Aersalus B-Team: Season 1, Session 14 – Details, Doxies, and Displays

Dramatis Personae

Previously . . .

The player characters have actually managed to get a decent night’s sleep for a change and all have worked their way out and

Morning Meditations

Listens-to-Ocean and Unit Seven
The Great Entrance to the Mines of Ironhaul
Firesday, Skure 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 2nd hour of the Sun
Ironhaul, Western Span

Unit Seven has been sitting, not really out of it or unstable, but time has definitely passed in a fluid and nigh-unobservable way. The last concrete memory it contains is when the Ironhaul kids had given it a scrub down making it look quite amazing with all the patina removed. Its immediate priority is to locate the magistrate, who is likely at the mines doing his morning rituals. The next priority is to speak with his pet to inquire if it’s hungry who burrows into Seven’s chest and removes a stowed egg to offer Seven, only to be turned down as Seven cannot consume food. The furry thing basically shrugs as they head off to locate the magistrate. Seven ends up in front of the great entrance to the mines of Ironhaul.

In old times, the scenery would have been awe inspiring at some point. The entrance to the mine doesn’t use traditional wood bracing but instead steel girders that have rusted over the years in ways that one wouldn’t expect them to be while the surrounding rock has been covered in intricate carvings. Even in the cold and damp weather of the Abolethe one would think it would be far more degraded than it is. Seven can almost perceive something watching it, which seems rather disturbed, perturbed, annoyed, wanting to do something without ability to do so. It spots Listens and heads over, keeping an eye on the magistrate while looking at the arches and girders, curious about what is missing from the carvings. Listens manages to sense his robotic protector in the midst of his meditation but decides to ignore it like usual.

An old dwarf approaches Listens, the same one that showed Listens around recently. He waits until Listens comes from his meditation, he speaks to Listens, mentioning that he’d heard what Listens had done the prior day. Listens says that he only did what he could do, or rather what people should do. Explaining that he’s a healer, a protector of mind, body, and spirit. The dwarf can’t quite decide if Listens is optimistic or naïve before inviting Listens to get another drink. Listens then turns to Seven, thanking it for it waiting without actually disturbing him.

Once A Theater, Now Gathered ‘Round

Listens-to-Ocean and Unit Seven
The Old Theater
Firesday, Skure 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 3rd hour of the Sun
Ironhaul, Western Span

He gets some food from the same cart as the other day, the food decent and the booze alright. People just sorta come up to Listens and try to shake his hand because of what he did yesterday. As people approach Listens, Seven moves within reach of the magistrate to watch over the halfling while Listens ends up with a mug of something liquidy that smells not terrible.

He speaks with the crowd, asking how people are feeling today. It’s mostly a bunch of old miners and a few of the patients from yesterday just sitting down and chatting with each other and Listens. Listens makes sure to drink up and try to get along with everyone. He speaks with them about others that might have medical problems. He promises to do another clinic the next day, getting the word out to heal as many people as possible. They plan on getting the amphitheater converted to a make-shift clinic where Listens can heal people.

One of the youngest miners asks Listens to investigate the mine, to calm the spirits within which Listens says he’s trying to. He asks if they did something to tick off the spirits by increasing mining quota or killing a spirit or something similar. The young miner says that he doesn’t know, there’s one miner that managed to get out, but he’s not talking, and hasn’t spoken in over twenty-five years who seems alright for the most part, more or less healed up. Listens asks to be led to the man, but the young miner says it’s likely that the man’s wife wouldn’t allow anyone to speak with them. Listens does say that he may not be able to fix the mines, but he’s willing to try. The young miner says that most people that said that have their bones scattered on the floor of the mine. The young miner says that he’ll go to ask and then come back to let Listens knows. He suggests that he could bargain with the woman since she’s proud and doesn’t want to take charity.

The Food Is Actually Good

Rhum
The Poke and Squeal
Firesday, Skure 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 2nd hour of the Sun
Ironhaul, Western Span

Rhum, a brand new day happens and he’s back to the brothel for breakfast. They’re serving pork and cabbage. As soon as he comes in, he gets a plate of food set before him and five cups, only one of which is full. He asks what’s going on for the day, which the Madam Odena asks if he serious thinks that she knows everything, to which Rhum looks at the door back to the girls and then to the Madam and says yes. The Madam does agree reluctantly, but says that sort of information tends to cost money. She also comments about Rhum’s presence back at the brothel, to which he says he preferred actual food to something charred over a campfire. She questions what his purpose in town is, to which he explains that he’s Duke Tellengeri’s sworn Taura, and he was sworn to protect the magistrate. Rhum notes that the bandit Dogskull has been taken down only for the Madam to note that they heard about that, though Dogskull didn’t really bother them that far north.

She looks curiously at Rhum, sizing him up. She asks if he can get her in touch with the Duke, saying she might have some rather interesting information, mentioning that one hears all sorts of things in her position.

Aftermath

Trapper, meantime, the prior night, had gone back to city hall after cleaning off the shame and glitter to track down the person that left the second scent. It doesn’t leave the building so it’s good to assume that whomever it is resides there.

The next morning, he gets the kani crystal dagger back from Altan and a good idea of what the value is, which is like $40-$50,000 worth of gilding and whatnot. He points out the differing chisel marks and explains the differences. The marks are very distinct and obvious and if Trapper could match up the chisel, he’d have even more evidence on his side. Altan and Tessikai join Trapper on his trip to Ironhaul workshops as the latter is bored as heck of sticking around in the constabulary.

After Action Report (GM)

This was a short session because my life is a garbage fire at the moment. It did help to be able to game at all though and I had a lot of fun interacting with my players. I just wasn’t at the top of my game for this one.

World Lore Tidbit (Aersalan Epistemology – Part I)

Aersalus has what I like to call a “compacted” or “sedimentary” knowledge base. That is, there are things that the inhabitants of the world do that they know has a specific effect/reason/outcome, but do not know why they do it or how it works. In a way, it’s like a very mundane superstition. Many would call it a superstition or drawing of Shen/Serent/Providence and there are even mannerisms that cloak it as such. But it’s just lost knowledge. There is an entire department in the Imperial Academy of Sciences and Technology devoted to “lacunic scholarship” whose entire purpose is to try to understand the reasoning for why things are done. Because of this compaction the waters are truly muddied when trying to sort things into what works because it works and what works because a supernatural being or principle says it does.

Other Notes

Bonus Report from Rory.

Soundtrack

None.