.

Vidan bursts of speed, catching up to be in front of him. "SUBMIT." A curse - we will always know where he is and vice versa.

After much chasing, and just as he gets to the tree he was going to, Gale takes him down with a wild through-toughness lightning fizz. (Goblin Scoreboard: Gale: 1, Everyone Else: 0)

Stella stabilizes him, and Scout grabs the blackjack.

His tracks start at this tree and go into town and come back. The other set of tracks goes into town and has not come back yet. There's a green spell on the tree.

Nesh spots the unseelie - a coordinated attack (Gale helps with the coordination; Scout and Diomarch provide the damage) takes him out, and he explodes. Both Gale and Nesh are pretty hurt, but Stella drops a party heal.

We could go somewhere if we press this knoll. We could throw the Vidan-cursed dead guy at the trigger. Scout strips him and throws him. It's more trees than the Plains but fewer than the Forest. Maybe on the border between them.

[Next run starts the morning of the 21st]

Loot

5 EPs/5 SPs BlackJack: +10 damage non-lethal A ring of holding 3 DI for spirit/demonic DI, could be re-tuned.

Epilogue

Vidan says he can create a Name the Party ritual using Purple, which would be helpful for use in targeting. (All the documentation says "the Band". Gale suggests "The Wayward Delegates") He'd have to arrange to do it in the interstitial moments when everyone is present.