Session 108: It’s a Giant’s World (May 28, 2026)
Last session, our heroes prepared for their week of downtime. Maho communed with Yura to try and figure out what to do about Sarnann’s conquering impulses. She learned that while Yura cannot intervene directly in battle against Sarnann, the giantess would not return to her body within the month anyway. She also learned that Central Command is still actively attacking Hojo, a fact which solidified her decision to return to her home town.
The party bivalved back to Maho’s house in Ivalgo to spend some time before continuing on the next stage of their adventure. Joerg and Spraus were both there when they arrived, Joerg getting spooked by their appearance, and Spraus excitedly hugging Heph, explaining that he was moving back into Potion Pitstop. Heph asked him to see what he could do replicating his Potion of Hill Giant Strength.
And so the party set about on their individual activities for the week. Eden visited Soaking Vines, the spa in town to get some relaxation. She arrived to find the building was in disrepair due to much of its marble facade and statuary being used to defend the city. She volunteered her assistance to Filippa Biagini, the owner, and set about magically reconstructing the space in a style that was both beautiful, practical, and evocative of the events that led to this rebuilding. As thanks she was given a spa day for free, but upon realizing how badly mismanaged the spa was by Filippa, how poorly the employees were paid, and how in debt Filippa’s weekly dog purchases had left the establishment, she decided to purchase it. She renamed it “The Bunny Burrow (Luxury Spa, Salon and Therapy Services)” and sent coupons all around the city offering the spa’s new Massage Counseling.
Maho thought of how difficult it must be for Jarles to be alive but unable to interact physically with the world or have much agency. She asked Heph if she could borrow him, and once she was alone she placed her Servitude Choker onto Jarles’s scabbard. This caused the scabbard to sprout arms and legs, and immediately start talking, an occurrence which frightened Jarles and surprised Maho. After a short adjustment, Jarles discovered he could control the new arms and legs, although he could not control the voice. He drew himself as a sword, plastered himself with googly eyes, and announced he would go to Potion Pitstop to try and mess with Heph’s parents. Before he left, Maho also gave him her Catnip Amulet, and he took off, followed by an assortment of cats (which has been established are mythical) as he made his way across town.
Heph, with his parents, dropped by a party at the harbor celebrating the defeat of the NSI invasion fleet. Karrl transformed back into an octopus and got to spend some time in the sea. Heph was so focused on the festivities that he entirely missed Mort being carried around and celebrated, and rumblings of the day being named “Wizard’s Day” in his honor. The next day, Heph headed to Ivalgo City University, where he hoped to do some experimentation with his Wand of Whispers. He found Mort waiting for him in the lead room, still a bit tipsy and decked out in necklaces and gifts. Heph discovered that there was no tracking magic on the Wand specifically, but that some other object was attuned to track it. He repaired the Wand to its full original abilities, without breaking the tracking, thinking it may turn out to be useful. He also created a fake schematic which he sent to Henry Randall, hiding in it a damaging effect if the user tries to cast Sending through the Wand. He received the contract back, signed and completed.
We reconvene with our heroes at The Bunny Burrow (Luxury Spa, Salon and Therapy Services), where Mort is getting a massage and goats are wandering around. Mort took Maho to a hot tub to scry on her mother. But first, we flash back to some additional activities during Maho’s downtime.
