Editing 09/12/2024 -- Operation Juniper

* Date: 39 Knewidi 715AR. Starring Zey (commander), Charon (marshall), Koilos (quartermaster), Seth (spymaster), Angel (lorekeeper), and Storm.
* The commander rolls 1d6 and gets a 2. He’s asked to roll 2d6, and gets a 7… which is reduced to a 1 as Marcus spends his trouble tokens.
* Zey feels nervous, like there’s a tension in his chest, but everything seems to be fine. He gathers his team.
* Charon tells the knight that Zey has invited it on a mission, and that she’ll be gone a bit, but when they get back she could rope Margaux, Angel, and maybe even Karina into cards. The knight nods at her. Charon asks if the knight has eaten today, and it says it doesn’t need food, and that the usage of food on itself is illogical. Charon presses that we’re doing pretty well, so a treat here and there isn’t bad, but the knight says its argument holds no substance. Charon says that they’re eating when she gets back, and leaves.
* Seth takes Wolfgang on a walk before he leaves, and tells him his new name is Damon. When the wolf asks why, he says his brother passed away a while ago, and he wants to remember him. The wolf agrees to this, and Seth apologizes for kicking him, saying he doesn’t know how to take care of animals. The wolf just goes back to gnawing on the bedframe, and Seth gives him a bone to divert him, which works.
* Seth then goes to see Lavatera, who’s been moved back into Widow’s Home. He knocks on the door, and a rush of wind opens it. She’s lounging on a couch, not walking yet but strong enough to be taking care of herself. They chat a little, and Seth asks how she is. She says she’s doing better. On his way out, she stops him.
** “Be careful. I’ve detected something out there. I don’t exactly know what. Keep your eyes out.”
* Seth hugs her and kisses her on the forehead before leaving.
* Zey goes to the community center to help out, and posts some activities – he plays some board games with people, trying to get smiles on their faces. And he generally feels a little better! Spirits improve, and he gets +2d6 on spirit checks and saves on his mission.
* Ki finds Bee, and says that now that Radovan’s out, she thinks he can give Claudia the blood he’s been saving. She doesn’t want Claudia to suffer, but doesn’t know if it’s what Claudia would want.
** “Well… I don’t think she’d be very happy with where the blood came from. We could always ask if how she is right now is really hurting her. Maybe it just looks scary ‘cause we aren’t like that.” – Bee
* They decide to go to Margaux for advice, who sees them and immediately asks what happened. Ki apologizes for interrupting her day, but says they were wondering if they could get some advice. Ki explains the conundrum, and Bee adds that in any case, to restore Claudia, lives will need to be taken.
** “Well… from my perspective, the lives are already taken, and so… she is suffering, you’ll probably need to be there for her, else the fallout will probably be very severe.”
* Bee says they shouldn’t do it before the mission – they can’t just do it and then leave Claudia alone. They agree to do it afterward, and Bee says that while Ki’s gone, she can help Mr. Radovan get ready. Ki thanks Margaux for the advice, and Bee goes to set up a room and let Radovan know. Radovan is fine doing it tonight. His only stipulation is that he wants to have other people with him, to avoid a mob coming after him.
* Angel, Charon, Ki, and Seth will train in their respective martial schools after the operation.
* The spymaster levels Antoinette up to level 3. We gain +6 emerald. The quartermaster rebuilds Lucky 8’s, and puts the remaining build point into the theater. Charon is equipped with the binoculars. We spend -4 intel.
** A useful item would be something smelly. A challenge we may face is a cipher. We cannot ask the weakness of the enemy position. This is not related to the previous mission. Balek Bones is now in the Blood Ocean. The Black Horn is currently wandering Gehenna, the ghost river.
* The marshall rolls 4d6 (3d6 + an extra 1d6) and gets a '''4''' [4 1 2 4]. As we head in the direction Journeyman indicated, Zey’s funny feeling continues to grow, and though we haven’t been traveling that long, it starts to become twilight… it’s darker and more quiet, almost like a shade has been drawn over the sun. We make physical checks.
* Seth (and soon Angel) begin to detect a foul smell in the air. Seth throws up his UAV, and detects a mass slightly off of the path – there appear to be these large mounds containing bones, plant matter, fur and feathers, etc. They seem to be owl pellets, though the largest we can see is 10 feet in diameter. We huddle together, everyone choosing a direction to look in.
* Zey rummages through the owl pellets (rummage check – '''5'''), and pries one open to find bits of smaller animals, as well as a large tusk that seems to have come from some kind of elephant-like creature, along with the scales of Slaad, and bits of what seems to be a Ruvor. He finds an intact bag with some herbs, netting us +2 recovery and +1 scrap… but some of the scrap falls, clinking to the ground, and a shadow begins to move over us.
* We press ourselves down, and see a massive black, white, and red owl-like beast with four wings gliding silently above us. It starts to circle overhead, before seeming to hear something and diving to a different part of the forest. We hear a screeching, and moments later, we see it flying away with two dead Slaad in its talons, drifting up to the clouds.
* We push on, and Zey finds another off-shooting trail. Angel spots a strange door down the path, nestled in the underbrush against a small cliff. It’s glowing with an energy that’s fading, like it was recently activated and is now dimming. We would have missed it if not for the glow. Charon thinks it’s probably low magic, and suggests to us that it might be another one of Sin’s spots. We decide to check out the door.
* The door has a bunch of parts that seem like they could shift and move to create an image. We push them around until they make the shape of an owl, before trying to activate it. The door pulls itself open.

