Wine Worries

On Fysitag of the first prime post Tumultuous Tai, Ana, Ondar, and Glesni are sitting together in the Ripa Daneo Freelancer’s tavern. Tai, Ana, and Ondar are relating their story from the Wedding From Hell, with a particular focus on the funny incidents. 

As they left for the wedding, the three had noticed that Fiona and Yan arrived to let Damakaios know that Julian had been kidnapped with Wolf held as insurance. Glesni is able to tell them that during the wedding, Damakaios left for Sans Pareil. It seems that Queen Cocozelle has bardnapped Julian for unclear reasons, so Damakaios left with a bit of leverage to use against her. If that doesn’t work, he may have to work with some backup to break Julian and Wolf out of the palace. All the other three knew is that when they returned, they had to report to Naranjos instead.

After catching up, the four adventurers decide to take a mission together and head up to Naranjos’ office. It has a standard wood desk and high shelves stretching all the way up to the ceiling. If you peek in his office door you can sometimes see him using his echoes to reach the top shelves, since he’s a skilled echo knight who fights with a battleaxe. One of his shelves is decorated with mountain griffin models, since he rides a beloved mountain griffin named Snapper. A few weapons are displayed on the walls, though not nearly as many as in Damakaios’ office. 

There are two strange things about his office though — the pebbles and the wallpaper. One of his shelves is covered in carefully random pebbles that otherwise appear to be totally random and nothing special. The labels each have a name and date, and all of the dates are pretty recent. The wallpaper is a very ornate pattern of large roses that doesn’t look anything like the rest of the tavern or office. Really, it looks like it belongs in the drawing room of one of Ripa Daneo’s merchant families instead of in the office of someone as laid back as Naranjos. 

The four Freelancers arrange themselves throughout the room. Tai sits in a chair by a battle axe on the wall to take a closer look, it’s lovely but clearly not Naranjos’ best weapon. Ana stands to one side to admire the wallpaper. Ondar stands in the back of the office out of the way. Glesni sits one chair over from Tai, much more gracefully than usual because she doesn’t seem to have her bow at the moment, just her quiver. 

After shuffling through some papers on his desk, Naranjos presents the group with four possible missions:

• House Hadid is still interested in phase spider venom and silk, as well as troll blood. They will pay 150 eagles for a phase spider venom gland, 200 eagles for a phase spider spinneret, and 50 eagles for a pint of troll blood. 
• The Hasapis winery has been having some issues with the vat rooms at their winery, and will pay a group of Freelancers 250 eagles a piece to stop the problem.
• The Sugarglider hang gliding school has had some strange reports of metal beasts attacking their students in the air, and will pay a group of Freelancers 250 eagles a piece to figure out what’s happening and stop it.
• Naranjos also notes that one of the Daystar lotion distribution points on Waypoint Congress is close enough to Commerce that a group of Freelancers could get there in four days' travel. 

Since the Freelancers all know that Waypoint Congress is known for its brothels and accommodating independent contractors, much waggling of eyebrows ensues. Ondar jokes that given the length of the journey, we should keep in mind that some people last longer than others. 

Turning to more serious discussion, everyone considers what missions they are interested in. Tai is interested in helping out the winery or hang gliding school. Glesni would like to hunt some phase spiders or help the winery. Ondar is interested in all the missions, though Ondar does mention that Ondar has never tried wine from the Hasapis winery before. Ana is interested in helping the winery or hang gliding school. 

Writing down our decision, Naranjos lets the assembled Freelancers know that the mission was contracted by Niccore, the family patriarch. At the vineyard, we should speak with Niccore’s son Zurito and his wife Nyanza. Niccore’s other son Galardo might have something to add as well, though he doesn’t do as much with the wine making. 

After accepting the mission, the four Freelancers fetch their mounts from the stables and fly down to the Hasapis Winery. Unfortunately, the flight takes most of the day because it’s breezy and wet. The rain seems to be coming down at a 45 degree angle, and everyone except for Tai and Glesni is thoroughly miserable.

When the Freelancers arrive at the winery in the late afternoon, Zurito and Galardo welcome us at the gate. They offer to let us stay in the barracks where laborers sleep during the harvest, and invite us to their family dinner along with Zurito’s wife Nyanza and their father Niccore.

The dinner has some lovely dishes, but more importantly, the whole family is tasting batches of wine as they eat. The first one, served with bread and cheese, is a lovely floral white that Glesni really enjoys. Ondar, on the other hand, thinks it smells like bathroom deodorizer. The second wine, served with a course of roasted lamb, is a full bodied red with a smoky finish. Ondar doesn’t like it at first, though it kind of grows on Ondar as Ondar eats. Finally, with dessert, there is a light pinkish purple wine with a light sweetness and a touch of spice. Ondar really enjoys this one, though it is not the drink Ondar is looking for, it did make Ondar smile. 