- During the break, Maho spends some time trying to figure out the
magic on The Executioner’s Greataxe and see if she can influence it using
runes
- She is slightly distracted by Jarles’ antics, but she manages to figure out that the closest rune to the axe’s effect is a gravity (70% gravitas, 30% physical) rune
- She remembers that Hooded Beth had described that the axe’s effect was due to the inertia of the actions it had taken, and Maho might be able to counteract it by making it “lighter”
- She goes to find Heph and Eden, who Izume has taken to a
show
- The show is a one-man show with no props that is autobiographical but also seems very fake and embellished
- Over the course of the show, the audience starts to leave or talk amongst themselves, nobody really caring about the show
- Izume leans over and asks if this is what we normally do for fun here, saying it’s a really bad show and the worst entertainment they have in Hojo is better
- Izume turns to Maho and asks what it is she needs help with, and Maho explains that she is trying to lighten the axe
- Izume is thinking cloud rune as well, and she and Maho start to get ready to carve some runes into the axe
- Heph studies the axe and contemplates the effect of the rune, and thinks that the rune might help to lessen Kogar’s posthumous influence and leave more room for Beth’s influence
- Izume pulls out a chisel and hands it to Maho, who starts carving a rune with Heph’s and Eden’s help
- Ana is in the audience and is enjoying the performance, but she grants Maho a bit of luck as Maho tries to gain insight into the effect of the rune on the axe
- Heph with his previous study of the axe, and Maho with the insight realize the axe is free from Kogar’s funk, and can be carried down a different path
- She realizes that some of the killing instinct that comes from the axe may have been in her already
- Back to the present time, we are in the spa, meeting up at the end of our
downtime, and on our way to the hot tub for a scry
- Heph has refreshed the spell-storing item, storing Fly in Maho’s axe
- As Mort takes off his robe, revealing a pair of swim shorts and a tattoo on his lower back saying “Mona’s”, and the tattoo stings as he climbs in
- He sits down, places the robe on the edge of the hot tub and focuses on the water, and it calms down and turns into a glassy surface, and starts looking like a window to another place
- We see the outside of a large square tent in an encampment with Central Command soldiers standing guard and more soldiers walking around
- Maho recognizes the mountains of Cryptop rising in the background and Zora’s Furrow to the side, somewhere between Kohlburg and the mountains
- Mort says he can move his sensor around, and Maho asks him to go into the tent, which looks sealed and rather impenetrable
- As the sensor enters into the darkness of the tent, Heph and Maho are able to see Maho’s mother in a chair with her arms bound behind her, looking calm and focused and observing her situation
- We also see a Central Command soldier standing nearby with an eyepatch over one eye, wild hair and a single crystal earring, and she is watching over Maho’s mom very closely
- There is also a porcelain mask floating through the air, reminiscent of the masks we saw in the previous scry, and there’s a vague hint of a shadow of a humanoid form behind it
- The mask approaches Mana, and the soldier leans in close and nods, and Mana’s eyes immediately open wider as the mask shoots closer to her face
- Slowly Mana starts to weave back and forth, mirroring the movement of the mask, as the soldier looks pleased
- They both stop and the mask turns and seems to be looking directly through the sensor at Maho
- Bubbles erupt from the water and disrupt the image, ending the scry
- As the scry breaks, Maho feels herself simultaneously in a bunch of
the phantom people, a large group of whom are amassed by the base of Cryptop,
and as she snaps back to herself she feels linked to the people via Hooded
Beth
- Maho explains that there are a lot more of the phantoms, and Heph wonders if they are preparing an assault on Hojo
- Eden asks what kind of senses Maho experienced, trying to deduce what sort of visibility into our movements that Central Command might have
- We debate the meaning of this a bit, and deciding we still have some time before this expedition reaches Hojo, we decide it is time to proceed to Hojo
- Eden asks Heph if Spraus had any luck with the potions, and as this happens Spraus comes up puffing with some potions
- Amble is taking her time, walking about 30 seconds behind Spraus
- Eden sees an amused grin on Amble’s face, showing some affection at the effort that Spraus is putting in, and Heph additionally sees a hickey on Spraus’ neck
- Spraus is glad to have caught us before we left, and we have a discussion about how we are going off yet again to another civilization he didn’t know existed
- Eden tells him to get some cream on that bug bite (hickey), which is super embarrassing for both Spraus and Heph
- He gives Heph back the original potion and two additional ones
- Spraus feels like he is being a bad father by not following Heph, and both Heph and Amble convince him that it is better than him staying behind
- Amble gives Heph some food that she has prepared for the next couple of days
- Joerg also runs up with a bag of sandwiches which he drops upon seeing the food Heph’s parents bring, which Heph grabs while Maho fills him in on what we saw with Mana
- Maho explains she’s going to rescue her mom, and then give her a piece of her mind afterwards
- Joerg gives Maho a letter to give to Rei, someone he knew from his time in Hojo
- He asks Maho to ask Mana to actually come visit, and gives Maho a hug, giving her some encouragement about her prowess before she goes back to Hojo
- Morty is willing to teleport us, but he doesn’t know Cryptop, but we are planning to take the bivalve, and he is grateful to keep his spell slots for demon summoning
- He asks if he can still use the spa, and Eden tells him definitely, as long as he sticks to the no demons rule
- We prepare to leave, and Jarles agrees to ride when we are in civilization, as long as we give him time to run around
- He seems to be able to attune and un-attune to the servitude choker at will, and he jumps up, hooks onto Heph’s belt, and sucks him arms in
- We notice a lot of cats around, and Heph asks about that, and Maho says she has no idea, even though she put the catnip amulet on Jarles
- Maho activates the bivalve and takes us into to her mom’s house,
which is Japanese themed, with curved shingle roofs, it is a single floor with
sliding paper doors and mats
- The front door is the only proper door and is the door we enter through, and the place has random accumulated stuff shoved into random corners
- Eden is taking in the new space, impressed by the size
- Maho notices there is some degree of a different vibe than she remembers, and Heph and Maho both hear noises from a room in the house
- We hear the sound of birds, and a repeated periodic plunking sound, like something sharp is hitting a flower pot
- Maho heads to the room with the noise while everyone is prepared to fight, and she sees a fully naked male goliath sitting on a couch, eating cherries and spitting the pits into a pot, and the window is open and there are birds on the windowsill
- He freezes mid-chew and stares at the group, and then says “this isn’t what it looks like!”
