Locate Gillian of the Daystar worshippers

Manu, it appears, has taken an interest in fashion.  He was in Freelancers Tavern, sporting an accumulation of clothing with clashing styles.  It worked for him, Dryali guessed.  Kalleth, who'd been trying to grow his beard back, apparently had gotten too used to it being shaved for the gladiator pits, and shaved it back off.  "It just feels better that way, a beard doesn't feel right to me."

Dryali, Kalleth, Manu, and Kaikoa sought out Arnari to find out appropriate missions.  Kalleth in particular wanted to know, "Is there any news of this Jamie person?"  He felt hot towards Jamie much the same Dryali felt about Gillian.  Arnari told him, "No – maybe you want to fund a mission?"

Arnari went on to note Typhoon Waiola still wanted Gillian tracked down, and since the bloodhawk problem had been solved, Korfel had sent saying the Children of Āhua had been under attack by Dryads.  Lastly, House Aldous, a hippogryph breeder & trainer, was looking for a new bloodline and wanted a team to scour the Haven hills for nests.  100 gp/egg, or a trade.

100 gp / egg was interesting.  Manu asked, "How many eggs can we expect to find?"  Arnari explained that nests could have anything from 3-12 eggs.

Dryali wondered, "Why do we think we can look for eggs, and not be attacked by the Dryads?"  Arnari explained, "Dryads are attacking from the south," which prompted Kaikoa to say, "I'm tired of walking bushes."

Dryali then said, "How will we know we won't be attacked by bushes?"  Kalleth declared, "A different kind of bush!"

Kaikoa worried, "Mordant will give us away."  Manu grew sly. "Mordant could make sure they're fertilized!"

Kalleth changed the subject.  "Not interested in animal-wrangling.  Are the Dryads typically attacking people?"  Kaikoa followed up, "Are they [Children of Āhua] growing bad weed?  Why are they getting attacked?"

Arnari said simply, "I don't know.  So… Dryads?"

Dryali said, "Gillian."

Kaikoa also said, "Gillian.   ...can we throw her off the skylith?"

Arnari said wryly, "That's likely to happen anyhow."

The others said, "Gillian!"

Kaikoa grew practical.  "Anything you can tell us about Gillian's activity, location?"  Manu chimed in, "Anything useful at all!"  Arnari said there were murmurings of Daystar-worshipping to the west of the Park.

Dryali mused, "We found the tanning-lotion place not far from here.  Is that still there?" Arnari did not know, and Dryali wondered aloud about using detect magic to find out.

Kaikoa was startled.  "Is the lotion magic?"  Arnari told him, they'd found enchantment magic in the lotion, but not enough of a sample to identify.

At that, the party took their leave of Arnari, still discussing how to proceed.

Manu speculated that the Cliffshadow Hall of Records might have the information they need, if they were to track ownership of the warehouse.  Dryali and Kaikoa were all for checking it out.  So Manu went up to the barracks, and rummaged through his clothing, and came back out looking like the urchin who'd wandered into Freelancers many primes before.

Dryali led the others to where the warehouse was, west of Freelancers in Trade District.   Kaikoa flew over, on Mordant, and saw the skylight.  It was not on a main street, although still foot traffic, and the neighbourhood in general was more run down.  So Manu The Street Urchin blended right in and put himself to watch the front entrance.  Kalleth and Dryali hung back a ways.

Manu saw people coming and going, but none with the hallmark tan.  Kaikoa landed near Dryali and Kalleth, and suggested, "Let's bust in the back!"   Dryali hushed him.  "Wait for Manu!"

Manu zeroed in on an older female human who appeared to be approaching the warehouse with some intent.  He gave a beggars' spiel about needing both spiritual guidance and money.

Older female human:  There's the Temple of Serenity and the Temple of Ua.
Manu:  Temple of Serenity, where is that?
Older female human (points):   5 blocks north
Manu: And Ou?
Older female human:  Ua.  (points) South
Manu:  is there good food, there?
Older female human:  I'm sure
Manu:  thanks so much… can you spare any coin?
Older female human gives Manu 1sp

Dryali, hanging back, was still looking for the hallmark tan, and saw none.  Manu rejoined them and reported his results, and Kaikoa asked, "Where else can we look?"  Oh wait, Arnari had said west of the Park.  Dryali said, "Kaikoa, you should look, flying over!"

Kaikoa took off while the other started walking north.  He rejoined them relatively quickly; he'd seen three people, nude, tanning their buttholes.  <narrator voice: Vasily rolled a nat 20>

Dryali lifted up his goggles:  what
Manu: they left the warehouse like they were covering their butts, but this
Kalleth: is this nudity in a park normal?
Kaikoa: these people are more disturbed than we thought

Walking, it took the Freelancers half an hour to get to the place Kaikoa had found, and nobody was there.  A quick investigation showed signs of a recent departure.  Kaikoa started tracking where they went.  <narrator voice: Vasily rolled another nat 20>

They started following west, and a little bit south, towards a Parkside residential area.  Dryali hesitated.  "Maybe, see if they come back?"  Kalleth cut this idea short.  "Let's follow them."

