Session 106 - Memories Fade, But The Scars Still Linger
In-game timeline: Start of session: 1490DR Mirtul 20. End of session: UNKNOWN (in the Shadowfell)
Our "Heroes" wander in this strange city. It is dark, miserable and confusing. They try to head towards the tower which they catch glimpses of through the continuous mist but often find themselves ending up in the wrong direction, sometimes further away than when they started. They need a plan.
Unfortunately, planning is not their strong point. But they try anyway. Talking to the strange, cowled creatures standing on many of the street corners and junctions seems not only pointless, as they do not seem to help, or even respond, in any meaningful way, but also somewhat creepy, as their weird clicking is very disconcerting, especially to Iwee, who is more used to gaiety and chatter.
They decide to initially follow Jaxii and aid her in trying to track a way to the Court of Empty Desires using her survival skill, for the first hour. At the end of this hour they do seem to be a little closer to the tower, still glimpsed only briefly through the fog. During the journey, the minds of the party seem to wander - grasping at memories past which seem to be somehow pulled towards the edges of their minds.
At a corner, the group arrive at what seems to be a shop, displaying sparse and not very inviting wares. Heading in, the proprietor was somewhat helpful, though they did need to buy some wares to receive any of her help - some rancid wine that Derrick and Iwee bought but didn't taste. She did also mention something about Touchstones, which our Heroes had never heard of. They find out that they may need to create Touchstones in order to retain some of their memories - the longer they stay in this city, the more of their memories are at risk.
They do manage to get to good directions towards the Court, though the "wine" they needed to purchase was very expensive!
Karoshi, hating mysteries, pays an exorbitant price for some unknown juice in order to find out more about the Keepers - the mysterious clicking creatures that stand on many street corners. Unfortunately, having paid the price for the juice, he only discovers that she knows nothing about them - they have always been there, and no one, to her knowledge, knows what they are.
Shortly after leaving, the party feel their memories beginning to drift away from them. Having spoken to the shopkeeper, they are not entirely surprised by this, and they are faced with the decision to try to create a touchstone to attempt to stave off the loss of memories.
Karoshi is about to lose his knowledge of smithing. He decides to place this memory in his holy symbol - he succeeds in doing so and manages to stave off the loss of this memory.
Jaxii, having used her survival skills for the last hour, feels the skills gifted by the Hunter being pulled from her mind. She tries to use her Hunter's cloak to retain these skills as a Touchstone, but unfortunately fails and all her improved survival skills fade from her mind.
Derrick hears Jaxii cursing in draconic as she feels her memories fading. He understands what she is saying, but then starts to feel his knowledge of draconic being pulled out of his mind. Risking it, he decides not to use a touchstone, but still manages to retain his memory. He realises that the benefit of not using a touchstone means that this same memory is likely to be the one that he may lose again in the future, rather than risking a more important one. He breathes a sigh of relief.
Iwee stands concerned, worried about which memory she risks losing. She tries to stop herself from thinking of important things, but this only serves to make herself think of important things. Things like finding Kardreth! This important memory is being pulled away from her as soon as she starts to think of it. She decides not to attempt a Touchstone, and the memory is pulled from her head. She still has a connection to Kardreth, and is aware of who he is, but she has no memory of the Mine, the black Dragon, the myconid village, how they first met Castallan etc. Iwee is aware of a gap in her memories - this is something she is very used to - but it is still disconcerting to have a gap in her recent history. She is a little quieter on the next stage of their journey. Derrick is pleased.
As they head off in the directions indicated by the shopkeeper, they hear a voice speaking draconic from a nearby alleyway. The bold and fearless barbarian Jaxii wants to ignore the shouting and cries for help. Derrick and Iwee run in to help and see a dragonborn being cornered by a Shadar-Kai with mastiff-like dogs.
Derrick is keen to come to the dragonborn's defence whilst Iwee, being slightly less impulsive, asks what the problem is. The Shadar-Kai responds that the dragonborn is a thief. Derrick is still busting for a fight but Iwee instead discovers that he stole some bread. Derrick pays for the stolen bread, albeit in a mocking way. At this point a flock of ravens appear and surround the Shadar-Kai and the dragonborn. As the ravens disappear, the hunter and the hunted are nowhere to be seen. Was this some sort of test from the Raven Queen? Did they pass or fail?
Moving on, the party decide to follow Derrick's lead for a while, as he leaps up onto some nearby roofs to get a better view of the city, using his athletics to do so. They do seem to have made some progress towards the centre after an hour, but they start to feel their memories pulling at the borders of their minds.
An urchin sits at a nearby corner, holding a bowl. Derrick places a copper in his bowl, but when Derrick looks down, there is no copper there! Derrick tries to persuade Jaxii to give the urchin one gold piece but she refuses. Iwee instead steps in and hands over a gold, asking for directions to the Court of Empty Desires. The grubby boy points in a certain direction and the party look over to check that path. When they look back, the boy is nowhere to be seen. Derrick and Jaxii argue.
Their memories start to fade once more.
Iwee cannot help herself from thinking of her newly-found sister, Poppy. She decides to attempt to keep her memory within the Touchstone of a silver locket that her parents gave her. She succeeds, and her locket is (permanently?) infused with the memory of Poppy.
Derrick once again needs to try to save his memory of draconic. He again chooses not to create a Touchstone and again manages to stop this memory from disappearing.
