Session Date: 10/29/2023
Soldos and Kalvag start to plan how to best help the land around and Dia is surprised at how well these two get along. We know that there is a train that we need to catch but it won’t be showing up for a while.
We do shop and prepare to go up north, getting appropriate garments. Dia gets a cloak, an extra long jacket of wool, gloves, and hat. Arythas is ever practical and goes for soldier/guard garments, while Rohan gets wrestled into a fucking coat because he’s still gonna get cold. Inky gets an old surplus military jacket, and Iskra gets one of those cute outfits idk wtf they’re called but they’re adorable and warm as well. We get everything rounded up and head back to the mission to find people in a state of unease, though everyone at the Bloodsoaked Banner seems to be fine. Inside, people are mostly getting ready to go down to help the orcs with the whole demon fascist problem. The mission is mostly empty as they ready to go out.
After we are there for a moment, there’s heavy knocking at the door that sounds more like someone is dragging their limbs to knock. Dia peeks out and she sees a shape cloaked outside the door, possibly a hunch-back? There’s no face, just a tattered cloak. People outside are very much trying not to look at this scene. Dia opens the door a crack and peeks out to see a hunched figure. It has a light grey shade of what seems to be skin? Hard to tell, it looks too waxy to really be skin. Once the door is cracked it puts its hands on the ground and it puts its hands on the ground, unable to support itself without the door. Dia asks if he’s okay, and the thing croaks out that it has a message. It basically asks to enter and talk. Arythas goes to find Soldos and let him know that there’s a message for him and Soldos asks to let them in.
The thing falls inward once the door is open. It seems like a misshapen homunculus — once the jacket is removed it seems like it’s made of some sort of gelatin. It doesn’t have a full face: a mouth, eye sockets, a hint of a nose maybe. This thing was either a rush job or done very poorly due to its misshapen form, the smooth and waxy form of it. It notices Soldos and wheezes, going down on all four and its back starts to bubble. A humanoid form rises from the creature’s back. They’re clearly an armored humanoid. They demand to Soldos to give the prophet back. The man says they have hostages and they want the prophet back or else they start killing hostages. Kalvag looks absolutely horrified at this, and Soldos waves him off. Soldos tells us that this is Duke, a guy who believes he is the beginning of the upper class here. Duke explains that he is because he has money, and can kill whoever he wants whenever. Dia interjects that this is not how you act as a noble.
Duke threatens to start killing people and Dia tries to call bluff. Rohan tries to say that we should talk this out, and Duke says no, no, no. Soldos still doesn’t even talk to Duke and starts to put armor on, explaining to us this guy can’t be too far. Soldos finally speaks to Duke and says that he assumes that the prisoners are at the base (yes) then asks us to track this chucklefuck down. We say sure and Soldos disappears.
Dia peeks out and notices some shady looking guys outside with symbolism that matched some of the symbols on the homunculus. There’s a small group of people here to basically keep an eye on us and Iskra notices two more guys, one of them being the Duke himself. Rohan approaches the man acting like he needs a cane to walk, and Rohan explains this guy is no good at hiding in plain sight. They act confused and do a shit job of it. Rohan explains that the man they’re looking for is not here and if they care about their safety, they’ll tell us where the hostages are. The Duke sees this interaction and commands them kill us. Battle ensues and we eliminate everyone and Duke.
We finish everything and head back inside and Soldos is already back, cleaning and sharpening his sword. Kalvag is okay, if a bit shaken. Soldos had saved all he hostages. We explain what happened and Soldos then he says he needs to work on dinner and goes to the kitchen.