After some movement through the streets and alleys of the residential section, the Daystar worshippers split up.  They picked one and followed him; he went into a house.  They watched and waited, but he emerged in typical dockworker gear and headed east towards the tunnels.  He did seem more tan than normal.

Unwilling to trail someone to their work, the Freelancers made a plan for the next day:

• Stake out the place in the Park
• Note this guy's house
• Get to the place in the Park before it's in full daylight
• Lie doggo waiting for them
• Kaikoa won't try to hide, but fly

The next morning, around [9am], Dryali, Kalleth, and Manu hid themselves as best they could around the clearing, while Kaikoa flew far above on Mordant.  Manu was behind a log, and still wearing urchin clothes, so he could beg off that he was sleeping homeless in the Park, if discovered.  Kalleth was a little farther away behind a bush, and Dryali climbed a nearby tree.

They had to wait an hour and a half before their patience was rewarded by the arrival of a handful of people, who spoke quietly in a circle before disrobing and … spreading out.  One was a male hanyou, one a female Wind sagani.  The dockworker from the prior day was not present.  There was no pattern in their clothing giving away their walks of life, although none were dressed in fancy clothes; the Wind sagani could be a shopkeeper, the others all seemed common or working class.

Kalleth heard them talking, but could not make out what they were saying.  Dryali was closer, but didn't hear them at all.  <narrator voice:  Shari rolled a 1.  At least it wasn't for stealth.>

Manu and Dryali recognized a couple from the gathering they'd originally crashed, more than an eighth ago.  As they disrobed, it was clear they were all tan, when they were nude.  Each of them had a lotion jar, and applied it everywhere on themselves.  Manu, watching, decided this was a ritual, and one of them was a leader.  He waited until they exposed their most private parts to the Daystar, and cast thaumaturgy to cause… the long, drawn out, high-pitched fart noise one would expect from that position.

The female human nearest him, turned and said, "Really?!  Move over!  Move over!"  He protested.  "That wasn't me!"  The others sat up.  "We all heard you!"  The others shifted away, the human moving a full 5 feet.

Manu sent Dryali a message.  "If you steal a lotion, they have to get more!"  Dryali immediately implemented this plan, and used mage hand to move the Wind sagani's lotion to the bush underneath his tree.

Time passed, with all 5 assuming the position to tan their privates in the Daystar's rays, unaware of the observing Freelancers.  And then, they were done.  Arising, they were all very pleased with themselves, and chattered.  "This was so refreshing!  The Daystar is so wonderful!"  As they packed up, the Wind sagani did not notice the stolen lotion.

Manu sent a message to Kaikoa.  "They are leaving!  We stole a lotion."  Kaikoa responded, "Follow leader?  Or stolen lotion?"  Manu responded via message, "Leader.  We'll follow the lotion lady."

Dryali checked his take.  The lotion jar was ¾ full.  That would be enough to identify later.

They followed the Wind sagani to the Trade District and she was indeed headed to a shop.  Manu hurried round to intercept her and gave another beggars' spiel about needing both spiritual guidance and money.  However Matt did not roll quite as high and this was a nicer part of Trade District whan before.

The Wind sagani reacted defensively to the behorned hanyou beggar, and put her hand on her belt pouch defensively.  Her face changed as it was clear she realized something, perhaps a lotion jar, was missing from it.  She spoke at Manu distractedly, "The Church of Ua is that way."  She went into her shop, which was a dry goods store, selling textiles and ready-to-wear clothing.   The sign hanging over the street proclaimed it Mea's Shop.

Manu realized, in case of a likely repeat encounter with the shopkeeper, he probably ought to change out of these clothes, and returned to Freelancers Tavern, which was not terribly far.

Meanwhile, Kaikoa trailed the leader from the air, to the eastern edge of the Trade District.  He went to an agricultural transshipment warehouse near the Docks District.  Kaikoa noticed he was not the foreman, but a sub-foreman, and a couple other workers appeared similarly tanned.

Kalkoa settled in on a nearby roof, and waited for him to leave, thinking he'd intimidate information out of him.  But as time passed, Kaikoa got bored, and went back to Freelancers Tavern.

Dryali and Kalleth patiently waited near the dry goods shop.  It was busy, and had no break between customers.  They were joined by Manu and Kaikoa, as Manu brought Kaikoa back after changing back into his ridiculous fashion mismatch.

Evening came, and Mea, the Wind sagani, closed up her shop and departed, the Freelancers following.

Dryali was in front, with Kalleth and Manu behind, and Kaikoa (on Mordant) was on the rooftops; of course Mea spotted Dryali and Kaikoa, who had to busy themselves with other "no of course we are not following you" activities.

She headed north, into Parkside, and reached an area of fancier shopfronts; when she reached a jewelry shop named Hinulei, she went around towards the back.  Kalleth and Manu kept following her, but Dryali lingered in front, looking at the various shopfronts, most of which were closed.  It was dark enough to ditch the goggles; he tried to look in using his superior darkvision; nope.  The building was much smaller than the warehouse from before.

