Chapter 2-4

The party engages the strange sludge monster that rose up out of the sewers to attack them. Hazel and Excalibur get pulled into the creature together. While within the creature, Excalibur witnesses strange visions as he’s trapped within a picture frame looking into a strange hallway covered in other blurred portraits. There’s a strange halfling man with bulbous growths on his body and he looks unwell watching him in the frame. There are growths all over his face and the same sores as the rats the party previously fought.

Excalibur reaches out and finds Hazel within the monster, pulling her out. Hazel grabs Excalibur’s hand and mainatins her grip well enough that Jasiri pulls him out of the monster as well.

Vaelyn later gets pulled into the creature and sees the same hallway that Excalibur did - the one from his dreams, but this time from the otehr side of the paintings. Keeping his composure he slashes outward with his blade and finishes the monster. The halfling man screams and lunges at Vaelyn before he emerges from the muck.

After slaying the beast, a halfling man falls out of the remains - the same one from the vision. He appears to have been dead for some time.

The party returns to the goblins who thank them for giving their home back. The goblins believe the strange man could have floated downstream. They give the party a token of their thanks and hand over a Shortsword of Courage.

The party returns to the Goose and Gander, hoping to find rooms to rent for the night. They clean themselves from the mess they’re covered in, for which the bouncers are very grateful. Inside, Nona informs them all the rooms are unfortunately booked, but she suggests going to see Charlie in the Dock Ward. He owns a small inn called the Safe Respite. Before he leaves, Excalibur asks for the mushroom pilaf recipe that she gladly shares.

Protectorate Guild Hall

In the sqaure adjacent to the guild hall, there is a statue of the Dawnbringer (Cedric Grayvale) standing tall with angelic wings and a sword pointed to the sky. Underneath is a plaque that lists the names of the Protectorate who were part of the group that slew the titan Gigas.

Inside the Guild Hall, there is a desk clerk reading a book called “Warring Vines.” He claims it’s about Druids. He briefly leaves and the group discovers it’s smut. Hazel promptly steals it.

The clerk fetches Conrad and the party tells him of the monster they encountered in the sewers. He mentions there are rumors of undead in the city. Explainign a little more about the Protectorate and what they do, he mentions that they occassionally deal with leftover titan spawn - they don’t all disappear after titans are pulled away.

In regards to finding Hermann, Conrad says he needs to set up a meeting to get things going. Jasiri asks if Conrad can ensure no harm comes to the goblins in the sewers and Conrad agrees.

Safe Respite

Despite the name it does not appear all that safe. It is an old run-down building, with a broken sign, and a few broken windows. Inside, however, an elderly tiefling man named Charlie greets the party warmly and offers them all the rooms they need. Hazel requests a piece of bread and while it’s stale, she still takes it and retires to her room.

That night, Excalibur offers for Schmead to stay with him. Schmead falls asleep easily and Excalibur leaves the room and knocks on Hazel’s door. She answers, and every single lantern and light is on inside. The room is almost blinding considering the rest of the inn. She seems nervous and scared and he asks if she’s okay.

Hazel ponders the question for a while until she finally responds with “are you?” Excalibur doesn’t answer but she offers him to come inside. Accepting, he sees a plate on the bed full of crumbs and pieces of the stale bread. Excalibur learns that Hazel is terrified of the dark and offers for her to stay in his room with Schmead. She’s reluctant at first but agrees and gathers her things.

Once back in Excalibur’s room, Hazel asks him not to freak out but she has to do something. Nervous at first, Excalibur nods and agrees. She reveals a small bird hiding within her cloak near the nape of her neck. The creature has half living bird parts and the rest are twigs where bones should be and flowers filling in holes. Some of the flowers and twigs look dried out and dead while others look lively and well. The little bird hops onto Excalibur’s extended finger and she informs him that this is Gloom.

He smiles saying he’s pretty and Hazel blushes. She is able to sleep soundly, knowing she can hold Gloom in her sleep. The three of them find rest for the rest of the evening.

Vaelyn visits Torren that evening and expresses his worry that his condition is worsening. The halfling screamed and lunged at him with desperation. Vaelyn knew he was hungry like him. Vaelyn didn’t see the woman he normally sees in the dream but it was the same hallway of picture frames.

Torren asks to see his wound. Veins stem from a large shard in his chest and it grows every day. If the veins reach his collarbone, they will become difficult to hide. Torren measures the progress of the wound and makes a note in his journal, but notes that the spread is only slightly larger than the last time.

Vaelyn apologizes for the circumstances that he has put Torren in. Torren says they both chose to leave and Vaelyn corrects him saying he chose to leave and Torren followed. Torren states that it was time to leave anyway.

It has been 9 months since the ritual that made Vaelyn this way, and he sometimes wishes the ritual had worked and it had taken his life. He claims Torren always tries to maintain positivity and sometimes it’s too much to deal with. Torren is visibly hurt by these comments. But Vaelyn hugs him and thanks him for everything he does. “Family are not the ones we are born with but the ones we’d die for.”

