Dec 21, 20226 min read

Taba Day 11 Episode 14 (recap)

(A quick note here, I've added these synopsis for people to go back and remind themselves about what happened or if people come in later and don't want to start at the beginning, they can read these really fast, but they are not a replacement for watching our videos as they are not full descriptions. If you don't want to video, you will miss most of the comedy and all of the fighting as I am not going to do a play by play of each attack. So, please check out our videos)

The video has a recap of this session as unfortunately we had issues with our audio.

Day 11 10/14/2022

In the Smithery

We chat about what to do next while Sterling goes to look through the treasure. He grabs the spears with magic. We chat about what to do next, either heading to Manza for information on the library and maybe spells that we can infuse in the items, or we could just look for spells to work with, and in that case, Taba wouldn’t be the best option. We decide to head to Manza, heading toward the entrance room where we found the well. The door appears to be in perfect condition, though it had been caved in before. We rest for the night, deciding that rest is important before we leave. The next morning, we wake up to Exor looming over us. He’s sad that we are leaving and we tell him we’ll be back, hopefully with his favorite food. Sterling and Caleigh step up to the door and push it open. Caleigh catches herself, but Sterling falls and slides on the ice.

Out in nature

Sterling slides into a pile of snow. The rest of us carefully make our way out. It looks similar to the way it was before and the lake is no longer iced over as it is still boiling, but nothing is coming out of the lake anymore. The snow in about a 200 yard radius from the lake is packed down solid. There are no beings in the area. We head north around the mountain and Chodrak sits backward on his wolf to keep an eye behind us. We travel. While doing so, we check the magical items that we have. Abcde can tell that the stone they have is far greater than they could understand. Chodrak feels out of tune with the staff. Rayvvin studies a staff that they grabbed and can identify one of them. The staff itself is not magical but there is a magic stone. The stone is a stone of magic. It is an item imbued with 30 points of magic, regains 5 during a short rest and all during a long rest. We finally exit the main mountain range, looking down about a day away at the capital of Manza. It appears to be a towering fortress. We’ve been traveling for two weeks. We walked the last day to get there, arriving on the outskirts in the late morning. The whole area surrounding the fortress is the slums.

Outside Manza

We get in the line of people waiting to get into the city. As we talk about what our reason is for entering the city, we hear a commotion up at the front. Some people run away and the guards chase after them. The guard points at the group, and a half dozen ballista bolts slam into the ground around these people, coming from the wall above, and they fall, not getting back up. A knight rides down the line, telling everyone to continue on and stay in line. We continue toward the front of the line and finally get there. They ask for a name, and Abcde gives their name. They ask why we are entering the city, and they say that we need to go to the guild area as we have a quest from Brixert in Quetares. The guy looks up and then pauses, and looks up the wall and looks back down to us. He asks for more info and we give it to him, he looks at the wall again, and then at us. He looks at one of the other guards and gives a small nod and then waves us toward the guard house. We all head in.

The Deva guard glides to the other side and knocks on a door, telling his captain that we are there. He comes back, tells us to enter, and he leaves the guard house and closes the door behind us. Caleigh hides her wings and we send Sterling in first. We are in a smaller office with a desk in the middle. Sitting on the opposite side of the desk is an Elf. He tells us to sit if we wish. Abcde, Artimious, and Rayvvin sit. He points the quill at Artimious, saying he knows him and didn’t want him to come back. Abcde asks if we’re in trouble and he says no, but be careful because Artimious might get us in trouble. He finally looks up at all of us from his writing. He has been told that he needs to relay some information to us about the quest we accepted in Quetares. Upon the location of the mine, we will be paid directly out of the royal coffer. If we are able to locate the mine, we will be granted a total of 7% of the total balance in the royal coffers. That would be enough money for each of us to buy a city. If we are able to provide a map with a location, we will be gifted 14% of the total sum of the royal coffers. If we are able to provide the map and then bring a selected group to and inside the mine, we will be granted 21% of the total royal coffers. If we bring the location of the Library of Taba we will receive more money, up to 100% of the royal coffers.

He stares very intently at all of us and asks if we have any information. His eyes narrow as he tries to intimidate Abcde but fails. He tells Abcde to share the information, but Abcde says we don’t have any. He says his name is Captain Artuza. Abcde says he’ll be the first one he tells, but the captain says he doubts that. He tells us to leave as he glares at Artimious. We step into the city of Manza.

Manza

This is likely a militaristic city and though not rich, no expense was spared making this a true fortress. We head to the guild area, following Artimious. Guards are patrolling and they glance at us but no more. They seem to glance at most groups. We arrive at the guild plaza, stopping in front of a dwarf who wishes to direct us somewhere. He recognizes Artimious. He asks again where he can direct us. Abcde says the Guild of the Unaligned and he directs us there. He says, before we go, he has something for us, and holds out an envelope. Abcde takes it. It’s gilded gold with patterns and has the Taba coat of arms stamped on the back in melted gold. We follow his directions to the Guild of the Unaligned. Suddenly, from directly next to us, we hear a clanking sound. Stepping out is a very very tall man, almost 9 and a half feet tall. He looks human. He has a massive two handed sword and a shield, and his eyes are deep blue. Abcde tries to sidestep away from him. He tells us to get out of his city. His name’s Krem. He says we shouldn't be here. He says we’ve been warned. He turns around and clanks away. Artimious says he doesn’t know him. We keep heading forward, getting to the guild hall.

The Guild Hall

The guild hall just for the Guild of the Unaligned is the size of the whole guild hall in Manda. It looks to be armed for war. We go inside and there is a long desk in front of us with six different people. Abcde goes up to the desk to talk to a female Tiefling behind the counter. Abcde has the envelope out as they ask her for a room. She asks about the basic or the deluxe rooms. She recommends deluxe with how big our party is. It would cost 4 silver a night. The basic room is free. Abcde gives the four silver over. The key is imprinted on us. She leads us to our room, upstairs, the second door. We just have to put our hands on the doorknob and we’ll be imprinted to that specific room. We all touch the handle as we head in, and get inside the room.

It’s a nice little suite. There are two rooms and a bathroom. Abcde asks Artimious what he did here. He says he woke up here as a tree the first time as they were trying to cut him down. He turned into an Elf from the tree and they said he was a spy. They tried to hang him but he got away. He needed clothes and weapons which he had to steal.

Abcde opens the letter. As Abcde starts to read, a voice starts to read out the letter. It requests us to dine at the castle, 7pm. We should be slightly early. It's from Count Cristo. We decide to leave our magical items in the room that we picked up from the mine. It’s lunchtime. We spend some time resting and relaxing, getting refreshed. It hits six o'clock and we get ready for dinner with Count Cristo.