Jaxii adjusts her stylish hat and realises that the memories of her struggle to retain her femininity in a man's world are starting to fade. She decides not to use a Touchstone and fails, now wondering why she is wearing such feminine clothing. She removes her hat, throwing it to the floor, and tears the frilly hem of her skirt. Iwee picks up Jaxii's hat, hoping that one day Jaxii may recall her sense of style.
Karoshi, having heard Iwee speak of Poppy before she lost that memory, cannot help himself think of his own sister, Sakura. Concerned that he will lose all memory of his beloved sister, he decides to attempt to make a Touchstone of that memory in a simple necklace given to him by his sister many years ago. He manages to retain this memory, embedding the memory of Sakura in this necklace.
Setting off in the direction that the urchin pointed, they find a small, open area with a dried up fountain. A number of Shadar-Kai seem to be wandering, or shambling, around this square in an aimless manner, with expressionless faces. The fountain depicts a masked woman with birds on her shoulder and large wings on her back. The model is faded bronze, long-since dried up.
Karoshi works out that these Shadar-Kai have probably lost their touchstones and are lost. Iwee bows to the statue and spots a couple of platinum coins in the dried up fountain - she leaves them be and throws a gold piece of her own into the bottom of the fountain. Looking at the fountain closer, the little gnome spots a panel at the back that holds the fountain's mechanism. She cannot work out how to fix it, and so calls Derrick over. He tinkers around a little and eventually, with some help and Iwee's inspiration, manages to get the fountain working again! As the water starts to flow, slowly at first but then getting quicker, and cleaner, the fountain seems to resonate a dim aura of positivity amongst the dull, negative general atmosphere. This is enhanced further when Iwee uses her prestidigitation to clean up the fountain as the water flows. The meandering Shadar-Kai slowly seem to regain their senses and regain a sense of purpose and direction. As each of them come to, they start to purposefully walk off in different directions, some of them visiting the fountain before they leave. Before they all head away, Iwee asks one for directions to the Court and receives an initial direction to follow.
Feeling a little more positive, though with Jaxii still wondering why she is wearing such impractical clothes for a barbarian, they decide to follow Iwee for the next stage. The gnome decides to try to piece together all the parts of what they have encountered so far, and the directions they have taken in the city to date, to piece together the next part of the journey. Her Investigation skills fail her somewhat, however, and after some walking they seem to end up further away than when they started this stage.
They come upon a woman who seems to be chopping up some meat of unknown origin for two dogs that are sitting beside her. Derrick approaches to ask for directions, only to notice that the item she is chopping up seems to be an arm. Derrick is uncharacteristically polite and, aided by Iwee, gets some better directions to help them on their way towards Markela.
Cursing their delay, the party try to prevent their memories from fading once more.
Derrick fails to retain his knowledge of draconic. Immediately Jaxii and Iwee talk about Derrick behind his back in draconic.
Karoshi manages to retain the memories of meeting Iwee and their special bond, placing it in a Touchstone of his ring.
Iwee retains the knowledge of how to play instruments - much to the dismay of Derrick and Jaxii - placing the memory in a Touchstone of her flute.
Jaxii, having failed to retain any memories so far, loses the memory of the whole episode of rescuing her mother Tamara - she now still believes her mother is missing and possibly dead, or captive somewhere.
Worried about what memories they may lose next, they put their trust in Karoshi, who tries to use his insight to discern how the city "works" and is structured, in the hope that he can discern a route to the city's centre. He thinks hard, and over the next hour or so he manages to find his way through the mists and they do end up in a large courtyard before some large, iron gates upon which sit four, large ravens.
Seated at some long tables seem to be some Shadar-Kai, eating and drinking but with little, or no, joy in their faces or conversation. Some dreary music is being played, and some other Shadar-Kai are dancing a slow waltz nearby. A female Shadar-kai, who they correctly assume to be Markela, sits on a large chair atop a dais at the edge of the courtyard, guarded by some well-armed guards and mastiff-like dogs.
Markela ignores all their questions and suggestions, frustratingly. In the end Derrick, bored, sits at one of the tables. He takes out his purchased bottle of rancid wine, and shares it with the other nearby diners. This does seem to go down well, and he seems to be accepted amongst the group. Markela acknowledges his presence and Derrick is able to converse with her. Following Derrick's lead, the others ingratiate themselves with the "celebration" in some way, and they all seem to be accepted. Iwee hands over an offering in order to be able to ask a question of the Raven Queen - the others are surprised at her offering, which is the silver locket that contains Iwee's memories of Poppy! As soon as she hands this over, her memories of Poppy fade away and Iwee is once again, as far as she is concerned, sisterless.
However, this does enable them to enquire of Pristis. Markela "communes" with the Raven Queen and receives the answer that boons from the Raven Queen will be offered if the Conspirator's Visage is returned to her. Markela knows that this item has recently been stolen and is currently at a fort of Vecna near to their mutual borders, known as the Rotted Heart. They are safe from any more stolen memories whilst under the Raven Queen's "protection", though they are warned that they are not protected from the more general malaise of the Shadowfell.
This malaise is realised as they try to long rest before setting off. They do benefit from the long rest, recovering some health and abilities, but they are affected by the Shadowfell. Derrick becomes DISTRACTED (-3 to Initiative, Perception and Investigation rolls) and Jaxii becomes UNCONCERNED (-5 to ability and skill rolls)
Realising that they need to minimise the time spent in the Shadowfell, as every rest runs the risk of gaining despair, the morning after their long rest, they ask to be transported to the boundary of the Raven Queen's domain, with directions to get to the Rotted Heart…