The Gang Splits Up

After surrounding the brothel and inspecting for ways that James could escape, Carindrina feels tunnels running beneath the ground. Furus volunteers to go talk to Lady Caltain and ask her to bring James upstairs so they can talk, explaining they don't want to make a scene and they don't want to hurt him, they just want to let him know what they found since he asked them to look for the family sword. She agreed to go down and pass along the message.

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They waited, getting antsy. Furus could hear two voices below, a man and a woman, but they were indistinct. There was a lot of magical communication with the message spell debating whether to go in hard or continue to wait. Eventually James came upstairs and after asking how much Furus had seen, invited everyone to come back down to The White Poppy. the group settled in, and Karkov and Gustav flanked the exit. It was clear that they would not let anyone leave unless James was safe, but Karkov gave Carindrina a sly wink.

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James settles into a chair and asks, "What would you like to discuss?" Furus tenatively begins to explain that they went searching for the sword and it did not go as planned. Worried, James reminds him they have less than 12 hours to perform the ceremony. Furus tells him they put the sword back in the sheath and he was very worried that someone had touched the sword, indicating he knew the sword had to be handled carefully. He asked what happened when they returned the sword and was very worried when they said the sword and chest vanished, explaining that they needed the sword to perform the ritual to bless his father.

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He asked where it was found and Adalia told him "it was in a pile of flesh and guts." He was very concerned, asking where the guts had come from, how much was there, were there any bodies? He does not believe her. James asks if they found anything at Stoneblood Manor, when he is told about the dungeon, he is shocked.

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There is some quiet magical whispering trying to decide if they should tell him about the vampires or the magical rift under the castle. Carindrina takes charge, saying that Blitherby gave them permission to search the house, sarcastically calling him "a delight" and James cringes, acknowledging Blitherby's rough demeanor. Starting to tell him about the dungeons, Nira cuts in and says let's tell him about the dimension door in his fahter's room.

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James is gobstruck. Carindrina explains that a malevolent force came through the rift and tried to harm them. Once in the dungeon, there were many cultish rooms with peversions of several deities that seemed to be obsessed with destroying or creating vampires. He was shocked when the said that the house and cemetery were connected by underground tunnels. Nira cocked her brow and asked, "Really? Are underground tunnels that strange?" intimating that she knew about the tunnels to the brothel. He just smirked and gave a small nod.

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He asked if the rift was Shinze coming for his father. Nira laughed. Carindrina said no, it was definitely malevolent and water based. He told them his mother had been the one to worship water. Furus adds that there was also a lot of nasty acidic goo, and shows James the vial. Adalia tries to show him the holy water, but he doesn't recognize it as holy water, still suspicious. He does say the goo looks dangerous and asks if anyone else has looked at it.

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Adalia says their primary focus has been finding him, and he has been hard to find. Nira attempts diplomacy, asking why it has been so hard to find him. He explains that he was trying to keep the news of his fathers death to a minimum, so hiding seemed like a good idea. The groupreminds him that he hired them to find the sword and that he isn't being super forthcoming. Adalia tries to intimidate him but her sweet demeanor makes it look more like she is trying not to fart than being aggressive. Nira feels like he is probably hiding something but that he isn't a flight risk. Someone suggests they could turn him over to the fey, and a small argument erupts on whether or not they think he really is involved with the kidnapping children. It is discused to have Galia use her powers to force him to give them money, but peaceful requests were successful first.

