Session 14: Forge Goat's Sake¶
Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2022 @ 9:00 PM CT
Audio: MP3 (1h39m)
Synopsis¶
Before anything could happen, Sah-Sauj needed to take a few hours to rest and sleep off their exhaustion.
While they did so, Tiran talked to his mom, who felt depressed by Agorius' betrayal and the realization that she would once again be alone once Tiran left. She also worried about the clocks, which didn't seem to be what they first appeared to be, and her complicity in constructing them. They talked for a while and eventually she made peace with the idea of Tiran leaving to find his father. But, she needed one more favor before he set off. She asked him to open the chest in her father's old office.
Tiran agreed and asked Pasha to come with him into the office. He explained to him that his mother doesn't like being in this office due to the strained relationship she had with her father, who pushed her mother to suicide when she was a child.
When looking around the office, Tiran noticed that the framed newspaper article that Pasha brought to breakfast now lay shattered on the floor, the newspaper article itself torn to shreds. There were also signs of an unskilled attempt to unlock the chest.
Realizing this was another Ironstone designed lock, Tiran enlisted the help of Gadot, who attempted to pick the lock, but failed on his first attempt. Seeing that this lock was of a superior design to the gate lock, he took his time with this one.
Meanwhile, Tiran searched the office for a key, but failing to find it, asked his mother. She provided him with all of the keys she had, though none of them fit. However, after this interruption, Gadot was able to pick the lock and open the chest.
Inside, he found a large bag filled with 1,500 gold pieces, lots of business paperwork, deeds to horses long gone, a stack of letters from Dauriel to Hanlar, and a sealed personal letter addressed to Sophia. This final letter detailed the regrets that Hanlar had, and also the existence of Sophia's half-brother, Kolwyn. Tiran told his mother that Kolwyn had passed away, but that he met him and he seemed like a good boy. Worn out by all this news, Sophia retreated upstairs to her bedroom.
Sah-Sauj woke up fully rested and tried to convince Wolf to come along with everyone to look for the "system disk" that Tiran needed. However, even though Sah-Sauj insisted he would be fine, Wolf decided it would be safer for him to remain at the forge. Gadot also remained behind, having conceived of a plan to get Wolf out of his current predicament.
Tiran, Pasha, and Sah-Sauj set out to town by horse and cart and saw a few Aldarion Unlimited guards loitering on the road. They exchanged hellos and the rest of the trip was uneventful.
The survivors camp was quiet since, though the sun was still out, it was late in the evening. You tied the horse up at the survivors' camp stables, and headed to Mike and Hurq's cave where you found the boys asleep in their bedrolls.
When Tiran asked them about the "system disk," they didn't know what he was talking about. Sah-Sauj, looking for a way to turn Ramona into a turtle, asked the boys about any witches who could help. They didn't know of any, but did know a weird guy living in the woods who asked them to bring him anything they found near the lake. Mike agreed to take you to him.
Meanwhile, Gadot told Wolf about his plans to turn one of Hanlar's old horse deeds into a deed for Ramona to show the magistrate the next day. After taking some time to create it, Gadot was able to create an okay forgery. However, after Wolf told him some more personal details, including his real name, he was able to create a much more convincing copy.
In the ancient forest near Cauldin's Point, the other group approached the mouth of the cave from which they could hear distant music emanating. Mike decided to stay outside and wait while the rest of you ventured in. Within, you saw a strange contraption mounted atop a wooden cart. Coils of metal in the cart, and a chair nestled between everything else. Sitting at a table, muttering quietly to a doll, you saw a man in a white coat.
Sah-Sauj walked up and confronted the man, who didn't seem surprised to see them and dismissed their appearance. Sah-Sauj asked him if he knew anything about a "systems disk", but he said no and asked you to leave. Recognizing the obvious lie, Sah-Sauj began annoying the man by pushing buttons and touching devices strewn about the room. After some more convincing, and the man getting irritated, he handed over the coaster to his coffee cup, which he claimed was the system disk.
He said that that the device the disk activated was dangerous, a killing machine, but he didn't care anymore and was fine with whatever the outcome would be of reactivating it. This was made worse by his belief that this reality was a figment of his imagination and each of you a product of his subconscious mind. When pushed about details by Sah-Sauj, he gave some information on where he came from and what happened from his perspective before he ended up here. However, his words didn't make too much sense to you.
Now that you had the disk you wanted, he asked you for a favor, which was to power the machine which would take him away from this world.
Tiran and Pasha were tasked with finding the power source for the machine and found it at a stream. Sah-Sauj watched as the man climbed on the chair, put a helmet with wires connected to it on his head, and a smaller on his doll. When Tiran and Pasha powered the device on their end, Sah-Sauj watched as the man began to shake and foam from his mouth, and the smell of burning flesh filled the cave. A moment later, he slumped over and fell off the cart, dead on the cave floor.
And that's where we left off.