The owl door, mostly complete.

* We find an interior room, maybe 200sqft. In front of us on a brick wall seems to be 3 tumblers for some kind of wheel lock or mechanism, and there’s a table in the middle of the room with a lockbox that has a similar mechanism. The one on the wall appears to have 3 numbers, and the lockbox has 4 letters. The rest of the room is made up with clocks that tick back and forth, all keeping the same time (the current time). There are a few pictures on the walls.
** One picture is of a dark tower perched on a cliff, piercing a darkening sky. The trees around it are dead, and red lightning is flashing. Another picture is of a schoolteacher peeking out of their classroom, from the perspective of the students. She’s an elven woman, and her head is out of the frame. The other pictures are mostly nature scenes. There are lots of pictures of owls.
** Ki turns the school painting over, and finds that it continues, showing the head of the schoolteacher looking out of the painting at a string of letters in a grid.

* Ki inputs “WISE” into the lockbox on the table. Resting on the inside is a beautiful owl masquerade mask, with beautiful brown feathers arcing off the sides. They seem like real owl feathers. Ki puts the mask on and feels her vision sharpen slightly. She notices a slight glow coming from the back of the schoolhouse painting, and sees different letters highlighted.

* Ki notices the teacher is wearing more blueish colors, and that on the other side, her face has more red coloring. She sees a glow from one of the grandfather clocks, and sees on the left side near the door, a clock with the number 1 there. From left to right, inside the mechanisms, she sees the numbers 1, 7, 2.
* We input 172 into the other lockbox, and there’s a pulse of energy. A door opens, and we enter it to find a shrine-like room. It has a small jewelry box of jewels, other owl statues and sculptures of different scrappable metals and materials, but the main centerpiece is a set of beautiful black armor, with a set of two brilliant black wings tucked behind it. It seems to be made of acid-marked metal, with bits of feather coming out of it, and has the insignia of an owl head in the center. It appears to be medium armor.
* Powerful low magic is coming from the armor. Charon tries on a bracer, and we see her features shift a bit, a veil of shadow falling across its face. These ethereal swirling feathers present themselves, and as Charon moves her arms, the wings move in tandem.
** The armor grants the Fly and Eagle Eyes powers, for no additional cost. The wearer rolls 2d6 on stealth rolls, and the armor grants +3 armor blocks and an additional +30 sp. It’s known as the Owl Knight Armor. We decide Charon should keep it for herself.
* Zey asks Angel to help him collect statues. Ki inspects the jewelry, and gathers that it’s Prime Ring in design, though she doesn’t know where. Seth figures out that it’s jewelry linked to New Mistral, in the Draconic Kingdom. We gain +3 emerald +7 scrap.
* We make our way out, and though it’s only 4 or 5pm, it looks like it’s midnight outside. Ki gives the mask to Charon, who puts it on and unlocks an additional ability – the mask connects with the armor, and when she takes the mask off, the armor flickers out in a puff of feathers. When Charon puts the mask on, the armor returns.
* As we move through the space, it becomes thick with moss, and the trees become beautiful juniper. It’s calm and serene, but then Seth sniffs the air, and signals for the party to get down as he smells a familiar scent. Amongst 5-6 juniper trees, there’s a nest the size of a house, with the carcasses of many defeated foes lying around it – this appears to be the owl’s nesting grounds. A shadow passes overhead, beginning to swoop and dive for Seth’s UAV, but he’s able to bring it out of the way. The owl takes off the tops of 3-4 trees, continuing to fly. We’re being hunted.
* After much debate, Charon sneaks out, and with 2 successes, she disappears into the darkness. She’s going as stealthily as possible, but as it reaches out, it forgets its arms are slightly tied to the wings now, and one wing shifts a bit, cracking a branch. It echoes in the silence, and a dark shape drops like a stone from the sky, destroying a nearby tree. Charon is among the rubble and the ruin, with the owl basically standing over her.
* Zey launches some water blasts off in random directions, aiming for branches to make noise – he gets 5 successes on a spirit check, and immediately, the owl darts off toward the sound. For the moment, it’s gone. Charon collects the splintered wood and makes it back over to us. We have the minimum amount needed to complete the mission… but there’s the opportunity for rummage checks. 
