Day 34 (S22-23)

Day 8 of 2 weeks of diplomatic immunity
Rina day...1 / 29
Started in new home, Ended with a Golem outside Greenwarf.

The party woke up in their new home, in their own rooms for the first time.
"We need to get someone to cook for us, I think" said Alice, "We have a kitchen with these... broken robots. But until they are fixed, we need someone else who can work in here."
"I will go see if Drake can work on those robot servants," said Rina.
"I also want to see if Drake can make that Vault," Kin mentioned.
"And someone needs to start working on actually fixing up the house," Aurelius said as a small bird flew in from a hole in the ceiling.
"Looks like we have a lot of things to work on, we should split up today to cover more ground," suggested Kin.
"Well, since you three want to do to the ShapeSmithing college," Alice started, "Neely, you want to come with me? Check out some restaurants and try to find a cook?"
"Oh! Yes, absolutely! That sounds fun!" Neely agreed.
"You could go to the Culinary School here to find up-and-coming chefs," Rina suggested.
"Rina..." started Alice, "I want someone experienced who knows what they're doing. Not just a student."
"You would be giving someone their first real job, though," said Rina, "It would help us and help them. Besides, if they have gotten good grades, they will be pretty good cooks. Right?"
Alice rolled her eyes and ignored Rina's suggestion.
"Plus, they won't probably expect as high of a salary right away, and we don't have a ton of funds..." Rina continued.
"I'll be getting someone more experienced, Rina," Alice said firmly.
"Ok, then you're paying for it," Rina responded, gesturing briefly at Neely - reminding Alice of what she said in Vorovni when Rina hired her.
"Fine, I will," Alice sponded. "When you go to the ShapeSmithing shop get me something fun you can buy with this," she handed Rina 30 gold.
"Get me something, too!" said Neely as she handed over 11 silver.
"Ok, I will," Kin said, as they handed him their money.
"Now, let's decide what kind of food we want before looking," said Alice, "What does everyone like?"
"I like steak!" Aurelius exclaimed.
"I also like steak," said Kin.
"I'm more the a liver person, myself," Rina said.
"Seems like we all like meat, so maybe we go sample some meat places around here," Neely suggested.
"Ok, let's go!" Alice said as she began to walk out. Neely followed.

Alice and Neely toured the city, sampling different meat places, and also getting coffees and mimosas at places that served them.
"Oh, I am having the most lovely time!" exclaimed Neely.
"What was your favorite place?" Alice asked her.
"Umm... I liked the place on the bottom level of town. The Orc & Cleaver I think it was called."
"Then let's see if we can poach their chef!"
They went to the Orc & Cleaver and asked for the main chef.
A large Orc woman approached them from the back room, "What can I help with?" she asked in very broken Common.
"We need a chef for our new home," Alice said, "We are willing to pay enough to make it worth your while."
The woman hesitated for a moment, then waived over a young human boy, "This is Tomas," she said, "is my son."
Tomas waived.
"He comes, too. Is paid too!" she said loudly.
"Sure," said Alice, "name your prices."
"I want 15 silver a day, and 5 silver for Tomas. That is 2 Gold a day."
"Done!" Alice said, "What is your name?"
"Daria is my name. When do I start job?"
"Immediately?" said Alice.
Daria slammed her cleaver into the counter, and walked out of the restaurant without a word.
"Wait!" said a man working inside, "What will happen to the restaurant!?"
"No matter to me," Daria said, "Tell boss I quit."

In the meantime, the other three went to the ShapeSmith school. Drake was there teaching a class on how to make keys that fit into certain locks.
He passed around a lock to all of the students, "Now that you have all made your keys, let us see which ones work on the lock."
"We should wait until he's done," said Kin. Rina just smiled and walked into the classroom.
She stood in the back and leaned against the wall, just watching Drake move around the room to each student.
"Fail, try again... Pass, but needs to be smoother... Pass - excellent..." he went to each student, eventually noticing Rina in the back of the room.
"Class dismissed, everyone - if you failed, please see the TA before class tomorrow for a brush-up in your technique."

