Summary
Seeking refuge at the Starlight Inn after their arena triumph, the party encountered the silent Genasi (Water) Aven Tide, whose stolen voice led Cal into a hag-tainted memory revealing a mysterious crooked staff artifact. This encounter proved pivotal when the group met Bruce, a red-cloaked leader of the The Hoods, who revealed that the “innkeeper’s” memory was actually a mental intrusion by “the hag”: Maryln. The session bridged deep lore and personal stakes, as the party discovered a journal detailing Lord Grindledark’s horrific attempts to resurrect his son (Bruce’s grandson) using “spiritcraft” and stitched body parts. Amidst these revelations, the party navigated a tense shopping trip where Theratina’s kleptomania strained her relationship with Cal, and Roz discovered his shield, Jimmothy, is sentient while he himself suffers “notches” of exhaustion from a cursed red diamond. A visit to the Blooming Remedy provided powerful magical boons through mystical petals and identified three mysterious vials, including one linked to the dread Lord Vecna. Ultimately, Bruce offered the party a high-stakes contract: 1,000 gold pieces each to assassinate Maryln and secure her staff artifact for the pocket-portal book. The session concluded with the party weighing this dangerous alliance against the The Hoods as they prepare to hunt a shapeshifting enemy who can blink through reality.
Events
After the Arena Fight
After the battle in the arena, the group first looks for somewhere safe to sleep after 3 days of travel and the battle in the arena.
The party ends up coming across two tavern options:
- Starlight Inn: A small, quieter, more off the beaten path
- Brawler’s Den: A large three-story tavern
The party chooses the quieter Starlight Inn to give them more privacy to discuss their next steps. Considering Theratina was accused of killing the 8 Silent Fist members earlier in our journey, and having killed the behir in the arena, we may have a lot of attention at the moment.
When we arrive at the Starlight Inn, no one is inside but there is still food sitting out on the tables. This immediately makes the place feel off but the party decides to enter regardless.
Starlight Inn
When the party tries to greet the innkeep, she does not speak but rather choses to write to communicate. She explains the rates for food and stay to the party, and eventually her name: Aven Tide
Rooms: 6 silver each
Dinner for everyone: 1 gold total for 2 drinks and 1 meal each
When asked why she does not speak, the party learns that her voice was stolen after gambling with a hag in Blackenmill.
That detail turns out to matter much more than it first seems, because later in the session the party is offered a contract to hunt this very hag by a member of The Hoods Faction (Bruce).
Cal uses Detect Thoughts on Aven Tide
Cal asks the barkeep if she would allow for them to exchange information through the use of Detect Thoughts so she can learn how she lost her voice. When Cal reads deeper into Aven Tide’s memory, she takes on the viewpoint of Aven and sees:
She is in Brackenmill on the edge of a high ridge where at the bottom lies a rapid raging river. She finds herself walking down a dark alley down dark steps descending into a dark room, where she sees a nasty-looking silver-haired hag. Then a bargain occurs between Aven and the hag (who we later find out from Bruce is Maryln)
Someone important in Aven Tide’s life was sick. If she found true love in 10 days in Caer Thalor, that person would be cured. If she failed, the person would still be cured but the thing used to express love (her voice) would be taken instead. Unfortunately, over the 10 days her attempts to find love are repeatedly rejected, and then on the 11th day when she wakes up, she has lost her voice
As Cal is seeing this memory from Aven’s memory, she notices Maryln held a staff in her right hand. That may be the same crooked staff hinted at earlier in the notebook with a sleeping face on its cover (this is later confirmed by Bruce).
IMPORTANT NOTE: It is later revealed that this entire memory was actually the Hag inside Cal’s mind. The memory may be true or false.
Upstairs at the Starlight Inn
The party heads to their private room, which is on the top floor.
Theratina’s Purse and Loot
Upon their arrival, Theratina hands over a hefty coin purse she stole from The Seer containing:
- 785 silver
- 500 gold
- 2 platinum
The purse also contains many smaller bags with notes marking where the money or items were picked up. There are hundreds of little bags, likely tied to arena payouts or tracking captives/prisoners.
The party continues to reminisce about the man in a black cloak from The Seer’s necklace vials while in Ashera’a Breath. Their initial thoughts are to see if the man has fought or is still in prison at the arena. He may have more information about The Seer/The Silent Fist.
While discussing, the party remembers that the cloak of the man in the vial is tied to the The Hoods, a group in direct opposition to the Silent Fist.
Yharov’s Suspicion
All the while, Yharov continues to hold a suspicion about the silence at the Starlight Inn. Despite his suspicions, he still can’t quite pin point what is going on.
Political and Historical Context
Avenj, Roz, and Cal reflect on older history and what they know of the region.
