3rd Shift (9/14/17): The Night's Not Over

Octavius 8, 340 EE.

Kai's attempt to shatter the jar containing the ancient head fails, but his companions Timon and Klytus have a strange reaction, suddenly very hesitant to damage the artifact, and in fact quite adamant on protecting it. The dwarf believes them compromised or cursed, and ties to knock them out and get them away from the source, but the tables are turned when they manage to knock HIM out and save the head. They tie him up, and after an hour or so see if he's come to his senses...believing he was trying to steal it from them. He seems to be agreeable, so the trio marches back across the Marrow Flats towards Iosyne. Kai fakes being disoriented, and eventually he is untied, since he is slowing down the group too much. He takes that opportunity to snag the everburning torch and flee from the group, then tries to slow them down with his sling. They instead light another torch and run off towards the village, outpacing the dwarf. When they arrive, Timon and Klytus conceal the jar and warn the guard on duty, Polyphetes, that Kai is on a murderous streak and to lock up Iosyne.

Meanwhile, Lucretia had been returned to the village, where she was healed up by Ventor Sylo, and released to her mother Gavia. She dines with her mother and brother Aulus, the latter of whom is suspicious of the events that brought her low, the former judgmental. She does tell her mother they uncovered a suspicious artifact in the mines at Foothold. At the same time, Timon and Klytus bring the head to Ventor Sylo, where they are sent to have injuries looked over, and while Ventor seems unimpressed, his aide Decius falls under the same compulsion that seems to have taken over our heroes! He tells them he's going to go off and let their family know they are okay. Kai arrives at the gate of the village, and has words with Polyphetes, warning him of the artifact his companions were carrying. The guard decides to go check for himself...

Octavius 9, 340 EE.

But when he arrives, Klytus has hidden the object under his cloak. Poly does a brief inspection but returns to the gate, telling Kai he'd better just sleep outside for the night. Desperate, the dwarf begins striking the gate with his hammer, causing a ruckus, at which point Poly calls out another solider, Sthlenelaus, and they open the gate, disarming the dwarf and marching him off to the brig. After a scuffle with Aulus, in which she learns her companions have returned to Iosyne, Lucretia sneaks out her window. Ventor returns to the hospice with Aristan and Themis Bassa, who promptly march Klytus and Timon back to the inn where their mother awaits. Decius swears he will keep the head hidden and protected. En route, they run across Kai and the soldiers, and an argument breaks out. The dwarf is then herded into an unused, locked barracks building. Lucretia speaks to him briefly through the bars, after which she learns about the head being in Iosyne, and she sneaks off to confront the Bassa brothers about it, heading to the inn once they are asleep.

She breaks into their room and wakes up Timon, roughing him up a bit until he coughs up the info, and then she blocks off the door so he and Klytus can't follow, heading back to the hospice which she threatens to burn down. The brothers howl out the window, and Polyphetes hears them from the gate, rushing off to intercept the girl. Timon climbs out the inn window to tail them. Lucretia turns back home once she hears the shouts, but Poly and Timon proceed to the hospice, where the soldier witnesses Decius talking to the head, and is he himself compelled! With Timon, they decide to move the head to another of the unused barracks, and then remove Kai from the area, since he's still unaffected and might wish harm upon the artifact. Decius recommends just killing the dwarf, but Timon refuses. They sneak into the brig house and march Kai out, but en route they are caught by another of the city guard, the veteran Thaumastas, who marches all three back to two different brigs, and then heads off to notify Tribune Crathis!

PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 800 each.
Classes Unlocked: Adept, Expert, Fighter

NPCs

Aristan Bassa (human male): A big, bald bronze man with a big beard, Aristan wears a cross-stitched wool apron over his tunic and leather breeches while tending bar at the Iosyne Bath and Tap, the one notable business in the village. A gladius, given to him by the Tribune, is displayed at his belt prominently, and his considerable arms are inked up with legionary tattoos, giving the impression that he was of some standing in the Ekrysian military himself.

