Session Date: 06/22/2025
After Combat
We know that we need to head toward the gnomish city of Glimmas Te, but for now Zimri has requested that we take some time to rest. Silver comments that walking is good, and Achille comments that the others (the not elves) may need to rest more than them. We all hijack the camp the imperials left over and rest. Zimri lies down in a cot and Silver takes time to work on breaking the code found last session.
Silver does find a note from the commander’s wife and it essentially says to return a winner, or don’t return at all. It is signed with her full name, Cassia Tacita Nerva.
As we spend time here, there doesn’t seem to be anyone here at all - no humans, no fey, no animals. The fire is dying out as it goes out, and the camp itself is ash.
Damaris prays to her goddess for help navigating the feywild and it begins to rain after she finishes. Achille heads away from the group and to the forest and puts blood on his rosary and then prays to Lolth to make the imperials for vengeance.
Damaris & Achille
Damaris meets with Achille and apologizes for the rain and making Achille wet. Achille comments that this is a better omen that the rain is from her, because he went to pray and the rain started, thinking that the gods were being mean to him specifically. Damaris asks if they pick favorites (or least) and he says yes, you’d be surprised. Achille asks how Damaris is and she says that she’s fine. Achille’s face goes flat and he stares, and she diverts her gaze away.
Damaris is worried because she feels she doesn’t feel she made a good first impression because she tried to drown Achille. Achille explains that the voice in her head wanting her to do it doesn’t mean she personally wishes to do it (as the curse influences her). Damaris explains she wants friends and relationships with people and Achille says that she can, and she does.
Damaris asks who Achille was praying to this time, and Achille doesn’t want to answer her, his own gaze diverting this time. Achille admits that he might have prayed for vengeance on the imperials, and Damaris grabs his face to make Achille look at her. Achille admits that he rained on and thought it was his fault and Damaris asks why everything is his fault, and he explains that it juts feels that way sometimes. Damaris says that Achille isn’t the only person and he says essentially he knows that, but sometimes it still just feels bad. Damaris explains that everything isn’t just on his shoulders. His eyes go a little wide at that.
Damaris explains she understands he feels responsible and he says that if he doesn’t do it, nobody well. Damaris hears him, but explains he needs to take care of himself because she doesn’t think he does that much (he admits that’s true). She’s holding his hand by now, and she explains she’s happy to take some of the weight off of him (he would rather she not have to) but she can and she would like to help, so let her? She comments that it serves her nothing to see him suffer.
Achille kisses Damaris and then power walks away to end the conversation.
Camp
Damaris walks back to the camp and covers Zimri with a blanket, and then she lies next to him for the evening and wonders if she did something wrong.
While Damaris and Achille are gone, Silver finds Nymnar and gives him another croissant. he thanks her for it and then she heads out to do something else. When the rain starts to fall she returns, sniffling and upset at the ruined croissant. After she whimpers for long enough, Nymnar sighs and calls her over. He uses Prestidigitation to dry and warm the croissant, making it as if it were just freshly baked. She thanks him and nibbles on the croissant, watching him for a while. He stares at her awkwardly for a little bit, then goes back to reading, and she goes into trying to dry and read the now wet book.
Achille returns to find the two of them reading next to each other.
The Next Day
Damaris recalls the area from a previous venture here and from intense study. She recalls that Glimmas Te had mushroom houses but is otherwise incredibly well fortified. This is the best place to start looking around for Salvor Bajj, as this would be the biggest nearby city.
We begin our march to the city and the feywild is definitely richer than the Prime Material: colors are richer and deeper, smells are more fragrant and powerful, animals are not scared of animals. Damaris leads us in a way without nearing any bodies of water and there are no real conflicts as we continue.
Silver is very distracted and wants to touch everything. Damaris grabs her arm and explains the rules of the fey: do not give their name, don’t touch anything, don’t talk to them, etc. She finishes and lets go of Silver’s arm and turns to Zimri to ask if he heard, and he says yes. She gives him a pat on the head and calls him a good boy, and Zimri says he’s not a kid, to which Silver asks why his tail is wagging.
Zimri lets it slip he’s journaling over the adventure to write a book about what happened so that historians know what happened in the future. Once the book is put away, Silver steals the journal and reads it.
Zimri’s Party Member Notes
Silver
Brash, impulsive, doesn’t realize how much danger we’re in. Orphan street kid? (She adds a note: Yes, orphan street kid)
Nymnar
Weird scary dude, still not sure if can trust, remember The Thing
Damaris
Sweet. Want to trust but curse, a little confused? Achille wife?
Achille
The bad-ass expert. He definitely is the one that knows what he’s doing. A little scary but he knows what he’s doing.
Zimri
The notesmaker. Observing the people actually doing the cool stuff.
Silver adds an extra page in the blank pages about Zimri and describes him in very flattering language, with some tongue and cheek moments. Talented doctor is what it comes down to, along with a note about it being baby’s first quest.
