Gruenic hears Lucy's words and says "I knew there was something... I didn't know it was like this. Thank you for entrusting me, entrusting us with your secret." Gruenic bows his head, thinking. "Who were you to be married to? An arranged wedding? A lifetime of sadness I imagine. Do you know what other plans she had for you?" He pauses, letting her speak, letting her relay the whole of it (or all that she chooses to divulge) to us. He listens intently, and then says "You, all of you (he looks to everyone at the table), saved me. I would not be here if it wasn't for you." He turns and looks Lucy directly in the eye. "I pledge to you my hammer. I will help you find Sunneedle. I will help you carry this through to the end, to free yourself from your mother. If there is any way that I can find to break this spying link to you, I will help in that way as well." He stops and speaks to the party "This is the cross that Lucy is bearing, I will help her with it. And I will help all of you as well. But... for tonight, let us indulge ourselves. Fish sounds great to me, and a nice glass of wine!" Gruenic holds his glass up for a toast. "To the Van Gogh Squad! To Lucy! And may our ear bag overfloweth! Hah!" He takes a big gulp and flashes you all a big grin.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Garavant listens intently to Lucy's words, a scowl coming to his face as he begins to understand the role being played by the elf's mother. "Hmph, seems like very poor parenting to me," he mutters quietly just before taking another sip of wine and looking about the place.
He enthusiastically joins in with Gruenic's toast, finishing nearly all his glass. In the lull that follows, he leans forward a bit and motions for his companions to come closer and listen to him. When he speaks, it's with a hush and a glance about, as if checking to see if anyone overhears. "Aye, Gruenic, we'll help Lucy with her accursed scrying mother."He nods and looks at Lucy before scanning the rest. "I'd wager we all have our...situations to clean up, our scores to settle. And I'd wager after what we've seen and been through together, we'd all vow to help each other in any righteous cause, eh?"
He pauses a moment and yet again lifts his glass for a toast. "Here's to helping each other!"
Sila nods in agreement with the others raising her glass to join the Toast. "To defeating the wicked in this world, wherever they may hide." Glancing at Lucy pointedly including what her mother was doing to her in this. "What hurts one of us, hurts all of us. To the Van Gogh Squad!"
As the cheer of your toast quietens down and Sila rings the little silver bell, the male proprietor, one of the twins, arrives at your table. He is strikingly good looking, although carries himself as if oblivious to the fact. His slightly pointed ears protrude from under a mop of blond hair, messy but not unkempt, its colour in stark contrast to his dark skin.
“Yes m’lady, we have a fish stew of which I am very keen myself, and we can serve it with potatoes. Butter should be no problem also”
He speaks quickly but with perfect enunciation, a strange effect that allows you to make out every word even as they rattle past you at the speed of a frightened herd. He addresses Garavant directly, clearly remembering the fine tip and wonderful complement that the swashbuckler parted with when they last met: “And will your party be staying the night? I can start a tab to avoid any awkwardness, have rooms prepared ready for you to retire. Or baths?”
"Yes, that sounds perfect and more wine, I like the White, is it a local vintage? If you have a private room, laundry and a hot bath preferably. We'll just be staying to one night, much more to do.." then trailing off following his eyes to Garavant then back at the Proprietor, "Ah, yes. Will this do for now to offset our pending tab and of course your tip?" Passing him 5 silver coins.
Bree at first gets a little bit silent by Lucy's story. She takes a breath to say something about how horrible parents can be, but then holds herself back thinking a little bit more. Maybe parents offering to take over the family business aren't so bad... Maybe I shouldn't have screamed at them about that...
When the server walks away she says: "I'm sorry to hear about your mother Lucy. Anything I can do to help... We can do to help... Just let us know. I know how hard it can be when parents try to plan everything in your life." Then she quickly adds "Though in my case it wasn't nearly as bad." A little tear appears (just a little tear in remembrance, nothing more) in her eye thinking about how she left her parents and the rest of her family.
(( Earlier on, when Sila talked about learning stuff together: "Yeah Jill! We will get the hang of it!" (not noticing she calls Sila Jill) ))
"Thank you " Lucy says. " Thank you all… " And she says again. Lucy stares at her fingers, and can't raise her head, partly because of embarrassment and partly because of joy. She wonders how to tell her story. It is long, almost as long as her life. But like all stories. It's better to start from the beginning.
