Useless Plans #WeeWoo - September 16, 2022

 - The staff are escorted to the temple and "turned over" to the hospital wing and Osiris goes and talks to Birel while Theophania talks to Marta about whether killing them and then Revivifying them would work

- They are given a small wing where they each get their own room and a guard is posted in the hallway

- The group drops off Volume II of How I Made Your Undead with Mistress Heather in the archives

- By the time all this is completed, it's late afternoon, so they head back towards the Blackmore Estate

- As they are crossing the Temple Bridge, Osiris looks out over the water and sees a mist has rolled in over the river, and this is not seasonally appropriate. It looks like it rising up from the river itself hanging low over the water. This is only looking south and not north.

- Theophania knows it's perfectly possible that it could be created by magic, but can't tell from here if has been

- The mist / fog is - for now - contained mostly to over the water of the river and a little bit of the lower banks

- They finish crossing the bridge and then walk south along the west bank to get a little closer to the fog since they were a little early in returning to the Blackmore estate

- Theophania uses her goggles to Detect Magic, but the fog doesn't glow, and it doesn't have an obvious source.

- Osiris leads them a little further along, and the fog keeps going, but it doesn't change much over the course of that distance

- Rusty walks into the river and walks along the bottom looking for the source - Tiff gives him a Potion of Flight (elixir) to take with him to get him out of trouble if needed

- He doesn't find anything staying shallow, so he walks out deeper out towards the center of the river

- Theophania gets out a sample jar and manages to collect some, but also she accidentally breathes some of it and it smells rancid, putrid, and coppery

- Rusty still doesn't find anything even deeper in the center of the river

- Rusty then drinks the potion and then flies straight up and sees that the fog extends south almost to where the tributary river (Ember Flow) meets with the main river (Sapphire River) and seems to be centered on the temple he watches for a minute or so before he has to come back down or fall and he notes that it might be slowly spreading

- The group then heads to the Blackmore Estate, so Osiris sets herself up in a room on the second floor that overlooks the river to watch the fog. This is unfortunately Julieanna's "studio"

- Lyrielle climbs onto the roof

- Raiàn heads to the kitchen and starts sampling cakes and breads and anything that was left behind

- Theophania sets herself up on the landing at the top of the stairs overlooking the foyer to watch the entrance

- Rusty stands at the edge of the foyer room itself and pretends to be a suit of armor

- Lyrielle from her spot Trancing on the roof, sometime late in the night, she is startled by a flash of lightning. It looks like it struck somewhere in the northeast from her location. There is no rain. That is the only event that occurs during the night.

- Tiff writes notes for the people with whom they had appointments that they will need to reschedule their house visits as they have a very strong lead on the ongoing zombie problem and she had a trustworthy looking urchin deliver the notes

- While Tiff is doing that Osiris checks on the fog, and while it is still contained to the river, it seems like it's taller, then she casts Destroy Water and a chunk of the fog disappears then the fog around the area slowly starts to fill in as the remaining fog settles back in. She then heads back to the estate and her friends

- They head to the cemetery near the Dragonfire Arena which was on the map under the illusion of the bird and is also NE of Winfair Hillock

- It's just after dawn, and the Arena Gate is open when they get there with no signs of additional / new zombie attacks en route

- There is a large-ish graveyard behind the village just outside of the gate where the remains of animals from animal fights in the arena would be interred after the arena events are concluded

- They pretty quickly find an area that looks disturbed like something was unearthed. 

- Tiff finds a marker, but it's badly broken. She uses Mending and can read "Giant Frost Bull" and a date, presumably when it was buried

- Osiris find giant, hooved footprints that lead off into the distance

- Raiàn starts heads the wrong direction, then Rusty gets her attention and starts getting her straightened out

- They are starting to follow the tracks, but then there is a roar behind then and a large, blue-skinned creature with six legs that looks rotted in some places, no horns.