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The group decided not to inform him about the vampires. Furus worried they were setting him up to be eaten by vampires, but several in the group were worried he was involved. The group offers to come back in 12 hours after the 24 hour mark and get the gold then so that James knows they gave the sword back since they don't have proof that they returned the sword. The ask for money and he signs over a paper for 500 GP and tells them that they can pick it up at The Bloody Baron. He asks them what they know about what is in the White Poppy. Deciding to not tell him about seeing the girl and baby, Nira tells him they only know about the dragons. He says the dragons are legal and he really enjoys spending time with them, then cuts short. He offers to let them play with the dragons, he goes in the back room and Adalia tries to see in, but Nira shoves her aside and gets a look alongside Midna. There is no woman or child, but a large ornate bed with silk sheets, pillows, blankets, and a gold bassinet for the baby. There is also a door that looks like it should be part of the wall but is slightly wedged open, as well as tons of baby faerie dragons. He brings one out, Charlie. It blows in Nira's face and Nira becomes high and euphoric. Adalia also is affected as he hops to her arm and blows dust into her face as well.

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Furus tries to check if James is high, but he seems sober. He asks them to come to the ceremony, for Furus to play and for the group to bring a Shinze and a Liguaquide priest to help with the blessing. Nira knows enough about Shinze that she feels confident doing the spell, and Adalia knows water enough to perform the second half. They agree to meet in three hours at the cemetery.

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The group then splits. Venus and Belladonna leave to get the gold from the Bloody Baron. On the way there, Belladonna is very distracted, seeing something off in the distance that Venus doesn't quite catch. She turns to Venus, hurriedly whispers, "I'll meet you all later.", and rushes down a side street. Used to being alone, Venus continues to The Bloody Baron, but she is sad that someone she was starting to bond with left so abruptly. In the Bloody Baron she finds Maria Benneton. She hands Maria the note and Maria asks her if she is sure she wants it all cashed out now, she could set it up as an account to be split between her inn and The Red Pony Tavern. Venus says that is a very generous offer, but as she needs to split the money, she should probably take it all now. Maria tells her to wait a few minutes so she can go collect it. Venus looks around, admiring the decorations and helping herself to some of the honey candies on the counter. There are pamplets on a little shelf about things to do in the area and about the festivals. Out of a door hidden behind a curtain, another high elf appears, this time a man. He introduces himself as Arthur Benneton, Maria's husband, and asks if she needs any help. Venus makes small talk with him, and he recommends going to The Chestnut Pony Stables and renting a carriage for a ride through the parks. She asks where the stables are and he tells her they are right behind the inn and tavern. Maria appears with the money, and warns her to be careful as the town is fairly safe, but you never know with festivals, pickpockets are pretty common. Venus thanks her and heads for the door.

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She wanders around the square for a few minutes, taking in all the shops. There is the apothecary they went to earlier, a clothing shop, a smithy, a jeweler, pretty standard assortment for a town this size. She then walks through the alley between the Inn and Tavern, and ends up on the outside of a grazing field with several horses lounging in the field. There is a younger boy putting out hay, and as she approaches, she realizes he is a werewolf. They introduce themselves, and he says his name is Lorcan and his grandfather, Waylan is the head groom, but he is getting older and needs help, so he is training to be the head groom. Venus asks about Eleanor, and he says that the guards and even James came down looking for clues, but he didn't really have any answers. Eleanor was very sweet and loved animals, she would come after school and help him feed and work the horses. They mostly had carriage horses, but also a few riding horses and ponies, and one or two draft horses that they leased out to farms in the area when they were needed. He pointed out a very round Palimino pony called Muffin, and said that she was Eleanor's favorite, and right before she disappeared, she was trying to train Olive to ride Eleanor. Venus thanked him, and tried to search the field, but with so many months passing between her disappearance and now, there weren't any clues she could follow. She went to the barn next, it was very well kept and the stalls were orderly. Finding Muffin's stall, she searched very closely for any cracks in the stone wall and found a small journal tucked inside. With no-one watching, and the likelihood that anyone else knew it was there being low, she read it quickly, then tucked it in her pocket.