Luciferazen Von Weise Pflaume was born as the eldest daughter of Kylie Von Weise Pflaume, a great matriarch who revived the once ruined Weise Pflaume, and made it a powerful house of Silverymoon. Lucy was expected to be the next matriarch, a successor of her mother's magic, might and wealth. However fate slapped her parents face with cold reality. Soon they found their previous treasure was different from other children. Baby Lucy barely cried, instead she howled like a wolf, scratched like a wildcat, and bit everyone with her toothless mouth.
Lucy's parents took her to the wise men and women of Silverymoon to search for the cure of their daughter's unnatural rage. They visited wizards of enchantment, priestesses of knowledge domain, even artificers. All their efforts ended in vain. Only a very old wood elf seer told them that the Bladesing could mitigate Lucy's anger. But even the oracle said there is no permanent cure to their daughter's condition.
Lucy's life met another downhill when her father died to protect his wife from assassination. Lucy's mother is an archmage, competent politician and genius business woman. But as a mother and wife, she was poor at best. It was her father who brought their family together by sheer force of will and love. After he was gone, everything around Lucy started to collapse.
Kylie's love toward her daughter became a sickening obsession and paranoia. She built an enchantment tower to protect Lucy from the outside world (and protect the world from Lucy) , trying to control every last bit of her daughter's life with her magic and power.
Lucy spent all of her childrenhood in that tower. The bladesinger wasn't afraid of the vicious owlbear, she laughed at the face of the axe wielding ogre. But just thinking about her fancy room and it's flawless white wall makes her stomach twisted in pain.
She hated her mother. The hunger for freedom almost drove her crazy. But in the end, she still loved her parent. Everyday and every night, the elf girl practiced bladesong in her chamber, sharpening her skill so that she could harness her violent nature. Lucy believed that one day Kylie would realize her effort, one day her mother would apologize for imprisoning her and not taking her to the festival. One day her family would become… family again. But that day never comes. Instead… " THAT ***** GOT ME ENGAGED WITH SEVEN HUNDREDS YEARS OLD ELF!" Lucy stabs her bread with a fork. "The man is too old to tell his own name! And the hell if I marry him, I will become a mother of six adult elves, all hundred years older than me! What was the ***** thinking! WHAT DID THE HAG THINK I AM!!" She stabs, stabs and stabs again. Then suddenly a green flame leaps out from her fork and hit the fish stew in Garavant's bowl. (3 fire damage to fish stew!)"Sorry… I didn't mean it. I'll buy a new one for you " Lucysighsand throws away her fork. "Don't get me wrong. I don't hate my fiance. He is a few elf that I can truly respect. My master of bladesong told me that the man used to be a member of Knights in Silver. He was brave and crazy enough to descend into the Underdark and slayed a terrible beholder just to save one innocent child. But that was centuries ago! I know myself! If I stuck with an old man who spent all day thinking he is a young little girl or grumbling about some wine of extinct fruits,I WILL GO MAD! I will kill my husband! I will kill our servants, pets, and all the animals in our home! I will burn down the building! Then burn it twice so that there is nothing to burn and kill!" After a burst of emotion, Lucy sighs and leans against the back of the chair. She looks up at the ceiling, an exhausted look on pale face. "…So I ran away from my home,to save everyone else. Burnt the belongings of mine and left the only family I love. My sister… But my mother is an archmage of divination. If I want to really get freed from her, I will need something powerful. Something that I can use as leverage. Something that could protect me from mother's spell And that is our lost family treasure… Sunneedle "
Sila looks to Bree, "Thank you, I'm eager to learn and your work is brilliant. But Jill? You've never called me that before. Friend of yours?"
As Lucy spoke, the energy within her seemed to build and build, then burst from her like a storm. Sila was a little frightened at the outburst and moved to still Lucy, but it continued then exploded into magic attacking the brilliant stew nearby. The Bladesinger needed an outlet. They must leave soon. Would she last the night? Perhaps someone should keep an eye on her this evening? Afraid to offend but knowing she must ask, she leaned closer to Lucy with an excuse of mopping up a little of the Stew exchanging Garavant's with her own untouched stew setting his at the edge of the table as if done. Doing so casually unless he objects. "Lucy, you are obviously not ok at the moment. Should we go outside and maybe, train or find an open space to vent some of this energy? There are a lot of people in here."
To the proprietor, Garavant nods when Sila replies. "A private room and bath sounds like an excellent idea,"he says.
