Episode 2 "The Highest Room of the Tallest Tower"

Session #31: 4/25/2020

2nd of Dalian 2350 of the 5th Age

Recap

 * In their private room of the Bloodied Bard, the party met with Torvald, Arthur Daltumel's right hand man, to plan the rescue of Empress-to-Be Florence Adimar.
 * The party stayed awake into the wee hours of the morning and decided to obtain practical disguises to get them through the city gates into the Slope, seeing as illusions were being detected and dispelled. From within the Slope, they would call on an old friend of Vendrin's at the Academy of the Weave, and then forge papers from a noble who supports Ireburn, Lord Nilus Graylock, to get into the Peak district and then the Towers.
 * The next morning, the party accompanied Torvald to a theatre in the Eastern Sprawl to call in a favor, thereby gaining the party its practical disguises.
 * In the Feyfound theatre, the party was introduced to Thydir Avithon, the owner of the theatre and Bran, a young human actor who, using theatrical skills, disguising the party using make-up, prosthetics, and wigs.
 * The party was able to get into the Slope through the High Road gate, riding the flow of people into the city past the guards and using their disguised and forged papers that listed the party's occupations as:
 * Lio - Scribe
 * Venrin - Fisherman
 * Deadman - Leatherworker
 * Kandra - Tailor
 * Zeevah - Animal Trainer
 * Once through the gates, the party headed to the White Hart Inn and Tavern to in the Slope to rent rooms and await Torvald.
 * Vendrin and Lio stayed in the White Hart while Kandra, Deadman, and Zeevah headed to the Acadamy of the Weave to call upon Eward Ignum, an old colleague who they hoped could help.
 * Arriving at the Academy, the trio was able to find the office of Eward quickly, but were stopped by a Divination wizard named Isteria, who warned them that Eward would report them to Ireburn. She also warned them that Ireburn had been calling on many of Vendrin's old friends and paying them off to report Vendrin should he attempt to enlist their aid.
 * Isteria told them to, instead, call upon Gareth Lyceum, an old classmate who is now Professor of Illusions. She knew for certain that he would not turn them in.
 * The party headed to the other side of the Acadamy and called upon Gareth, with Kandra and Deadman posing as couple looking to enroll their child at the Academy while Zeevah skulked in the back.
 * While talking with Gareth, Vendrin sent him a message spell so that the trio in the room with him could gauge his reaction. Gareth seemed flustered and quickly excused himself into a coat closet to respond to Vendrin, telling him to meet Gareth at the Raven's Gamble in the Western Slope.
 * Gareth then told Kandra, Thokk, and Zeevah that he would refer them to Ferth Nohn, the headmaster of the Academy for their child. He then left.
 * The trio followed him and saw that he did not talk to anyone on his way to the Raven's Gamble. Once he entered and sat at a table, Kandra approached him and revealed that she was working with Vendrin. She teased him and then allowed him to speak with Vendrin via her Speaking Stone.
 * Gareth told Vendrin that he was incredibly pleased to hear from him and was happy to know that he was safe, though he added his voice to the many who admonished him for announcing his intentions. He promised his aid and that of his trusted students should Vendrin require it.
 * The party then reconvened with Torvald at the White Hart, he gave them a stolen seal from Nilus Graylock so that the party could get into the Towers.
 * Vendrin wrote two writs making Kandra and Vendrin Senatorial Aids serving Nilus Graylock. They also purchased a two barrels of water from the White Hart innkeep. The party then enacted a wild plan.
 * While Kandra and Vendrin walked them through the Stormwall and the Tower gates, the rest of the party hid within Kandra's Portable Hole, breathing from the water barrels using Waterbreathing Potions, due to the limited oxygen supply within the hole.
 * Kandra and Vendrin were lightly hasseled by the the Imperial Guardsmen at the Tower gates, but were able to get in.
 * Once inside, they found a secluded area near to the central tower and set the hole into the ground.
 * Vendrin, Kandra, and Zeevah hid within the hole while Deadman and Zeevah, upon Tennebris back, began to scale the tower, using their non-arcane means to bypass the Anti-Magic fields.
 * Deadman used his Ki to swing between the spindly bridges, quickly rising the hundreds of feet upward.
 * About halfway up the tower, Deadman was clocked by a group of humans on one of the bridges who raised an alarm, however, the rest of the way up, both Deadman and Zeevah were able evade the eyes of the guards.
 * Deadman reached the highest floor of the central tower, and knocked on the door. A confused guardsment opened the door and was quickly knocked out by Deadman.
 * Deadman then carried on into the room and was able to bluff the guardsmen into rushing in the wrong direction.
 * Deadman quickly carried on through the floors to the topmost room and met suprisingly little resistance.
 * He eventually found Florence Adimar and was able to hurry with her and escape from the tower, just as Zeevah reached the top.
 * Deadman and Zeevah rejoined the rest of the party and Vendrin and Florence had a short lived reunion before the party ran for the gates.
 * Lio gave Florence a potion of Diminution and cloaked her to look like a child and then Vendrin teleported the two of them out of the gates. Vendrin then told the party where he hid Florence and proceeded to transform himself into a Giant Ape!
 * The rest of the party was able to escape among the flood of nobles who were fleeing the gigantic ape who was destroying the Peak district.
 * Before the guards were able to mount a resistane, Vendrin returned to his human form and teleported away, rejoing the rest of the party at the White Hart.
 * Their joy succesfully saving Florence was short-lived however, as Torvald returned to them, incredibly distraught. Vendrin's father had been arrested by Gideon Ireburn and his thugs.