Session Date: 12/21/2025
Last Session
Inky had left and is in the library with Mattai, where he is definitely safe. Iskra had spoken to him over the sending stone and talked to him.
We secured passage to Iskra’s home and we are in a carriage hearse on the way there.
Traveling
Taraaq speaks up to Rohan and asks if he’s mad at him as well. Rohan recognizes Taraaq probably wants him to say no, but Rohan assumes that he’s mad at all of us. Rohan explains that we did the right thing and we did what we had to. Taraaq asks if Inky will be back, and Rohan says yes, of course he will be.
Iskra isn’t very present right now, just looking out of the window and thinking about stuff. He’s not worried or troubled as he knows everyone’s safe.
The Old Man
Misha is wearing a disguise as an old man and he’s hunched over walking along the road towards the carriage. He has a hood up on his robes so he does look like an old man. There’s nothing around here in sight, just an old man walking in the mud next to the road. Our driver stops and asks the old man if he needs any help. The old man comments that it’s been a long walk, and there’s danger and bandits around. None of us clock that this is a deception and we let him into the carriage.
Dia begins to prepare tea and asks where the man is going. The man says he’s going where the gods take him, and so Dia asks what deity he follows and explains she follows Pelor and The Raven Queen. The old man comments that Pelor and the Raven Queen are an interesting combination, and that he figured she was a follower of Pelor, given how… Radiant she is, and all. Haha. Sun joke. Get it.
She tries to ask what deity he follows again and he diverts by asking what drew her to the Raven Queen. She comments there was a calling, and Dia and Arythas both notice there’s no actual religious symbols on him. He also is avoiding answering all of Dia’s questions. Dia asks where he’s coming from and he gives the name of the town that is Iskra’s home.
Iskra grabs his wrist and tells the old man to stop lying to him. The man tries to argue that he’s not lying because Iskra didn’t ask any questions. Iskra ultimately pulls the hood down on the old man to reveal… A catfolk with markings similar to a tiger. He has a mustache and some beads in his mustache. He’s dolled up a little, looks very tidy.
He looks to Iskra confused, then turns to Dia and asks: “This is the company you keep, Dia?” Dia asks if they know each other and he comments that she wouldn’t remember her, of course not. She asks if her father sent him and he says that he has been tracking her, yes, but then the bounty was put on her head. He considered that, but decided it would be better to join us and help.
He explains that he wants revenge on the greatest evil on this world, to undo the unjust. We waffle back and forth and ask what he’s going for and we eventually get to the realization that he wishes to harm Dia’s father.
Dia casts zone of truth then asks if he’s pat of the church (no) and if he was sent by her father (no). He does explain that her father is the most evil person out here and he’s done so many unnamable evil things in the world. Dia says sure, but what’s his personal stake? He asks if he can’t just be heroic (the bell doesn’t dings, he’s lying). He gives up and says that her father has hurt people he cares about, and now it does ring. Misha wishes to stop her father, and she asks if he will kill him. Misha says his death will depend on him (it dings so he’s being honest).
Rohan starts asking what her father’s done, and Dia shortly says he’s done a lot. She then turns back to Misha and asks if he will hurt her siblings, which he says no (ding). She asks if he knows where they are, and he says some of them (ding). He refuses to elaborate further and then changes the topic to outline the stereotypes of the party.
Arythas → Bodyguard Dia → Princess, or damsel in distress Rohan → Boy…friend?
Rohan does the gay wrist flip thing and Misha’s brows go up. He comments he didn’t realize Dia was gay, so Rohan must be a beard, then.
He looks to Iskra and Rdest. He’s confused as he tries to figure out their role. He stares at them a while and then asks if they’re wizards. Nobody confirms or denies, so he asks if they’re mystic rabbit sages? He writes that down in his notes, then looks to Rohan, who introduces himself. The stranger finally introduces himself as Misha.
There’s some back and forth going around where Misha gives us shit and basically explains that none of us know each other as well as we had thought and he sort of plays them against each other, pointing out the lines between them.
Dia asks Arythas to get back into the hearse and begins to explain. She starts with how her father has quite a lot of influence and hands in many pies. Dia comments that her parents are rather spry for their age. He’s built his entire empire at being a holy man, especially of healing, but he is not. She explains that her father intends to make himself immortal via the souls of his parishioners. She explains that the children are not just a lineage, but rather parts of or channels for his immortality gambit.