They discuss a great war involving the Kingdom of Belrhodun (??). There were catastrophic losses in the war. As a result, the kingdom turned to a mercenary forces to ensure safety throughout the realm. One of the mercenary forces were called The Grindledarks. Grindledark Lords once hunted the 20 Monsters. After those hunts were complete, and the monsters locked away, The Silent Fist rose up within the Vel’Therin Expanse and have since taken sweeping control under martial-law-like conditions. So while Vel’Therin has an army, The Silent Fist still holds great power within the city.
The Diamond of 20 Monsters was earlier described in the book as an artifact used by The Unknown to summon 20 monstrous creatures, only for them to be slain by the Grindledarks.
As the group discusses, a scrap of paper hits Yharov. It reads: “Theratina could use a new rapier.” In her room, Theratina is peaking out. Roz previously used Locate Object on it while trying to track her after The Seer kidnapped her. But the party now realizes that she is no longer in possession of it.
In addition to seeking out the man in the cloak from the vial, the party decides they will shop tomorrow and get Theratina a new rapier.
The party decides to call it a night, and Raelor, Avenj, and Yharov decide to take turns taking watch.
Roz and the Shield
Before heading to bed, Roz goes outside the Starlight Inn alone to pray with his shield. A conversation with his sword unfolds:
Roz - “Can you talk to me?” After a long pause, the shield awakens.
Roz’s Shield - “Could you use me, instead of getting hit all the time?”
Roz - “Do you have a name”
Roz’s Shield - “ I don’t remember”
Roz -”What do you remember?”
Roz’s Shield - “A very large purple figure that sent me to you in anger, but nothing before that.”
Roz cycles through names (maybe Marvel related, making Brad crack up) and eventually lands on Jimmothy.
That night, Roz fails a Wisdom check while falling asleep. Because he is carrying or is still affected by The Diamond of 20 Monsters, he seems to take “another notch.”
The party later learns from Bruce that no creature can hold onto one of the 12 artifacts for more than three days, or else they will die. Perhaps the “notches” are Roz using up another one of his “days” with the artifact?
The Next Day
Roz’s Condition
Roz wakes up groggy and has disadvantage for the day. He also wakes with a strong need to know where The Diamond of 20 Monsters is located.
Lunar Sword Forge
Avenj, Cal and Raelor enter the Lunar Sword Forge, while Yharov stays outside to keep watch and be with Theratina. The group inside ends up buying Theratina a Rapier of Warning]) for 400 gp, trading the 4 behir teeth and an extra 25 gp for an engraving.
Blooming Remedy
Outside, Theratina rushes into the Blooming Remedy. Yharov and Roz follow her inside. The entire shop is vivid and alive with color. An elegant tiefling woman is inside making potions. Theratina is already at the far end of the room, focused on a wall of petals.
The Velvet Thorn Returns
While talking with the shop keep, Yharov produces the Velvet Thorn. Yharov, despite her having a strong poker face, notices that the shop keep suspects Roz and Yharov are up to something by being in possession of the Velvet Thorn. The tiefling immediately grows suspicious and identifies the plant, though she says she does not believe the group truly found one.
What she explains: it dates back to the age of The Unknown. It is tied to Silvanus (Druid God, God of Nature). He would leave this in places he was absent, so people would know where to be safe. When harvested, it can be brewed into a remedy which prevent anything feared. However, they’ve all been plucked, been sold, and are essentially impossible to find as there weren’t any around to grow.
Roz reveals that we saw someone make one, and the shopkeep replies by saying, “That means they would have to have Tears of Silvanus”
Through negotiation, Yharov gets the shopkeep to agree to Roz, Yharov, and Theratina taking a pedal from the Wall of Effects if they give a cutting of the Velvet Thorn to her. Yharov follows up requesting for a better deal since she might have a lucrative deal if she’s able to grow it. They agree that the party could come back in 3 months time, and if she is able to regrow it, the party can talk about an enhanced deal.
First Wall of Effects Petals
- Yharov d100 roll - 81: Can declare one critical hit on an attack
- Theratina d100 roll - 10: Permanently identifies common plants
- Roz d100 roll - 18: Eats it; gains advantage on Stealth in natural terrain for the rest of the day
Burrow Plate
The group heads to Burrow Plate: a massive armor building with a tiny shack-like upper section.
Shopkeeper: Pip, formerly called Pipe (little rat people)
He first offers an item for 300 gp. Cal tries to walk away to force a better price, but Yharov can tell the offer is already good. Pip eventually offers 305 gp, and Cal accepts.
During the visit, Theratina steals a chain shirt. Yharov rushes her outside to hide the fact that she’s stolen an item from the shop. When the rest of the party steps outside, Raelor comes up with a key word, “Family,” which is a cue to Theratina not to steal. Cal in a more harsh manner tries to tell Theratina that there are consequences to stealing. Theratina makes a fair argument that the party benefited from her stealing from The Seer, and all the coin they received, but Cal still tries to teach her a lesson about stealing. This ultimately makes it so Theratina “learns her lesson,” but it may have damaged the relationship between Theratina and Cal.