- Maho pulls out her greataxe, telling this guy threateningly that her mom is married, and he puts his hands up and looks around at the group very confused about the non-goliaths with the group
- The man explains that he is taking care of the house while Mana is away
- Suzuki reaches out and lowers Maho’s axe, and tells the man, Goro, Mana’s housekeeper, that this is Maho
- He suddenly realizes he is probably a bit in trouble, and he starts talking over himself trying to explain what he was up to
- Goro gets some clothes on, and are end up sitting down in the room with the
couch
- He explains the situation further, speaking in giant, as Eden uses Comprehend Languages to understand and relay to Heph what is happening
- Mana went out to explore and hone her skills and find Maho, and he realized he isn’t being paid and doesn’t need to take care of things as closely
- He has heard that Izume and Suzuki went out to find Mana, and wonders if Mana is back, but Maho explains we are back precisely because Mana isn’t
- Maho is surprised that nobody is on alert, and asks Goro what the situation is, and he seems a bit confused as to what exactly she is asking for
- Maho asks if Rei is in the bookshop, and Goro responds that he never leaves
- Goro asks who the little people are, and Maho explains we are friends she met all over, and when Eden curtsies, Goro curtsies in response
- Maho tells Goro we will be back later in the day if we aren’t kicked out, and he responds that he will clean the place up
- Maho gives him 10gp as some back pay, and he is suddenly super happy to help out, and offers to do a supply run for Maho
- She asks him to get the spicy wine
- We head out of Mana’s house, heading towards the bookshop
- Heph is a bit distracted and ends up running into the legs of a goliath, who glares at Heph and the rest of the group, saying “watch where you’re going pipsqueak”, but Heph doesn’t understand
- Eden sees the woods sloping down towards the edge of the village, and she sees a figure wearing camouflage in the trees watching the village
- Noticing it’s not Ana, Eden discreetly messages Maho to let her know without making a big scene
- Maho believes it isn’t normal or the Hojo military, and they play it cool as we head into the bookshop
- Eden sends the owl flying out to keep an eye on the soldier, but the owl seems to tip off the figure, and he looks at our group
- Eden winks at the figure in response, and the figure drops down from the branch and heads deeper into the woods
- We head into the bookstore and are immediately assaulted by a musty smell, and
the shop is very chaotic and if it is organized at all it is in a totally
unclear way
- A voice in the stacks calls out that he will be with is in a moment, and Eden takes the time to fill us in on what she saw and what happened
- A few moments later, an older man wanders out with a long but not overly scraggly beard
- He looks at Maho and is shocked to see her, and shuffles over to her, saying it’s good to see her
- He asks if her dad is there, and she says no, but she has a letter from him
- He thinks Joerg sent her just to send a letter, but she explains she has other business and stopped by to drop off the letter first
- He offers us seats and the smaller folks are able to share, and he reads the letter with an unclear reaction but says he will get to it soon
- He turns back to Maho and asks what has brought her to town, asking if they have found Mana, since he believes Izume and Suzuki were out to find her
- He doesn’t seem super concerned that people were missing, as far as he’s concerned everything is fine
- He continues to say that things are mostly the same, but they’ve been getting new things from the surrounding areas which is different
- He tells Maho her friend has a studio near Tavern 3, and when Eden asks a question about that he actually switches to common
- He explains that the taverns are numbered and are how people navigate the city
- Maho asks how he heard that Izume and Suzuki were looking for Mana, and he thinks he heard it from Mana’s neighbors, but it seems that’s the common understanding of what was going on
- Maho tells him that’s not quite what was going on, and then asks him if he knows anything about why someone would be perched in a tree watching the shop
- After some confusion about the size of a human, he finally circles back to the fact that a human-sized person was watching his shop and how weird it is
- They don’t really have any humans in town, the only human who was in the town was Joerg, and there hasn’t been anyone else
- As we wrap up the discussion, Maho asks when the next hoops game is, and Rei responds it is the next day and they’re having a pretty good year
- Meanwhile Karrl and Eden’s owl are circling overhead, trying to figure out what is going on with that human that we saw