Moments later, Garavant listens intently to Lucy's tale and jumps back slightly (without getting out of his chair) at her green flame outburst. Still hanging back a bit, he glances around the tavern to get a quick idea of what the rest of the crowd thinks of Lucy's behavior.
He nods at Sila's words. "Aye, perhaps some fresh air for a moment, eh, Lucy? And for the record, an arranged marriage is no marriage at all in my opinion. You are right to be angry for that and more. You should be able to live and enjoy your life."
The tavern falls silent at the climax of Lucy's outburst, and there are gasps at the magical display. For a moment it looks like the crowd could teeter either way - uproar or fear - but then the male twin jumps on top of a table and declares, arms outstretched, "And that's all you get for free, ladies and gents! Now back to your own affairs, the show is over!"
He bows theatrically and the crowd erupts into laughter, returning to their drinks and arguments. He jumps down from the table, heads over to your booth and drops five keys in front of you.
"Eleria - my sister - is drawing your baths upstairs. It might be time to head to your rooms and take the weight off your feet, friends"
He sounds sincere and friendly, and a few pairs of eyes still linger your way from the crowd behind him.
Sila thanks him and says, "Perhaps it is. A hot bath sounds splendid. Might be just the thing." She collects the keys and passes them to her friends around the table.
You all (presumably) make your way upstairs where the bus boy and the male twin - he reveals his name is Tarrence - unlock and open doors as you reach them. There are enough for one each, or you can share rooms if you prefer.
The bath room has three tubs, each one almost filled to the brim with hot water and protected by its own modesty screen. A small selection of bath oils are available, which might seem either luxurious or meagre, depending upon your upbringing.
You are all able to clean and relax yourselves, pass clothing to the bus boy (Heggby) for cleaning and even summon food to the room.
(I will move us on to the next morning unless anyone has any errands to run during the night?)
Hearing three baths are set up in the room already, she looks quickly, apologetically at the males in the group, grabs the arms of the females and drags them down the hall to the room with the baths. (Not forcing, just encouragingly eager - with a girls lets have a spa day joviality!) Trying to take Lucy's mind off of her life stresses. She will make full use of services including laundry and food to relax some, then realizing time spent and the others likely wanting their turn, will slip out dress and return to her room. (paying appropriately for services requested and tipping an additional silver to Heggby.)
Of separate note, she would not be comfortable leaving her items in her room and will pile them all in the corner of the Bathing room in view keeping daggers close by out of habit vs fear of Heggby
Gruenic takes off his chain mail and underclothes and places them over a chair, although by the smell of it, likely they could stand by themselves. After everyone is clear and toward the end of the bathing cycle, he tip-toes down the hall to the bath with a towel around his nether regions. This is a significant luxury to him, he has not had anything like this in a loooong while. He samples the various bath oils and smells very confusing when he leaves, a mixture of apricot, melon, honey and orc. He sneaks back down the hall and heads into his room. He kneels by his bed and says a prayer to Selune. "Make me strong, my lady. Help me to defend those who need it. Help me to protect my friends. As always, I will spread your name whenever I can, let me seek opportunities to do so, listen for those who need to hear about you." He wakes up the next morning and feels - changed. Stronger. Able to put the armor to good use, he is ready. And smelling strange. Pleasant, but strange.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
" I'm fine! I…" Lucy snaps at her friends. Then she sees them. " I…I…" Sila's face, Caravant's face, everyone's face. They are so familiar to her. When someone takes wrong steps, when Lucy loses her balance and spills her emotions, the people around her always wear the same expression. "You are right. I'm not okay at all." She pushes away her fish stew. "I'm not hungry anymore. But I do need a bath. Ha! I can believe I haven't washed myself for such a long time!"
Lucy takes off her clothes and jumps into the tub the moment they enter the bathroom. The tub isn't like the one in her home which Lucy can easily swim around. And there is no 10 feet long shelf filled with all kinds of oils, soaps and other portions that she can't even name. But the hot water is insanely comfortable. Lucy feels her tension, anger and regrets all melt from her skin. She sinks under the water, sees her golden hair floating in the tub like some kind of water-flower. When Lucy cannot hold her breath, she resurfaces, looking at her friends and says. "Thank you, for…hum… caring for me and staying with me" Then she sinks back into the water again.
That night, Lucy doesn't recall any memory of her mother. Instead she revisits the time when her father takes his daughters to a picnic three days before he fell under the poison blade of a drow assassin. It was the last day Lucy played outside with her family. The most,and maybe the only peaceful moment of her life.
