Session 36 - Three Thinking Thots

When the party arrived at Seaquen, they were met by a young messenger boi who urged them to make haste towards Lyceum. We power walked our way to Simeon's office for a meeting. They greeted us and were curious to hear of our adventures up north. Simeon offered us refreshments (dry and wet fish) and told us not to discuss sensitive matters in front of servants as spies could be anywhere. We gave him the abbreviated version and told him of the purple meatball hentai monster (Nina Glibglammer) that had poisoned the King's mind and that we had freed him from his affliction. We also told Simeon that we owned the contested fishing grounds now (suck it, Seaquen!)

Katrina arrived to the meeting and was relieved that we had not begun without her. With her, Katrina had brought a brown-skinned stranger with mysterious black tattoos on the back of their left hand and neck. Katrina introduced them as Three-Weeping-Ravens. They hailed from Ostalin and were part of the Order of the Echoed Souls. Simeon briefed us about the locations of the four Ragesian armies. One was encroaching on the northern part of Shahalesti. Another was occupying Gate Pass, but was struggling against the Resistance. A third army is the navy besieging the capital of Sindaire, and the last is spread throughout Sindaire following Emperor Coaltongue's last catastrophical campaign to quell rebellion in the country.

The most pressing objective is locating Coaltongue's Torch. It disappeared as he did and is likely the cause for the burning sky. With the torch, one country could easily end the war in a matter of days by teleporting entire armies at the drop of a hat. It seems very likely that the Torch is located in Catsle Korstull, since the castle has been enveloped by a relentless firestorm since Coaltongue's disappearance. Quelling the storm to investigate is not an easy task, but Simeon has divined a possible solution. "No single wind can destroy the Torch’s fire, but a second wind could be its ruin." Simeon believes the divination refers to the Monastery of the Two Winds. Two brothers lead their own monk schools of harnessing the elements. The brothers are known to be powerful spellcasters. Three-Weeping-Ravens knows has met with the brothers briefly and will be our guide.

Simeon has not received any new messages from Ostalin for a week. His contact very matter of factly said that Ragesians were trying to besiege the monastery, before the contact went radio-silent. It seems the two brothers and their desciples are capable of defending themselves for now. Simeon wants us to help them deal with the Ragesians and then enlist their aid in retrieving the Torch.

After some brief preparations (tattoo time), death wards, and potions of fire resistance (or not) we teleported to Ostalin along with Katrina. Shit fucking hurt, but we arrived "safely" at our planned destination... not. It seems the Ostalians have set up their own teleportation beacon and they caught us in a nice cage surrounded by archers. We talked to them a bit and were let out of the cage, surrendered our weapons, and were escorted to meet with Khagan Onamdammin, the ruler of Ostalin. Our escort was a lovely woman named Felpan who had way too much patience.

Khagan Onamdammin is a man who enjoys the fine things in life. He has a massive bronze mirror in the ceiling of his incense-filled conference-room. He does not seem to be entertained by our presence. I am honestly not entirely sure what he actually wants from us specifically, but it seems the Khagan has realised Ragesia is a threat to all of us and is considering an alliance with Seaquen. The two brothers have managed to hold off the Ragesians for now, but they can't hold out forever (even if the Khagan believes so). Onamdammin says that he will consider an alliance if we prove ourselves to be people of honor. He knows one of the two brothers and we can expect some sort of test I guess.

Before retiring for the night, the Khagan offers for us to enjoy his harem. Katrina perks up at the suggestion and we hang with his harem for a while. Katrina flirts with some dude for like two hours, milking him for any information she can get, before just walking away from the dude and telling us we can leave. Apparently, Onamdammin is obsessed with perfecting his flesh looked "really fucked up" a couple of weeks ago, seeking to make his body pure. Whatever that means. Recently a fey prisoner gifted into his harem attempted to “heal” him with her innate powers, restoring him to his natural appearance. Onamdammin had the woman petrified as punishment and withdrew in shock, refusing to govern his nation until he was visited by Pilus, one of the masters of the Monastery of the Two Winds. No one knows what the talked about, but after the meeting the Kahagan started to govern his nation again. Now the Khagan has decreed that all fey creatures are to be executed in Ostalin.

We reconvened in some barracks to sleep before heading off towards the monastery tomorrow.