Fifty-Third Session - The Growth Spurt

Session resumes with chaos still unleashed in the Treasury of Azkaresh.

ROUND FIVE
 * 1) Raul - more yelling
 * 2) Treasurer - more yelling, mainly at Celus
 * 3) Markoris - tries to snag the grapplee's keys, succeeds but loses his hold on the dude
 * 4) Max - investigates @ advantage - finally finds a folder of Rashid's tax records, Governor was paying a lot of tax up until 13 years ago - grab treasury records for 13 years - hides records on his person - crouches behind counter
 * 5) Celia - yells, messages Max and Ishaq to arrange extraction
 * 6) Ishaq - Dimension Doors into treasurer's room looking for Max, investigates, finds coded papers from 13 years ago onwards, more in last 3 than for 10 previous - red ledger of treasurer for raising taxes to make up governor-related shortfall - opens door and peeks out
 * 7) Tellers - grapplee suddenly doesn't have his keys - tries to search Markoris for keys - Ghost Leonard continues his hopeless quest
 * 8) Alana - being crushed by Giant Hypatian - tries to throw him off and fails
 * 9) Hypatian - tries to eat another fruit except Raul persuades him otherwise
 * 10) Celus - tries to persuade everyone to calm down, gets Grapplee to come over and leave Markoris alone

ROUND SIX
 * 1) Raul - obeys Celus
 * 2) Treasurer - obeys Celus
 * 3) Markoris - obeys Celus
 * 4) Max - knocks on treasurer's door loud enough for Ishaq to hear, quiet enough not to be heard by anyone else
 * 5) Celia - messages Max and Ishaq and Markoris trying to coordinate and get Markoris to ditch the guy's keys
 * 6) Ishaq - opens door disguised as a Starred Guard, pulls Max inside, gets ready to haul ass
 * 7) Tellers - fails to hold back Leonard
 * 8) Alana - still being sat on by Hypatian - pokes with horn
 * 9) Hypatian - gets off Alana
 * 10) Celus - what is happening

OUT OF INITIATIVE

Max and Ishaq switch cloaks and most of the party slips away while Max hangs back to pose as an ‘expert’ on the situation. Thanks to a glowing pebble provided by Ishaq, Max ‘dispels’ the Suggestion on Leonard (dropped by Ishaq at the funniest moment) and advises the NPCs to cut down the fruit tree that is clearly the author of their misfortune. He then slips away, but Celus gives him an 'we're going to talk about this later' look.

Meanwhile, Hepatian is thrilled to be big and still wants ice cream. Markoris gets a ride on Hepatian’s back as they go to the Frost Lick ice cream shop and bargain with the halfling proprietor. Celia now has a frozen brain rat in freezing paper, presumably as a snack for later.

Members of the party take turns distracting Hepatian so they can talk about the situation, until he finally returns to normal size. Ishaq shares that Hepatian is directly descended from a dragon and is completely untrained in magic, which is a very dangerous combination. The party discusses how much to tell Celus of the truth of their mission and discovery, considering he is loyal to Govenor Rashid. Ishaq raises that Celus’ care for Hepatian gives them leverage, as the party has information now vital to the boy’s well-being.

The party drops a normal-sized Hepatian off at the Palace, and meets with Celus (full name: Celus Aldier)’s to answer for their shenanigans. The Keepers are able to Persuade him about the source of the Treasury chaos, but he tells them they are still suspects in the theft of sensitive documents from the Treasurer’s office. It’s then that Ishaq drops the bomb about Hepatian’s ancestry, which shifts the power in the exchange toward the Keepers. Celus takes them back to his home to talk in private.

The ‘sneak-o-scope’ is deployed to ensure privacy (1/10 uses). Celus implores the party not to use Hepatian in their shenanigans again, and admits that Governor Rashid told him that Hepatian’s mother was from a Draconic line, descended from one of the gold dragons that guarded Azkaresh pre-Raith. He also confirms that Rashid’s behaviour has been strange for 13 years, which just happens to be the boy’s age.

The party reveals their mission to unseat Rashid to Celus as well as their new employment with Lord Roe, who by the way is a dragon. Ishaq convinces Celus that Rashid restricting the boy from learning magic is a danger to both Hepatian and Azkaresh.

Celus reveals that the reason Azkaresh’s budget and governance have been distorted is that the Governor can’t or won’t go into the city’s Vault which is supposed to fund the city’s needs, resulting in higher taxes and warped accounting. Rashid used to visit the Vault every day and spend hours there, but now no one is permitted to go near there or even speak of it. Only the Governor can access the Vault, which is sealed with Rashid’s blood using ancient magics.

The party convinces Celus that Rashid’s behaviour is a danger to the city. Celus agrees but insists Rashid is not a bad man, and that he loves Hepatian more than anything. Max is angered, and insists that whatever is driving Rashid, his behaviour has been disgraceful.

The Keepers say farewell to Celus, and head off to make plans. It is clear they must convince the Governor to open the door to the Vault and let them confront whatever lies within that haunts him, as it seems to be the root of the secret conflicts that plague Azkaresh. The party sends a message to Lord Roe to keep him in the loop about their plans, and Ishaq also sends a personal message that is a Secret.

END OF SESSION