The NOOBs arrived back in Moru Kel, where a puppet show informed them of a recent attempt to rob something from Paralon Warehouse (the Black Box). It also claimed that New Typorians had burned a Saffan ship (which the group knew to be wrong).
With Kyamu headed home to Panga, the rest of the NOOBs went to Effi’s for the night, finding that she’d managed to make up the place in Arko Adi’s absence pretty well. Bo Wiri, the Nawabe architect from Olli’s, had worked with her to fix the structure itself.
Ignacius and Brigg had breakfast the next morning at Vanya’s Table, a local joint that served Saffan cuisine familiar to Brigg. They’d run into one of the owners — Shonen Adi — stopping in for a bite in the past, and he again entered and let them know that the group of adventuring heros his brother knew had returned to town the previous day. He offered them a letter of introduction, and they hurried over to Arko and Effi’s house to meet them.
After some brief introductions, during which Ignacius sketched most of the party members, they headed off to unload the wine. They ended up selling it to Yolan Dagarswan, from one of the founding families of Moru Kel, for a substantial profit — during the sale, Brigg recognized Yolan as one of the nobles present at a decadent party/fight that Ordell had organized in Wurdonne, during which many nobles dined on kolibri like ortolan. The group went home to Effi’s and then headed over to the Pearl to ask Sindra if she had any information on such abhorrent aviphagery, but she was reluctant to reveal anything to the group. Aura Lee asked them to check in on Darvis, fearing that he’d fallen in with a bad crowd. And they determined that Yolan Dagarswan’s tailor at the Wurdonne event was Raymón from Raymón’s Raiments (but an investigation showed that Raiments was closed for vacation for a few weeks).
With that, Tobias and his brother returned home to Maringa. The group took a bit of a break, seeing the sights of the city and learning new skills. Armin bought a hammock-in-a-box from Arko’s new store, Clockwork!, where Galen (the dwarf who carved the lenses for the telescope at the Moon Dome) worked. Brigg lost an eating competition with Niko Marinatto down at the Union Hall.
A couple of weeks later, though, Aiden had a dream one night:
The next morning, a runner arrived with a summons from the Marghoz to discuss the state of affairs with New Typor. Then Dyta showed up, with information about the Black Box heist: Saleen had been involved with a group called the Lady Slippers, and was the 4th thief who’d escaped. Rumor around town was that the Lady Slippers might be affiliated with the Loafers, and that perhaps someone in the government had recruited them to attempt the heist off the record. Aiden recalled that Saleen works for the Maztlon family: Jangaru Maztlon being the owner of the Crow’s Nest. Dyta also let them know that the Marghoz had been acting strange recently.
The group hurried over to Vachi’s Vestments to get appropriate attire for the meeting with the Marghoz, and then up to Gadran’s Curiousities where they discovered a scroll of wall of stone and an onyx candle on the shelves. Armin also bought some oil to help quiet his armor, and they learned from Gadran that Bozrhan had copied the map and would be able to reproduce it. Aiden purchased fizzy ginger tea from Gadran.
With that, they visited the Marghoz’s villa: they were let in, to find the Marghoza holding court and dealing with most visitors, while the Marghoz was out back in the gardens. He seemed invested in the trees more than anything else, but as Aiden touched one of the trees he felt a deep pain in it. In a moment of clarity the Marghoz brought them inside and they discussed the situation in New Typor, making sure that the Marghoza got the letter from Baron Aitor and clarifying the Maal and Salter involvement in things. The Marghoz agreed with the need to prepare for war, and the Marghoza offered them an invitation to the Dagarswan party the following weekend.
They headed to Bozrhan’s, and he agreed to copy the map for his friend Ignacius for no fee: the problem is that he needs the secretions of the night sentinel (a non-domesticated variety of sentry lizard) in order to copy it. He gave them a map to the area where he normally gathered it, warning them of the potential for stinklizards nearby.
The group headed to the Viggen villa, where Dalayna greeted them warmly and them told them that Caralon was increasingly catatonic in recent days. They were ushered to the back yard to wait, with servants bringing out wine and refreshments. Suddenly, a group of giant bugs attacked, leaping atop groups of party members and crushing them. The group defeated the bugs, and Aiden sensed Ty Abo reach out to Caralon, restoring his connection with her . . . .
Torc of Warrior Insight
Wondrous item, requires attunement
This iron torc channels the insight of the Saffan armies.
Steady aim. You know the true strike cantrip and can cast it at will.
Steady mind (1/long rest). As a reaction, when you are forced to make a Wis, Int, or Cha saving throw you have advantage on that save and all Wis, Int, and Cha saving throws until the start of your next turn.
War Insight (1/long rest). As a bonus action, select a hostile creature you can see within range. The target is aware that you are probing it. If the target is immune to divination magic or scrying, the effect fails.
You learn 1 feature of the target’s. Make an Investigation check. For every 5 points above 10 on your ability check result, you learn 1 additional feature.
Features are learned in order of those which have not previously been determined by a casting of this spell:
If multiple of bludgeoning/piercing/slashing have the same resistance/vulnerability/immunity, they are revealed together as a single feature. If multiple damage types are eligible, they are revealed in random order.
If you have revealed all of a target’s applicable features, you instead gain advantage on your next attack roll against the creature before the start of your next turn.
Bells of Purity
Wondrous item
A small set of 4 bells attacked to a cross-piece, with a handle above.
The bells have 3 charges, and it regains 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn. You can use the charges in the following ways while holding them:
Warning bells. As a bonus action, you can expend 1 charge to detect the presence of aberrations, celestials, fiends, or undead within 60 feet of you. If such creatures are present and don’t have total cover from you, the bells ring softly, their tone indicating the creature types present.
Shielding bells. As an action, you can expend 1 charge to cast protection from evil and good.