Mysterious ManSession Date: 08/26/2024
I was gone this session. đ
Joseph tried to elaborate on the function of the shadow and how we got in: Vogue pours out the shadow from the vial, and when a section is dark enough she canât see anything she reaches through into the shadow and unlocks the window as she
grey cloward should be mardell in these notes the mayor is mardell
Mary and Tabby make their way to The Copper Lily to meet Grey Cloward and hear his proposal.
Itâs an exclusive restaurant and they arenât at all dressed the part, but after a natural 20 from Tabby, the doorman concludes theyâre the sort of absurdly wealthy people who no longer have to care how they dress, and lets them in.
Cloward meets them in a shadowy corner, or at least the closest available substitute in such a high-class establishment. He says his employer is aware of the partyâs item, and is willing to pay for it.
He writes a number on a napkin, and itâs the sort of number that would allow the party to buy a mansion and still have enough left to never work a day in their lives. Tabby acknowledges it as a princely sum, but insists the item is not for sale.
Cloward nods, unphased, and adds a zero to the end of the number.
Mary and Tabby consider this again, but reply that some items are beyond any price. And how does Clowardâs boss know they have such an item, anyway?
Cloward answers that his boss knows many things, and has some of the same object. And one way or another, his boss will gain control of the whole thing. Are Mary and Tabby sure they donât want to do this the polite and civilized way?
Mary and Tabby explain that they are not able to be bought. Cloward fundamentally does not understand/believe that such a thing is possible.
He also can barely believe that theyâve never heard of his boss Zeth Seegmiller. Who hasnât heard of Zeth Seegmiller?
Cloward leaves them with a politely-worded threat: the party may be seen as heroes at the moment, but public opinion can be fickle. Itâs oh so easy for heroes to turn into villains, and not be missed if they happen to disappear.
Bosch, meanwhile, has been doing his own thing.
Since we last saw Bosch, he and his new friend have tracked down Vogue to rope her into the proceedings.
The three of them are scouring the town for remnants of the ritual, bits of congealed inky shadow pooling in places the sunlight hasnât reached yet.
Vogue has high hopes for the stuff: it seems to make the area around it a bit less real. Perhaps if applied to the right wall, the wall would be more of a suggestion. And suggestions can be ignored when they stand between her and spoils.
Also, she just knows Vim will be able to do something with it.
Their new friend follows suit, and while Bosch helps them gather some, he doesnât want any himself. Heâs here to pursue an artistic vision.
At each location, he reaches into the bag he took from the Vsâ cart, and tears off a piece of the plush almiraj he won at the carnival. He dips each piece in shadow goop, spreads the goop around to make it look like it gushed out from a central point, and places the piece of fluff at that spot.
Session 035
Session Date: 05/27/2024 The party is with The Vim & Vigor Brothers and we are all headed toward Shelmourn - we do not do much in the way of sightseeing, but we also are not pushing
Once theyâve used up about a third of the plush, the trio move onto the next phase: a heist!
This is where the local comes in: he knows the local scene, and that means he can point the group towards a deserving target. After a couple months around Tabby and Mary, it seems Bosch is starting to take this into account.
A short while later, Vogue smears a bit of shadow onto one of The Copper Lilyâs upper windows. Once the patch of glass is fully obscured in shadow, she looks at it and mutters out loud, âI canât see any glass there, so there probably isnât any.â Then she pokes her hand through and unlocks the window.
There isnât much stuff in this guest room. Someone is clearly staying here, but beyond basic travel necessities and a fair amount of cash, the only thing of note is an ornate framed portrait of a man.
The three gather the money, swipe the picture frame, and pull some pranks. Vogue adds a ridiculous mustache to the portrait, Bosch scribbles âweird religion broâ on the back, they put the nightstand in front of the door so heâll knock it over when he comes back, and so on.
By the time theyâre done, the shadow has mostly evaporated from the window. Vogue glances at it and comments, âOops, I guess there was glass there after all. My mistake.â
The three split the spoils, but there isnât much Bosch cares to claim, so the other two get most of it. The local splits off, and Bosch and Vogue start heading back towards the Adamant Guard tower.
Unsurprisingly, they soon run into Mary and Tabby heading the same direction. They describe their encounter with Cloward. Bosch isnât overly scared by the threats, but is curious if they were any good, asking Tabby to rate them out of ten. Tabby gives them a 7.5, but when he describes them, Bosch thinks theyâre more like 6 or 5.5.
For his part, Bosch keeps the details vague, but mentions doing an art project and finding a weird portrait in a room. Vogue confirms it was a portrait of Seegmiller, and muses that itâs a good thing heâs not really a religion. The man is bad enough as-is and doesnât need an immortalâs power.
Vogue splits off to head back to the wagon, and soon after Vim is cackling at all the possibilities offered by this new substance. Vigor claps his hands on his brotherâs shoulders to bring him back to reality before he makes too much of a scene.
Speaking of making a scene, the PCs run into exactly that near the tower. A circle of young people in army regalia are blocking the road, cheering on two swordfighters in the middle.
Outside the circle are several onlookers expressing varying levels of confusion, concern, and annoyance.
Sneaking up on the nearest person in the circle, Bosch realizes that the regalia is just a costume, providing no real protection, but he does appreciate a decent quality costume. He doesnât appreciate the swordsmanship inside the circle, though. The fighters have terrible form and it almost looks like theyâre trying to avoid anyone getting hurt.
Having passed his stealth check, Bosch pokes the nearest person and asks what the fight is about. Not seeing Bosch, they reply to the person next to them in the circle. âYou know this. The War Hawks are finally ready, so weâre starting another war to toughen up this nation!â
The two discuss the hows and whys of starting a war, but Bosch isnât never able to get a clear answer to the question of what the fight/war is supposed to be about, and gives up. Later, he describes the War Hawks as âtrying to start a fire with no kindling.â
While all this is going on, Mary runs over to the tower to find Carver, who is extremely grateful to be interrupted in the middle of his seemingly endless stack of paperwork. They return to the scene, where a few claps and a stern glare from Carver is enough to break it up.
At the distraction, one of the fighters lunges a little too far and nicks the other oneâs hand, who cries out in surprise and pain. Both drop their swords and go running for something they can use as a bandage. Someone in the circle casts the Rousing Splash cantrip to try and wash the cut.
Carver explains that most of these âWar Hawksâ are harmless, but a few actual military personnel have joined up in hopes of âgetting to use their training for something.â Those people are the actual danger here.
Carver proudly notes that the Commonwealth has managed to avoid war for decades, and thatâs a laudable achievement that benefits almost everybody. Upon reflection, even Bosch agrees.
As the group settles back in for the night, Seegmillerâs name comes up. Carver mentions that heâs not allowed to investigate him in any way.
Bosch is worried about what this says about Carverâs superiors, but decides that Carver might know how to keep things off the record, so maybe he could keep the Seal secret if he was told.
Mary fusses over the party isnât recovering as fast as sheâd hoped: everyone is healed, but their maximum hit points are still reduced from being drained.
Tabby decides what he needs most is a good old fashioned day on the town. If anyone needs him tomorrow, he says, heâll be out drinking and keeping an ear to the ground.
Bosch consults with Faylen about how to portray a convincing eruption of magic. He nips out to try this on a nearby piece he hid, but finds it all but gone. It turns out (after a retroactive natural 1), leaving it in contact with the shadow was a bad idea: it soaked it up and dissolved into nothingness.