Session 67 - A Reason Not to Die
A duel won and a ring earned. On a Red Vale rooftop, Dristuul finds a reason to keep living — and hands Silk a thread that leads straight to Robin’s grave. Come morning, the party rolls east on borrowed wheels, and something out in the desert reaches for Jaruul.
The Duel
- Aldric Voss engaged Kailas in an honourable duel to test his mettle.
- Kailas won; Aldric yielded — he is too old, and Kailas is a great fighter.
- Aldric gave Kailas a ring — the Signet of the Silent Guard. He said it isn’t magical, but insisted it would be useful.
A Long Day’s End
- The party returned to the tavern, now called The Aurora Borealis.
- Everyone except Dristuul and Kailas retreated to their rooms — it had been a long day.
- Korin spent a couple of hours studying the maps, finding important landmarks, rest locations for the nights, and spots to refill water vials — all of which will help them cross the harsh desert.
Scars and Sleight of Hand
- Dristuul and Kailas chatted about Kailas’s scars — they radiate a deep blue, organic and moving, weaving like animated tattoos rather than ink.
- Dristuul asked about Kailas’s family. Kailas has never laid eyes on his own half-brother (Lucian Thorian) and tries hard to steer clear of all the politics — though he means to have a “talk” with his brother, cracking his knuckles with a smirk.
- Kailas asked if Dristuul saw anything special about the ring. Inspecting it by firelight, Dristuul found only a small engraved bird on a ring of pure, high-quality steel.
- As he spoke, Dristuul made the ring appear and disappear between his hands. The attentive Kailas began to work out the trick — so Dristuul used Dark Leap to teleport behind him, set the ring on the table, and declared:
“It’s magic.”
- Leaving, Dristuul asked Kailas to make sure the party doesn’t depart without him in the morning. Kailas agreed.
The Red Vale After Dark
- Dristuul slipped off to the Red Vale alone, without the party’s knowledge (save Kailas, who didn’t know where he was headed).
- The district comes alive after sunset — painted lanterns casting a warm, seductive glow, laughter from taverns, noise from performance houses. The people here are no ordinary commoners of Drar; they hold power and influence, coming after dark to relax and conduct business.
- Dristuul returned to “his place” from a past life: a quiet rooftop overlooking the district, with a view of the distant glass works.
- After 15–20 minutes, a rock gently bumped his back — behind him stood his old friend Silk, in a provocative pose.
The Rooftop Conversation
- Silk sat to his left. “So, are you leaving soon?” — “Tomorrow, actually.” She seemed disappointed.
- They spoke of how things were left with Lesha, and why Dristuul — not Robyn — was the one cast out. Silk explained that Lesha cannot go against the code — a code older than all of them. No one was there to vouch for Dristuul, and Lesha had known Robin for years.
- They wondered whether Dristuul might return, or whether Silk might leave and meet him elsewhere. But Silk is bound to the city:
“Drar is me, and I am Drar.”
- Dristuul argued she couldn’t know she wouldn’t fit elsewhere, having never left; some places had felt like home to him. Silk deflected, joking “This city doesn’t deserve me, I’m too good for this.”
“In all honesty, I don’t know if I can ever leave. There are a lot of people that depend on me, that I’m not sure would be alive if I wasn’t around.”
- Dristuul said he thinks he’ll be back in due time — if he doesn’t die for real this time — and that maybe then they could see other places together. Silk said she’d like that.
- Dristuul pulled out his Bottomless Flask; Silk reached for it, he was faster, and she threw herself into a kiss. (Camera fades to black.)
Parting
- As they parted, Silk asked: “You had something to do with Robyn, didn’t you?”
- Dristuul denied it, but claimed he knew who did, and told her about the barred bar (Abandoned Tavern) where Robin was tortured and killed.
“Just know that it wasn’t vengeance. He was doing very bad things.”
- “I hope to live long enough to come back,” Dristuul said. “Now I might actually have a reason not to die.”
- Silk pushed him off the rooftop; he fell backward and, just before hitting the ground, threw a dagger and teleported to it. Looking up, he saw Silk’s silhouette leaping rooftop to rooftop. He pulled up his hood and walked back to the tavern.
Ink
- Before bed, Sneid Arkmos cast Homunculus Servant.
- In the morning, Korin ordered porridge with cinnamon for everyone.
- Sneid opened his coat and drew out a dark mass, setting it on the table. From it materialised a small mechanical raven. Given a piece of paper, it wrote with its beak:
“nice to meet you guys”
- The creature — likely smarter than half the party — is named Ink.
East Through the Glass
- The party said goodbye to Tvil and headed for the Eastern gate of Drar to rent a Sand Witch. Tvil thanked them — it began chaotically, but it all turned out great, and he felt he needed a reset of clientele.
- Passing back through the Red Vale, everything was closed in the morning and the streets nearly empty. The buildings gave way to furnaces again, with people wielding gigantic tubes to inflate molten glass — Drar is famed for its glass production, and they passed workers mixing colours into beautiful glasswork.
- Beyond the glass district stretched the vast desert to the east, lined with parked Sand Witches, some being loaded with crates for trade routes.
Haggling with Sulk
- The Sand Witch operator, a man named Sulk, tried to spin them for more gold.
- Dristuul claimed he owns a tavern in Drar and that they planned to expand trade routes for fish jerky to Jinsan — persuading Sulk into a deal of 3% of volume on fish jerky sales.
- Sulk offered a “partner discount” of 25g; they haggled down to 20g. Ink and Sneid Arkmos drew up a contract for him to sign.
- Sulk told them to look for an Emot in Dravenmere — one of his business partners — to discuss business.
Departure
- They paid the 20g and set off. Crew roles:
- Driving — Kailas (after a big gulp of his “driving ale”)
- Guiding — Korin
- Supporting — Nyxara
- Mechanicals — Sneid Arkmos
- Watch — Dristuul
- As soon as the Sand Witch began to move, Jaruul felt very unwell — cold shivers, cold sweats, as if something far to the East was pulling him.