During the dinner, the Freelancers also ask about what is wrong with the winery. Zurito offers to show us the vat room tomorrow, but lets us know that the vats keep springing leaks, and it’s starting to affect this year’s wine. The artificers will come and fix a vat, but it will spring a leak in a different place the very next day. The leaks can happen at any time, overnight or during the day, and even when people are watching the vats. Ana comments that this sounds like some kind of magic, and Nyanza agrees. 

Since the leaks can happen at any time, the Freelancers agree to get a bit of a rest and get warm before they start investigating in the morning. 

 Unfortunately, when the Freelancers wake up the next morning, the weather is somehow Even Worse than it was the day before. The best descriptor is vile. Also windy and rainy. Thankfully the mounts are cozily stabled, though the pegasi seem a little unnerved by the thunder.

When the group checks in with Zurito in the morning, he tells them that there were two new leaks overnight, and leads us into a large building to take a look. From the outside it looks like an enormous barn. Inside, instead of animals, there are enormous copper vats with walkways around the top and lots of mysterious pipes and tubing leading in and out of them. Along the walls are some small casks. With reasonable investigation rolls (Tai 15, Ondar 14, Glesni 14, Ana 12), the Freelancers quickly notice that there are buckets under a lot of the piping joints, especially where they lead into the vats. The vats themselves seem fine. When Tai points this out, Zurito comments that he has an artificer coming to fix the problem tomorrow. Again. 

Tai also notices that a bit out of the way, there’s a hair thin crack in the floor splitting one of the pavers next to the wall. This is odd, since the stone pavers should be pretty sturdy. He decides to take a look at the paver, but doesn’t really figure out anything more. Tai wonders if someone used the Burrow spell underneath or to go through stone, would it leave this kind of mark? But from his experience, it’s more likely that the stone would be broken into pieces. He does notice that there is mortar between the pavers, which is in good repair despite being old. 

Meanwhile, Glesni continues asking Zurito questions. When she asks if the same artificer is doing the repairs each time, Zurito smiles grimly and says no. They use a rotating cast of journeymen from the Vathia Estia School of Eternal Refinements, usually a different one each time. Glesni also asks if the leaks threaten the fermentation process. Zurito thinks for a second before saying that yes, they do threaten the process, especially as there are more and more leaks, but so far none of the wine has been ruined.

While they talk, Ana is using some quality mumbling to ritual cast Detect Magic, placing her hands on the floor, then sticking them in the air while she pronounces unknowable syllables. Once the spell is active, she walks a circuit around the fermentation barn to see if she can detect anything interesting. In addition to the Freelancers’ magical items, she detects some charms for protection against poison and disease. The vats seem to have spells to avoid the wine spoiling, and the walls have some abjuration spells to prevent fire. However, there is no evocation based magic or anything that looks like a curse. Once Ana realizes that the ceiling is high enough that it is out of range of Detect Magic, Ana taps Glesni on the shoulder and asks for a boost to check the roof. She finds more fire protection spells but that’s all. 

Thinking about her knowledge of magic (16 Arcana), Ana can’t really think about what might be causing the issues except a standard destruction spell. Her only idea is that it might be human intervention, since it seems like the joints of the piping are being loosened or jostled, not like something is chewing on it or chopping at it. There are no animal droppings around either. Ana immediately suspects the presence of An Invisible Saboteur. 

More practically, Tai suggests following the crack he saw outside the wall, since it seems like it goes under the wall. He’s worried that the wall might be structural. The group of Freelancers investigates the area outside (Ana 20, Glesni 20, Ondar 15, Tai 4). Even though he’s the one that saw the crack in the first place, Tai gets turned around somehow and is looking at completely the wrong section of building. It probably doesn’t matter much, since all he can think about is how wet and cold and unpleasant he feels. Ondar, however, realizes that the grass around the crack is mostly dead, when it should be thriving with all the rain. Ana and Glesni confirm that the grass probably died because something has been burrowing underneath and messing up its roots. 

From this, the Freelancers conclude that something is burrowing underneath the ground, making vibrations that slowly loosen the pipe fittings, and causing leaks. It’s probably some kind of large creature, since the swaths of dead grass are pretty big.

In response to this information, Glesni pulls out her bow, grins at Ondar, and says “Look at this!” And with that she begins to… dance? Using her winged boots, Glesni is ascending into the air and then coming down again with a thud. But somehow she manages to make it look almost graceful, like a stork or a ballerina in high gravity. The Freelancers are mesmerized. Zurito is watching the whole thing in utter confusion. 

Which is why, after a few minutes, they barely notice that a fine trembling is starting to happen. As soon as Tai picks up on it, he picks up his ax and starts stomping way less gracefully toward Glesni. When Glesni notices, she simply tells Zurito “Run”. Zurito takes this as plenty of reason to take off toward the vat barn, shouting some vague words of encouragement over his shoulder. The Freelancers can see him take up a position looking out a window of the vat barn in concern, and a few of his staff joining him to ask what is happening. 

In all that confusion, it’s no wonder that both Tai and Glesni are taken aback when a large pointy maw emerges from the group and attempts to clamp on to their feet. While Glesni evades it, Tai’s foot gets chompered for 18 points of piercing damage before he manages to shake free. 

