Session 57: A Guessing in Disguise


 * That morning, Sarienne goes to the Horn and Cider inn where she saw Jerome and Giggs being kicked out earlier, talking about Baylock being taken. She disguises herself.
 * She gets a drink and chats with the bartender, Davis, with some gold to jog his memory. He checks the ledger and Baylock's name is in there. He doesn’t seem to know anything else.
 * Upstairs, she notices one of the House Tharashk guards who had been roughing up her cousin before going down to the bathroom. She badgers Davis into letter her look at the ledger and an "H. Surtoba" is staying there in room 3, a long room.
 * She goes upstairs to listen at the door and doesn't hear much. She slowly opens the door and there are 2 double beds, one empty and the other has 2 humans spooning. They have House Tharashk gear but no apparent weapons; in a bag they have are 3 sets of ID papers; one is Haraald Surtoba (human). She hears someone coming up the stairs and she dives under the bed.
 * The half-orc stumbles back in; he has some bruising on his face and doesn't appear to notice anything, then after a bit he gets back into bed and falls asleep. She sneaks out and looks at the other IDs: Irving Samuels (human) and Thorag Ermine (half-orc); they're all listed as being from Wroat (Breland).
 * She finds a Sovereign Host reader in the end-table but nothing else of note. She puts everything back and sneaks out. She returns in time for dinner.
 * We discuss where Sarienne went ("I was talking to a nun… NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.") and Mogen brings Sam's dinner upstairs to him.
 * He's still very upset about Benny's "death". She reassures him that he was a giant asshole and we'd been trying to get rid of him for months. He says that this is his first real operation and he felt like "Cornhole" was one of the team. He suggests putting up a memorial wall and Mogen pushes through her reluctance to agree. Mogen says it wasn't his fault and he's comforted; she continues to lie that we told Central Control.
 * She goes back downstairs. We discuss whether to tell Central Control…. We need to tell them before Sam does.
 * Story: we don't know how he died, he went off on his own this evening, and never came back. The House Tharashk inquisitives let us know, we don't know how they knew to come to the Reichministry. We only interacted with them in a disguise other than our covers and don't know why.
 * We go back to talking about the assassination plot. Vikrit and Vesun suggest releasing Lenore and following her to track down the Stargazers. Sarienne goes off to find a carriage for us to rent.
 * We talk about keeping an eye on the assassin cell in Hearthfire Homegoods. Mogen recalls that the Stargazers have mentioned Brazen so that could be a way to tell if they're working with them; we determine they're probably not aware of the Stargazers since Konstadin made it hard to connect them.
 * Meanwhile, Sarienne searches for a carriage.
 * She finds a guy who carts around VIPs and wants it back before the end of the week. Its name is Bess. He wants a 60:40 split for what she makes carting around.
 * The rest of us check up on the Great Wight. It looks much cleaner. Gettafix is dismantling Yanger's tent; Vikrit goes to help. Mogen goes to chat with Dax, and Vesun asks if Orielle wants to have a chat (she does not); they head to one of the rooms. He asks her what happened and she says she ran into her friend Esme in the market and showed her around; then her goblin "assistant" showed up, then the gambling, then the joint… and this lasted a few days. Vesun reiterates that we're trying to keep a low profile and it could jeopardize the mission to let randos on the ship. He gently suggests going out instead of bringing people back to the ship, and she seems embarrassed and admits that Esme is doing really well for herself and she wanted to show off.
 * He asks why she's traveling with us and she's cagey and says, "a sense of adventure" but he doesn't know what she's hiding. He talks about priorities and makes his expectations for her clear. She seems to take it pretty seriously. (And admits the lecture wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.)
 * Mogen finds Dax doing something with chemicals. She says he can't just do whatever the hell he wants on the boat because we don't want to fuck up and get it taken away. She reassures them that she hates the government and we have no intention of giving it back. Mogen suggests he go to one of the many dingy casinos in Freeport. He asks when we're leaving and she says she can't really tell him, but the continent is a powder keg and we have to be careful. He says "don't be a cop" and she agrees. They agree not to bust each other's balls.