He walked up to her, and Kin and Aurelius then showed themselves.
"How can I help you all today?" Drake asked.
"We actually need a few replica keys made," Kin said as he handed Drake the key to our home.
"We got a house!" Rina said excitedly.
"Yes, I know," said Drake, "Why else would you need house keys made?"
"You could act just a little excited for us," she responded, "I'm extremely happy to be living here. Now I just have to wait out my party members and the house will be all mine," she said jokingly.
"Hey now..." said Kin
"What the hell?!" said Aurelius.
"Guys, it's just a joke. I don't really think like that," she reassured them.
Drake looked her up and down, "Yes, it is true that every elf I've met is an asshole."
"Same here," she said "Which is why I try to not actually act like that."
"It does seem you are... not as bad as some," he said to her. He then turned to Kin, "Are keys all you need, then?"
"No, there are a few other things. We also want a vault built in our house," Kin answered, "We are hoping to convert an entire room of the main level, and get a good lock on it."
"This I can do - I will have my more talented students get started on the metal for it," Drake said as he turned his eyes to Rina, "I will need to come by the home to get measurements, though."
Rina smiled, "We are happy to have you over any time."
Aurelius rolled his eyes, "Well, if you're coming over, can you also see if you can fix the robot servants in the house?"
Drake raised an eyebrow, "These are ones Rosa had in the house?"
"Yeah, they're kina old," Aurelius answered, "But they're all made of metal, so it seems up your alley."
"They are complex, I can work on them but it will take a while." Drake answered, "The keys will be done today, the vault... maybe a few more days."
"We also have a few other jobs if you can manage," Kin said as he pulled out his shield and the Oara SlateGlass. "I would like this fused to the shield, I want the magical abilities to be able to be used."
"I also would like a new shield," said Aurelius, "Something that better reflects my ties to Therius as his Paladin."
"I can get to work on this," Drake said, "The shields and the vault will cost you 40,000 gold. I am happy to take installments. The keys I will throw in for free."
Kin and Aurelius agreed on a payment plan.
Drake then, turned to Rina, "And do you need more from me?"
Rina got out the Jarl mask, the extending chain long sword, and the Clown ring: "I really need that Warlock Death Ring, she said, "Would these three things be a fair trade for it?"
Drake first looked at the chain sword. He clicked the button, and the chain whipped out and hit a stone pillar holding up the building, breaking off a few pieces of stone from it.
"Hmm, this may be too dangerous for those here. I do not need it," he said as he handed it back to Rina.
He picked up the Mask and looked it over, "This is something I would take in a trade," he said as he tossed it into a pile of other magical items.
He then picked up the Clown ring, looked over it curiously, then put it on. Immediately it changed his appearance to that of a clown and forced him to dance - magical confetti fell from the air and circus music played. He took off the ring as Rina stood with her hand over her mouth trying to hold in laughter. After he went back to normal, he looked at the ring intensely for a moment. He then burst into laughter - none of them had even seen him smile before, much less laugh. Everyone in the school looked up, shocked.
When he got over his fit of laughter, he talked to her again, "For this... for this you can have the Warlock ring." He then slipped the clown ring into his pocket, and handed Rina her Warlock Death Ring.

"Thanks, Drake," said Rina, "We still need to get something fun for Alice and Neely while we're here."
"What do you have for 11 silver?" Kin asked.
Drake walked over to a pile of items made by his students. He then pulled out a little pipe made of metal that looked just like bamboo, "This is not magical," Drake said, "but it was worth putting in the shop."
"Alice asked for worth a little more," Kin said as he handed Drake the 30 gold.
He went to a different pile, and pulled out a metal cape that was more like shoulder pads, that would appear to steam above her. "This has some magic," he said, "but only in looks."
"Thank you," Rina started, "We have one last thing - we need to trade this armor in for another of equal value in a different size." She pulled out Gabrielle's armor.
"Oh, yes, Neely needs something that actually fits," Kin said.
"I have something similar," Drake said, "This should do nicely." Drake then handed them a smaller suit of armor without the Eyeless Cult symbols on it.
"One more thing, Drake," Rina started, "I thought I'd ask - what is the prize for the Bloodletter contest this year?"
"I do not decide until the day of - it is not until tomorrow," Drake replied, "Now, if you do not need more from me..."
"Yeah, we can leave," Aurelius said, "See you when we need to make our first payment!"
"See you at the Bloodletter," sad Rina.

The groups got home at around the same time. Alice and Daria approach the other group, "This is Daria," Alice said, "She's going to cook for us every day, I'm paying her."
Tomas then walked up behind them, "And this is her son, Tomas."
Rina waived at him, "Hi, Tomas. I'm Rina."
"He does not have speech," said Daria, "but he is good boy. Good worker."
Rina seemed shocked that this very young boy was a worker. She whispered to him, "Are you being forced to do this? Do you need help?"
He mimed that he was so tired, but he was laughing at the same time. Daria patted him on the back, "He is not being harmed, he is treasured."
"Ahh, so he's just acting like a cantankerous boy," Rina said, "I remember when my son was like that."
"He is trouble," Daria said.
"So, he's your son?" Rina asked, "No judgement, just wondering how he's related to you? You are an Orc and he is human."
"He had a hard early life. Parents left him alone, hungry every day. He could not cry, so they forgot to... love him. I took him to save him, he is my son."
Daria's story almost brought Rina to tears,
"I think you have been a great mom to him, Daria," Rina said, "How old is he?"
"He is 12," said Daria, "I took him as baby."
"Daria, please start dinner," Alice gave Daria a list of things to purchase for dinner.
"Steak, Ham, other meats..." Aurelius said.
"I have list," Daria said.
"Please tell me liver is on that list," Rina said.
Daria turned her list over and 'Liver' was written on the back.
"I have list," Daria said again.

