Eclipsing the Night
| Eclipsing the Night | |
|---|---|
| Date | 10/2/23 |
| Storyteller | Zoro |
| Tier | Trainee, RP |
| Player Characters | Sssst, Mantella Bright-Eyed, Illiam Elro, Bonko, Tarina "Taru" Autio, Batective |
| Rewards | 250 xp, 95 gold, 3 silver, 2 copper |
| Result | Success |
| Author | Batective |
| Downtime | 2 |
Log
The sun shone down on our search, a bright sunny day guarding us against the vengeful night hag we were on the hunt for. This would not last forever, so we had to work quickly. We headed to the gardens first in hopes of nature being a fae draw. Sssst, pronounced four-ehst, was the first to make their move. A cabbage cart, inconspicuous but undoubtedly worth the attention of your everyday fae. He was caught by the farmer dragging the cart along, which forced my hand. I moved into sight and began interrogating the subject on if they had seen any other fae, and after a few minutes it was beyond a shadow of a doubt that they knew nothing regarding our investigation. Once Sssst bought a cabbage, we were on our way. During this time, Taru had spoken to a farmer who knew a house fairy as a child. Not especially relevant to the job at hand, but the boy spun a good tale I'm assuming. Bonko picked up radishes somewhere along the way, and confirmed a seller wasn't a fae in disguise. Mantella figured out many people here were from a place called Greenborough, a place that used to leave gifts out for the local fae. Milk on the porch, a detail I suspected would be of use to us later.
Taverns, a place of messy repute and satisfactory respite to most. To us, it was the place to find a loose-lipped drunkard. In Little Monarch stood the place known as the Ashenforge Guild Hall. A location of triumph and tragedy, now reduced to little more than a place to wet your beak. That was our destination, hoping to catch a day-drinker with an eye for fae. Illiam seemed to have some history with this place, seeing ghosts in the empty seats of the tavern. Whoever this Bright Eyes fellow was, seems like they miss them. Shadows in the dim light aside, my eyes spotted our first proper leads. Two women at one table, and a hooded man at another. Outsiders: More likely to have seen fae than anyone in this city would've, most fae aren't fans of the city life. Imbrex followers like me are an exception, not the rule.
Despite Sssst's fruit-based approach, the two women weren't especially receptive. Taru was able to save it by taking over and talking to them alone. Imogen and Reyna, their names were. Sorcerers of a sort, glad to have found a less judgmental place. They'd seen fae outside the city around a month ago, which was our time frame for when they started vanishing. Back when the First World started getting active again. With a melon shared between friends and an offer to watch her perform at this tavern at another point, Taru schmoozed before moving on. Mantella had a far more curious interaction. The hooded fellow, pale of skin and red of eye, pointed ears adorning their fanged human form, was what met our froggish friend. Dr. Acula from Nowhere, a suspicious fellow who no doubt had information to give. Also clearly a vampire, but I'm not the sort to turn away valuable information.
With a little back alley dealing by Mantella, it only costed a few drops of blood, and presumably nothing more, to get us the location of an abandoned cabin in the woods west of Onadbyr. It was a bit of a trip, and the sun wasn't going to be our ally for a whole lot longer. The place we arrived at was nothing short of immaculate. Clean as could be, even with the animals roaming about. With the shaking of a jar, I couldn't help but tap on it and ask what the password was. Figured they'd have something going on here, and I was right, sort of. Old boy we spoke to was stubborn as a mule and sounded like he was ready to kick twice as fierce, the way Mantella and Taru were messing up the place to try and coax him out. We didn't get a whole lot, he was a fighter for sure, but we did get a name: Lady Analeth. Couldn't get a location out of him, but with a name and Illiam's fancy dream magic we had enough of a lead to keep this investigation going, with or without the old boy's help.
Sad to say, but it ended up being without his help. We went back to town and got him some milk as thanks, and it was a mighty dark night by time we got back. Poured the milk in his favorite bowl and let him know, then stayed outside to give him time to think about it. I heard him chatting with a good two or three others, and the group consensus was that it was too dangerous to go out at night. Mantella especially seemed to have blown a bit of a gasket over this, marching back in and demanding help or he'd drink the water. They kept telling him to keep it down or we'd draw her there, and sad to say but our amphibious friend's antics did exactly that. While he was feeding the milk to the camel, the doors slammed on us. Sssst and Illiam were trapped outside, and we folks were trapped inside. Sssst ended up turning tail and running out past the barn, where he got grabbed and pulled in. Illiam's a sort made of sterner stuff though, and stood their ground against that beastly lady. Couldn't exactly stop the darkness from moving in the night, but they tried. Lights went out in the room as we folks hid, and by time they came back on the two house fairies were dead on the ground. Taru could see some skinny legs from under the table, but the rest of us couldn't see much of anything. Certainly wish we could've helped, but it seems the price of our help was the lives of two good, if a bit stubborn and scared, old boys who just wanted to be left alone.
Sssst, on the other hand, met the third brother out in the barn. A lad named Humphry, house fairy that knew his brothers were probably dead now. Sssst learned they didn't like white coated animals, the original owner was buried about 3 days north after some animal cut them up real good, and that the barn was the safest place to hide from the hag who'd been terrorizing these woods for a couple of weeks now. I suspect this old boy knew more than that, but I wasn't there to question him. And besides, we had valuable information we needed to get back to the council. This darkness was still gonna be hovering over us for a good few hours more, we couldn't risk sticking around and getting Humphry caught too. So, we took what we had and left.