The party returns Luna Whitman and Flora Shaw to their parents. At the Cathedral of Gradska, they find Astrid using the cathedral dome like a Detect Fey Cerebro, and using the Penance Stone to power Fey Extinction Event. Beatrice and Astrid use the Circle of Nerfed Blight against the party, but the party beats them and stops the Fey Extinction Event. They grudgingly give the Penance Stone back to Merrick.
At the end of the last game, the party found piles of "treasure" piled up around the harpy Duchesses's thrones in the Eyrie. The treasure was mostly shiny junk the fairies were attracted to, but digging through it though, they did find 1,000 gold pieces worth of coins and jewelry, and:
The She-Wolf's ship's bell
A heavy brass ship's bell embossed with just "She-Wolf."
On other warm-up matters, Elgis's character background said:
Elgis was accused of aiding the escape of a prisoner held under Council authority, an act seen as a direct betrayal of both his father and the state.
Were we to understand that Elgis was falsely accused? Fayne said no, Elgis actually had helped a lover escape from prison, and was guilty. Fayne had also told us that Elgis had purple-pinkish hair with a little grey, and I asked if Elgis was clean-shaven and if Eglis had a barber. Fayne showed me a picture of Elgis with a beard and said Eglis would have a barber.
I asked if the characters were right- or left-handed; Eglis, Haden, and Kiltak were right-handed and Virgil was ambidextrous.
I said that Virgil seemed to have a few epithets, for instance "the Vagrant." Which was the correct one? Dan said that Virgil used whatever would pump him up at the time - the Vagrant, the Vagabond, the Victorious, the Voluptuous, etc.
I gave Virgil an inspiration point for his colorful acrobatics at the Black Cabaret in the last game. Dan also said that during the party's long rest, Virgil would like to go to Chambers the Apothecary, and give Chambers some money to support orphans in the city. I said that sounded good, and/or, there were actually orphanages in Hollin. For instance, Ulm's Monument (which they explored in Game 2) was next to the Foundling Gate in the city wall, because there is an orphanage there. However, I believe we left the exact arrangement uncertain.
Mike had written a background for Kiltak, which he read for the others:
Ragnar and Freya Bloodbane were adventure who traveled the world testing there skills in battle. Eventually they had a child name Kiltak. They decided that the road and the life of an adventurer was not the life for a child and choose to settle down in Hollin. For 10 years they were happy and lived together as a family. Kiltak grew up and showed great warrior skills and the potential to surpassing his own parents skills. Then one night when he was 10 years old a group of men, old enemies for Ragnar and Freya came calling and murdered his parents in front of him. Kiltak was woken in the night the sounds of his parents being murdered. He rushed in and picked up Oath Keeper Kiltak father sword and attacked the biggest and strongest and the leader of the the group of men (you can make this person who ever you want and whatever he needs to be to fit in your campaign.). With Oath keeper in hand Kiltak swung the heavy sword putting a nast gash across the right side of his face from his for head down his eye and cheek blinding the man right eye. Kiltak took stock of his surroundings and realized he was not prepared for this fight. He looked at the leader and swore vengence upon him. Then he ran back in to his room slammed the door shut and barracked it. He picked up an oil lap and threw it at the door catching the door on fire. Then he escaped out the window in to the night. Sense that fateful night Kiltak found himself with out a home. His only possession was his father sword Oath Keeper. As he grew up he found work were ever he could. He grew stronger day by day. He found the best swordsmen in Hollin that were willing to teach him. When he was old enough he set out on adventures and seeking the man who murdered his parents.
Mike also told me in an e-mail that Kiltak was about 25 years old, and that he had served in the Hollin military from about 17 to 20.
The players discussed what was next. They talked about finding Laurel, and I recapped what they knew about her. In Game 1, the dying Ash Tuner had told them:
Laurel...they'll kill Laurel...Ulm's Monument.
And then at Ulm's Monument in Game 2, they'd found an encoded letter that told "Beatrice" to take Laurel to "Ishild" for his experiments:
Beatrice,
Deliver Laurel to Ishild immediately, for his Detect Fey and Fey Extinction Event experiments.
Astrid.
But they didn't know who or where Ishild was, and they weren't sure that they were actually vested in finding Laurel.
They also discussed finding the human children that the changelings had replaced, but again didn't have any immediate leads.
At the end of the last game though, they'd planned to return the changelings to their human parents, tell the human parents that the children were changelings, and get a long rest. So they picked up on those threads again.
They took the long rest, then gathered up Luna and Flora to take them to their parents. However, Christian was concerned that if they told the parents that their children were fairies, the parents might reject them. They discussed the question at some length, with Mike the main advocate for telling the parents, and Christian the main advocate for not telling them. (My transript of this discussion here.) They gave several arguments each way, but some of the main issues seemed to be the safety of the changelings and the human children; what would it take to convince the parents to temporarily care for changelings that weren't theirs; and what the fallout might be if the party didn't tell the parents, but the parents then found out themselves.
Dan was leaning toward not telling the parents, saying the upside wasn't clear. Fayne was quiet during the discussion, but when asked, said he was leaning toward telling them. Since they were evenly split, Fayne flipped a coin, which came up "tell the parents."
