Adventures in Beast World - Session 16 - The Summons to Mansque

Session Date: 2024-02-20 18 Huhtikuu 1365 After what for most of the party was a raucous night of celebration, the crew regroups in the morning for breakfast at the Glasshedge tavern. THe crew considers what their next move is going to be and where to set a course in order to potentially meet back up with the Littfeld Caravan. Additionally, Fynn Callaghan tells the crew about the conversation that he had the previous evening with Lyraleth Morgenstern, the Dramphinian Paladin. While he is trying to explain that she would like to speak with the crew about some of their previous adventures, Lyraleth pulls up a chair and joins the breakfast. Lyraleth explains that she has been tracking these occurrences of pink goo and the Dungeon laboratories that seem to go with them. The crew shares the stories of how they really got their start in Delving and the pink goo covered animals they encountered along with the experiments and laboratories. Everything from the raven and toads, to the goblins and owlbear. After giving Lyraleth notes on where they had found these things, she continues to explain about how forces older than the Dungeon and lurking in the shadows of the world seem to be stirring after decades of quiet. When someone in the party pipes up about the Batwolves that they escaped from, this all but confirms Lyraleth's suspicions, and after reminding the crew to pass along any findings, she quickly gets on the road. When they finally arrive back at the wagon, a Brethren man is waiting for them, by his looks he appears to be some kind of servant. He delivers a letter addressed to: Sam, Stacy, El and Fynn. The letter is an invitation for the crew to come to Mansque to look into concerning goings on in and around the city. The crew must now decide if they are answering the call of the Baron, or if they head back the way they had been planning. Needless to say, Sam was all about heading to Mansque, and the party did not require much convincing. Rolling hills, beautiful farms, and good spring weather make for a nice ride. After about a week of traveling, the crew takes a day to rest and resupply at Fort Kingsfang before continuing on their way. (cue shopping montage #1) The ride north continues, moving out of the farmland into the riverlands and finally the mountains of the Mantle loom in the distance. Despite moving into late spring and the days growing longer, the crew doesn't experience as much heat as they are used to as they have ventured quite a bit further north than any of the friends from Erin have ever been. After another week on the road, the great library tower of Mansque comes into view. Upon reaching the city, the guards don't question them at all upon reviewing the letter from the Baron. They are directed to where they can park the wagon and set up camp. While they are making camp and relaxing from the days on the road, a knock at the wagon door startles some. The same servant who delivered the letter stands before Fynn, takes in the motley crew behind him, and proceeds to deliver a new message. The servant tells them: "Your presence is requested by the Baron tomorrow. Please arrive at the appropriate time and be appropriately dressed for dinner." Upon delivering the message, he promptly leaves. El and Fynn head off in search of a tailor, and when they step into the Silken Burrow Boutique, it becomes readily apparent that this is the shop of an Alley celerine. The proprietor, Thistlewisk Threadfoot is an eccentric Alley rabbit with quite the panache. He has to dig deep into his stash of fabrics to find something that Fynn approves of, but when Thistle and El put their heads together, the resulting garments seem to suit Fynn and yet still keep a bit of that Alley flair. El also has a suit commissioned, certainly a bit more ostentatious than Fynn's, yet still appropriate for the upcoming dinner. The crew does some final primping and prepares to head up the hill to the estate of Baron Mansque.