Silver’s Addition
On another blank page, she flips over and sketches out portraits of the team members. She does a very good job. She also does a very nice full portrait of the entire party together.
After Notebook Time
In the evening, Zimri pulls his journal out and finds all of Silver’s annotations. He goes to her and is upset that she’d written in her journal and Damaris starts lecturing her for a prolonged period of time. Silver does the forced teenager apology thing where she says all the things she’s supposed to and ends with how the art is actually really fucking good. Zimri looks through the art and says that as long as Silver asks in the future then she can draw more. Damaris asks if she wants her own journal or whatever, and gives Silver some coins so that she can buy something once we reach the city.
Zimri goes and pouts outside of camp, playing his violin. Silver goes off somewhere and has a musical number and then huffs over to Zimri and actually apologizes. Zimri says that he’d already said it’s fine and Silver says that she was still getting a look and then she gets up and leaves.
Traveling Continues
We leave the forest and Glimmas Te has changed since Damaris last saw: there are more people, and a wall, with people camped outside of the wall. It is possible they are preparing for war. There are a lot of gnomes, but there are elves, centaurs, and others as well - no humans, though. They are humanoids that live in the feywild rather than fey themselves. Some of them are visibly trying to get inside - people are being admitted into the town.
Zimri asks if we can use name here, if that’ll work. Damaris comments that the people here are like us, they just live here, so it should be fine, but she doesn’t know what’s going on.
Silver asks if we should tell them about the plans we thwarted. Damaris thinks so. She wonders if we should tell them we killed someone, and a gnome speaks up and asks who died and what murder happened.
Reaching Glimmas Te
Valben Springboot is the gnome’s name as he introduces himself. He is with the Glimmas Te guard. He asks if we are refugees, and we say no. Zimri comments we are on a mission, and Silver explains that we are looking for a friend of a friend, with Damaris explaining her father’s friend. She then explains that the leader of the people who were burning the forest down is dead, and Valben is surprised by this.
There’s a gnomish guardswoman standing next to Valben that has a crystal. She puts it next to Nymnar’s leg and the crystal goes from cloudy to flood black. With Achille it turns red, with Zimri it glows lightly (she smiles at him), with Damaris it turns dark with blue swirls, and with Silver it remains neutral.
Valben comments that if we wish to visit the city (the woman gives a signal for no) then we will need a chaperone. Silver asks if Valben can be, and he says no. He explains that one of them is full of rage, one’s cursed, one’s a necromancer. There’s some discussion and Valben asks us what commander we killed, and we explain Captain Nerva (the one with the wife).
There’s a lot of back and forth with Silver asking many questions, and Damaris eventually shows the letter from Soldos. He comments that he will call for someone to take us in, and he warns we cannot stay here over night. Damaris does let them know that Soldos is her father and he is impressed by that. He cannot bend the rules, unfortunately, so we will still need the chaperone. Silver is rambling nonstop to keep attention.
A horse approaches and Silver has to just about restrain herself from petting the horse. Achille asks if she’s okay, and comments that it’s weird she didn’t pet the horse. Silver asks the horse if she can pet it, and the horse talks, saying that since she asked nicely… A voice behind the horse gives him shit, saying to stop doing this. There is an exchange before the horse turns into a centaur, a creature called a chevall. A gnome with a goat body (gnoat) is also present.
One of the guards is being shitty about us needing to go in when a war is about to break out. Wenlan is the Chevall and is more friendly, with Salys Ironfern being the asshole gnoat.
We enter and Achille asks what the fuck Salys’s problem is. She explains there’s a war that’s about to break out and she’s too busy dealing with us. Achille explains we are on something that is VERY important with regard to the war (Silver comments that we are going to stop the war, but doesn’t give more detail). Salys is incredibly unimpressed.
We go to a centaur bar (The Hopping Ha’pony Inn) to ask questions. We enter and Zimri is pushed to go up to the bar and ask about Salvor. Zimri says we’re looking for a friend of his uncle, and comments it’s Salvor Bajj we’re looking for. We establish that Damaris is Soldos’s daughter and the bar tender explains that Salvor does come here, but he hasn’t seen him in a while, so it’s possible Salvor’s been traveling. He has no way of getting ahold of Salvor, but gives us some pointers on where to look.
Silver asks what he looks like and the bartender says he generally looks like an old man with a black cloak and salt and pepper hair. He changes his appearance often, though - you should be nice to strangers as they could be him.
We ask where he would go, and the guards comment that he does enjoy the theatre, but he would be very low key as he doesn’t like to be swarmed. When asked why he’s such a big deal, it comes out that the entire city is gaess’d so they can’t speak on him. He rather enjoys his privacy and if people weren’t willing to take the gaess then he wouldn’t visit and provide aid.
Zimri slips away to talk to some of the bards and the bards comment that they are local. Zimri asks if they can teach him some local songs, especially about Salvor Bajj.