ToA: Session 18

Dire Diaspora
As if Syndra's bombshell that she was dying was not enough, she drops the second round with terrible news; the nobles of Breland are making talk of removing the Cyran refugees and spreading them throughout the remaining nations. What this could mean for the Cannith house is uncertain, but we can assume it will only cause more harm than not. Also, what about the land we would be rewarded? The squad has questions, but no opportunity to ask as a booming voice calls out for-- who else but-- Fargus.

Great Galloping Goliaths!
Hurrying out of the meeting with Syndra, D-Squad see the source of this booming voice. Having no idea who could be calling for Fargus, as the possibilities are just far too numerous frankly, we are surprised to see it is none other than! Some....goliath, in a loincloth, wearing a snake on his head. Arran, the last servant of a serpent god. Of course, it had to be the serpent god Fargus killed. He starts to make damaging remarks about the group, and Fargus in particular. The dwarf is none too keen on dealing with the theatrics, which the goliath is less than pleased with. Backing up their teammate the other members of the D-Squad step forward to volley back their own barbs about the god, which gets Arran swinging his spear

Desolation, not De-escalation
With the goliath swinging his longsword of a spear right at them, Neb moves as if by reflex and fires off a non-lethal eldritch blast at his shoulder, in an attempt at harmlessly disarming him. His first hit ends up being so powerful he nearly disarms the goliath literally! Daedalus attempts to dissuade Arran from continuing with a displaying of his own firepower, readying his drone. Fargus follows with an attempt to intimidate the goliath warrior, managing to get him to take a step back. At this point Arran attempts to formally request a duel against Fargus, in the name of his tribe's fallen protector. Before Fargus can give an answer either way, Bucket hurries in with darkness and Neb tries to end the whole thing one more time as the Arch Mages prepare to do the same.

Party Poopers and Punishment
The Arch Mages dispel the darkness and separate the members of the squad from Arran, who now sits on the floor in a mild daze with a dislocated arm and a critically bruised ego. D-Squad is admonished for apparently starting the fight (which Neb continues to argue is not the case, but no one else saw the swing like he did), and everyone starts to head to their rooms for the night. There is a tense moment as Daedalus plays a harmless prank on Varys, who in turn brings up the destruction of Whitehearth, rightfully earning him a spot on Neb and Daedalus' absolute shit lists. The squad depart from the ship and return to the inn to get some rest and prepare for the next day so they can figure out what to do next.

Splitting, The Sequel!
The next day the squad decides to split their efforts. Fargus and Neb go into the city to find Apolie and seek some help in the potential upcoming trial or duel or whatever will happen with the goliath. The two are being followed by a native looking elf, though they choose not to acknowledge this fact as of yet. At the same time Daedalus and Bucket return to Alard D'Cannith, finding that he has completely replaced and in fact "retired" Rewis Fane as steward of the Cannith branch. Daedalus and Alard match political wits for a moment, with Daedalus coming out the victor, and winning peace and quiet to work on the forging Bucket some new half-plate. While they work they notice something strange; Alard used a sending spell in secret. Fargus and Neb meet up with Apolie after a while and have a short discussion with little information on what to do regarding with the upcoming trial. While he can only offer a handful of already familiar names to look into regarding that issue, he brings up a new one to the pair. The shadowmarked elf following them.

'''What will happen to our lovable squad of murder hobos? Will they save Syndra? Will they give Varys a nat20 atomic wedgie? Will they get to add an elf and goliath to their kill lists? Find out next time on Desolation Squad, Operation: Wait is this still imminent coffin or are we doing something else now?'''