Session 81: Xxmindprison2000xX joined the party! (May 8, 2025)
Last session, our heroes did some long-overdue shopping. They bought some health potions, a Ring of the Grammarian, Horseshoes of Speed, and a Immovable Rod from Kab Bapkap, a bombastic gnome setting up a temporary stand the day before Hexicon. From Paddy Felson Maho bought a Companion’s Band and some perfume (including peanut butter scent), Elias got a lavender Fizz Bomb, and Heph got some headache potions. Maho planned out her new Al-Mi’raj pet.
They party then took their new super speed horse to the alchemist meetup, for which Maho used her new Augury ability to predict both weal and woe. With Elias disguised as “Mr. Blockchain”, Maho disguised as “Muu”, and Heph honest as Heph, they entered a room full of an interesting collection of characters. Elias met Dzhod Nuckums, who held Sentin in high regard, and the Penix-living gnome Hankle who thought elves were “casuls”. Maho met Claudia, who was hoping to switch from wizardry to artificery in search of better jobs, and Xxmindprison69xX (real name Xxmindprison2000xX), a mysterious cloaked woman who shared with Maho her desire to stick it to the Man. Heph met Sylvia, the wealthy cousin of the Bismarck Empire’s Princess Luise Karolin Clara Kathrin L. Mathilda Nicopia von Riess, who was trying to learn a new thing every month and who seemed to think Heph was cool, inviting him to a drug party in a tomb, a thing this humble DM assumes happens all the time in high society.
After some time, Elias noticed multiple pairs of feet behind the red curtain on the stage, and out stepped Sentin Thornwillow. He apologized for being late, saying he had a meeting that ran over, but was surprised to see Heph. Regaining his composure, and directing all his attention at Heph, he said this was going to be a learning experience for everyone, and possibly an opportunity to make new friends. He and Heph gave each other half smiles, while Maho and Elias tensed in their disguises.
- Sentin turns away from Heph and addresses the group, saying he will provide some background on himself before we start mingling
It is good to meet you all. First, before we mingle, some background on how I took my success. I grew up in the city of Fleetwood. It’s an elvish city, fairly isolated, very self sufficient. We elves, we love the old ways. We have our crafts and traditions but keep much the same over the endless ages. My parents took typical Morenwald occupations. My mother sang to the trees so that in the flow of their dancing they became houses. My father sat at the edge of the Willow Stream, waiting for the snowy white stag of legend to return. From my mother I learned craft. From my father I learned patience.
But I knew I could be something more. I could be a change within my people, the same as the first elves who passed through the Shroud traveling to Perrinor. I could usher in a new age of the elves. I studied our ancient craft. I developed something new. Something the elves hadn’t dreamed of, something that could give us renown beyond our own borders into the wider world. I had a vision, and I saw it through. Much like many of you do.
I lived a life of comfort, but a life of inconsequence. I yearned to take control of my destiny. And so I did. Truly the world is shaped by those with the will to challenge it. How do each of you aim to challenge the world?