And that is when two strange armored creatures with gray skin emerge from the ground and the party rolls initiative.

Initiative order: Ana, Ondar, Tai, Glesni

Round 1:

• Ana mumbles and summons a flaming sphere next to one of the gray creatures, which takes 6 points of fire damage with a strange high pitched roaring sound.
• Ondar GETS LARGE and throws a javelin at the same creature for 18 points of damage, then follows it up with a thrown dagger bearing fire chains for another 20 points of damage.
• Tai invokes his rage, at which point lightning starts to shimmer around his ax and he feels that it has become more powerful. Using this weapon, he attacks the same creature, taking its head clear off at the neck across the wound where the javelin went in. 
• The remaining creature attacks Tai, but in its grief, only manages to flail enough that it bites its own paw and falls over. However, at this point, three more of the creatures appear. Two attack Ondar, one missing its bite, but the other biting down for 3 points of piercing damage, though it can’t get a grip on Large Ondar. However, it pays the price for its success, as it becomes charmed and incapacitated. The final creature also attacks Tai, sinking its teeth deep, but in his rage Tai only takes 16 points of damage. 
• Glesni was at the peak of one of her dancing leaps when the creatures attacked, and is currently 10 feet up in the air. She swoops down and shoots a piercing arrow through the two creatures attacking Tai, and it goes right through both of them like they’re practice targets for 19 points of damage each. She attacks one again with a normal arrow and pierces it for another 14 points of damage, and it falls dead.

Round 2:

• Ana rams one of the creatures with her flaming sphere, causing 11 points of fire damage. The singed creature makes a strange burning smell of dirt and Keratin. Then she fires off a Shatter spell, covering two creatures who take 8 and 4 fire damage respectively.
• Ondar stabs one of the creatures attacking him twice for 24 points of magical piercing damage.
• Tai takes his ax to one of the creatures attacking in, dealing 17 points of force damage and chopping off both of its front legs in a single swing. On his second attack on one of the creatures attacking him, he manages only to get his ax lodged between two plates of his armor. Luckily, the power of his rage has invoked an effect that returns his ax to him as he chugs a healing potion and recovers 6 hit points.
• One creature attempts to attack Tai, but his teeth snap just short as Tai dodges away. Another attempts to go after Ondar but can’t manage to get a grip on Ondar’s armor. The remaining charmed creature is standing next to a flaming sphere and takes 8 fire damage, but somehow remains charmed despite its burns.
• Glesni shoots one of the creatures for 13 points of piercing damage, piercing its eye as it falls over dead. She then shoots the final non-charmed creature twice for 23 points of piercing damage, killing it as her second arrow sinks deep into its shoulder under the armored plates.

Round 3:

•  Ana smashes her flaming sphere into the final creature for 11 points of fire damage. She also attempts to fire a chromatic orb at it,  but the orb sails over Ondar’s head instead.
• Ondar stabs the remaining creature, sinking his sword through its mouth and turning it into a very dead, slightly kebabed burrowing creature. 

As combat ends, the four Freelancers are left standing outside the vat barn, surrounded by the corpses of five mysterious creatures. With a series of nature checks (Ana 7, Glesni 10, Ondar 18, Tai 17), our heroes attempt to figure out what they might be. Looking at the creatures, Ondar and Tai are pretty sure that they’re called Bulettes. They explain to the others that Bulettes are burrowing creatures that normally live in the middle of Skyliths. They burrow, filling their tunnels behind them, and basically eat anything that will fit in their mouth. However, Ondar points out that the armor on these creatures is a little flexible, when normally there are stories about their armor being incredibly strong. Ondar is also surprised at how easy they were to defeat, if they are Bulettes, since they’re a notoriously difficult enemy. Ondar and Tai mention that it’s likely this group was pretty young and a bit undernourished. 

A few minutes after this conversation, as the Freelancers are wondering what to do with the Bulette corpses, Zurito emerges from the barn. Once Tai explains what the Bulettes were, Zurito is optimistic that their problem will be solved, but offers to host the group for another night to make sure nothing else goes wrong. 

As Zurito also stares at the corpses, Glesni proposes that the Freelancers skin them and sell the skins to House Hadid or another House that deals in magical materials. Ondar and Tai skin the beasts pretty capably (27 and 25), so the group manages to obtain 3 pristine hides and 2 with only a little damage. Unsurprisingly, Zurito retreats to the vat barn during this process. 

When the night passes uneventfully, the Freelancers are ready to depart in the morning. Before leaving, Ana purchases a case of wine for 60gp to share with her roommate Cathance, who recently returned from a mission with a few kegs of cider. The daylong flight back is pretty miserable due to windy, cold weather with occasional hail. Thankfully, there were hot toddies and hot baths available at Freelancers. 

On their return, the Freelancers are paid 250 eagles each for their work, and are able to sell the hides to House Hadid for 1,150 eagles, since they are very useful for magical workings.