%% date:: [[2023-07-04]] %% # [[095_20230704 The Pearl of Preparation]] ## Session Summary > [!tldr] [[095_20230704 The Pearl of Preparation]] > Yussa and Xenia decided to send the Cobalt Soul tracker token to Darktow, instead of destroying it. Yussa then gave us a dragon scale to give to Aygonath with instructions to use Yussa's name, and then to return to Yussa if we survive so that he can help us further. Wensforth took us down a secret passage from the Dildo Tower to the docks. > > Xenia used his spellbook (aka Spectral Zeenoth) to scout for the hut belonging to Pearl of the Beach, and instead found three drunken thugs. Wally tried to convince them to just play some games with us, but it got tense and we got out of that situation when I cast Sleep and Xenia used his ring of obscuring. > > We found Pearl's hut and knocked on the door. She was a quirky, witchy, muttering old lady with a mischievous manner and a rhyming pattern to her speech. We showed her the dragon scale and the dragon coin, and she eventually let us enter her hut. Inside the hut, she revealed a door outlined in gold and told us to enter it and start the Divine Trials. ^summary %% ## Video  [Video](https://youtu.be/4IJy5zCm-s0) 00:00:00 Music and Halkin are shacking up, and recap 00:06:18 Note-taker, summarise lore dump 00:10:55 Andy clarifies the lore dump 00:21:06 Because Andy is a troll 00:23:23 Not destroying the AirTag 00:24:39 Btw we made Xenia an asshole 00:35:01 A barbarian appears 00:37:56 Second barbarian appearance 00:39:05 It's too bad Lulu isn't here to do the flirting 00:41:43 Wally says pretty please 00:43:13 Yussa places a thumb on the scales 00:49:34 Yussa's stationery 00:50:58 Divine Trials and insight check 01:00:38 Silken blindfolds and rope, just lying around 01:05:24 He just took us downstairs 01:08:41 Wally likes Wensforth's look 01:16:08 Heading out of the trap door 01:19:37 Dax's Futures and Trades tab 01:20:12 Third barbarian appearance 01:22:39 Spectral Zeenoth 01:27:17 The three drunkards 01:30:20 Wally shoots his shot 01:41:20 Sleep, Ring of Obscuring, and then Super Slippery Butter Bomb 01:47:54 What do we see on our walk? Everything. 01:50:45 A Chandler 01:58:47 We don't really need a plan, right? 02:02:04 Pearl's hut 02:05:28 Murathan really wants to poke her eye 02:06:22 Holding Xenia's twitchy finger 02:12:37 Naughty or nice? 02:18:00 Useless shoeless and suspicious fishes 02:28:43 Are we prepared to confront our own shadows? 02:34:45 Legs and eggs 02:35:28 They have the coin, they have the scale 02:40:49 That's where we'll end it ⭐ The encounter with the three drunkards. Love the failure of Wally's ruse, Dax's performance check, and Xenia's Eyes of Charming-- followed closely by a panicked Sleep, Fog Cloud, and then Super Slippery Butter Bomb. :D ⭐ The description of the walk to Pearl's hut really set the scene. I could really hear the waves and seashell chimes and see the vibrant murals on a shack at the top of winding steps in the rock. ⭐ Pearl is my favourite NPC so far (other than Music, of course, but that's different). I particularly enjoyed her mischievous mutterings and wicked word play. I can just *imagine* the aquiline quirk of her neck and the way she hops from side to side. I'm convinced she's a dragon, and I'm quite taken by the idea of a dragon as a beachcomber whose hoard is a collection of baubles and trinkets from the shore. ⭐ I love a good cliffhanger, and ending on the scene of her collection of glass throwing light around the room with the open golden door in front of us was a very enticing invitation. 🪄 More Pearl! %% --- ## Recap ![[ttrpgs/Temporary White Circle/094_20230627 Through the Back Door of the Dildo Tower#^summary]] --- ## Log The ultraloth is named [[Ciria]] and is capable of tunnelling through solid rock. There's a flaw in the way it was bound so that it's slowly leaking over time. [[The Calamity]]: huge battle between gods and mages. [[Order of the Spelldrinkers]] were formed by Erathis to watch the watchers. - [[ttrpgs/Temporary White Circle/The Cerberus Assembly|The Cerberus Assembly]]: rebuild mageocracy and have political order - [[ttrpgs/Temporary White Circle/Martinet Ludinus Da'leth|Martinet Ludinus Da'leth]] is the head of the Assembly. He was very charismatic back then. After the [[The Eve of Crimson Midnight]], he brokered the peace with [[The Dwendalian Empire]]. They have [[The Volstrucker|Volstrucker]]s to do their bidding. [[ttrpgs/Temporary White Circle/Trent Ikithon|Trent Ikithon]] is Da'leth's henchman. - [[The Crimson Order]] - kill them all, including the Cerberus Assembly - Believe that if they can release [[ttrpgs/Temporary White Circle/Desirat|Desirat]] under [[Mount Mentiri]] and find the vestiges, they can unite the world under the ultimate order of Asmodeus - Kind of like the Sith: tough brutal order is the only way because people are flawed - Eve of Crimson Midnight was a battle between Cerberus Assembly and the Crimson Order - [[The Ninth