We left off episode 18 on a bit of a cliff hanger - With Sasha sobbing in the background while a worried Satina greeted Rhea, Lysta, and Ymitri outside the Warehouse slash hideout they’ve been calling their home.
But of course, before resolving that bit of suspense, we shifted focus to Calix’s[1] estate, where Pyotr sought to find out what happened to Sasha (unaware she was still at the warehouse) and maybe hopefully finish the job he had started in the after-crypts[2]
While at the estate, Pyotr found that Calix had roused the hive. Tarinous[3] ran to and fro in a flurry of activity for some reason, although the precise details weren’t made clear.
During his investigation of the estate, Pyotr slid from building to building, trying to find out what was going on and where Calix might be holding his daughter. Of course, Pyotr found little of use with his primary goal - but did see Mako[4] with another girl besides Sasha (even if the relationship seemed entirely one sided - with Mako showing apparent disdain for the new girl). In addition, Pyotr found some subtle hints that Calix’s wife, Bella, might be out of the picture in some way.
Returning from a somewhat unsuccessful trip, we cut back to the warehouse, where Lysta quickly got to consoling Sasha. While Sasha seemed reticent to talk about what happened, she eventually opened up - revealing that she had been expelled, and found Mako with another woman. As they talked, it quickly became clear Calix pulled strings to get her kicked out of Vallisens Academy.
While it was unclear why Calix deigned to deal with something so low-stakes as his rival’s daughter’s schooling, what was clear is that those two things seemed to cover the extent of Sasha’s troubles… for now, anyway.
Sasha, Pyotr’s Daughter
After resolving that set of things, and after Milo stopped back at home to reorganize his books (which we used as an opportunity to determine which of us are civilized bookmark users and which of us are heathen dog earers), the party got together to visit Calix’s estate once more. This time, however, it would be Milo performing the social call - disguised as Valyah, the party’s former nemesis slash pyro victim.
Posing as Valyah, Milo smooth talked his way into some more vital information, following up from the conversation in episode 17. In particular, Milo found out the location of Shulgakayawah, the Rhyknar of Marròs (although it’s still unclear what “Rhyknar” means, given Milo’s never been in the position to ask). He was told to seek a barren hill near the foot of the Godscar Mountains to the west, then play a special flute to awaken the creature - currently sleeping in order to preserve its strength for the Final Battle between Ash’kin and Towans.
That taken care of (and after a through examination of the flute, during which we determined the priceless occult flute made of magic metal would do a good job cooling drinks) the party returned back to the warehouse. But, on their way, they stopped to hear from a very official looking town crier, who proclaimed taxes had been raised on the citizens in the slums to fund the investigation of the Blood Tides[5]. While the party knew about (and helped organize) the committee in whom’s name the taxes were being raised, they were surprised that the council of 17 had decided to draw the funds from the slums, rather than the wealthier districts of Alloren and Rosewood as they had discussed.
In addition to the main campaign, we played our first two rounds of How to End the World with our first three players -
“A Nony Mouse”, played by larpstrong_carter, who came across a druid enclave worshiping Hortus
“Klewless”, played by JustJames, who investigated some church ruins, only to find a shameless cliffhanger underneath a hidden trapdoor
New Bee”, played by Tron, who… sniffed around, dug up some trash and then buried it somewhere else before growling at some goblins as a warning not to steal his newly interred drapes and silverware.
two of our viewer’s characters, as sketched out in the 10 minute break Abby got during How to End the World
Definitely join us next time if you didn’t get the chance this week, it was really fun - and we’re already thinking of improvements and enhancements. You can find the rules over at fantasticide.net/hew
Oh and also, if you do join, you might get some #RheaDoodles doodles of your character~
Glossary
[1] Calix: Pyotr’s long-time rival, and a higher-up in the Clipped Wing Tarinous
[2] Aftercrypts: A vast network of crypts underneath Aquilla, established shortly after the Wild Wars.
[3] Tarinous: The privitized police forces that act as law enforcement for the city of Aquilla
[4] Mako: Calix’s son, and Sasha’s classmate slash boyfriend (well… ex-boyfriend now, apparently)
[5] Blood Tides: A phenomenon where the bay waters of Aquilla turn to blood - killing the local fish populations and then also just being super creepy.