- 2,000 XP ea for 49,090 XP total ea.

It's Magified from my Body #FoodPlanning #NotToday - September 9, 2022

 - Tiff makes a device that when you cast Detect Magic through it, the device will cause things with magic to glow for everyone and not just for the caster - Disc of glass with metal beaten around the edge and rune inscribed into both the glass and the metal with other metals. It takes all day and a bit into the evening. 

- Long rest achieved 

- The morning of the emergency council meeting dawns and the group heads over to the Hall of Justice to attend, Osiris attempts to grab Captain Swinson before the meeting starts, but she's holed up in her office talking to someone, so Osiris just writes her a note

- McNabb nods at the group as he walks in and takes his spot in the center 

- Lord Blackmore is the last to arrive (He's an average-height man, relatively athletic looking, with a close-cropped beard, brown hair, round face, in fine clothes. He looks like he might not have slept very well the previous night, but he doesn't look undead.)

- Captain Swinson comes in as well a few minutes after that and sits in the back

- Theophania quietly uses her goggles to Detect Magic, and the only thing she sees is the glimmer of a ring on McNabb's hand.

- The council is all men and all human except on elf

- They start having the meeting, and Osiris uses a heated bit of discussion to disguise her casting of Detect Evil and Good and she does not detect any of the things the spell would reveal, but then everyone is looking at her because he eyes flashed with visible light garnering lots of attention, Theophania has to help her smooth things back over after her spell is noticed.

- Blackmore seems very keen to get the docks repaired, and since his income is mostly through trade this makes sense, not indicative of his being the necromancer, though.

- They also learn that most of the damage took place in the western half of the city (where mostly or most of the halflings live)

- Tiff stands up during the additional business portion at the end of the meeting and asks to speak to each of the judges if they have any concerns about their personal safety

- Lord Glen Thomason is very interested in them coming and inspecting his place, so they arrange to meet him at his place the next morning

- They arrange to meet with and inspect several of the judge's homes, and Lord Blackmore tarries to the end

- Captain Swinson is still in the room, McNabb didn't linger at all

- Lord Blackmore had a problem this morning, his wife is missing, she never came back from the market, and he seems very upset about it.

- Mr. Henry Todd is also missing as he accompanied Julieanna, and Osiris suggests they've run off as lovers

- Lord Blackmore invites them to come and investigate and they also tell him about their suspicions about Henry Todd, the bib is shown and the portal to his study is told about to get access to that particular room as well

- They walk with Lord Blackmore to his house, and when they walk in the butler (Mr. Victor Windam) still looks undead, but he doesn't show any sign of recognition to them though and offers to bring refreshments. Also he no longer has claws that seem poisonous. 

- Tiff has an idea and asks to borrow his still room so that she can create a test with visible science results for all to see to show who is undead and who is fully alive

- Somehow the Butcher's Bib is a dragon's period panties (Side convo)

- Tiff comes back with a rack of test tubes and puts a drop of her blood in the first vial and it fizzles. Mr Windham's blood doesn't fizzle. Lord Blackmore's blood does fizzle.

- Victor returns with the cook, the maid, the errand boy, and Ethan Blackmore.

- Ethan Blackmore's blood fizzles. He is alive. 

- All the servants are undead.

- Raiàn: "When did you last poop?"

- They all have to ponder when they were last pooped.

- Theophania says that a Resurrection spell at the temple should put them back.

- They start their search in Julieanna Blackmore's painting studio, Tiff takes everything out of all the cabinets and drawers, lays everything out, checks for false bottoms, secret drawers and then checks everything she's laid out with Detect Magic through her goggles

- Theophania goes to put something on the table and feels something squishy, but she doesn't see anything squishy, she touched a paint pot, but it feels like a squishy thing

- Tiff hands the squishy, meat-feeling thing to Osiris who declares it to be a kidney of some kind, either human/elf child, a halfling, or some sort of animal

- Tiff squeezes her eyes closed and looks again and she can see through the illusion of the table covered in paints and brushes and she sees what looks like a cutting board with random parts like organs and vials. The table has splotches and stains that are NOT paint. There's another necromantic grimoire disguised as a sketchbook, which she gives to Osiris.