Revelation]] - they've infiltrated the political system - orphanages: [[Frau Peitsch]] believed in harsh corporal discipline [[The Soulfire Phoenix]] is dead, or at least that's what we know. Mount Mentiri Wensforth Xenia asks [[ttrpgs/Temporary White Circle/Yussa Errenis|Yussa]] to send the token somewhere instead of destroying it. Yussa calls a raven and sends it to [[Darktow]]. Yussa touches a stone on the wall, and a part of it moves out and opens up onto the outside, like a balcony. There are about 6-8 zhelezos investigating the remains of the roc. Yussa thinks we might be identifiable by the zhelezos so Wensforth may have to blindfold us. Yussa thinks [[Aygonath]] will demand a price that we may not be willing to pay. Yussa is hesitant to help us because he hasn't historically wanted to get involved or enter alliances. He gives us a teardrop-shaped golden object about the size of a small shield and gives it to Milla. > I give you leave to use my name with Aygonath. Give them this with my regards. They know its significance. Should you survive, then return and tell me what you've achieved and I can be of further help. Think of it as a test of your loyalties and my confidence in you. Wally points out it's a dragon scale. Xenia manages to get 100 gp worth of ink from Yussa, but Yussa is not eager to give "spare scrolls". We are taken by [[Wensforth]] to a secret passage from dildo tower to the docks. It looks like we're in some sort of culvert, like an overflow from the docks. Wensforth makes his own clothes. Wally seems interested in getting new clothes. We get out of the hatch. It was made to look like stone. We're somewhere with a lot of crates. We go out, and Xenia uses his spellbook (a Spectral Zeenoth) to scout for us. He sees three people. One dark skin, bald, with salt-and-pepper beard; one tight-shirted beefier half-orc, one human that's being propped up by the other two. They're outside [[ttrpgs/Temporary White Circle/The Withered Bird Inn|The Withered Bird Inn]]. I cast Sleep and Xenia uses the ring of obscuring. We run away to the north. [[Hosius]] is the drunk guy. [[Landon]] is the half orc that fell asleep. Right at the edge of the walls, there are steps that go down to the beach. Nestled up on the big stones where there are limpets attached is a shack. There's a candle flickering inside. The shack is made up of sun-bleached woods from shipwrecks. The exterior has vibrant murals: sea creatures painted as if in tribute to the ocean's beautiful gifts. There are seashell chimes that ring in the wind. There's sort of a door with a cutout in the shape of a moon and a sun like a window. Someone muttering comes to the door. Wisp of silvery white hair. Wizened old woman who looks like she's been staring into the sun for 500 years. There's a sparkle of wisdom and mischief. Patched clothing. Sea foam green skirt, shades of coral. If anything, she looks vaguely elven. She's so awesome! She likes to rhyme and play with words. > The moonlight dances upon the waves and the tides reveal their secrets. We show her the dragon scale and ask her about the golden dragon named [[Aygonath]]. She doesn't really give us straight answers. Wally shows her the dragon coin. She seems to love trinkets in general, but also particularly has a lucid moment when she sees it. > They might be faint of heart; do they have the courage? > Are you prepared to confront your own shadows? Will your actions shine with the brilliance of dawn or wither beneath its radiant gaze? > Sincerity and authenticity... they shall be your armour. The sun and the moon, they hoard no favouritism. Your worthiness is not in titles or lineage (Wally) or your tricks and skills (Dax). Maybe not even in your gods (Scura) or in the arcane (Xenia) or in those runes you wear across your skin (Milla). She invites us into her hut. There's a bed, sort of, but it looks a bit like a nest. Everything is a sustainability dream. She has a painting inside her hut, at the back of the cave. It's very Aztec art-deco - angular arch. It's in a similar style to the murals on the outside of the hut. ![[twc-095.png]] %% הכנםו hakanmov he kaf nun mem vav "Prepare it" %% She pulls on a cord and the painting actually gets pulled up, and there is an actual outline of a door carved into the stone, a door that looks just like the painting. She asks Wally to touch the coin on the centre circle. The lines start to glow and emit a bright light and the entire shack lights up. There are little pieces of glass in her place that throw light around us. On the door are the words in cursive: *The Tests Divine*. The door swings smoothly open. Inside, there's a passageway leading into a glowing circular chamber in the middle. > You still here? Perhaps you lack the courage. Perhaps you're full of fear. Time is still going. is this the way? The Bright One is going to judge your trial and perhaps you make your way from one island to the next, to the next. Bye bye! %% ![[twc-095-smiles-all-around.png]] %%