Back to Blooming Remedy
The group returns to buy 5 Potion of Healing. While standing outside, Raelor notices a figure in a dark royal blue cloak following the group.
Inside, something strange happens: Theratina’s eyes turn pink and she says, “I think I should take another petal” to the shop keep. Then, the tiefling’s eyes also turn pink and she immediately agrees. When Theratina plucks a pedal, she immediately runs outside to give it to Raelor
- Raelor d100 - 69 (nice): Advantage on all checks for 1 hour
The party then buys the 5 potions, but the shop keep adds 2 for free: 7 Potion of Healing.
Then Theratina says, “I think everyone should get a flower petal, don’t you?” Again, the shopkeeper agrees.
Second Round of Petals
- 99 – Cal: Everyone levels up
- 40 – Raelor: If he makes a death save, it becomes an automatic critical success and he rises to 1 HP
- 54 – Avenj: +1 AC for the rest of the day
- 62 – Yharov: No damage the next time he would take fire damage
- 34 – Roz: One reroll of a failed attack
The Three Vials
Avenj asks the tiefling whether she knows what the Three Mysterious Vials are. Yharov promptly tells Avenj, who was originally not with Roz and Yharov during the first visit to the potion/pedal show, that the purple potion is likely the Tears of Silvanus
These are the same three vials recovered from the buried stitched agent in 00-First Session:
Green Vial
She reacts with immediate alarm: “Get rid of that as soon as you can. It’s a pheromone. You don’t want to know, and I’m not going to say.”
She asks whether the party has heard of Lord Vecna.
She says it:
- Brings Vecna
- Calls upon him
- The Unknown stole his hand and eye
She also says the what’s in the vial is the last thing that was on a monster before Vecna fled.
Silver Vial
She first pretends it is only useful for growing and worth about 50 gp. The party knows she is lying. She then escalates the offer: 400 gp, 2,000 gp, 10,000 gp.
But still refuses to explain what it really is. The party keeps the vial, with no clear answers. Avenj offers that if they still have it in 30 days they would reconsider.
Purple Vial
Tears of Silvanus: turns any ordinary plant into a Velvet Thorn.
The Blue-Cloaked Figure and the Journal
Outside the shop, the royal-blue cloaked figure is much closer. He speeds up, passes Raelor, drives an elbow into him, and vanishes into the crowd. Afterward, Raelor notices his bag is heavier. Inside is The Grindledark Journal:
The lock:
- Is the size of a pinky
- Has a finger-like slot
- Appears designed to cut off whatever is inserted
Raelor asks Avenj whether he has a finger bone. Avenj answers: “I got digits.”
Raelor inserts a pinky bone. The mechanism works: the bone is cut and the lock falls away.
Cal notices that the jagged bottom edge of the blue cloak matches the jagged cloak edge from the figure in the vial necklace as well as the The Hoods.
The group heads to a park for privacy. Cal reads the book, but the final pages are missing. Yharov suggests holding off on the full discussion. Raelor keeps the journal on his person.
The Grindledark Journal
The journal describes an obsessed writer who discovered the vessel, something tied to a master beyond the world.
He writes that all others failed:
- The Awakening shattered
- The Chain broke
- Armies became dust
- Old plans rotted
But he believes he has improved on all prior work by combining:
- Rituals
- Blood work
- Doctrine
- Flesh and spiritcraft
At first he thinks he must fill the center of the vessel.
Then he goes to Brackenmill and meets Payquyne.
That location matters because Brackenmill was also where Aven Tide made her bargain with Maryln earlier in this same session, making the town feel less like a side location and more like a major knot where several of these storylines converge.
The writer falls in love with Payquyne, forgets the work, and lives a human life. They have a son.
Then something monstrous kills her by taking her head, and leaves the son broken.
The writer decides to rebuild the child using powerful body parts:
- The arm of a butcher king
- The leg of a war champion
- The heart of a man executed three times who would not die
- The eyes of a laughing seer who foresaw his own death
He stitches the child together, calls to him, begs, commands, offers everything he is, and then his eyes open.
This journal provides the clearest emotional and procedural bridge yet between Lord Grindledark - previously introduced as the drow creator of the Scary Frankenstein Guy and the larger body-horror/vessel project first glimpsed when the party fought the stitched Awakening agent in earlier sessions.
Back at the Arena
The party returns to the Arena of Vel’Therin Expanse to search for the man with The Hood Faction black cloak, from The Seer’s vial.