They headed for the Roundabout to take Luna and Flora home. On the way through the main Braddock square outside the Mooncalf, Virgil tried to pickpocket someone, but only rolled a 5 on his Sleight of Hand check. He tried to cover by telling the victim, "Sir, I think you dropped something," but the man was clearly onto him.
They returned Luna to the Whitmans first, and Mia was enraptured. Kiltak told Mia that Luna was a fairy, and asked her to care for Luna while the party searched for her real human child. Luna didn't believe Kiltak's claim that the babies were fairies though, and she looked at Kiltak like he was insane. Suprisingly, Haden actually leaned into Mia's response, telling her that Kiltak was "crazy." Kiltak decided not to tell the other parents their children were fairies.
Mike said he was surprised by Mia's response - he thought that in a fantasy RPG world, people would be accustomed to the fantastic. I think though that everyday Muggles in Hollin just think they're living in a kind of mundane Elizabethan London, so I stood by Mia's response.
They returned Flora to Zoe Shaw, and she was just as thrilled as Mia to get her child back. After Mia's response, Kiltak didn't try to tell Zoe that Flora was a changeling, and just gave Flora back as if she was Zoe's human child. Unlike Mia though, Zoe was a single mother, and she thanked Virgil in particular with an extra-long hug and invited him back for dinner.
Their changeling business was finished for now. Fayne and Kiltak went to Cotton House, to collect Fayne's new halberd and Kiltak's new greatsword from Kazola the smith. At the previous game we'd discussed whether they actually wanted meteoric iron weapons, which would be poison to fairies, or just regular non-fairy-poisoning +1 weapons. Now they both said meteoric iron, and Kazola gave Elgis his new +1 meteoric iron halberd.
However, Mike also mentioned Kiltak's existing greatsword, Oath Keeper, and I asked if the new greatsword was going to replace or obsolete Oath Keeper. Mike said that instead of getting a new sword, maybe Kazola could improve Oath Keeper to +1 instead. So, Oath Keeper went to +1.
Virgil had been holding the Detect Fey and encoded Fey Extinction Event spell scrolls the party found at Ulm's Monument. He now gave them to Haden, a warlock.
The party went back to Lofton, to the Cathedral of Gradska, to track down Astrid:
As you approach the cathedral ruin, you can see that in Lofton's day, the cathedral was the centerpiece of a major square with many other buildings on it. Although much of Lofton is overgrown with green trees, the area around the cathedral is brown and lifeless, almost scorched earth.
You step or climb over some large rubble - masonry that's fallen off the Cathedral over the centuries - and into the Cathedral's interior. At the far end of the interior you see a 55-foot wide pentagram of fire on the floor, with a woman in the center, Astrid. Astrid is chanting a spell, with one hand on a large black stone, and the pentagram rotates quickly under her as she chants.
Above her, the cathedral has a dome that's still intact. All over the dome, you see small dots of light or maybe small figures of light representing people.
Between you and the pentagram, you also see Beatrice - the woman you let go from the fight at the Penance Chapel. Beatrice was the one with an extra eye under the skin of her shoulder, and who told you that "when people come into the Penance Chapel and touch the Penance Stone to do a silent confession, the Stone stores their guilt. " Beatrice is surrounded by four devils, and they turn all toward you.
The Cathedral of Gradska
And then on an Arcana check, they (I believe Haden) learned:
DC 10: The "small dots of maybe the small outlines of people" on the dome are the locations of fairies in the world. Astrid has already cast Detect Fey, and she's using the dome hemisphere as a kind of Cerebro to locate worlds' fairies. She's now casting Fey Extinction Event as a ritual spell.
They also learned that the blazing pentagram was a Circle of Nerfed Blight, and Beatrice or Astrid would be able to move it as a lair action on initiative count 20. For anyone who started their turn inside the circle, it would do 2d8 points of necrotic damage on a failed save, or half that much on successful save. The 2d8 damage of the "Nerfed" blight was substantially less than normal Blight's 8d8, but the circle had a radius of 30 feet, so it could be moved to hit most of the party on each turn.
They also realized that Astrid was busy casting Fey Extinction Event, so she wouldn't stop to fight them unless her defensive line - Beatrice and the devils - was beaten.
Fayne and Dan both rolled a 1 for initiatve, and I gave them a sticker of Jesus saying, "DISAPPOINTMENTS ALL OF YOU." Since we gave Dan the "REJECTED" sticker before, I also gave Dan the Jesus sticker. However, I believe Dan used an inspiration point to re-roll his initiative.
Beatrice and the devils (which actually had Imp stat blocks) put up a good fight. I didn't realize that the devils' imp "Sting" melee attack would do 1d6 + 3 piercing damage, but also 2d6 poison damage, and the party had a pretty substantial fight on their hands.
When the party had taken down Beatrice and most of the devils, Astrid dropped Fey Extinction Event and took control of the Circle of Nerfed Blight. However, the party beat her relatively quickly. They took her down with nonfatal attacks, and Kiltak interrogated her with Guidance from Haden. With Guidance Kiltak rolled 26, and Astrid gave them pretty generous information.
