Session 13

Side-Questing in the Bactrian Forest
The adventurers were saying their farewells to the people of Zhanasburg when a young man timidly approached them. It was Varis Swifthoof, and he was desperate for their help. He had previously confessed to the group of his unrequited love for Lia Songbird, and he feared that if they left, his last chance at winning Lia's heart would go with them. "Help me to woo her," he pleaded, undeterred by their reluctance. "You are worldly, and have experience with these types of things!" Though they disagreed, they eventually accepted his request for help, and accompanied Varis to his meeting spot with Lia, hiding in the bushes near him so they wouldn't be seen. They whispered suggestions to the elf as he made awkward conversation with his sweetheart.

Each group member had their own idea of how to charm Lia. Insightful Cora warned the others not to try to get Varis to intimidate or outright lie to the girl, as she rightfully expected it would not go over well. The tiefling, knowing how fond Lia was of flowers, passed along some knowledge of local flora, prompting a pleasant discussion of lovely spring blossoms between the two elves. Taargus recalled from his youth the true story of two star-crossed lovers who overcame all odds, and recounted it to Varis. Lia was enchanted by his telling of the tale. Fausto, ever having thieving and sneaking on the mind, told Varis to explain to Lia how she had "stolen his heart." He also devised a plan to build a tunnel from his location to directly beneath Lia's, and to make flowers spring up at her feet. Unfortunately, he did not have the kind of time necessary in which to do this, but Varis told the plan to Lia, and she laughed at his silly sense of humor. It was not the reaction that Fausto had planned for, but it worked. Twitch had never had much experience with wooing women, and thought the best way to go about it was to have Varis talk incessantly about the majesty of Kord. He was incredulous when Lia interrupted and said that she did not have must interest in Kord. Twitch then tried to make a Kord-related joke to ease the tension ("Kord? More like BORED, am I right?"), but that too failed to have the desired effect. Luckily, Caraga was able to smooth over the damage Twitch had done, and gave words and phrases for Varis to use that made him sound like a true gentleman. Unable to hide behind the bushes any longer, Taargus sprung out to greet the couple. He explained that Varis was a good friend, and had hired him as entertainment. The dragonborn then proceeded to juggle for the two elves, much to Lia's delight.

Finally, the date was over. Lia thanked Varis for a nice evening, and suggested they go out again sometime. As soon as she had left, Varis turned to the group, overjoyed. He thanked them profusely for helping him, and gave them each a reward of 200gp.

Cora's Quest
The adventurers made their way back to Rowan, and stopped into the Mugwump Inn to see what had happened in their absence. Mr. Mugwump had a message to relay to Cora: "Some other members of yer kind were in town lookin for yah just recently - I told 'em you'd be back soon! They're a-waitin for yah at the Green Gnome Taphouse." Cora was dismayed by the news, but nevertheless led the group to the bar. Once there, bartender Amnon pointed out the pair of tieflings seated in a booth in a dark corner: they were siblings Damakos and Damaia, whom Cora recognized from her youth in Relmorr. Like Cora, they were once members of a street gang lead by her adoptive father, Morthos Rael. Keeping a low profile, Cora sent Fausto in to listen in to the other tieflings' hushed conversation. He reported back that they were discussing ways to convince her to accompany them to Relmorr. Reluctantly, she decided to talk to them, and when she did she was surprised by their news.

Damaia, who seemed pleased to see her, told Cora that Morthos had fallen ill. On his deathbed, he requested to see his adopted daughter one last time, and sent out the siblings to escort her home. Though suspicious, Cora agreed to go, taking her companions with her. It was only after they arrived in Relmorr and were taken into Morthos' warehouse that they realized they had been led into a trap. Damakos forced them into a cell in the dungeon, locking the door behind them. "You didn't think Morthos would let you get away with killing his daughter, did you?" he snarled. "A man like that does not forgive, and he does not forget!" After they had been left alone, the group worked together to pick the locks on the cell and break free. They decided to look around the rest of the warehouse, splitting up to cover more ground.

Taargus and Caraga took the east door, leading them into the warehouse storeroom. No sooner had they shut the door behind them when a scything blade swept across the room, nearly cleaving the duo. Caraga noticed shallow cuts running along the storeroom floor, and thin slots across the ceiling corresponding with the aforementioned cuts. They dodged and weaved through the room, avoiding the randomly swinging blades, and reached the other side unscathed. There, they found a number of crates and barrels to poke through. They picked through lots of unwanted junk, but Taargus left the room with a piece of topaz and 250gp, while Caraga walked away with an expensive-looking silk robe.

Meanwhile, Cora, Fausto, and Twitch had gone through the north door, finding themselves in a meeting room of sorts. There was a long table taking up most of the room, and papers and books were littered on top of it. Fausto instantly spotted the 550gp partially covered by some notes, while Twitch came across a scroll containing the Magic Mouth ritual, which he tucked away for later use. Passing into the next room, they found themselves in the front entrance of the warehouse, where they were met by Taargus and Caraga. Unfortunately, they were also met by Damakos, Damaia, and two other members of Morthos' gang. The group fled out the front door, followed closely by the gang members. They hurriedly navigated the city of Relnorr, dodging fruit stands and scaling walls, but were ultimately caught by Damaia. Surprisingly, the other tiefling admitted to having a soft spot for Cora, knowing she didn't mean to kill Kallista all those years ago. While she could not stop Morthos from having Cora hunted down, she agreed to help defend the group if necessary. Moments later, Damakos too caught up to them and drove them back to Morthos' headquarters.

The tieflings did not bother to lock up the group again when they returned to the warehouse, as Morthos was ready to see Cora. The adventurers took a brief look around the armory adjacent to Morthos' quarters (where Cora found a Duelist's dagger and Caraga made off with some Razor armor) before entering to see the crime boss. The bunks along the walls, reserved for the gang members not on duty, were vacant, but on the east end of the room, a blanketed figure lay quietly on a large bed. The figure raised his head when Cora entered the room, and beckoned her closer. She cautiously approached the bed, unsure of what would happen.

Morthos spoke to her as she advanced, his voice weak. "If you had stayed, you and Kallista could have taken over the syndicate together - you could have controlled this entire city. But instead, you killed my only heir, after everything I had done for you. I am dying, but I have saved up enough strength to take you with me!" The blanket had concealed his weapon, but his sword was already drawn as he leaped from the bed and engaged her in combat.



Damakos and Damaia entered when they heard the commotion; true to her word, Damaia assisted the adventurers, while Damakos fought alongside his boss. The tieflings focused their attacks on Cora, allowing her companions to attack them while they were distracted. The duo fought hard but ultimately were outnumbered; Corabreathed a sigh of relief when Morthos finally fell. The flaming short sword he had wielded lay on the floor near his body, and Cora retrieved it - after all, he would not be using it again. The group then left the city, and Cora was not sorry to see Relmorr for the last time.

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