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The diary mentioned three names on the last page, Hannah, Onyx, and Matthias. With the only child Venus had any real connection to being so close by, she decided to walk back to the town square and go to The Red Pony Tavern to try to find Adele. She waved to Lorcan as she passed and he told her to come back later for a carriage ride. In the tavern, it was pretty busy, so Talia and a man Venus didn't quite recognize were behind the bar and Adele was waiting tables. Venus flagged her down and asked her if she knew Eleanor since her mother owned the stables. Adele said she did know her but they weren't best friends. When asked about the other names, Adele said she only recognized the name Hannah, as there was a girl in school named Hannah, but it was a common name, so she couldn't be sure with how many people come and go during festivals. Venus asked for directions to Hannah's house, and Adele told her to turn right out of the tavern and go straight until she reached the woods, it was a house with a big green roof that was easy to find. Venus smiled warmly at her and gave her a coin to thank her. Adele grinned, telling her she had been saving up her money, then went back to work.

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Venus decided to try to find Hannah or her parents, and see if she had been the last person to see Eleanor. As she was walking, she passed the group stalking/attempting to help a woman she didn't recognize. She made a quick decision that they could handle whatever that was, and continued down to wind through the streets. There wasn't a clear sense of straight as the roads twisted and curved, but she eventually did make it to the edge of the forest and found a skinny house with a steep green roof. The garden was overgrown with brambles and the path to the door wasn't clear enough for her to feel comfortable attempting to get in. Noting where the house was, she decided to come back with the group, and then made her way back to meet up with the party.

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Carindrina tries to flirt with Karkov and embarrasses herself, but Furus swoops in and plays wingman. Karkov and Carindrina go upstairs for some fun, but seeing as she was in an altered state, he makes her some coffee and they sit and talk for a bit until she is clear headed. After thoroughly enjoying herself, she found Lady Caltain and spoke to her about the note with what she thought was a title of a book that she found on James' desk. Carindrina compliments both the building and her "hiring choices" before mentioning that she forgot to ask earlier, when they were talking with Blitherby earlier, he mentioned that James was looking for a History of Stoneblood Manor. She was wondering if Lady Caltain knew of a book or something similar to give to James to "ease the burden of his father's passing." Lady Caltain just peered down her nose at Carindrina, "Blitherby asked for this?" Carindrina decides not to show her the note in case she become suspicious of Carindrina stealing from James. Lady Caltain presses her, "Blitherby isn't a great customer here, and I usually don't loan my books out to poor customers." Reading between the lines, Carindrina replies, "Well I wouldn't be giving it to Blitherby. Between you and me, I think he needs to change where his fucks are given." Caltain laughs, "Are you sure Blitherby won't be getting the book?" Carindrina pauses, and realizes that saying Blitherby is involved in any way is the wrong way to go about this, "By my choice, I would never have to see Blitherby's arrogant, condescending face again. His passing comment gave me an idea of what might help James. My goal is to give James something that will help tie him to his family's home." Caltain nods, "I have a very old, obscure book with a chapter about the history of the area." She pulls out a really small old book, with a ribbon between some pages, she has some notes scrawled in the sides. Carindrina gratefully takes the book and copies the chapter.

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Furus travels to the town center and speaks with Yvaine Stormhold about he acidic goo. She is very worried about where he obtained this sample and requests he leave it with her so she can run some tests. He agrees, and goes to join the group.

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Midna, Adalia, Galia, and Nira walk to the Rising Dough Bakery to interview the Mills about their missing daughter, Eva. Beverley was behind the counter. Adalia was open and friendly and asked to buy something. Beverley offered florettes, saying they were her daughters favorite, she bought a dozen and Midna stepped in to ask why she said they "were" her daughter's favorites. She explained that her daughter went missing and showed them the poster. Adalia looked closer at the picture and recognized that her daughter's necklace was related to the new gods of the seasonal pantheon, specifically Blissa. Nira bought some honey sticks and more pastries and Midna was able to sneak into the family's home connected to the shop.