Mea knocked on the door, and Mansel answered!  Manu recognized him, although Kalleth had not seen him before.  Manu whispered excitedly to Kalleth, "This seems like the place!  We should prepare to enter!"  Then they were quiet, and listened to the exchange, which they heard perfectly <narrator voice: because Matt Boyce rolled a nat 20>

Mea:  I need another bottle of lotion
Mansel:  Sure
[coins change hands]
Mansel:  I'm so glad to see you worshipping the Daystar, that you need more!

Manu noted 2 others… guards?  Behind Mansel, and used message to inform Kaikoa and Dryali.  Dryali asked him, "Anyone else, with bleached-out hair?  Mansel had a boss, at the warehouse."  Manu did not reply.

Kaikoa swooped past the windows of the building on Mordant, but saw nothing.  He landed next to Dryali, feigned more startlement than he felt and exclaimed, "o Hey!  How's it going?" as if he wasn't expecting to see his friend on the hippogryph here.  Kaikoa shrugged.  "Enh."

Mea left, lotion purchase complete, and Manu crept closer, listening to how they secured the door.  A resounding thump told him it was barred.

Kaikoa told Dryali, "I'm going to grab her and drag her into the alley."  Dryali agreed with this fine plan, and as she walked by, Kaikoa grabbed her and Dryali covered her eyes and mouth.

Kaikoa:  How many people are in the building, and where is Gillian?  I had to look at your dingleberry-crusted bunghole this morning and I am not happy about it!  If I have to, I will stick your face into the hippogryph's butthole!
Mea:  S-seven in the building
Kaikoa:  Where does Mansel live?
Mea:  here
Dryali:  Who else lives in the building?
Mea:  all seven live in the building
Kaikoa: Where else can we get lotion?
Dryali [relieving Mea of lotion]:  I'll take this
Mea:  I need this, to worship the Daystar!
Dryali: why?
Mea:  I need to worship the Daystar
Dryali:  why?
Mea:  …
Dryali: do you want to?
Mea:  the lotion makes it easier to do it longer

This was too much nonsense to be borne, and Kaikoa dismounted and tied her up, and Dryali bound her eyes.  "Mordant, guard."  Then he and Dryali went to the back of the building, where Manu and Kalleth were preparing to break in, and broke the bad news that there were 7 of these cultists in the building, not the 3 Manu thought there were.

A discussion ensued.  Should the cultists be smoked out?  A second-storey break in?  One thing that seemed clear, the Wind sagani Mea would warn them if loosed.  They concluded that since they had not expected to come up against 7, and had Mea as a handicap, since Mansel was none the wiser, they could bring Mea to Church of Storms and return the next day.

They returned to where Mordant was guarding Mea, and told her, "You are coming with us," and took her across Cliffshadow to Church of Storms.  Mea was very frightened.

At Church of Storms, there was no time for the Freelancers to gawk at the mosaics; the Typhoon saw them immediately.  Two very burly Temple Guards took charge of Mea and led her off.  The Typhoon told them quite sincerely, "Thank you for bringing us another horrible Daystar cultist."

Dryali informed her, "Actually… we think she has been duped."  Waiola waved her hands, her enormous hair shimmering.  "The error of her ways brought this about."  Dryali produced the lotion he'd lifted from Mea and presented it to the Typhoon.  "Here is a full jar of this lotion."  The Typhoon accepted it.

The Freelancers informed Waiola they'd located Mansel.  Waiola noted, "The other two cultists also might have been duped, but they fully embraced it.  They tell us, Mansel is never very far from Gillian.  If you have his location, we'll pay the fee."

The Freelancers, relieved that they neither have to go through another tedious stake out nor try to raid a jewelry shop in Parkside with 7 cultists inside, happily collected 100gp each from Waiola.

They took their leave and headed back to Freelancers Tavern.  By this time it was pretty late!  Despite the hour, they sent Kerri Helder [tavern bouncer, female human] to fetch Arnari and met her in her office to tell her the news.

• They did not find Gillian, but found her sidekick, Mansel
• Church of Storms paid anyhow
• Have this <handed her the ¾ full jar of lotion>
• Church of Storms did not tell us what it is

Arnari became quite intent, and collected the 10gp each Freelancers' cut almost absently, as she looked at the lotion with disgust.  Motioning to them all to be quiet, she pulled out her harp, and began playing a melody with a questioning tone; bardic ritual identify.

After 10 minutes, she examined the lotion, and told them, "It reduces radiant damage for an hour, which would help with acquiring a tan.  However, it also puts one at disadvantage for assaults upon their good wisdom."

<narrator voice:  the lotion has -2 radiant and fire damage for 1 hour, disadvantage on wisdom checks and saves for 24 hours.>

Dryali and Manu examined the lotion closely.  Manu exclaimed, "The disadvantage was deliberately added!"

Dryali's eyes narrowed.  "This doesn't explain the glowing people."  Kalleth declared, "Upgrade!"  Manu grimaced.  "The 'pro' version of this is 'clear'..."