Bree joins Sila and Lucy to the baths. After a while relaxing in the bath she says to Sila: "Sorry for calling you Jill earlier. She is my sister. Apparently I'm missing my family more than I'd like to admit. You remind me of her. When we were young we would always try new things together and stuff." Then Lucy get's out of the water and thanks them: "Of course! Still have to get used to your intensity. But we are here for you." When Lucy goes back under Bree adds: "I don't like complaining about my perfectly loving family when she's around 😅. We should visit them sometime when we are near. My father would love you! And he's an amazing weaver and would love to learn you a thing or two!"
After the bath Bree will take some time fidling with her skirt, embroidering some new patterns on them that come to her in her mind.
Garavant goes to his room and efficiently removes his pack, weapons, studded leather armor, boots and more, pausing after he's down to his underclothes. He then takes off his shirt and checks the remnants of scars and scabs, thanking fortune for his quick feet and the healing provided by his newfound friends. Clad only in his underbreeches (is that a word?), he stretches out, working out the kinks caused by all the recent action and sleeping on the ground. He takes up the hand crossbow and practices with it a bit, working on developing a quick-loading technique, but not firing any bolts at the room's walls. He engages in a brief workout, spinning, tumbling, etc. He hopes there's enough noise in general that whomever's below him won't think something odd is going on.
He slips his stuff under the bed, using his camp blanket to cover things up. After a pause, he pulls the rapier out and decides to keep it with him, along with a few coins. He looks at the blade and catches a reflected glimpse of his unshaven (though undeniably handsome) face and messy (though pleasntly golden) hair. "Not to worry, Andras,"he says with a grin. "You're still looking good."
With that, he leaves the room (still clad only in his underbreeches), holding the rapier scabbard in one hand, the hilt end over his shoulder. He saunters down to the bath as Gruenic is leaving, and looks about to find a clean-ish bathtub where he can soak in silence and recharge his energy.
A hot bath, clean clothes and a good sleep is an amazing thing after all the trials and tribulations of the previous few days. The next morning you gather in the Griffon's Nest's common room, ushered to your booth once more by Heggby. As breakfast is prepared and brought over to order, you discuss your plans for the day ahead.
(Please process a Long Rest and deduct 1gp for living expenses, including food, drink and lodging for the night just passed)
(This is also an ideal point to level up! Please move yourself to 2,700xp and level 4 - congratulations!)
Sila smiles at the offer from Bree to meet her parents sometime. "I'd love to. Wasn't really close with my own. They weren't bad, we just weren't that sort of family." Then soothing the needle pricks on her fingers from prior sewing attempts, "I bet he could teach me a lot! You are very talented."
Bright and early, Sila does her morning exercises then heads down to the common room for more food and friendship. She'll need to gather the skins from the Outfitter and see how Greunic looks in his new armor, work out some tools to practice newly developing skills, and then they are off for the day. She goes outside and gathers some pieces of wood to start working into tokens just prior to sitting and taking out her tools, careful of the table, she starts to work.
(leveled up to 4th adding Skilled and new proficiencies, so will be looking over Bree's shoulder frequently when she does any needlework to perfect her own.)
Gruenic comes down to breakfast in plain clothes, carrying his chain mail in a sack. "I can't wait to see what he's made, I must head over to see Wes this morning!" Gruenic joins Sila in her morning exercises, working on his flexibility and unarmed strikes, taking notes from the monk. After breakfast and exercise, he heads over to Smith and Wes (son)'s store, practically bouncing in his steps.
"I've brought you my old armor" (he holds up his chain mail, at arms length, crinkling his nose), "to see what you can do with it. I know you may not be able to give me much, but if you can use it I would like to trade it in with you. How much would it be worth to you?" He accepts what Wes has to offer, then looks at the plate mail. "May I?" He steps out of sight for a moment and puts on the plate mail, checking the fit. He marches back into the room with a huge grin ear to ear, admiring the V on the front and the symbol of his Lady on his chest. After he concludes his business with Wes, he proudly marches back to the Griffon's Nest to show off his new armor to Lucy, Bree, Garavant and Sila. "What do you think? How are the ear tokens coming?"
