ToA: Session 28

From Heists to Fey Parties
Determined to rescue Sisay's lost luggage, the party hatches a clever plan. Figuring that the frost giants would be unwilling to travel during the scorching heat of day, the party would have until nightfall to pull this off. Staying on the cautious side, they planed to strike at dusk, which proved to fortuitous, as when they made it back to the camp the giants were almost ready to leave. Fortunately, the giants had been delayed by Roald, who had insisted on bringing all of Sisay's stuff, Furthermore, it would seems as if they had believed they party's bluff, and were planning to head further into the jungle towards the mountains. Unfortunately, it was already packed in his bag. Thinking fast, they decided that Kinlek would make a diversion which Fargus and Neb could then utilize to sneak in and retrieve the goods.

Kinlek made the sounds of a dying dinosaur, think the giants would jump at the opportunity to gain even more food for the journey. This however did not temp them, so Kinlek stepped it up a notch and added the sounds of massive T-rex, causing them to pack up and leave in a hurry. Not exactly going as planned so far. Neb and Fargus set into a sneaky sprint, managing to catch up with the giants without alerting them of their presence (Though not for lack of trying on Fargus' part). Roald was the rearmost giant, making things a bit easier, but getting up to his bag posed a problem, and the giants were nearing the river, which the were bond to ford. While Fargus tried, unsuccessfully, to do the math of whether he could jumped that high, Neb sprung into action. With superhuman grace and a magic rope, Neb deftly climbed up the back of Roald, quickly rummaged through his bag to find the stuff, left a bunch of rocks in its place, and then nimbly slid down the rope, landing just on the edge of the riverbank. All in all, it was an epic display fit for the stories of the greatest bards. Sadly, it was only Fargus who had witnessed what had transpired, and he would surely downplay the epicenes in future retellings.

As they returned, Sisay was overjoyed at the return of his things. He handed over the complete records of the prophecy, and Daedalus looked forward to spending the next nights browsing its contents. It was however late, and as they began making preparations for making camp, Mictlautcutlc invited him to a party back at his place. While skeptical at first, remembering the last time they stayed at a strange entity's place, Sisay calmed those fears, and so the party accepted the invitation.

Party in the Fey Wilds
Mictlautcutlc led them through a massive webbed tree, and as they stepped in Neb immediately felt the presence of the fey wilds. Now it was definitely gonna be an awesome party. Navigating briskly by a giant white spider, which Kinlek identified as the ancient goddess Tautuacen?? (no biggie, just a goddess of water, darkness and "creation itself"), they entered Mictlautcutlc's court. Not wishing to be rude guests, Daedalus gave Mictlautcutlc a potion of liquid fire as a gift. Most would probably seen it as an insult to give fire to a creature making flammable webs, but Mictlautcutlc saw it as a hilarious joke.

Just then entered Maki, and all important Great Weaver and grand smith, welcoming everyone to "His" court. It would seem there is some dispute as to who runs things here. Mictlautcutlc barely gets to correcting Maki before Maki sets his sights on Daedalus. He launches into an angry bombardment of accusations, blaming him for stealing the secrets to the warforged, killing Alric, and parading around with a slave, whom everyone gathers was Bucket, just to spite him.

Daedalus managed to deflect these accusations, stating that E51U02 was free to do has he pleased, and that he had nothing to do with stealing Maki's secrets. They way he did it, however, left something to be desired, as he had set Maki up to lose face in is own court, something that would not bode well for the party. Luckily, Kinlek reacted swiftly, and managed to steer the conversation away from Maki's blunders and towards Maki's glorious deeds, of which he soon regaled to any and all that would listen.

Having navigated the rather tense social situation, the squad was down the partaaay!


 * Neb did what Neb did best: Create even more bastards with some beautiful lass.
 * Fargus got wasted, started boasting about his status as a Godslayer to his adoring fans, then started contemplating why he'd done the deed and whether he'd had a choice in the matter and oh god what if he was the real monster all along and why must everything beautiful he touches die and wither way??
 * Kinlek studied the local mushrooms, adding even more hallucinogens to his staggering collection.
 * Daedalus attempted to gain some insight into Maki's craftsmanship, clearly missing the point of partying.

Alas, the revelries could not last, and at the behest of Sisay, the squad left the party, and the fey realm. As soon as the returned to the real world, a wave of exhaustion washed over them, the toll of all out partying finally catching up with them. As they collected themselves, Sisay said his goodbyes, but ensured the party that he would continue his search for the Company of the Golden Coin.

On the River Again
The squad continued up the river, and soon they reached a swampy area. Here they found several tracks, both of the 5-legged panthers they knew so well, and of something... different. After some deliberation, they determined that the tracks belonged to Grungs, small humanoid frogs with a tendency for xenophobia and warlike behavior. Trudging through their territory would only bring trouble, but might be unavoidable, as it may be the Grungs who had captured the Company.

Continuing onwards they soon discovered an old camp, no doubt left behind by the Company. Furthermore, Daedalus sensed traces of magical divination, though he had little time to ponder what this meant, for a 5-legged bastard had snuck up on the party!

'''Will a panther claim another member of D-squad? And will they finally find the so-called chosen ones? Find out next time on Desolation Squad!'''