They asked her two things:
Where are the fairies? Astrid said that Hollin's fairies were called "the Circle" because they gather in the fairy circles - big mushroom rings - in the forest. If they find the biggest mushroom ring in the forest, they might find the Circle.
Where is Laurel? Astrid said that Beatrice gave Laurel to Ishild, whose lair was under the abandoned Gramercy Books in Braddock.
Kiltak killed Astrid.
They asked Merrick what the cathedral was. Merrick rolled his own History check - a 17 - and was able to tell them that Gradska was the warlord who brought people to Hollin, and afterwards Hollinders worshipped him as a demigod, under Ajana. An evil faction of the Gradskan church - the Coven - took control of the Gradskan religion and the cathedral about five hundred years ago. But the Gradskan kings and the Coven were overthrown by Hollin's trading houses soon after. Merrick also suggested that the cathedral's basements could hold something sinister.
They debated what to do with the Penance Stone. Merrick was there, and they considered giving it back to him, keeping it and protecting it themselves, or destroying it. Surprisingly Merrick argued that he could keep the Stone safer than they could, even though he was arguably the one who'd lost it before. However, Merrick argued repeatedly and somehow seemed credible, and they gave it to him.
The northwest and southwest wings in the cathedral were chapels to Ajana and Gradska. Virgil and Elgis had prayed at the chapels to Ajana and Gradska in Ulm's Monument, and they prayed at the chapels here too.
Virgil prayed at the chapel to Ajana and received +1 Religion. He then rolled a Religion check, but failed. I said he actually should have rolled a Religion check at the chapel to Ajana at Ulm's Monument too. He rolled again for that, and succeeded, receiving the enlightenment: "The True Name of Ajana is every true statement that can't be proven true."
Elgis prayed at the chapel to Gradska and received +1 History. Instead of receiving enlightenment from the chapel to Gradska though, Elgis was hit with a feeling of emptiness.
The party returned to their homes or rooms and had a long rest. Then:
A messenger comes to Virgil's house as Virgil is waking in the morning. He asks if Virgil and the party would come to meet with the Volsteads, in the Company's boardroom near the Great Council Square (in "C" on the Ground Council Square map).
And simultaneously:
Elgis's former martial master Terian comes to Elgis's house in the afternoon. Terian says that his friend Burgess Lorentz is the captain of the Braddock night watch. Burgess's watch is based at the Mooncalf, and a group portrait of the watch has just been completed there, on the wall. Burgess asked if Terian would have dinner with him at the Mooncalf, to see the painting and celebrate. Burgess and Terian thought it would be nice if the party joined them.
Virgil gathered the party and they went to the boardroom:
Yorvick and Leona Volstead greet the party. Two people they met at the Black Cabaret are here, and the Volsteads reintroduce them: Anya, the Keeper of the Lion's Mouth; and Captain Burns, the Admiralty explorer. There's also another man they don't know, and Yorvick introduces him as Helmholtz, the assistant to the Master of Revels.
Anya turns to Virgil. She takes Virgil's hand and says, "Sir, I'm amazed that besides acrobatics, your...troupe [she glances briefly at the rest of the party] also saves babies and subdues harpies." She leans closer and says, "It's so...gallant."
Fanning herself and recovering a little, Anya turns to Elgis and says, "Elgis of House Lankshire, I believe. Garth's son."
Elgis rolled an Insight check on Anya and rolled between 15 and 20. I gave Fayne a piece of paper with the snippets, which he also shared with the other players:
Captain Burns said to Virgil, "Truly sir, I do believe the Performance contest was stolen from you. But if you will, let us tell you about our concerns."
There's been a mishap at the Admiralty brig in the Shipyards. Could the party go there and investigate? The brig is in the basement of the main Admiralty building, just called "the Admiralty," at Weaver Street and Ballard Street.
A prosthetist in the Shipyards, Voorman, makes artificial limbs and other aids for injured Admiralty sailors. Voorman hasn't responded to orders for a few weeks - would the party look in on him? His shop is near the Admiralty, near Weaver and Ballard.
When Burns is done, Helmholtz also bowed to the party, and said:
His boss, the Master of Revels Livingston, hasn't been seen in a few days. Livingston had been investigating the disappearance of Kent, the previous Master of Revels. And now, alarmingly, Helmholtz cannot locate Ella, the Master of Revels before Kent. Helmholtz asks, as long as the party is about town investigating, would they keep an eye out for these three?
Elgis rolled a DC 10 INT check and remembered that the harpies had eaten Livingston at the Eyrie, in front of Christopher Cotton. They also remembered that Cankerblossom sang a song in the Performance competition with Virgil, about killing the second-to-last Master of Revels and dumping the body off Lofton bridge, but hedged on whether the song was real. They deduced that the second-to-last Master of Revels would have been Kent.
They told Helmholtz that they saw Livingston's skeleton at the Eyrie, and he said hesitantly that he would take over as acting Master of Revels.
Here is an AI podcast recapping or discussing the first four games, from Google Notebook LM.