(Gruenic processes a level up to gain a level of fighter, he seems ready and raring to leave Blasingdell and head toward adventure, and to finding Sunneedle!)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
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Gruenic hears Lucy's words and says "I knew there was something... I didn't know it was like this. Thank you for entrusting me, entrusting us with your secret." Gruenic bows his head, thinking. "Who were you to be married to? An arranged wedding? A lifetime of sadness I imagine. Do you know what other plans she had for you?" He pauses, letting her speak, letting her relay the whole of it (or all that she chooses to divulge) to us. He listens intently, and then says "You, all of you (he looks to everyone at the table), saved me. I would not be here if it wasn't for you." He turns and looks Lucy directly in the eye. "I pledge to you my hammer. I will help you find Sunneedle. I will help you carry this through to the end, to free yourself from your mother. If there is any way that I can find to break this spying link to you, I will help in that way as well." He stops and speaks to the party "This is the cross that Lucy is bearing, I will help her with it. And I will help all of you as well. But... for tonight, let us indulge ourselves. Fish sounds great to me, and a nice glass of wine!" Gruenic holds his glass up for a toast. "To the Van Gogh Squad! To Lucy! And may our ear bag overfloweth! Hah!" He takes a big gulp and flashes you all a big grin.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Garavant listens intently to Lucy's words, a scowl coming to his face as he begins to understand the role being played by the elf's mother. "Hmph, seems like very poor parenting to me," he mutters quietly just before taking another sip of wine and looking about the place.
He enthusiastically joins in with Gruenic's toast, finishing nearly all his glass. In the lull that follows, he leans forward a bit and motions for his companions to come closer and listen to him. When he speaks, it's with a hush and a glance about, as if checking to see if anyone overhears. "Aye, Gruenic, we'll help Lucy with her accursed scrying mother." He nods and looks at Lucy before scanning the rest. "I'd wager we all have our...situations to clean up, our scores to settle. And I'd wager after what we've seen and been through together, we'd all vow to help each other in any righteous cause, eh?"
He pauses a moment and yet again lifts his glass for a toast. "Here's to helping each other!"
Sila nods in agreement with the others raising her glass to join the Toast. "To defeating the wicked in this world, wherever they may hide." Glancing at Lucy pointedly including what her mother was doing to her in this. "What hurts one of us, hurts all of us. To the Van Gogh Squad!"
As the cheer of your toast quietens down and Sila rings the little silver bell, the male proprietor, one of the twins, arrives at your table. He is strikingly good looking, although carries himself as if oblivious to the fact. His slightly pointed ears protrude from under a mop of blond hair, messy but not unkempt, its colour in stark contrast to his dark skin.
“Yes m’lady, we have a fish stew of which I am very keen myself, and we can serve it with potatoes. Butter should be no problem also”
He speaks quickly but with perfect enunciation, a strange effect that allows you to make out every word even as they rattle past you at the speed of a frightened herd. He addresses Garavant directly, clearly remembering the fine tip and wonderful complement that the swashbuckler parted with when they last met: “And will your party be staying the night? I can start a tab to avoid any awkwardness, have rooms prepared ready for you to retire. Or baths?”
"Yes, that sounds perfect and more wine, I like the White, is it a local vintage? If you have a private room, laundry and a hot bath preferably. We'll just be staying to one night, much more to do.." then trailing off following his eyes to Garavant then back at the Proprietor, "Ah, yes. Will this do for now to offset our pending tab and of course your tip?" Passing him 5 silver coins.
Bree at first gets a little bit silent by Lucy's story. She takes a breath to say something about how horrible parents can be, but then holds herself back thinking a little bit more. Maybe parents offering to take over the family business aren't so bad... Maybe I shouldn't have screamed at them about that...
When the server walks away she says: "I'm sorry to hear about your mother Lucy. Anything I can do to help... We can do to help... Just let us know. I know how hard it can be when parents try to plan everything in your life." Then she quickly adds "Though in my case it wasn't nearly as bad." A little tear appears (just a little tear in remembrance, nothing more) in her eye thinking about how she left her parents and the rest of her family.
(( Earlier on, when Sila talked about learning stuff together: "Yeah Jill! We will get the hang of it!" (not noticing she calls Sila Jill) ))
"Thank you " Lucy says. " Thank you all… " And she says again. Lucy stares at her fingers, and can't raise her head, partly because of embarrassment and partly because of joy. She wonders how to tell her story. It is long, almost as long as her life. But like all stories. It's better to start from the beginning.
