Session 98: Hooded Beth and Hexicon and Hidden Heph (December 18, 2025)
Last session, our heroes diffused a tense situation between Heph’s parents. Heph listened from the dining room as Amble attacked Spraus for his risky behavior, for thinking he wasn’t going to get caught and harm wasn’t causing to come to the family, and for apparently being in a carapskit gang now. Spraus tried to explain himself, saying that Heph was out doing good in the world, and that maybe if you’re going to do good you need to break the law a little. Amble, dealing with an implosion of her world as she learned of Heph’s adventures, Spraus’s actions, and now an invasion of her hometown, was having none of it.
Heph, aided by an Enhance Ability cast by Eden, did his best to coach his dad, while also asserting that they really needed to get going. Maho kept Amble busy with sandwiches and a recounting of some of her adventures and the fact that her dad is now technically Amble’s neighbor. With a nat 20 persuasion, Heph handed Spraus the knocker ring from the Dalin Palace riddle door, and Spraus confidently recounted his support of Heph in a difficult time as the party left to find Mort.
Mort came out of a nearby street as the party emerged. He passed off some ill-gotten coin to Eden and said they needed to go. He also stole Sir Stab from Maho and handed it back to explain the “five finger discount”. The party all teleported to an condemned restaurant in Bad Zamdorf with Gurt Pelor tagging along last minute. After asking where Sentin was, Eden pointed in the opposite direction of the Convention Center before Heph could explain exactly where Sentin was, and Gurt, not a patient man, ran off.
The abandoned building, with the name “Mona’s” printed in faded writing above the entrance, seemed to hold some significance to Mort. Maho asked to use it as a hideout, which Mort seemed tearily in favor of. Heph affixed an Arcane Lock to the door, and after realizing a magical property of one of the coins given to Eden, converted it into a Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion. The interior now had everything: a first floor resembling Elias’s house, translucent imps, a pool room filled with pool tables, a bar serving carrot juice, an operating restaurant in the back, and a single, mysterious, padlocked door with yellow amulets pressed onto the surface.
Heph worked to open it, eventually succeeding to reveal a cold metal stairway leading down. Sir Stab flew through, into the darkness. The party descended, realizing that they were no longer in the mansion, but in the dungeon of Scythcrest Reef. Maho walked down the hall, observing cells on either side with various fey creatures trapped in them, approaching her dagger laying before the final cell on the right. Whispers went up as she moved, speaking of the tyrant’s blade that she carried. At last she arrived at the end of the hall. All her daggers flew into the air and stabbed her. Sir Stab on the ground exploded into an armored being, wreathed in silence. He swung his blade through the bars of the cell, and out stepped an individual, cloaked in black, hood pulled down over her lowered head.
- Maho gets stabbed by a couple of her own daggers as Sir Stab
becomes a person and slices the bars open
- Eden has enough knowledge of the Fey to recognize Hooded Beth and knows she is a powerful Archfey, and notes that she doesn’t seem to be aggressive, but is facing Maho’s direction
- Eden asks if Maho is alright, and she replies that she can take a stab, but has no idea what is going on, and she gives Maho a bardic inspiration and readies a slow spell in case things get violent
- Sir Stab turns to face Maho, holding his sword at the ready, but does not attack, waiting for Hooded Beth to step through, and the daggers also float back
- Hooded Beth takes a few steps towards Maho and says “Hello Maho, you’ve been awfully close by recently” and her head cocks a bit as she studies Maho’s axe, “it was awfully nice of you to step through the veil to see me and drop by to free me”
- Maho asks if she knows her, thinking she might be the Widow Seer, and Hooded Beth replies she is not, although she has crossed paths with her before, as they have some shared adversaries, but then she introduces herself as Hooded Beth
- Maho connects the dots and realizes this is the fey that Ash has a pact with, and Hooded Beth seems happy to meet us, having been working with us from a distance, although she notes Eden is new, and Eden is shaking a bit as she does a weak curtsy
- Maho asks Hooded Beth what happens now that Ash has fulfilled her mission to kill the tyrant, and she replies that the threads that were woven continue, and she continues to say we don’t owe her anything although Ash does still, but she simply wanted to take this opportunity now that we are all in the same place to state that our goals are all aligned, both in terms of the tyrant king but also our other pursuits
- She asks us all if we want to work alongside her, and Maho is a bit confused and explains we are after Sentin, saying if that is what Beth wants we might have similar goals