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Nira asked about what her daughter did during the festival competition and she explained her daughter grew winter roses working with the Greenblades, the town gardeners to develop her own breed of beautiful white roses with red edges. Glenn Mills comes around the corner, joyful and welcoming them to the town. He gives Nira a large fluffy pastry with feyblossom jam and asks her if the fey have been treating them alright. Nira loves the pastry and orders another.

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Inside the home there are two altars, one decorated for Blissa (spring) and Etienne (Summer). This is fairly common with people who follow these gods, many see them as really one god that transforms through the year. The living room has a child sized chair for their daughter that looks like it hasn't been touched in a long time. There are four rooms, the first she enters has an alchemist's set that looks like they have been making magically-infused bakery items, but a drawer is filled with seeds that seem to be magically altered. The papers on the desk are not very interesting, it looks like mostly recipies for new pastries. The next room appears to be Eva's, and after some searching her diary was found under her bed. The room appears to have been left pretty much like a shrine with nothing moved for a very long time. She pocketed the diary and replaced the thigs she had moved. The next room was Glenn and Beverley's and was boring. The last room was a dining room, and it broke her heart to see that they had left a place setting for their daughter on the table in the hopes she would return home soon, even after a few months. She crept back and they left the bakery.

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Furus sees the group in the street as they leave the bakery and head towards the town square. He tells them that Yvaine took the "goo" and is going to do some tests and get back to them. The group discusses going to The Chestnut Stables or The Red Pony Tavern to ask about Eleanor, or how to track down her parents. As they look around, they see a woman struggling with two huge bags stumbling through the square. Midna walks up and offers to take a bag and help her carry what Midna can now see is laundry. She tries to wave her off saying that she has to go quite a ways, and Midna says it isn't a problem, then takes one of the bags. Nira tries to make her feel better, saying, "Don't worry she is very strong. Have a cookie." Then awkwardly places a cookie from her bag into Emma Ford's mouth. She mumbles a thank you, and continues down the street, dropping laundry at houses.

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Midna introduces herself, saying she is new in town and asking what do do in town. Emma says that they have lovely parks and you can go on carriage rides, which she used to do a lot, but now doesn't have time. Nira asks why she doesn't have time. She says that she works really hard and her husband is a lumberjack, so his job is really time consuming, they have to have lots of lumber for fires during festivals and it has to be harvested in a specific way to honor the "protectors of the forest", mentioning she is sure they have met at least one of them. Adalia asks if she means the fey. The fey have been here for centuries, she explains, and they must be honored for all they do to protect the people within the forest, which is the basis for the festivals.



Midna looks closely for dog hair and notices some up the folds of her skirt, so she asks, "I noticed you have dog hair on your skirt, do you have pets at home?" She signs, "Ah, yes we have a female dog, well and a male dog, and they had puppies. We kept one, she's a little special." Midna asked what makes her special, and Emma explained that she is a very smart dog, but was trained to do a bunch of tricks, but now doesn't have a lot of direction so the cute tricks can sometimes get in the way. Nira says the trainer must have been really special and quirky, she sounds like a good trainer. Emma became misty eyed and trying not to cry, squeaked out "She was the best", then ran to a door, knocked and quickly handed over the laundry. She tells them they don't need to keep helping. Nira apologizes, "We're sorry we upset you, have a cookie." Then awkwardly feeds her a cookie. She tries again, "Was the trainer close to you, a family member?" Adalia tries to step in, but Furus swoops in when he sees her struggling for a way to approach the conversation. They have a quick discussion, and he asks, "What can you tell us about the disappearance?"

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Emma smiles and tells about Eleanor spending all fall training Olive, her puppy, she trained her to do many tricks, but now that she doesn't have anyone working with her, she is a bit of a handful. Eleanor was really excited to compete at the festival. Venus walked up and Emma pulled away, finished with her laundry delivery. She said goodbye and quickly left.

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The group decided to head to the cemetery and prepare for the ritual.

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Belladonna's adventure will be explained in the next episode.