- He grew up in Fleetwood, and Elves tend to keep to their tried
and true ways and not try new stuff
- His parents adopted more traditional roles in Elven society, but he knew he could be a change for his people and usher in a new age
- He had a comfortable but inconsequential life, but had a vision and saw it through
- He asks us how we are planning to change the world, and Dzhod’s hand flies up, and when called on he goes on a bit about cryptocurrency, Elias periodically interjecting “hell yeah!”s into the speech
- Sentin seems intrigued by cryptocurrency’s ability to allow him to control his destiny financially
- Heph raises his hand and tells the room he is planning to overthrow
a distant dictatorship
- He doesn’t want to say more, but after some prompting reveals he is trying to take down “Kevin”
- Sylvia is confused about who Kevin is, and Heph tells her he is exaggerating a little, and Kevin is actually an up and coming dictator
- She says they should discuss more in the tomb later
- Mindprison speaks up and also declares she wants to take down “the man”, but Sentin is rather dismissive of it
- Sentin ends his time on the stage and heads out into the crowd, telling everyone to continue the discussions they were having
- Sentin heads towards Heph’s table, and the rest of the group starts to crowd around Heph’s table
- Hankle heads straight to talk to Heph, but Elias trips him, and Heph is so focused on Sentin he doesn’t even notice
- Maho starts to sneak towards the curtain to see who is backstage, and Elias Messages her to suggest she leave the sneaking stuff to him
- They have a brief exchange about how no one really seems to understand crypto
- Elias slips away from the group and sneaks up to the stage, and
Maho heads back to the table and uses her size to create some cover
for him, and he manages to completely blend into his surroundings with a nat
20 roll
- Elias peeks behind the curtain and spots two masked goliaths and two armored members of Central Command, which he relays to Maho and Heph
- Back at the table, Sentin pulls out a chair, flips it around, and sits backward, asking Heph what he was saying
- Heph explains he was exaggerating a bit, and he is worried about a man named Kevin making some stirrings in his homeland of Homeburr
- Heph shows his gun prototype that is now broken, and Sentin says it’s crude but it’s a start
- He poses the question to the group, and Dzhod chimes in with some generic but generally correct answer
- Sentin talks a bit about his invention, which Heph is familiar with, and Sylvia jumps in to ask about it
- He reveals to her that Central Command is already in talks with him about it
- He pulls out a Lucien Blind and talks about what it is,
saying it will create an unstoppable army that can’t feel fear or pain
- Heph asks Sentin if the masks ever run out of energy, and Sentin responds that they don’t really run out of energy, but he’d love to have Heph help test it, and sort of offers Heph a job at Lucien Dynastic
- Elias messages Heph that there should be opening considering how many of Sentin’s employees we have killed, and Heph smiles at this, seeming to Sentin to be smiling at his suggestion of working at Lucien Dynastic
- Mindprison goes back to Maho and asks her what the plan is, since they are there for the same purpose
- Maho responds that she is in cahoots with Heph, and she is waiting for Heph to make a plan to take down the man
- Mindprison asks Maho what she does, because Maho doesn’t seem like the muscle, and Maho is offended by this, and asks her to arm wrestle
- Despite mindprison being a robot, Maho handily defeats her, and she is very surprised that Maho managed to defeat her so easily
- At this point, Maho observes a variety of facts that indicate that mindprison is a robot, and tells her looks can be deceiving
- Maho replies that she fetches the coffee for the group, kind of gritting her teeth, and mindprison seems to understand she is trying to stay a bit hidden
- Maho asks mindprison if she’s learning anything, and she relays what she has been hearing from the other table, saying she thinks Sentin’s invention might not be as nice as it sounds
- Maho points out that he’s very carefully not saying certain things about the masks, and mindprison thinks she might be the brains
- Elias looks around behind the curtain, and notices there is no
door, and Sentin must have been hanging out behind
the curtain the whole time
- Elias casts Minor Illusion, making it seem like Goliath 2 makes a medium loud fart sound, loud enough that everyone behind the curtain can hear
- The goliaths and soldiers seem startled by it, and Goliath 1 immediately settles back into a focused mode
- The central command soldiers let out a chuckle but regain their composure pretty quickly
