Mattiverse Next - Session 17

Séance

• Redhand has a low estimation of the Boys, and low expectations for the séance they have proposed, but he'll see it through regardless. He motions them into a backroom clearly designated for the purpose; curtained walls, dim candlelight, and a prominent spike in the center of a round table.
  • A wizened halfling baba with hands stained deepest black is already seated. Redhand seats himself opposite her.
  • He asks them to give some input on questions to ask for the baba to act on. They chime in, and he listens for a while before he and the baba seem satisfied. He shushes the group and nods to the elder halfling.
  • Bobwhite hands the head over. Redhand removes the coins from its eyes and unceremoniously plops it onto the spike. The baba chants a brief phrase and makes a gesture as she lights a candle. Immediately as the flame catches, the lizard head's eyes snap open and its jaw moves, as if testing itself.
  • The questions commence:

Severed head! Why did you send yourself to us?!
It says, "For a century our folk and yours obey the ancient customs. Our doom is the hearald of yours."

Severed head! Tell me of the doom of  your people.
It says, "Our ancient rivals align under a new banner of an ancient age. Against their combined might we cannot stand, our doom is already assured. "

Severed Head! Why have your turtle guardians failed you?
It says, "The Turtle of Decay has been slain. The guardians are three or they are none. AS with the Hydra, there is power in the blood and their essence"

Severed Head! Who are your allies in this city? Who needs this information -- that was one question, head, don't fuck with me!
It says, "Once I would have said I had a friend in the church, but no longer. Once I would have said I had a friend among the colleges of alchemy, but no longer. Once I would have said I had a friend. Perhaps the geese hidden among the men. I once had friends there, as well, but no longer."

Severed Head! How may this doom be averted?
It says, "All dooms are advents. I felt in life a changing on the magnetic currents, felt magic ebb and drain over time. Those ley lines quicken now with ancient vigor. The doom is for this age, it cannot be stopped - only prepared for.

• • At the last question, the candle flares, and then is snuffed. The head ceases moving.
  • There's a bit of conversation. Redhand seems unsettled by the news, but also seems to have re-estimated the Boys upward a notch in his consideration.
    • He surmises that the reference to geese is to the Azure Geese, a "semi-secret group of bored meddlers and dilettantes".
    • The news of the lizardfolk's demise is trouble for Wydmoor generally, but for the Southsiders particularly, given that they are the ones to have maintained a relationship with the Wydmoor Swamp Temple.
    • He says Wydmoor is more of a home to Halflings than pretty much anywhere else on the Mainland, and losing that to an outsider force would be a terrible blow with repercussions to more than just the halflings local to it. He is offended at the suggestion that he would or should abandon the city.
  • Conversation concludes. Redhand asks for the Boys' discretion, and they say they will keep mum. (Although Four later protests that he did not specifically agree to this) Redhand then dismisses them, saying that he will find them if he needs them, and if they need him, to talk to his agent outside.
  • On the way out, they ask about curse removal, since the old halfling lady clearly knows a thing or two about them. He says she might be able to do something about it, and speak to him again when they're ready to talk terms.

Connections and Curses

• They bullshit around the market for a bit, selling the fancy full plate and picking up some more red iron for their armory. They then decide on next steps.
• The day is the last of Summer's Fasting, which the faithful spend in games and in feasting. Banner and Beldon go off to join the party. Four and Bobwhite decide to pull a bit on the church.
• Banner and Beldon bump into Dwayne's ag-hicks again, and they party for a while. Banner develops a serious rapport, and at the end of the day, the group might even be considered fast friends.
• Bobwhite and Four stake out the cathedral, and nothing suspicious happens over the course of the day. As the last lights of Summer dim, the Hadriarch's second comes out to light the magical lights that bathe the cathedral in its nighttime glow. On a whim, Bobwhite approaches.
  • They converse for a bit, and introduce themselves. Her name is Bethenalay.
  • Bobwhite brings up Four's curse. Bethenalay suspects they may be adventurers, and Four picks up on a deep-seated disapproval beneath the surface there.
  • She mentions that its removal may be possible, and that they should come back when the cathedral is open during its normal hours.
  • They try to wheedle their way in with more urgency, but she is unmoved. No lines left to pursue, the pair leaves her to her duty and catches back up with the rest.
• They spend the night in relative comfort, and wake up rested.

Goals

(main article)

• WAND PIECE CHECK

• The group takes stock of what they need:
  • Access to the wand, which means access to the cathedral.
  • More people to join their cause of opposing whatever Gerom and his crew have been associating with, and to spread a revival of a Heroic Age Halfling Past more generally.
  • Removal of Banner and Four's curse.
• They decide to use the last of those as an excuse to poke more around the cathedral.
  • The magical clinic is tended by a very businesslike human (Ubrekti-trained). He is refreshingly direct about the 200gp (each) cost for their cure.
  • They pony up. Banner and Four get that taken care of while Beldon and Bobwhite play tourist.
    • They commit the public floorplan to memory. They also learn some details about the Hadriarch:
      • He evidently is rarely seen in public
      • He spends the majority of his time at an estate southwest of the city. The Boys learn enough about where that is to be able to find it later.
      • Bobwhite immediately suspects that he's been wand-piece-demon'd, despite a complete lack of any concrete evidence.

• Curses removed, Banner and Four feel a weight lifted. The Boys are resolved on what they must do next: Sneak into the private sections of the cathedral and find out what they're up against.