Aulus ‘All Morning Long’ Tertula (human male): Deriving his name from his tendency to burn himself early during his dig shifts, Aulus is a bookish waif of around 4’ height who seems every bit his mother’s son. He has a messy mop of strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, and heavily freckled cheeks which also bear acne scars, and some of the softest hands in the village, due to an obsession with personal cleanliness. He rarely goes on a dig without extra cloths and water, and even in the hottest months he’ll wear hats and gloves to protect his skin from the sun and salt.

Decius Iustinas (human male): A slight young man with a bowl of flat hair matted around his eyes and ears, Decius bears the sash and station of a soothsaying like his master Ventor. He has a short nose and a slight hair-lip which he twitches often, to give off a rather humorous impression of a sneer. He carries a sharpened pair of scissors which he uses to cut out cloth gauze for the hospice's patients, and a medical pamphlet sticks forth from his breeches.

Gavia Tertula (human female): Gavia is a woman in her mid 40s with a slender frame, and brown hair put up in a bun with a few strands lazily whisking above her brow. She has shimmering azure eyes, and oversized spectacles, one of which is fixed with a magnifying glass she can impose over the lens. Her sensible duster is slung tight around her figure, and strapped in by the bevy of bandoliers she wears that contain drafting tools, scroll cases, and other implements of her engineering train. She also commonly has a quill tucked in one ear and ink stains on her fingers or cheeks.

Polyphetes (human male): With arms as broad as most of the Iosyne villagers’ bodies, it’s no secret that this soldier is the singular strongest person around. His dark brown hair is cropped short in the front, shaved on the sides, and left longer in the back, and he seems overly fond of showing it off, along with his chisel-shaped face, and not wearing his regulation helmet. Polyphetes carries the standard hasta and pilum typical of an Ekrysian soldier, but has replaced his gladius with a broad two-handed sword engraved with floral patterns that he calls ‘Crocus’.

Sennia Bassa (human female): A wiry lass of 13 summers, Sennia has a wild and dark beauty about her that catches the eye of a lot of Ekrysian men, who eagerly await her coming of age. This is not lost on her parents and siblings, who expect one day to marry her off into quite a merger or dowry that can improve their lot in life. With dark auburn curls and naturally long eyelashes, she has a natural predisposition to flirtation which often rubs other local girls and mothers the wrong way. She wears very simple cloth dresses with golden trim that only seem to accent her attractiveness.

Sthenelaus (human male): The youngest of the Imperial soldiers at Iosyne, Sthenelaus is a lithe young man of seventeen summers whose hair is tied into a topknot, shaved on the sides behind where it runs into thin sideburns. His skin is among the bronzest-tinged in the village, and he’s extremely toned and athletic, an expert at the javelin throw and perhaps the locals’ best fighter at range. He cuts a few corners on his uniform to remain light on his feet, but makes up for this with agility.

Thaumastus (human male): The oldest of the Imperial soldiers stationed in Iosyne, Thaumastus has a dozen visible scars that tell a dozen stories of the border skirmishes he claims to have partaken in. Most notably, the bridge of his nose has been sliced nearly in half horizontally, the result of a duel against a Lennish captain on the Western border. He wears his uniform proudly, perhaps even moreso than the tribune, and the square cut of his graying hair and goatee is as rigid and professional as his work ethics. He favors a tower shield and a long twin-bladed thrusting hasta named ‘Double Eagle’.

Themis Bassa (human female): A bulky, short middle-aged woman with large forearms and square shoulders, she is adorned in a broad cook’s apron of wool, stained with all manner of spices, seasonings, drinks and blood from chickens and other small animals she has slaughtered. She has two large knives tucked into protective sheathes and slung over her shoulder in a sash, and a string of garlic and mushrooms around her neck for ease of use. Her hair is gray and thinning, and her cheeks red and pock marked with scars from a childhood illness.

Ventor Sylo (human male):  A broad, middle aged man with a hook nose and fierce blue-black eyes, the gentle and sedate smile upon Ventor’s face seems a strange contrast. His hair is quite long, but recedes on the top to form a skullet, and he seems to try to draw attention away from this with two tattoos on his forehead that resemble crows, as well as a few ivory hoops in his ears. He wears a dun-colored cloak over an orange tunic, and carries a cudgel he claims was from a lightning-struck tree.