Rohan clarifies to ask that her family is part of all of this undead going around. Dia confirms that it’s entirely possible her father is part of it, but she isn’t sure - it could very well be that his very existence is just a corrupting influence. She doesn’t know. She’s never known. She said that her breaking point was when she got married. She ran away then, but she’d been complicit up until then. She explains that she ran away for selfish reasons, and both Rohan and Misha explain that this isn’t her fault and she was a victim. Rohan explains that he also ran away for selfish reasons, and that running away is about survival and there is nothing wrong with that.
Iskra speaks up and says that he doesn’t know that much about Dia’s past but he knows that her parents did not treat her well and as parent should be. It’s become clear to him that she was just a tool for her parents and that they failed her, and her leaving is not a bad thing in this instance.
Misha hugs Dia to comfort her and while Dia doesn’t push him away, it’s clear she is very uncomfortable. Things settle uncomfortably.
The Town
The horses stop and they just vibe. Iskra goes to check them out and can see that they are bristling at the idea of having to be horses. One horse licks itself and Iskra notices very sharp teeth. The driver tells us that they’ll get over it eventually - we can walk to the town (which is in sight) or wait. We all decide to walk.
We begin walking and Misha can hear some kind of struggle happening in the town - metal clanking on metal type of situation. Misha comments that he doesn’t recall the town being under attack, and we ask what he means. He comments that there is either a fight or a blacksmithing competition going on.
We run and enter the town and see construct soldiers that are destroyed. We hear more violence and a voice screaming in harengon. There’s a pile of robot soldiers and people are definitely hiding in their houses. There’s one person standing atop the pile of soldiers. Atop the soldiers is a very short, small white bunny with the black eyeliner look around her eyes. She’s wearing a wrap on her head like a babouschka and a European style traditional dress with an apron on. She’s holding a cleaver in her paw. She’s fully enraged, cutting a robot in half.
Rdest speaks up asking her mom not to embarrass her in front of her new friends. She replies that it’s not embarrassing, then she notices that Iskra is here and she rushes over and kisses his hands and holds his hands. Iskra apologizes for not being here and his mom says that it’s fine and all that matters is that he’s here now. She comments that he’s thin and we don’t feed him, and he says that’s not it, it’s another story that he can explain later. She agrees.
Arythas asks which direction they come from, and she says they’re coming from the coast. Rohan starts to look over the robots and it’s pretty clear that they are mass produced. Rdest looks them over and can tell they have the capacity to take a simple command that would come from a receiver. Her mom fills in that they are trying to kidnap people, trying to grab them from the street.
We follow his mom - Tafla - to his home and Rdest goes to her room to try to trace the signal for the robots. Iskra’s father - Oset - comes out and he looks more like a wild rabbit and is more brown, more fluffy. He’s wearing a thick sweater and his ears are scarred.
Art by Meg.
Oset enters and hugs Iskra and is glad to see him. Iskra explains that he’s done a lot of bad things and killed a lot of people. Tafla and Oset both try to reassure him and Iskra insists that he’s done horrible things. Oset ultimately says that they will face whatever it is together. Tafla makes up Iskra’s room and Rdest works on making an item to track the signal from the receivers, then goes to fuss around Iskra.
The rest of us are shown great hospitality, fed with Oset’s delicious fish soup. We are well taken care of.
Eventually, Iskra explains that he will be staying here for a while. He wants to help his mom keep this place safe and he starts to worry over sending his brother home, then he explains to Misha he doesn’t hate him, but Misha needs to take all of this very seriously. Misha assures Iskra that he’s taking this seriously and there’s nothing more than he wants is for this to work. Dia tells Iskra that he is always welcome to join again, or we can always swing by to say hello again.
Rohan eventually approaches Dia and asks how she’s holding up, especially after the conversation on the way here. She says that the family here is delightful and she’s trying not to think about it, but Rohan said something — she asks if he’s okay. Rohan ultimately says he’s not okay. Dia apologizes and Rohan says it’s not her fault, but she still wants to apologize that he’s going through this. Rohan says that he’s the one that ran away so this is all his own fault, and he says that he ran away the second time and he should have gone back. Dia asks what he would have gone back to and that she was an incredible fighter and we all know that - if they overpowered her, then wouldn’t they have done the same to him?
Rohan apologizes and suggests they be a family instead, since they don’t have other family. Dia doesn’t know. She does ask Rohan if he truly thought they’d kill him over the entire Taraaq situation? Rohan says yes: he was possessed by a demon and especially Dia and Arythas are good and holy people - he assumed we wouldn’t like someone like him. Dia hopes he doesn’t feel that now, which he says of course not. He may not be good at expressing his thoughts, but he’s doing his best not to lie. Dia calls it a small win and Rohan says yes, and she needs to start telling him things, which is what siblings do, right? Dia says no.