- The grimoire is also in Dwarven as was the first one they found. It's volume 2 based on his quick skimming and what he read of volume 1 when they wanted to figure out what ingredients to check for at Vianola's herbs.

- Further tour of the house reveals that the room Osiris and Tiff found themselves in before when they came through the portal is the butler's office. The wall where the portal would have been looks slightly damaged like the finish isn't quite right, but when they touch it, it's solid.

- They recommend that the servants come with them to the Temple to be Resurrected (killed first and then resurrected because undead things can't be resurrected, but yikes what a process) and that Lord Blackmore take his son to either the Temple or a quiet inn in case Julieanna is the necromancer, but not to leave the city in case she is just another pawn so they can be reunited quickly if that is the case.

- They plan to hit up the market and places Julieanna might have gone for clues and then stay as the only living people in the Blackmore estate 

- The map on the canvas has cemeteries marked, one near the arena, one near the prison, and a third one just outside of town west of town, which is probably the one they were under that had the cave in with the bodies spilling into the tunnels connected to the sewers that eventually also leads to the pool of darkness spilling over from the Shadowfell (?)

- 2,000 XP ea. for 47,090 XP total ea.

That was amusing. - September 3, 2022

- Osiris leads Theophania and Raiàn straight to Headpriestess Marta to explain what just happened and have their injuries documented

- There are three possibilities, either Lord Blackmore is the necromancer, he's being held hostage by the necromancer, or he has already been turned by the necromancer

- They go to Birel for another witness

- Rusty makes the worst possible joke to Birel and gets a deadpan "that was amusing" when they bond a bit over having trouble with humor

- They walk to the Hall of Justice after confirming with some of the guards around the Temple that she's in her office today

- They manage to get in the door this time since they say they want to make a report to Captain Swinson instead of asking after Lord Blackmore

- Captain Swinson suggests getting another of the judges (Lord Ignacious McNabb is the head judge)

- Theophania met Lord McNabb once many years ago when she was assisting Great Aunt Thessalie, but he was stern-looking with a commanding presence and she knows he's not married, but that's all she's got

- Tiff says they should go and try to talk to him, and they bicker about it

- Back to the Hillock they go, and they easily find the McNabb estate because the name McNabb is over the Gothic gate

- Tiff takes the lead and is extra polite and they are allowed into the parlor to wait while she goes to speak to Lord McNabb 

- The room is very formal, stuffy and not at all comfortable

- They wait and they wait and they wait

- They are finally led into a large, masculine study, leather furniture, red books, the whole lot

- They, mostly Tiff, explain the situation to Lord McNabb

- McNabb is "not a particular fan" of Blackmore, but he has no authority to order a raid or similar

- There is a large, fluffy black cat that slinks into the room at some point that Tiff is terrified of

- They learn that Blackmore and Lord Webber are usually allies, and sometimes he allies himself with Lord Thomason

- Lord Blackmore is generally well-liked

- McNabb thinks Blackmore is "too idealistic and not willing to do what needs to be done"

- McNabb says that most of Blackmore's income comes from trade and smugglers would be stealing profit from him (Motive?!)

- Theophania gets distracted somehow and asks if McNabb has a big unused basement because she could use a lab space.

- Raiàn tries to convince him that he could use a house wizard in the form of a house artificer is just as good as any other magic user as a status symbol (Patron?!) She shows him her machine that Cloud Writes

- They go back to the Temple to see if Theophania can figure out a way to amplify Detect Evil and Good or Detect Magic enough for other people to see the glowing affects than just the caster to see if they can prove Blackmore uses necromancy 

- 1,500 XP ea for 45,090 XP total ea.