November 02, 2024

Hook

Stormwatch VI [Gilded Slumber] || Ley'Ork, Cahyali

Plot Synopsis

The party arrives back at New Spire City and takes a rest, then is approached by Robin with a new hiring. The head nurse from the Ninite Hospital of NSC is with them, an Isisite named Emily. She’s been told that the party is trustworthy and competent, and asks for their help with investigating the sleeping curse which has struck about three dozen people in the city so far.

They make their way to the hospital, and are shown into the ward with the curse victims. Elizabeth casts Clarity on one, and for a short time he wakes up. He was a researcher into the Dreamt and old Shinnean ruins, and all he remembers is being mugged by someone in red robes and seeing a flash of bright light before falling asleep. Jessie theorizes that the victims are people who the HTUC are targeting. Luin notices a shadow flitting around in the corner, and chases it until it reveals itself: it is a tiny spriggan. Domino understands the Arcadian it speaks, and it introduces itself as Peasblossom. They are a very cheerful and whimsical person, and all they want is to go home.

They recall that they were just in a very dark and scary place, and they think it’s the doing of the Carrion King, a very dark and scary person. They also recall how the Carrion King would steal away their friends, making them come back corrupted and wrong. The party asks how to help the other victims, as Elizabeth can’t cast Clarity again, and Peasblossom lets them know that their friends enjoy things such as rainbows and friendship and love.

Luin uses mist and a piece of glass to make a rainbow in the sunlight, and Jessie and Fallyn dance around the rainbow. Somehow, this works, and three more curse victims awake. Along with them, two more spriggans are pushed into the material world… along with one corrupted, boggart-like creature that rushes Jessie. The party puts it down with trivial effort. All of the victims say they were somehow attacked and had something cast on them before waking up. Vulvenaar brings them coffee to help them recover.

The party puts together that the sleeping curse allows a Dreamt to possess a body, and that they are helpless and vulnerable to corruption while inside the sleeping body. The party lets the nurses know how they did this and wishes them luck, then wonders what to do next. Since the HTUC is at the bottom of this, they figure that making a strike at the corporation is the best course of action. They remember the dragon airship, built out of what they know now is Vulvenaar’s mother’s bones, and decide to break back into Sparkpoint and commandeer it.

They start to put together a plan to teleport in, before Robin interrupts and lets them know that four ancient artifacts she had brought from Ruefang are currently being used to dimensionally lock the area around the lab. The party considers how to get past this obstacle.

Noteworthy Postgame Events