There are three entrances, each for different purposes:
- To participate in fighting
- To observe the fighting
- The prison where fighters are held
They enter the observation door. When inside, they head up one of the towers and secure a private booth. Near the bleachers, they spot another cloak of the same The Hoods make, but now in dark red rather than royal blue.
Yharov hides Theratina as the aforementioned figure is watching prisoners. Raelor approaches him while Cal prepares to use Detect Thoughts and possibly Suggestion.
The man seems to know:
- Of a lizard girl
- Of the group with her
- That they may be associated with or mistaken for Silent Fist-aligned people
He also notes that Theratina had been laughing with them, so perhaps that are not completely bad individuals.
When Raelor asks if he knows Lord Grindledark. He says:
- He is not actually considered a lord, his name is Ned
- He is a scrounger
- True lords own prisons and hunt monsters (Grindledarks being known for catching the 20 Monsters
- Ned creates conflict
When asked why he is interested in Theratina, he simply says, “She’s a lizard.”
He then says, “I was hoping my hag friend was correct about you guys.”
When Raelor asks how he knew where they were, he says he knows Maryln who owns the place.
He asks what the tavern looked like to them:
- Clean and quiet?
- Rambunctious?
This sounds like he is testing whether they encountered a manipulated or selective presentation of the space.
Raelor invites him into the booth.
His name is Bruce.
Bruce tells Cal, “You let her in.” (meaning the hag was able to get into Cal’s mind during the Detect Thoughts encounter with Aven Tide’s memory.
Bruce then asks, “Are the rumors true? Is the book back?”
He reveals, “Payquyne was my daughter. That (Scary Frankenstein Guy) is my grandson. Ned Grindledark is my daughters husband when she was alive.”
He also mentions The Harvesters in Mazca’Tan, which is notable because Mazca’Tan was already marked on Theratina’s map back in 00-First Session as a place she wanted to reach.
Bruce says his daughter sought artifacts that could rewrite the world.
Bruce Examines the Book
The party heads back to the park and shows Bruce the book.
He asks them to open it.
When opened, the book appears far larger inside than it should be, with more pages than expected.
Bruce explains that it is:
- One of the most powerful pocket portals
- Created by the Three Wizards
- Used to seal the 12 artifacts
But there are more than 12 pages. He is adamant about knowing why the book is so large.
Cal, through recalling memories she’s heard, rumors she’s heard that the wizards had 12 artifacts. If the 12 artifacts were sealed and the wizards had 12 artifacts, there are 24 artifacts. Bruce does not seem to know this yet.
Bruce says his daughter wanted to find all 12 because:
- Humans corrupt them
- Holding one for more than 3 days can kill the bearer
Her plan had been to take them away and hide them in the Feywild, which The Unknown had never touched.
Bruce believes the artifacts are heavily guarded.
He says:
He also admits he has dealings with dangerous people, including the Silent Fist. He admits that despite being a member of the The Hoods, he must work with bad characters to achieve his ultimate goal of doing right by his daughter’s work. He has even made deals with the Silent Fist and Maryln.
He says the half-elf is from Twelve Veins and that they have started a revolution:
“We are 12,000 strong.”
Who is the half-elf? What are the Twelve Veins
Bruce’s Contract
Bruce offers the party a job: A hit on the hag.
Payment: 1,000 gold each
Condition: He must personally see the Crooked Staff placed into the book.
That condition matters because it neatly ties together:
- Aven Tide’s memory of the hag holding the staff
- The crooked staff page in the artifact book
- Bruce’s claim that the hag has one of the artifacts
Bruce says the hag is south of the Arena of Vel’Therin Expanse (toward the shore)
He warns the group:
- She can place herself into clones of her victims
- They rotate week by week
- She can move through anything
- She can blink from place to place
- Do not accept any deal from her
- Do not surround her
Bruce and Trust
Raelor asks about weaknesses and strengths, but Bruce mainly repeats his warnings.
Roz tries to use Detect Magic, but the spell is Counterspelled.
Bruce privately messages Roz and tells him never to do that again.
Roz says he needs proof Bruce is not the hag.
Bruce tosses him a silver ring and says hags cannot wear silver rings.
Yharov says Bruce needs to do more to earn trust.
Bruce replies that he should not be trusted.
The Hoods and Cloak Colors
Yharov asks what the cloak colors mean.
Bruce explains:
- Black = assassins
- Blue = scouts
- Red = leaders
- Green = enforcers — “you’re already dead”
He also says The Hoods have sided with Karvok Thuldor
This pays off several clues from earlier in the session:
- The black-cloaked figure on the necklace from Ashera’a Breath
- The blue-cloaked scout who planted the journal
- The red-cloaked observer at the arena
End of Session Direction
Bruce says the party needs to become more powerful before taking on Maryln directly.
If they need work, information, or need to find him again, they can find him at the Arena of Vel’Therin Expanse