Luciferazen Von Weise Pflaume was born as the eldest daughter of Kylie Von Weise Pflaume, a great matriarch who revived the once ruined Weise Pflaume, and made it a powerful house of Silverymoon. Lucy was expected to be the next matriarch, a successor of her mother's magic, might and wealth. However fate slapped her parents face with cold reality. Soon they found their previous treasure was different from other children. Baby Lucy barely cried, instead she howled like a wolf, scratched like a wildcat, and bit everyone with her toothless mouth.
Lucy's parents took her to the wise men and women of Silverymoon to search for the cure of their daughter's unnatural rage. They visited wizards of enchantment, priestesses of knowledge domain, even artificers. All their efforts ended in vain. Only a very old wood elf seer told them that the Bladesing could mitigate Lucy's anger. But even the oracle said there is no permanent cure to their daughter's condition.
Lucy's life met another downhill when her father died to protect his wife from assassination. Lucy's mother is an archmage, competent politician and genius business woman. But as a mother and wife, she was poor at best. It was her father who brought their family together by sheer force of will and love. After he was gone, everything around Lucy started to collapse.
Kylie's love toward her daughter became a sickening obsession and paranoia. She built an enchantment tower to protect Lucy from the outside world (and protect the world from Lucy) , trying to control every last bit of her daughter's life with her magic and power.
Lucy spent all of her childrenhood in that tower. The bladesinger wasn't afraid of the vicious owlbear, she laughed at the face of the axe wielding ogre. But just thinking about her fancy room and it's flawless white wall makes her stomach twisted in pain.
She hated her mother. The hunger for freedom almost drove her crazy. But in the end, she still loved her parent. Everyday and every night, the elf girl practiced bladesong in her chamber, sharpening her skill so that she could harness her violent nature. Lucy believed that one day Kylie would realize her effort, one day her mother would apologize for imprisoning her and not taking her to the festival. One day her family would become… family again. But that day never comes. Instead… " THAT ***** GOT ME ENGAGED WITH SEVEN HUNDREDS YEARS OLD ELF!" Lucy stabs her bread with a fork. "The man is too old to tell his own name! And the hell if I marry him, I will become a mother of six adult elves, all hundred years older than me! What was the ***** thinking! WHAT DID THE HAG THINK I AM!!" She stabs, stabs and stabs again. Then suddenly a green flame leaps out from her fork and hit the fish stew in Garavant's bowl. (3 fire damage to fish stew!) "Sorry… I didn't mean it. I'll buy a new one for you " Lucy sighs and throws away her fork. "Don't get me wrong. I don't hate my fiance. He is a few elf that I can truly respect. My master of bladesong told me that the man used to be a member of Knights in Silver. He was brave and crazy enough to descend into the Underdark and slayed a terrible beholder just to save one innocent child. But that was centuries ago! I know myself! If I stuck with an old man who spent all day thinking he is a young little girl or grumbling about some wine of extinct fruits,I WILL GO MAD! I will kill my husband! I will kill our servants, pets, and all the animals in our home! I will burn down the building! Then burn it twice so that there is nothing to burn and kill!" After a burst of emotion, Lucy sighs and leans against the back of the chair. She looks up at the ceiling, an exhausted look on pale face. "…So I ran away from my home,to save everyone else. Burnt the belongings of mine and left the only family I love. My sister… But my mother is an archmage of divination. If I want to really get freed from her, I will need something powerful. Something that I can use as leverage. Something that could protect me from mother's spell And that is our lost family treasure… Sunneedle "
Sila looks to Bree, "Thank you, I'm eager to learn and your work is brilliant. But Jill? You've never called me that before. Friend of yours?"
As Lucy spoke, the energy within her seemed to build and build, then burst from her like a storm. Sila was a little frightened at the outburst and moved to still Lucy, but it continued then exploded into magic attacking the brilliant stew nearby. The Bladesinger needed an outlet. They must leave soon. Would she last the night? Perhaps someone should keep an eye on her this evening? Afraid to offend but knowing she must ask, she leaned closer to Lucy with an excuse of mopping up a little of the Stew exchanging Garavant's with her own untouched stew setting his at the edge of the table as if done. Doing so casually unless he objects. "Lucy, you are obviously not ok at the moment. Should we go outside and maybe, train or find an open space to vent some of this energy? There are a lot of people in here."
To the proprietor, Garavant nods when Sila replies. "A private room and bath sounds like an excellent idea," he says.