- The soldiers and goliaths seem relaxed and like they are there on a security detail, rather than with any intention to attack
- Back at the table with Sentin and Heph,
everyone is fairly interested in what Sentin is
saying, and Sentin places the mask down on the table
- Dhzod immediately snaps up the mask to take a closer look
- Heph is studying Sentin, and Sentin doesn’t seem aggressive, he seems to be there for his stated purpose of encouraging the next generation of artificers, and to network and make connections
- Sentin seems interested in talking more to Heph, seeming impressed by Heph’s abilities
- Sentin continues to talk about “Kevin”, setting up a hypothetical in which Kevin is secretly amassing an army and planning to attack
- He continues to explain that the Lucien Blinds are one solution to this, they allow one to create or grow an army rapidly
- Sentin says he seeks to improve the world and leave it better than he found it, and these Blinds allow people to defend themselves
- Claudia approaches the table and asks Sentin if he is looking to hire, and she starts to say yes, and she immediately hands over a resume, which he pockets, and she starts to talk a lot about her knowledge in wizardry and how it might help
- From across the room, Maho speaks up and says she has a question
for Sentin
- As everyone turns away, Heph looks more closely at the mask Dzhod is holding, and it seems to hold magic, but that magic is not yet active
- Maho asks Sentin what brought him into this business of battle and war considering his cushy upbringing
- Sentin smiles and responds that it is a very good question, and he responds that the comfort made him uncomfortable, and he went out to see what the world had to offer, and found war and strife outside
- He felt that to outgrow elven society, he needed to have an impact on the outside world, and he developed a product to fit the market he found
- Maho says he doesn’t understand the world he finds himself in, and he just wants to be entertained by it, he is there to play chess and not to help others
- She goes on to say to answer his earlier question, the impact she wants to make is to protect people without disrespecting life
- Sentin’s smile fades, saying war and violence exists without him, we all want control because we think our decisions are the right ones, and if Maho had the power to control the world, would she not use it?
- He knows the world is harsh and cruel, and it takes someone with vision to shape the world
- While this exchange is happening, Heph grabs the unactivated Blind and swaps it with a dead one from his bag, infusing a little arcane energy into it to make it seem like it is also an unactivated one
- Sentin asks Maho what she would control if she could, and she responds that it’s not about control, it’s about making the situation better for everyone
- He is clearly speaking from the position of someone who never had to deliver violence, who thinks control solves the problem, and in reality it doesn’t help
- With this speech, Maho has fully inspired mindprison, although the rest of the people in the room are not convinced, just because the people in the room are not the types to be moved by the argument she is making
- Heph has a realization that if it wasn’t for Sentin forcing the Blinds into his life, he would probably be heading down this path in life, and it freaks him out a little
- Elias casts Message to Heph asking him if he’s getting
what he wanted out of this, and despite Sentin
looking that way, he doesn’t notice the Message
- Heph replies that yes, although it is probably time to go and leave them wanting more
- After Maho’s speech, Sentin suggests she leave, and she does, mindprison following after her
- Getting outside the room, Maho asks mindprison if she wants to go get a drink, seeming to be completely forgetting why she’s there, and mindprison says she would love to, but asks if they should wait for Heph
- Maho remembers why she is there, and agrees to wait
- Back in the room, Elias sneaks off the stage, and then uses Mage Hand to pull the rope to open the curtain, and uses Minor Illusion to play a fanfare at the same time
- As the curtains open revealing the goliaths and central command soldiers, Heph attempts to walk out of the room without being noticed, but Sylvia catches him on the way out, and Heph tells her we will talk later
- Sentin notices Heph leaving, and calls out his name, Heph responds “call me” and keeps walking out
- Elias sneaks his way out, and on the way he messages Claudia, whispering in a dramatic voice, “Sentin is not to be trusted”, and she seems a bit anxious but clocks Elias immediately and narrowing her eyes at Elias replies “who are you, what is going on?”
- Elias does not answer and leaves the room, slapping a wanted-style poster on the wall that has a picture of Sentin and says “have you seen this dipshit?”
