Last night we played some Blue Rose. Last session is here. ON WE GO!
Arlen, you'll note, had just asked the vata he was talking to who "Those Below" were. He didn't get much of an answer; everyone kind of hemmed and hawed and looked scared. Dobbin does some asking around, and just some straight-up observation, and notes that the tenor of the conversation is very much that Those Below are local boogeymen or hostile creatures, but this village isn't behaving like a place that constantly under attack or Corruption. Probably nothing to worry about, then.
The ceremony happens at dusk, and Verbran invokes the blessings of Felisar, god of travelers. The characters comport themselves well during the ceremony, with the exception of Whirlpool, who just can't stay still and fidgets the whole time. Arlen, however, stands out in his reverence and respect, and that kind of smooths things over (plus, like, who knows about sea-folk, anyway). During the ceremony, Dobbin notes that there's a bend in the river nearby, and there are guards posted there.
After the ceremony, the characters are expected to go to bed. Kisha starts to bed down, and Dobbin, not really sleepy, asks her to look after Pansy. Whirlpool fades into the background and sneaks down to the river to swim, and Arlen helps the forest folk clean up and get things squared away before night falls. He's used to ceremonies like this going into the night, and involving dancing and music and a big bonfire, so seeing it all wrapped up so quickly is jarring.
Dobbin goes down to the river to talk with the guards, and learns that they're posted there to watch out for "Those Below". She talks with them a bit and learns that while no one has ever really come to harm because of these mysterious creatures, sometimes things go missing, and a local cobbler had some of his shoes filled with something "that smelled awful." Dobbin again suspects that there's more to this than they realize, but then Whirlpool leaps out of the water like a beast and lurches toward the guards.
Whirlpool thinks this is funny as hell, of course, but one of the guards panics and runs for the village, screaming about Those Below. The whole village gets into an uproar, and Kisha grabs her weapons and rushes out to see what's going on. The lead guard (who has to kind of admit that it was a funny prank) sends another of the younger folks back to the village to get everyone calmed down, and relates to Dobbin that there's a dry riverbed nearby with a cavern that leads underground. That's supposedly where Those Below come from.
Kisha goes back to the hut, and realizes that the door is open and Pansy is gone...as is Whirlpool's beloved stew pot, Arlen's drawings, and Kisha's journal. Worse yet, the bag of flour containing the Ebban Mask is missing (but really, the characters are more concerned with Pansy and the stew pot). Kisha alerts the others and Dobbin starts calling out for Pansy, despite assurances from the villagers that if Those Below have her, she's gone (obviously they'll eat her, the savages). Arlen talks to Vebran who echoes these concerns.
Dobbin, though, listens carefully and hears Pansy barking...sounds like it's coming from below them. The characters get their gear (Whirlpool gets his trident from the boat), and they all head into the cavern. They realize it leads below the village, and it's pretty deep; this looks like it was once part of the Rose River, but erosion diverted the main river over and time and this bed remained dry.
Arlen conjures light so that Dobbin can see (as she's the only one without dark vision), and they head deeper into the caverns. They see footprints, which look humanoid, but are smaller than adult. Fey, maybe?
Deeper inside, Dobbin calls out to Pansy and Pansy runs up to her, unharmed and frisky! They follow the path from where Pansy came, and find a dip in the floor with a bunch of...beds? Bedrolls, made of woven roots and padded with moss. Whirlpool goes to take a sample, and a huge night-person with a club emerges from the dark, demanding to know what they're doing here.
Kisha, fortunately, is ready to parley, and talks with the night-person, apologizing for trespassing and asking who he is. He calls himself Grimat, and says that he and his people live her underground, descendants of the night-people that escaped from Kern many years ago. Kisha muses that these night-people were probably part of the same group that Fallia led out of Kern, they just felt more comfortable living here than in the village. Grimat, for his part, is dismissive and a little contemptuous of the forest folk ("Those Above"), and says that for the most part their two peoples don't interact.
But what about the stolen stuff? Grimat rolls his eyes and yells into the dark, "Grimalsh!" Several young night-people, one of whom is clearly Grimat's son, emerge, bearing the characters' good. They don't have the bag of flour, though, and they don't seem to know what it is. Someone else has the mask.
Kisha and Arlen suggest that maybe the night-people should make contact with the forest folk; they don't necessarily have to merge, but there's no reason they should be afraid of each other (Grimalsh's trickery notwithstanding). Grimat agrees, if the forest folk are willing, and the characters head back out.
They meet with Vebran and explain the situation, and Vebran, while initially resistant, agrees to meet with Grimat at twilight. But that leaves the issue of the Mask!
Kisha and Arlen stay in the village to search for it, while Dobbin and Whirlpool go back into the caverns to deliver the message to Grimat. Kisha casts Second Sight and realizes that the Mask is still nearby, but is moving. Arlen looks up and spots two sprites flying the bag between tries, and casts a spell to pull the bag back down to him. The sprites fly in to attack, and the characters realize that these sprites are mechanical - from Ebban Manor, perhaps?
Kisha makes quick work of the sprites with her staff and punch dagger, while Arlen keeps the Mask safe. Dobbin and Whirlpool return, having delivered the message, and the characters decide to stay another day, to make sure that the meeting between the two people goes well. Whirlpool decides to spend the day fishing, to whip up various fish preparations in celebration of the meeting between Those Above and Those Below. Fish fest!
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