Moments later, Garavant listens intently to Lucy's tale and jumps back slightly (without getting out of his chair) at her green flame outburst. Still hanging back a bit, he glances around the tavern to get a quick idea of what the rest of the crowd thinks of Lucy's behavior.
He nods at Sila's words. "Aye, perhaps some fresh air for a moment, eh, Lucy? And for the record, an arranged marriage is no marriage at all in my opinion. You are right to be angry for that and more. You should be able to live and enjoy your life."
The tavern falls silent at the climax of Lucy's outburst, and there are gasps at the magical display. For a moment it looks like the crowd could teeter either way - uproar or fear - but then the male twin jumps on top of a table and declares, arms outstretched, "And that's all you get for free, ladies and gents! Now back to your own affairs, the show is over!"
He bows theatrically and the crowd erupts into laughter, returning to their drinks and arguments. He jumps down from the table, heads over to your booth and drops five keys in front of you.
"Eleria - my sister - is drawing your baths upstairs. It might be time to head to your rooms and take the weight off your feet, friends"
He sounds sincere and friendly, and a few pairs of eyes still linger your way from the crowd behind him.
Sila thanks him and says, "Perhaps it is. A hot bath sounds splendid. Might be just the thing." She collects the keys and passes them to her friends around the table.
You all (presumably) make your way upstairs where the bus boy and the male twin - he reveals his name is Tarrence - unlock and open doors as you reach them. There are enough for one each, or you can share rooms if you prefer.
The bath room has three tubs, each one almost filled to the brim with hot water and protected by its own modesty screen. A small selection of bath oils are available, which might seem either luxurious or meagre, depending upon your upbringing.
You are all able to clean and relax yourselves, pass clothing to the bus boy (Heggby) for cleaning and even summon food to the room.
(I will move us on to the next morning unless anyone has any errands to run during the night?)
Hearing three baths are set up in the room already, she looks quickly, apologetically at the males in the group, grabs the arms of the females and drags them down the hall to the room with the baths. (Not forcing, just encouragingly eager - with a girls lets have a spa day joviality!) Trying to take Lucy's mind off of her life stresses. She will make full use of services including laundry and food to relax some, then realizing time spent and the others likely wanting their turn, will slip out dress and return to her room. (paying appropriately for services requested and tipping an additional silver to Heggby.)
Of separate note, she would not be comfortable leaving her items in her room and will pile them all in the corner of the Bathing room in view keeping daggers close by out of habit vs fear of Heggby
Gruenic takes off his chain mail and underclothes and places them over a chair, although by the smell of it, likely they could stand by themselves. After everyone is clear and toward the end of the bathing cycle, he tip-toes down the hall to the bath with a towel around his nether regions. This is a significant luxury to him, he has not had anything like this in a loooong while. He samples the various bath oils and smells very confusing when he leaves, a mixture of apricot, melon, honey and orc. He sneaks back down the hall and heads into his room. He kneels by his bed and says a prayer to Selune. "Make me strong, my lady. Help me to defend those who need it. Help me to protect my friends. As always, I will spread your name whenever I can, let me seek opportunities to do so, listen for those who need to hear about you." He wakes up the next morning and feels - changed. Stronger. Able to put the armor to good use, he is ready. And smelling strange. Pleasant, but strange.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
" I'm fine! I…" Lucy snaps at her friends. Then she sees them. " I…I…" Sila's face, Caravant's face, everyone's face. They are so familiar to her. When someone takes wrong steps, when Lucy loses her balance and spills her emotions, the people around her always wear the same expression. "You are right. I'm not okay at all." She pushes away her fish stew. "I'm not hungry anymore. But I do need a bath. Ha! I can believe I haven't washed myself for such a long time!"
Lucy takes off her clothes and jumps into the tub the moment they enter the bathroom. The tub isn't like the one in her home which Lucy can easily swim around. And there is no 10 feet long shelf filled with all kinds of oils, soaps and other portions that she can't even name. But the hot water is insanely comfortable. Lucy feels her tension, anger and regrets all melt from her skin. She sinks under the water, sees her golden hair floating in the tub like some kind of water-flower. When Lucy cannot hold her breath, she resurfaces, looking at her friends and says. "Thank you, for…hum… caring for me and staying with me" Then she sinks back into the water again.
That night, Lucy doesn't recall any memory of her mother. Instead she revisits the time when her father takes his daughters to a picnic three days before he fell under the poison blade of a drow assassin. It was the last day Lucy played outside with her family. The most,and maybe the only peaceful moment of her life.