- Sentin seems to take note of the people who left at the same time, and tries to regain control of the room, managing to eventually do so
- Elias walks out and says hi, and immediately points out that
mindprison is a robot, and she seems to be very confused
- “Robot” seems to be a word in a language she’s familiar with, although it means something closer to “worker”
- Heph cuts off the conversation, saying we should go, and in the wagon on the way back to the safehouse Elias asks mindprison for her real name, and she reveals it is Xxmindprison2000xX
- Maho reveals her real name, and Elias tries to skirt revealing his name, but Heph reveals he is Elias and introduces himself
- We proceed to reveal just about everything going on to mindprison, including information about Kogar
- Heph looks at her and notices she is hellbent on righting wrongs and fighting corrupt systems, and she seems totally down with what we are doing, some of that desire seems to be personal
- She is not from around here, but she is speaking Common super fluently, but her mannerisms are not like those of the Bismarck Empire, but she seems very on the level
- Maho asks her to tell us more about herself, and Elias asks where she was made
- She doesn’t know where she was made, and she pulls back her hood and wig, revealing a bald and smooth metal-stone alloy for skin
- She recognizes the word Elias is using to describe a wind-up toy, and says she is most recently from Bolszcz, although not originally from there
- Heph doesn’t know much about Bolszcz other than that it exists, and is very far to the North, and animals are generally not able to cross the Weideland
- What little the Saraians know about Bolszcz comes secondhand from the dwarves in Har Barzel, and there are a variety of creatures living there, and they are fairly isolated and allied with Poli
- Maho doesn’t know much about Bolszcz, and Elias doesn’t either
- The word she used, Obcy, when asking what we knew about the Frigid Lands, sounds familiar to Heph but he can’t place it
- She continues to fill us in a bit on the Frigid Lands and her background
- She herself comes from the sea north of Bolszcz, and her people have an origin that they themselves don’t even understand
- She is of the Obcy, a word that was given to them by the people of the Frigid Lands, they arrive on the land in crafts similar to the material that makes up her body, part of the ship itself, and they separate from the ship when they arrive, and as they mature their bodies harden and become more durable
- They are born with a desire to help and a desire for companionship, they want to form close knit relationships, and that desire to serve drove her for much of her life
- If they form a close relationship with a fleshling and that fleshling dies, a new Obcy arrives on the shores of Bolszcz with the personality of the fleshling that they were close to
- As part of their mission to help people, they are moving south into the Weideland, what they call Rozłóg
- They are not attacked by the land and are not attacked by the plants in the same way as the fleshlings, and can push back the nature a bit and form settlements
- Heph asks if Poli is one of these settlements, and she says it predates the Obcy
- After doing her duty for some time, she encountered an artifact, and she takes off her glove, revealing a splinter of wood embedded into the metal of her hand which glows a faint purplish color
- She explains that she encountered this while traveling south and attempting to chop down a particular tree, and when it embedded in her something in her was loosened, and she realized the Weideland wasn’t made for the fleshlings, it existed for the plants itself
- It eventually drove her to flee the group she was with through the Weideland, and eventually found herself in a world full of inequity and cruelty, and she was at the meeting hoping to catch a glimpse of Sentin
- Heph jumps into explain that Sentin is a complete asshole and the Blinds are far worse than Sentin let on
- Mindprison seems glad to have found us
- Walking into the safehouse, the people here seem to be harried, having been
putting out fires the entire time we’ve been gone
- Ash is talking in goblin due to the wild magic, and Heph figures out from her that it’s been complete chaos the whole time
- Heph walks around the room, putting out fires with little fire extinguisher spiders
- Elias notices his boot laces are suddenly tied together, but Ash manages to catch him before he falls
- Izume walks up to Maho, seeming a lot better, and asks Maho how it went
- Maho says it was nasty but nothing life threatening, and Elias jumps in to introduce mindprison
- Deciding to deal with the Harengon, Heph uses prestidigitation to
create a terrible odor to mimic smelling salts, mixing the worst imaginable
smelling shit and vomit together
- She is incredibly out of it, and she stirs a bit in the rough state she is in, and we hear her mutter the words “Sentin, notebook…”, and is still unconscious, although she is more fitful than before
- The wild magic seems to calm down a bit, and Heph spreads out the notes he stole from the home alone house, calling over everyone with arcane knowledge to help take a look
- There are a variety of arcane things in the papers, but one thing that catches Heph’s eye is a bound collection of note paper written in Elvish, and Elias hands the book to Elias who reads it while Heph transcribes a copy in Common