Jasiri spends the night reflecting on his braids, committing the day’s events to memory. He remembers the spiders and killing them in one blow. The power he held in that moment was confusing and new. Even if the power is gone now, he knows it will return. A smile crawls along his mouth as he says to himself, “glorious.”

Back to the Guild Hall

Jasiri wakes and makes fresh bread with Charlie, who was preparing breakfast for the guests. Afterwards, the party returns to the Protectorate Guild Hall to claim their reward and get the details for the meeting Conrad is setting up. Conrad is still out getting things together and Lirael greets them in the meantime. The party receives 100g and she offers for the group to join the guild. She and Charlotte, the daytime guild clerk, explain the guild:

• The Protectorate’s primary purpose is the defense of the citizens in the event of a titan attack.
• If a titan attacks and you flee, you are sent to jail for desertion.
• You need to check in/out of the city you arrive in. If you don’t check out and there is a titan attack, there will be an investigation as to why you did not contribute.
• In exchange for being on standby for titan attacks (that will hopefully never come), guild members get exclusive access to adventuring job requests and a stipend for the time they spend in town.
• The Protectorate is in nearly every town, and signing up in one give you access to all chapters.
• The rewards that can be collected and shared with non-members if desired.
• There are two tiers of members - The Traveling Tier and the Permanent Tier:
  • Travelers have access to most of the guild perks which include access to the job board, free access to guild amenities (lodging, food, and drink), and a monetary stipend paid weekly or prorated upon check out
  • Permanent residents have all the above benefits plus leadership development, resident exclusive jobs, and higher pay rates
• Signing up is easy, and completing the form triggers a magical effect that associates their membership with the individual (for logistics in case a false name is provided, or similar).

Torren and Jasiri are the only party members who join.

As the groups makes mention of the sludge monster, Lirael comments that she’s glad she didn’t have to handle that as it would have likely damaged her prosthetic arm and would have forced a trip home. She explains she comes from an elven town called Nuvodell. The elves that reside there are proficient with augmentationsand are the only ones who can fix her prosthetic arm. Her arm does not have magical abilities but some of the augmentations they make in her hometown can, namely ones procured by the nobility. Some elves have been known to augment their whole bodies, begging the question: “How much of yourself can you replace until you are no longer yourself?”

Each elven community searches for different solutions to counteract the curse set upon the elves causing their shortened life span. Torren and Vaelyn’s community focused on breeding while Lirael’s focused on more technology based solutions. These societies don’t necessarily work with the rules of the church and gas a result must stay hidden behind veils similar to the one Lavender placed around the ship.

Conrad returns and leads the party Northeast to the ruined and empty part of town to an old abandoned tavern within the Bay Ward. He’s tells the group he is taking them to meet a man known as “The Shadow.” He works for the Abandoned and is a midlevel leader within the ranks. He is not the kindest man and Conrad suggests remaining composed regardless of whatever comments he might make.

Meeting The Shadow

Conrad steps in the tavern first to announce their arrival. He returns shortly thereafter and tells the party they may enter. He will wait outside.

Hazel asks if Torren truly wants to go in if they expect the Shadow’s comments would make him uncomfortable - Torren says the comments have become normal to him. Hazel argues it shouldn’t be his normal - it’s wrong. Torren leads the way.

Half a dozen large men surround the room and at the bar is a slender man with a wispy tattoo on his face. As the party steps through the threshold, they pass through a barrier that illuminates all magical items they possess.

After noticing Torren’s magic items illuminate, Hazel hesitates but chooses to go through, revealing her bracelet on her left wrist. She places her hand in her pocket and continues forward. Jasiri is also initially hesitant, but also chooses to continue. Excalibur glows brightly after passing through, and while it is exposed that Schmead is in his backpack, Excalibur’s light blocks the glow of Schmead’s sword.

The Shadow reveals that he is aware of the party and their ship. He makes thinly veiled comments indicating that they are also keeping an eye on Hilda.

The Shadow explains that Hermann Voltz is very valuable. He makes much of the magical tech the organization uses and no one else can build what he does. In exchange for his work, the Abandoned keep him hidden and safe. He asks why the group wants to meet him, and they inform the Shadow that they want to take him with them on their ship. The Shadow comments on the ship in the harbor - he claims he’d like a ship like that one day himself…

If the party wants to meet with Hermann, they will have to earn the introduction. A priestess in the city named Allessandra Santos, a red skinned tiefling who leads a church in the dock ward, is undermining the Abandoned. Her generosity is making some people believe they don’t need the Abandoned’s help any more, and it’s cutting into their business. They’ve been steadily working to push people away from her, but it would be much easier if she was gone. He requests that the party make her disappear.

After agreeing to the job and being called several racial slurs, the party leaves. They reunite with Conrad and ask how he knows these people. He claims that as you stay in this town and you do jobs all across it you get to know people. He had met some of the organization’s muscle in his time here, but wasn’t associated with the major powers in the organization. He called in some favors to set up this meeting.

Hazel questions the Shadow’s reasoning before leaving and is clearly disgusted with his behavior towards her friends. They all leave and agree they need to go find Hilda and inform her of what’s going on.