* Seth goes first, and rolls a '''1'''. We get a few hundred pounds of wood, distributed between all of us. Charon rolls next, and gets a '''3'''. She takes out her scythe and starts silently cutting down trees, with Seth able to catch the wood as it falls. They’re the stealthiest lumberjacks in existence. 
* We spot an egg in the nest, a beautiful blue egg with red spots and speckles. It’s the size of like, a contest-winning watermelon. We decide not to fuck with it, and decide to go back with our current haul. We go see Corania. Though it’s late, she’s still working diligently, and is very surprised.
** “Well, I must say, this is fantastic.”
* It’s enough wood to do quite a lot of good. Charon also excitedly whips out the mask and puts it on to show her the armor.
* Zey says he’s possibly close to a cure for the Van Rome Virus, though it’s gonna take a lot of resources. He lists off the necessary supplies, and says he needs an active Nexus – the bigger the guy, the better the cure. Angel asks if they wouldn’t count as an active Nexus; they assume not, but… Zey says he doesn’t think so, and doesn’t want Angel to turn into one again; he likes who they are now.
** “Forgive me, I do have a question that is a bit off-topic… is this how you communicate with each other all the time?” – Corania
* She says that at the moment, we’re all quite different than Talisman, and other experiences she’s had with us. Perhaps those situations were more different, but we seem to be building each other up. There seems to be much more care. Zey says he’s trying to lift spirits. Corania has a genuine smile on her face.
** “I suppose I must thank all of you, I… had not known this kind of activity was occurring right beneath my nose. I found much more darkness and infighting. I had been feeling rather hopeless in some regards, but this has brightened my spirits.”
* We say that we’re not all going to get along swimmingly all the time, but we all have a common goal. She says she supposes we’re all learning the challenges of creating a society, a group of people, that can work together; it’s not a linear process, but it’s one of the most profound actions we can take nonetheless. 
** “Through our building, every brick laid and every problem solved are actions. They build character. They also demand patience and persistence and vision, these actions. To build is to confront failure. But not with defeat, with resolve, resilience, kindness. I believe that it is the act of trying, failing, and trying again, knowing in every setback there is an opportunity for growth and innovation. That, in those moments, is how we build a better place. And what we build, be it a home, community, or legacy… it endures beyond us. Becomes part of the fabric of society. A testament to the contribution of the world we have exhibited. Building to create meaning and purpose, not just for ourselves but for generations to come… I hope that you are building the foundations of that.”
* Corania says she has been rather melancholy lately because she thought she was surrounded by simple soldiers, but she’s not – at least, from what she’s seen today.
** “If you are soldiers, then you are far more than that. I challenge you to be a builder as well as a soldier, to craft the world you dream of. Forge something that will outlast you. Something that will inspire others, for in building you not only shape the world but yourself. In that shaping you become a force of endless possibility. Forgive the… lecture, I suppose. But I would like to offer you all my favor for the actions you have taken today, and the hope you have inspired in me for the future. If you would allow me.”
* Charon says that Anahi was right, Corania really is cool.
** “My dear Anahi. How I failed her.”
** “I think she’s gonna find a place. It’ll be hard, but… I don’t think she’s entirely alone.”
** “With you by her side, I am much more at ease. Now, would you help me stack this wood?”
* As we work, she bestows her boon upon us – her group boon is the boon of innovation. With it, we collectively gain +1 scrap for each 6 on an engagement roll, as we find materials in new and creative ways. We also roll an extra +2d6 on when helping to build people, places, or things.
* Charon asks Corania if she knows how to sew, and Corania says she does, she has actually created a new type of sewing method.
** “Perhaps if I could borrow your expertise at some point, could you help me make something for someone?”
** “I would. I’m sure she’ll love it.”
* Charon’s face turns red, and she nods and leaves.
* Storm leaves a mission write-up for Karina, but she invites him to sit down and talk through it – she can read it, but she wants to know what the vibe was.

* We all get a level-up. The session ends here.