 * He also says he has been working on a fire-resistance potion that lasts several days in prep for going to the Mror Holds.
 * We leave the cart and pony (which Vikrit befriends) back at the Reichministry, then head to stake out the Hearthfire Homegoods at about 1:30pm.
 * We determine that "heading south" is bullshit and decide to use "going north" to mean going badly. It's about
 * Vesun casts Invisibility on Vikrit. Mogen and Sarienne wear matching stones and so do Tork and Vikrit. The two sneaky Sharks head in (Venga on Sarienne's shoulder), with Shimmer doing laps around the barn. Sarienne listens at the door and Vikrit sneaks over to the window he saw the two in the back in.
 * Vikrit can't see or smell anyone. Sarienne opens the front door and sneaks in; no one is in the main room. She goes over to the door and listens. She hears some kind of medium humanoid. Vikrit climbs up onto the sill and sees a rug pulled aside to reveal a trap door. He relays it to the team.
 * The trap door opens and Sivan steps through. She's carrying a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses, and she closes the curtains; Vikrit barely gets out of the way. Sarienne gets the lock open and sees the storeroom. Vikrit hears Sevan sit into her chair and lowers himself back off the windowsill. He relays what's happening to the team; Sarienne goes into the storeroom across the way and hears Sevan coming so she hides; then Sevan goes back into the other room. Sarienne locks all the doors behind her and sneaks out.
 * We reconvene at the barn and discuss the plan. Shimmer lets Mogen know that a blond woman--matching Jana's description--is coming down the street. Everyone hides except Mogen, who bonks into a barrel; her reaction is to whip a Hot Potato… and rolls a 1. She throws it into the straw that Tork (Dan) is hiding in, so she tosses him the potion of fire resistance. She tells him to drink half, but he chugs the whole thing. Jana starts pulling something out of her robes.
 * ROLL INITIATIVE!
 * Vikrit starts summoning a creature behind her. Vesun casts Silence on himself and dashes toward Jana as Joe Khorvaire. She starts asking him what's going on but is confused as to why she can't hear anything. Sarienne moves closer and pulls out a dagger. Jana starts backing away quickly and pulls out a wand. She seems to think he's mugging her. Vanesse (Dan) screams and vaults over to run at Jana. Tork gets out of the fire and shoots an Acid Arrow at Jana but misses. Mogen takes her gun out and drinks her potion of invisibility. Jana turns to run and encounters three hippogriffs.
 * Two of Vikrit's hippogriffs charge Jana and she elbows them out of the way, and the third one bites her arm. Vikrit runs over to try to put out the fire in the haystack. Vesun pretends to not be part of this and Jana seems to believe so. Sarienne jumps down and grapples Jana, wrestling the wand away. She starts reaching for something--her necklace--and teleports away. Vanesse collides with the hippogriffs, who Vikrit dismisses once the smoldering hot potato.
 * We discuss: Jana clearly saw Vanesse but possibly no one else. Vikrit realizes the assassins are probably waiting for Jana… and we disguise Sarienne as Jana. Tork realizes it's a Wand of Delay Poison and they cast it on Sarienne. Everyone hides, with Vikrit by the window.
 * Sarienne knocks on the door and acts disdainful with Sivan.
 * She gets the sense that Sivan is hiding something but doesn't know what. Sivan leads her into the room where the fireplace is and she pours a glass of wine for each of them. "Jana" asks nothing to report, and asks about our 'mutual friend' the handmaiden… and then they start laughing uproariously, and dissolves into Anna the changeling.
 * She asks if Jana really talks to her like that and asks if she's talked to Sivan at the shop before. She says yes and asks about "the handmaiden". Anna says obviously not well, we need a plan B, "some other way to do it". Anna asks if we can get Lenore back, Sarienne says it will take time, and Anna implies they think she's still with the Thraneans. Bartholomas, their human conspirator, has offered to do it himself but Anna thinks that's not likely to work.
 * Anna seems to be getting suspicious and asks about "our mutual friend". Sarienne doesn't know who she's talking about and Mogen tells her to say Konstadin. Sarienne says something about having planned this for months. Anna says that the message has been received. She says "next time I'll see you". Jana says it's not safe to talk there and they go toward the river.
