Session Date: 2/19/2024
We make it to the Verdant Core and it is a city teeming with life. There are all sorts of types here from treant-like Arboreals, dryads, leshys of all shapes and sizes, creatures that are almost human but are made of plants instead of meat (Mary knows these are Ghoran) and there are also wood giants. They are not as large as the name implies, but they are rather just very tall. Everyone local is a plant, but there are some dwarves and gnomes that are congregating in a portion of the city with some stone buildings.
The inn is The Growing Boy, with a dwarven innkeep and a gnomish cook. Most people inside are dwarves or gnomes and they seem to be in transit or traders. Montego does the whole greeting thing, but nobody seems to know him. We all sit down at the bar and try the gin, with Faylen not hating it but not loving it, and Montego sits with us and acts like a party member. The dwarf explains that they take regular money, but the locals also will trade on favors.
Montego ends up clapping Bosch on the back and notices the way Bosch doesn’t quite flinch at the gesture. Bosch can see the math that Montego’s doing as he adjusts his perception of us. The burgers arrive for us to eat and the barkeep asks why we’re here, and we explain that we were brought here for court, and he asks if we are related to the wizard. We confirm, and explain we have no information outside of that, but everyone should know he has excellent abs. We chat some more, then get a burger to go just in case Axamonar hasn’t eaten any time recently.
Florian helps us to navigate because he actually knows where to go now that he’s back home. We head to the courthouse and Florian explains that we are here to see the guy, and the employee doesn’t have any context so he waves us on through since Florian is with is. Florian leads us to an office that says, in fey, Prosecutor Altwidus Changestaff. It’s also added in common, but it was added recently and possibly for our benefit. We enter the office and Altwidus’ secretary greets us, explaining we were summoned to be witnesses for the prosecution against Axamonar. She gets us passes to visit Axamonar before the trial, as visiting hours are still going on.
We pass down and down toward the prisoners, and we notice the guards are mostly Arboreals and wood giants, but there is no clear priority on who’s what. All of the cells are made of plant matter like the rest, and most of the cells are empty. Axamonar is in the third cell, seeming to be meditating. A guard steps in to watch us, but he doesn’t approach.
We go to Axamonar and his hands are bound with anti-magic cuffs, basically, and he doesn’t have any clue why he’s being held here. He explains that he can be held only if they have probable cause, which it appears they feel that they have. The political situation between the Hollow World and above is complex, he explains, and he’s confused because he’s been the person who’s been summoned to help get his friends out, and normally in our shoes we would know what’s going on.
Tabby asks if there’s anyone else here, and he Axamonar explains that there’s someone a few cells down that he plays chess with, but he thinks she cheats. He doesn’t know her name. Mary asks Talitha to go check and see if she could be the Clapperclaw, and Talitha comes back and explains that Montego is with her so that confirms that she’s the person we need to get out of here to finish the job for Clapperclaw.
Bosch goes over to Montego and jumps on his back and asks who his friend is. Montegro tries to play dumb, but the woman tells him to stop playing dumb because the jig is up. She’s in a cell for a medium creature. She’s a beautiful woman with dark hair and is wearing elegant clothing that is still appropriate for adventuring. She seems human, but Bosch knows she’s definitely a werewolf. Bosch introduces himself and the party and says that he’s surprised that Montego has a friend down here, as Montego didn’t seem to be here to meet someone.
Her name is Tasha Zimm. She explains that she would really like to be freed from this prison, and we warn that apparently they can drag people down from the surface. She says that she will be ready next time they come. She says that we can’t help her with her court date but she is absolutely guilty about this. She asks for us to smuggle something, but she recognizes this will not help Axamonar. Mary asks her why they’re after Axamonar, and her guess is that someone is doing someone else a favor and the charges are made up. She heard rumors about execution so it is likely there are some pretty high level charges, though she imagines those will not stick, though whoever is causing this would be very happy with it.
Tasha casts a silence sphere and then explains she needs some components to create a teleportation circle. She will be teleporting outside of Brex Grana and will help us in the future if we run into each other, but she cannot take us with her. During the course of the conversation, Tabby can glean that Tasha is a predator: she is an opportunist, but she is absolutely willing to help us and it matters to her that she honors her word when she can. She hates owing others something, and she may even listen as to what kind of help we may want or if there are caveats. She is loyal to someone as long as it suits her interests.
We go ahead and visit Altwidus and he is a craggly, jovial Arboreal, who seems to be kind but also has an edge to him (because he’s a lawyer). Bosch is checking every single thing Altwidus does. Mary explains we are asking what is going on with this, what the charges are, and Altwidus explains that he’s here on the charge of murder. We ask what the heck he means, and he explains that he was killed and replaced by this android construct. He basically wants to argue that the ship of Theseus argument in court. Bosch can tell that Altwidus doesn’t believe any of this, but he is required to do so for a favor. He knows it’s absolutely compost.
Defense attorney: new attorney, Roscoe Birthwort, another Arboreal.
Essentially the charge is that this construct murdered the real Axamonar and took his place. The location was on the train, when he took off to fight the creature and gave his life to save Clement and the people on the train.
We find the “office” for Roscoe Birthwort. It’s on a lower level, closer to the jail than the other offices. It’s definitely more of a broom closet rather than a real office. Roscoe is a quaking aspen Arboreal, and he is definitely way over his head. We introduce ourselves and explain we are friends of Sage Axamonar.