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  1. Journals

Open up at Last

Session 86
2023-02-23

Leaving Gronk's study, the group tries to engage with Pearl. Still, as Sirona knocks on the sorceress's door, a visage of her face appears in a projection outside, informing the team that she is indisposed and wishes them to return later. Irdien gets annoyed and knocks louder, only to get the same message played again. L gingerly tries the handle, but the door is locked. Sirona suggests they slide a note underneath the door while they determine what else to do. Not finding any paper on her person Irdien takes out the letters she received from Jak before he vanished. She crosses over the side with composed words and starts writing on the back that the group needs to speak to her at her earliest convenience.
Once the paper has been shoved into the room, the group decides to split up. L, Sirona and Adrian will go to find Berthram. Morbrant says he will try and get some rest, while Irdien says she wants to try and contact the ThanorT'hal and see if they can supply some support for tomorrow. Morbrant reacts slightly at the name of the known criminally tied organization but says nothing.
Berthram has several critical patients that require immediate surgery to survive. Between Adrian's newly found healing magic and Sirona, they heal all but one. The last patient, Sirona, infuses with a temporary boost to endurance, giving Berthram enough time to perform the needed surgery for their recovery. Once that's been taken care of, the trio remains and helps tend to the other less injured patients with ordinary nursing tasks that can be delegated.
Meanwhile, Irdien finds Corder Rumblespark, the halfling contact she has to ThanorT'hal at the school. She asks him if it's possible to hire some muscles for tomorrow in a fight against a demonic cult. He replies that he will get the word out to them and wonders how much money she offers. After some discussion, they agree to the sum of 1000 Gold. That should get their attention, but it does not guarantee any fixed number of partakers on their side. Irdien nods and goes to find Adrian. During a short break from tending to patients, he lets her get the 500 gold she is missing from the portal to pay for the mercenaries.
During one of L's breaks, the Dragonborn wanders back to the dorm and comes across Morbant shaving off his hair and collecting the strands in a bowl. She asks what he's up to, and Morbant explains that he is about to make an offering to Morena. With this, he aims to prove that he has cast away his vanity in favour of the Goddess. As he stands to visit a nearby pond to present the bowl, he tells her she is welcome to join him in the prayer. After presenting the offering, Morbrant is engulfed with a comforting chill that tells him the gift has been well received.
When they return to the school building, it's time for supper. L and Mobrant join Iriden and Zander at the table. Unfortunately, Zander seems still too drunk to be observant enough to even react to Morbrants bald head. Irdien gives it a surprised look but decides not to pry. Instead, she turns to see Sirona enter the mess hall, only for her gaze to fall on Erherin, who enters slightly behind her. Her brother stares at the highly recognizable, feathered Aasimar, and Irdien sees his hands gripping a weapon. Rushing over, Irdien tries to calm him down, gaining the attention of the rest of the group. Morbrant calls out that they must have celebratory drinks later together, a mainly ignored cry as Irdien ushers Ertherin out of the mess hall while quickly assuring him it's all right. Irdien has managed to calm her brother down, but he still does not want to enter the mess hall. She offers to fetch him food to eat at the dorm instead, which he accepts with relief.
Sirona sits down, joining L, Morbant and Zander, and the uncle and brother ask what is happening. Sirona falls into her old deflection pattern, saying it is nothing. However, she quickly changes her mind and confesses to her family that she has previously met Ertherin at the torture chamber in the mansions. She reveals that she was assigned a task during the nightmarish procedure; to ensure the victim didn't die. Her uncle and brother's faces turn expressionless as she speaks. As the men's bodies become more rigid, L gets frustrated at seeing Sirona's pain and kicks both men underneath the table. This snaps them out of their shock, and both Morbant and Zander offer their support and comfort over what Sirona must have gone through all those years in that hellish place.
Meanwhile, Irdien has returned to Ertherin in the dorm with a huge plate of warm buns. The brother eats rapidly; however, he cannot prevent himself from warning Irdien about the woman that tortured him just a couple of months prior and demands an explanation for her presence. Irdien clarifies Sironas's situation and tells him that she was the one that weakened the restraints that made it possible for him to break free and escape the mansion afterwards. Ertherin comments that everyone seems excessively interested in his organs, as both the cult stole one that he has since gotten replaced, and a criminal gang he failed a mission for tried to sell them to a mage. He continues on warning Irdien about a band called the Thanor'Thal. Irdien can't believe her ears and tells him she is part of that organization and asks if they're still after him. Ertherin doesn't know. He hasn't had any trouble since he left that first town, and if there are Tanor'Thal members in Tarkett, they should know about him already, as he was publicly reprimanded for pulling a prank on the headmaster once. Iriden tells him how big a fool he is before the siblings hug each other. Ertherin takes a deep breath and says he might be ready to talk with Sirona if she comes to the dorm, where they may speak privately. Irdien says that if he's sure, she will bring her.
Just as she gets up to do so, a magical message is sent into her mind for the second time today. It's Pearl letting her know that she received the left note and that the group is welcome to visit her now. Irdien returns to the mess hall and tells the others about Pearl's sudden availability, but also that Ertherin thinks that he needs to talk with Sirona if Sirona agrees. The cleric nods as she reciprocates that need for closure, even if it's scary and asks if Irdien will be there with her. The drow assures that she will, and as Sirona rise to go, L also follows suit, leaving Morbant and Zander to process what they've just been told and the fact that neither Sirona nor Irdien has yet commented on Morbant's baldness.