- She nods a bit and replies that it seems our goals are aligned, and notes that things seem much more dangerous with regards to the woodland inventor than we realize at this time, and his machinations have had an effect on her realm
- The air around her seems to almost be absorbing a bit of the light from the torch, and Heph remembers the shadowy figures wearing masks we saw through the scrying
- Heph notes that the creatures we saw were Fey creatures, and she corrects Heph to explain that they were residents of our world in Wichthafen, and the veil between worlds grew thin there, and their misbehavior drew them to her, where they resided until recently when Sentin’s soldiers sought to capture them
- She gave the residents of Wichthafen a third choice other than to live or die, and is not happy that Sentin is trying to repurpose them
- Heph asks if she knows Tertel (The Hermit) or Darryl (The Wayfarer), and Heph can’t quite read her, but Eden notes that her body seems to tense up a bit at the mention of The Hermit, holding it as Heph mentions The Wayfarer
- Heph just explains that he is trying to figure out which Archfeys know each other
- Agreeing that we can probably work together, she explains she can’t come back,
but can act where the veil is thin
- Maho’s axe has a long and bloody history, and has carved its fate into the fate of the world, and Beth may be able to wield it alongside her if she is willing
- Heph asks for more clarity what exactly that means, and she seems to take a bit of offense at being addressed so directly, and Heph confirms that is in fact how we talk to all the Archfey
- Eden steps forward and asks Beth what she stands to gain from this, Beth cocks her cloaked hood a bit and says “I can’t see it, please tell me where are you hiding it?”
- Maho and Heph look at Eden as she responds “I don’t have much to hide”, and Beth says “Well nameless one, what I seek to gain is the same as what you seek to gain, which is the defeat of the inventor and freedom for my compatriots”
- Eden is still unsure that Sentin is a bad guy, and Heph finally agrees that it is time to find Sentin and let Eden hear his side
- Maho asks Beth how she was imprisoned here, and she explains that she was fighting with the resistance and was captured
- She mentions that she allied with Ash, and Heph jumps in to clarify that we aren’t making a pact in the same way that Ash did, and she confirms that to be the case
- Maho asks about Sir Stab, and she apologizes for not introducing us, and she explains that he is a prolific landholder within the deeper parts of this realm, and was looking for additional acreage, and Beth explains that she can help with that kind of stuff, so Sir Stab agreed to help her escape
- Because Maho is wielding the axe, a bit more of Sir Stab could make it through the veil more than usual
- Heph pulls out Jarles to check if he is becoming a dude, but he isn’t, and Heph puts him away
- Maho’s daggers were able to become vessels for various Fey creatures
- Hooded Beth notes that conversing with us is interesting, and asks
Eden, who she calls the nameless one, what she hopes to learn from
Sentin
- Maho jumps in and introduces Eden, and Beth seems to think that isn’t really her name
- Beth asks Eden if she hopes to control others, and Eden responds that no, she doesn’t want to control others, she just wants to fix the quirk in her magic and learn to control that
- Beth notes that in her experience, if someone who desires control over others offers you control of yourself, you should consider who is really holding the reigns
- Eden is not fully convinced by what Beth is saying and seems to be standing by Sentin, and Beth explains that any punishment she receives will be at her own doing, and Eden seems very uncomfortable
- Hooded Beth once again turns to Maho and asks if she is willing to allow her to wield the axe alongside her, and Heph realizes there is likely some significance to the phrasing, but Maho agrees to allow her to wield it before Heph can say anything
- Maho holds out the axe, and Beth’s cloaked arm reaches out and moves to rest on the handle of the greataxe
- Maho feels the axe suddenly get a bit lighter, as if another pair of hands is now helping her hold up the axe
- Eden can see very faintly in the torchlight a shadow dance across Maho’s eyes as Beth pulls her hand back, and says to Maho that it’s an honor to fight alongside her
- Maho asks if the door will still be there, and Beth responds that it could be but it’s up to us, and Heph notes that we will definitely not be keeping the door
- Sir Stab sheathes his sword and compresses down to a dagger and falls to the floor, as do all the floating ones, and Maho reaches out to take them
- Heph asks if the daggers can talk when they are inhabited, and Beth responds that the fey might have some way to communicate
- Hooded Beth stands up straighter, seeming to fill the entire space, and
darkness spreads from her, and the cloak falls to the ground empty in front of
us all
- Taking that as the cue to leave, we head back up the stairs to the Mansion, emerging back into the Mansion, and the door disappears behind us