Bree joins Sila and Lucy to the baths. After a while relaxing in the bath she says to Sila: "Sorry for calling you Jill earlier. She is my sister. Apparently I'm missing my family more than I'd like to admit. You remind me of her. When we were young we would always try new things together and stuff." Then Lucy get's out of the water and thanks them: "Of course! Still have to get used to your intensity. But we are here for you." When Lucy goes back under Bree adds: "I don't like complaining about my perfectly loving family when she's around 😅. We should visit them sometime when we are near. My father would love you! And he's an amazing weaver and would love to learn you a thing or two!"
After the bath Bree will take some time fidling with her skirt, embroidering some new patterns on them that come to her in her mind.
Garavant goes to his room and efficiently removes his pack, weapons, studded leather armor, boots and more, pausing after he's down to his underclothes. He then takes off his shirt and checks the remnants of scars and scabs, thanking fortune for his quick feet and the healing provided by his newfound friends. Clad only in his underbreeches (is that a word?), he stretches out, working out the kinks caused by all the recent action and sleeping on the ground. He takes up the hand crossbow and practices with it a bit, working on developing a quick-loading technique, but not firing any bolts at the room's walls. He engages in a brief workout, spinning, tumbling, etc. He hopes there's enough noise in general that whomever's below him won't think something odd is going on.
He slips his stuff under the bed, using his camp blanket to cover things up. After a pause, he pulls the rapier out and decides to keep it with him, along with a few coins. He looks at the blade and catches a reflected glimpse of his unshaven (though undeniably handsome) face and messy (though pleasntly golden) hair. "Not to worry, Andras," he says with a grin. "You're still looking good."
With that, he leaves the room (still clad only in his underbreeches), holding the rapier scabbard in one hand, the hilt end over his shoulder. He saunters down to the bath as Gruenic is leaving, and looks about to find a clean-ish bathtub where he can soak in silence and recharge his energy.
A hot bath, clean clothes and a good sleep is an amazing thing after all the trials and tribulations of the previous few days. The next morning you gather in the Griffon's Nest's common room, ushered to your booth once more by Heggby. As breakfast is prepared and brought over to order, you discuss your plans for the day ahead.
(Please process a Long Rest and deduct 1gp for living expenses, including food, drink and lodging for the night just passed)
(This is also an ideal point to level up! Please move yourself to 2,700xp and level 4 - congratulations!)
Sila smiles at the offer from Bree to meet her parents sometime. "I'd love to. Wasn't really close with my own. They weren't bad, we just weren't that sort of family." Then soothing the needle pricks on her fingers from prior sewing attempts, "I bet he could teach me a lot! You are very talented."
Bright and early, Sila does her morning exercises then heads down to the common room for more food and friendship. She'll need to gather the skins from the Outfitter and see how Greunic looks in his new armor, work out some tools to practice newly developing skills, and then they are off for the day. She goes outside and gathers some pieces of wood to start working into tokens just prior to sitting and taking out her tools, careful of the table, she starts to work.
(leveled up to 4th adding Skilled and new proficiencies, so will be looking over Bree's shoulder frequently when she does any needlework to perfect her own.)
Gruenic comes down to breakfast in plain clothes, carrying his chain mail in a sack. "I can't wait to see what he's made, I must head over to see Wes this morning!" Gruenic joins Sila in her morning exercises, working on his flexibility and unarmed strikes, taking notes from the monk. After breakfast and exercise, he heads over to Smith and Wes (son)'s store, practically bouncing in his steps.
"I've brought you my old armor" (he holds up his chain mail, at arms length, crinkling his nose), "to see what you can do with it. I know you may not be able to give me much, but if you can use it I would like to trade it in with you. How much would it be worth to you?" He accepts what Wes has to offer, then looks at the plate mail. "May I?" He steps out of sight for a moment and puts on the plate mail, checking the fit. He marches back into the room with a huge grin ear to ear, admiring the V on the front and the symbol of his Lady on his chest. After he concludes his business with Wes, he proudly marches back to the Griffon's Nest to show off his new armor to Lucy, Bree, Garavant and Sila. "What do you think? How are the ear tokens coming?"
(Gruenic processes a level up to gain a level of fighter, he seems ready and raring to leave Blasingdell and head toward adventure, and to finding Sunneedle!)
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.