As they wait for Daria to shop and cook, the party convened in the library.
"We need to figure out what needs to be done in Greenwarf," said Kin, "I think we should try to treestride there and scout things out on the Missing Fish situation."
"We can afford to wait one more day," Rina said, "I really want to be in town for the Bloodletter tomorrow."
"We can just go there for a day, then come back in time tomorrow," Kin suggested.
"I... I really don't want to go to Greenwarf just yet," said Rina, "If I go into the city, I'll have... warlock obligations to fulfill that I don't want to initiate yet if I don't have to. Who knows what it will be or how long it will take - and I have already committed to it."
"We can't pause our lives just because you are avoiding your patron," said Alice.
"I'm not asking you to," Rina said, "I have research I could do here in Castle Frey. You all can research in Greenwarf, and I will gather information here."
"We could really use you there," said Kin, "We are better in numbers."
"Then take Neely with you," Rina said, "She has proven that she can fight, I think she could be good with you guys."
"Rina, just come with us..." said Alice, "We can figure out a way to do research and not have to go into the city, ok?"
Rina sighed and thought about it. She knew that going with them was the right thing to do.
"Fine... I'll go.... but I'm not going into the city yet."

Kin was able to treestride to a tree he knew a few miles outside of Greenwarf.
"We can't get much closer," said Kin, "Greenwarf has cut down almost every tree in the nearby area."
"This area is so rocky..." said Rina, "so not an easy walk with all these hills."
Before leaving this area, Kin pulled up a little sapling and carried it with him.
They walk closer to Greenwarf and it begins to get dark.
"Let's start camping for the night," Kin suggested, "It would be too dangerous to travel this area in the dark."
They found a bowl-shaped area with tall rocks surrounding most sides, and decided to camp in the flat area.
"We have enough food after stocking up," said Neely, "Daria gave us an entire salami."
They all laughed as they ate.
Suddenly, Kin got quiet and held up his hand to quiet everyone else.
"We aren't alone..."

23

Kin could her someone, or something, in the rocky area behind their camp. He uses his flying ring and his spirit guardians to make him look intimidating, and he yelled into the forest, "Go away! Leave us alone!"
He was successful in scaring some of them off, but not all. Out from behind the rocks, one man was still walking toward them. He held a chain that dragged behind him - whatever was on the other end, it was difficult to see in the dark.
"Everyone, get ready for a fight!" Kin said. The man and the creature on the other end of the chain got closer to them.
Rina could see the figure in the darkness first. It was a large rocky outline somewhat in the shape of a person.
"It looks like a rock golem," she said to them.
On its head she could see what looked like a halo - it was Gold circlet like the one used on Marie when the Fingers of Luminus had her.
Rina aimed an eldritch blast right at the halo and hit it.
The man lifted the chain and pulled it in a unique pattern, then the golem attacked Kin.
"He's controlling it!" Aurelius said as he got closer.
Kin stayed back in case we needed healing, Aurelius ran up to try and hit the chain and break it off the Golem.
Alice and Neely start attacking the man, and Rina stayed in a neutral area to attack where needed.
Aurelius was not successful in knocking off the chain from the golem, and the golem hit him.
Kin healed him, and Rina started sending eldritch blasts at both the golem and the man.
Aurelius used command to get the man the drop the chain, and he does.
Alice grabs the chain and the man begins to run away.
Neely threw her dagger at it, and it killed him - slicing him in half. The batter was over
"Oh, oh no, oh my gods..." Neely whispered to herself.
"Neely, we can talk about this later if you ever want to. Killing someone is... hard. No matter the situation."
"No, I'm ok. I don't want to talk..." Neely responded as she walked off and sat in a clearing on her own.
Rina then walks over to Alice and Aurelius who were looking over the Golem.
"Can we also move it?" Kin asked.
"No, I'm even tugging the the chain and... nothing," responded Alice.
Rina then climbed to the top of it to see if she could get the Gold circlet off. No matter what, she could not get it off.
Aurelius used Command on it again and commanded it to grovel. It did.
"Well, it's still able to move," Aurelius said, "So it's not like the magic is gone."
Kin walked up to it and tried to connect to the soul of the creature. He recognized that there was a soul within the rock golem exterior.
"There's an elemental's soul trapped in here... It's so weak, and wants to be at rest."
"What can we do?" asked Rina "If we destroy the rocks will it send the soul back - like the Shepherd?"
Kin used banishment on the elemental in the golem, and it was sent back to its native plane.
"The golem now no longer has a soul spliced into it," said Kin, "I've never seen anything like that before. Spliced soul?"
Alice then pulled on the chain, and the golem followed, "Hey! It's working like a normal golem again."
"There you go, Alice," said Rina, "Now you have a pet, too!"
"We should sleep in a Tiny Hut tonight," said Rina, "I don't want to be surprised by anything else."
"Can my new golem fit in there?"
"No, Alice, you can't do that..." Rina sighed.
"I want to attune to the halo, I'm going to sleep with my head sticking out the door, and have the golem lay with its head against mine."
Rina began to use the Tiny Hut spell, her little igloo popped up over her. Everyone else piled in, and Alice began attuning to the circlet.
Rina thought about how long it had been since she met Agronoch..."Tomorrow will be 30 days..." She whispered to herself, "I wonder if Enoch wanting me to meet this person... Caspian... has something to do with our Contract being at day 30."

Next: Day 35 (S23-25)