- Eden is dumbfounded how the interaction went, and is shocked at how casually we dealt with it, and is also thinks it’s not great that Maho has made a deal
- There is some banter back and forth, Eden really doesn’t want to reveal her real name
- Maho goes to test out her axe, and as she slices into the wooden dummy withers and cracks and rots a bit, and a shadow passes over Maho eyes
- Heph asks Maho if she feels any new bloodlust, but she doesn’t seem to
- Eden calls for garlic from the servants and takes a bite out of a clove, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect, so she doesn’t seem to be a vampire
- Maho takes it as a challenge and eats a bigger bite, and Heph has some as well, proving that none of the group are vampires
- We get ready to head to Hexicon, and Ana appears
with Woahdoe Boedough
- Heph asks for help disguising us for the convention, and we decide Eden will use the Isariel badge and Maho will use the Alsa badge, and Heph will purchase a new pass as a disguised individual
- The disguise is also beneficial to hide us from Central Command, and Heph points out a wanted poster nearby
- Eden burns the poster, and Maho notes that she seems to really be getting the idea now
- Ana does a full disguise on Maho, and when the dust clears, Maho looks exactly like Alsa Peonybark, and Eden looks over and suddenly sees Sentin’s secretary
- Eden asks to see the badge, and learns that we killed Alsa and stole her soul
- Ana disguises Eden as Isariel (Isabella), although not quite as detailed of a disguise as Maho’s, she is wearing a tall red and white hat, and a red a white robe to match the hat
- Heph disguises himself as Leo the Grammarcist, essentially growing a beard and wearing Leo’s clothes, and he leaves the bracer undisguised
- Pulling up to the front, there is an info desk, and Heph turns to
Maho and tells her to keep Eden out of trouble,
messaging Eden after they walk away to keep Maho out of
trouble, telling Eden he needed Maho to think she was in
charge
- Nelvrin and Kelvrina are behind the info desk, Nelvrin sitting there looking straight ahead, Kelvrina looking angry at the world
- Heph walks up to the desk and tries to turn in the phone, but Kelvrina recognizes him, and tries to blackmail him
- Heph tries to figure out what she wants, and it seems ultimately she wants drugs, since nobody will sell them to her
- Eden decides to jump in and help him out, and suggests that Kelvrina do her job cheerfully for the rest of the day, and as a creepy smile spreads across her face she says “I’d love to do a great job for the rest of the day”
- She decides the best thing she could do is to call the guards, and Eden offers to go get the guards for her while she stays at the desk and does her job, and she convinced to outsource the job of reporting creeps to Eden
- As this happens, a spectral shield appears floating in front of Eden, and Heph gains the ability to fly and hover, and Eden makes a big show of going to get the guards, and Kelvrina looks very obviously at the guard by the door and Eden starts walking slowly towards the door
- Heph asks for a pass, but Kelvrina explains that it’s the end of the second day and they have no passes to give out, and she would give one to Heph anyway
- Heph messages Maho and asks her to bring him the axe, and with some convincing Maho comes up and asks where Loddy Tot’s Hot Bod Hot Spot it, and Nelvrin tries to help, and Maho stops him and demands Kelvrina help her, and she proceeds to explain how to get there
- Maho demands Kelvrina take her there, and Heph uses the opportunity to duck down and use Maho’s axe to turn invisible, but as Kelvrina gets up to help Maho, Nelvrin notices Heph turn invisible and starts to make a ruckus, and as Eden approaches the guard he seems to take note of what is happening and turn towards the commotion
- Eden tells the guard about the suspicious gnome with a beard and convinces him that any gnome without a beard isn’t the problem, and meanwhile Heph flies over the top of everyone into the building
- Kelvrina walks Maho up to the building and Maho’s badge is checked, and she is let into the building without any hassle
- Eden walks up to the building and presents her badge, and is let in without any hassle
- Heph stays invisible and messages both Eden and Maho, saying he will join them once Kelvrina is gone
- Kelvrina leads Maho to Loddy Tot’s Hot Bod Hot Spot and asks if she
is okay, making sure she has safely delivered Maho to this place
- The table is decorated in curling floral patterns and gilded designs, there is a sign in cursive handwriting, and there are racks of clothes and mannequins wearing fine fabrics and beautiful clothing, and there is a woman sizing up a potential customer and working the booth
- Kelvrina checks if Maho is okay, and Maho exclaims that it’s so fashionable and she can barely handle it, then dismisses Kelvrina without much further thought, who walks away muttering “oh I never want to get old”
- We spend some time browsing all the stalls and exploring their wares, doing our best to avoid being spotted by Sentin for the moment