 * "Jana" says Konstadin is losing it and looking for other options. Anna responds, "that's why you were doing that thing for right?" and that she thinks Konstadin will throw them under the bus. When "Jana" says yes, Anna replies, "Do you think he found one of our…? I keep mine hidden, where do you keep yours?"
 * Anna says she 'changes hers out every month' after what happened at the Starpeaks and asks about Jana's 'lens' theory. Sarienne bullshits about it and says 'we need to know more about what they do'. When Anna starts to seem suspicious, "Jana" says she's concerned about her mental acuity and Konstadin. Anna says, "You were the one, I know what you've done--no matter what you're protected or at least that part of you is."
 * She says "he'll feel it if it's on the back of our minds, why are you doing this?" She says she'll contact Jana. She says, "Is he going to do it? With Lenore? So we don't need to come up with something on our own. I know where you are--the toy shop?" She says we shouldn't meet again.
 * "Jana" says if she tries to contact her again she might be compromised. She says she'll "travel to the Holds" separately. Sarienne gets the sense that she's studying her face as they say goodbye.
 * Meanwhile, Vikrit goes inside and listens at the trapdoor. He doesn't hear anything.
 * He can't seem to find the magical mechanism opening, tries knocking but no one responds. He leaves before Anna comes back.
 * We head home and while the rest of us go to bed, Mogen heads to the workshop to work on more messenger apps. Sam comes down with tea in the morning and says he couldn't sleep either thinking about Cornerio.
 * "…He did love his sandwiches, though."
 * We discuss what we learned:
 * Jana is staying at the toy shop. She and Anna know each other from some point before and they don't trust Konstadin. We need to ask Yanger what 'lens theory' could mean.
 * Mogen thinks the 'changing hers out' thing could refer to phylactery, or keeping her thoughts in a written form so Konstadin can't read them.
 * Something happened in the Starpeaks that eroded their trust in Konstadin.
 * We figure out that Lenore's trajectory is toward the toy shop that we're aware of (Krindle's Kraftworks) about 5 blocks away.
 * Sam gives Tork a piece of parchment with very nicely written text on it to honor Benny Singh. Mogen says we'll pass it on today when we talk to Central Control for unrelated reasons.
 * We tell him to take a break; he says he'll go get ice cream. He says in a couple hours there might be people coming by with a bunch of bricks so Sam can block up the fireplaces. He also mentions needing to do a call with Central Control because they have something to tell him.
 * Mogen and Tork sign the commendation. No one else does.
 * We decide to call Central Control while he's out.
 * Vesun dials on the skull. He tells them that we received word that Benny Singh is dead. They confirm whether the operation has been compromised (no) and seem to care a lot more about that.
 * Tork (Dan) busts in to mention the commendation, and when they ask what for and Vesun says "dying" (and adds that it was truly his greatest contribution to the operation).
 * CC asks if Sam is there and says to pass on that there will be a courier coming by with necessary materials to dispose of any assassins in a suitable fashion--and not to leave them outside. We leave Sam a note and Vanesse behind to run interference.
 * The rest of us head to Freeport in the carriage, with Vikrit driving. We leave the cart with the valets and Vikrit hangs out with them. The rest of the party heads up to Yanger and Kalti's room. The door is apparently off its hinges, broken from the inside out.
 * Sarienne goes in and finds no sign of Kalti, Yanger, or Lenore. Sarienne sees that all of their valuables and personal belongings are still there, but the Stargazer necklace is gone.
 * They take out the cube to call Yanger and it buzzes a few times, but there's a strange noise when it connects--something else magical is causing interference. Mogen asks who this is is. Yanger gives his name in a slow voice, trying to sound as neutral as possible, but can't hide a hint of fear, and when she asks where he is, he says he can't tell her. When Mogen asks what's new, he says he has had an interesting evening. He says he wants Mogen to meet him at a specific location: the Farside Quay in the Brelish quarter in the late evening. When she asks who's with him, he says he can't tell her that and says he hopes to see her soon. Mogen hangs up.
 * We grab Kalti's notes from the room.