GAMES / Warm Bodies in the Bathhouse

Melinda Spellweaver returned to high praise in Netook, from the High Lord Commander and the village, for rescuing the outpost of Medagrill and saving the Frostbeard King and Queen. Here, she soaked in her five minutes of fame and completed her training to advance as a bladesinger. Josiah, her newly acquired friend, was equally emboldened and further dedicated to Melinda and future exploits.

Shortly, Melinda would be handed an invitation to attend an all paid three day trip, with a partner, to the exclusive Opedimus Spa in the Eberron Forest. The invitation had a fancy seal with no name of the sender. The invitation indicated that a carriage would pick her up on the marrow to whisk her away. Excited, she completed her purchase of leather armour and healing potions at the local trading post. While there, she would bump into her long lost comrade Tav. In an instant, the two reconnected. Melinda was quick to invite her new friend to the luxurious spa, and Josiah too. In the morn, the three would climb into the carriage that arrive and travel to the spa.

After a two day carriage trip and a one day hike, all three would arrive at the famous Opedimus Spa, nestled in a crater at the top of the hill. Two monks dressed in tanned, hooded, full robes would greet them and take them across the river, flowing in an out of the crater through tunnels at either end. The party would quickly observe the monk's vowed silence as they communicated with hand signals and gestures. On the other side, as requested by the monks, the trio would discard all armor and weapons in exchange for new full robes. The monks then disappeared with the equipment to store in a secured cabin at the edge of the spa.

Then, flowing into their path, Kaelen, the Verdant host and spring eladrin, would arrive to greet them, accompanied by her second, Lyra, a quiet but beautiful elf. In Kaelen's presence, the trio all felt boosted and healed as if by an aura  emanating from the spring eladrin. 

Then, Kaelen quickly explained the creed of silence. All that happens or is said in the spa must remain in the spa. Kaelen would then give a brief statement of their itinerary. She offered them the hospitality of the spa, indicated that Lyra would be their guide, and made a sweeping exit.

Quick to make the spa magic happen, Josiah disrobed and jumped into one of the outside cold pools. He splashed about feeling refreshed and strengthened. Meanwhile, Melinda and Tav would follow Lyra up the path and into a room with hot tubs. Here, they would encounter two othe spa patrons already in the tub. Greeting their fellow patrons, they changed into swimwear and climbed into the tub, while Lyra left them to the care of one the monks. Immediately, they would feel the healing and boosting effects of the spa's tubs.

One of the patrons was a taciturn half-orc reluctant to speak. The other was a fair-sized, heavily bearded man with a prosthetic jaw. Tav recognized them as pirates that she had seen or heard of. To that end, the bearded man was quick to introduce himself as High Admiral Silas "Iron-Lung" Drake with his helmsman, Marra Thaw. Friendly conversation and smoking of pipes would occur during which Silas and Tav would establish a basic rapport, both being "men of the sea". He acknowledged Melinda, but made clear that he was not a fan of magic as something he did not wish to partake or become muddled in. 

During an exchange of questions, Silas revealed that his crew, the Current and Keel from Tyrios, under a lineage of brave captains, were long patrons of the spa. He noted that he was curious with the new trio and how they had been granted access. Asked about their captain, Silas would tell the tale of how the Current and Keel slayed at a Kraken at an island of cultists losing their captain as the cultist sacrifice to the mighty and unholy beast. He declared himself the new captain, and asked the trio about how they would arrive at the spa. The trio offered vaguely that they had received the invitation as a reward. Thus satisfied, Silas would promise to meet Tav at the supper table for an night of drinks and tales, as he departed from the hot tub with his grumpy helmsman.

Upon further inspection, Melinda would discover a busy and flustered pixie. The pixie would explode into fast and excited chat. She explained her family lineage, provided a detailed account of her daily chores, her distaste for grumpy and unkind patrons, her love for the kinds ones like the trio before, her awe at nature, and her addiction to wild magic. Quickly, she would plead allegiance to the trio, turn invisible, and dive back into the tub to return to work.

Soon, Lyra would reappear ushering the guests to the massage tables in another room. Tav, staring at Lyra, would hear a beautiful song  in his head as if she were singing a peaceful and sweet melody just to him. Thus entranced, he would follow her closely, hopelessly entranced. The trio followed Lyra through another chamber with another pair of patrons lounging in a cold pool. As they walked by, Melinda recognized the renown Madame Vivienne Voss, playwright and leader of the Gilded Masque from Wimborne, and her colleague the famous Gilded Masque actor, Julian "The Whisper" Reed. 

Yet, an ear-splitting scream would erupt from a neighbouring room. Quickly, the trio would step out into the hall and rush into the next room. Here, they discovered a goliath in the hot tub with his hand and arm extended, frozen completely in ice. The one screaming was a golem jumping around his frozen friend, trying to break and set him free. The monk that arrived quickly took him from the room.

As before, Melinda and Tav would meet invisible workers in the room. In this case, the workers were two sprites. Beautiful and bearing goodwill like the pixie, the two sprites were quieter and more reserved. Befriended by the trio, the two sprites revealed that they had returned to the room only to see the resulting transformation of ice. They promised friendship and hastened away.

Lyra and a retinue of monks would arrive ushering the trio from the room into the hall. 

Before being ushered out, Melinda would notice a hidden rune on the tub and an exquisite lamp strangely placed on a table beside the tub. Hastily, Melinda was able to spot a seal on the lamp, depicting a current and a keel.

Moments later, the head monk Grandmaster Corin, the "Quiet Edge", would make his quiet and solemn appearance, moving through the monks as they parted like a stream before a boat. The grandmaster lifted his hood to reveal his completely milk white eyes as he scanned each of the trio moving his head minutely. Unlike the other monks, he spoke. He indicated that the incident would be handled promptly and with care. He directed the monks to escort the gnome to his chambers and provide respite. He then directed the monks to clear and secure the room.

After the monks and Lyara disappeared to complete their tasks, Tav and Melinda, so emboldened, would request access from Corin to the room. In response, Corin would usher the trio out of the hallway and out onto an outside platform. Josiah would scamper to his outside pool. Here, Corin revealed that he was the one who had sent the invitation to them. He had become aware of rumors of a plot involving an attack on Westcott. With the spa's code of silence, he would be unable to share or elicit help. However, he felt summoning heroes to handle the matter would allow something to happen. He had heard of the exploits of Melinda and Josiah and knew they would be able to carry out the task. This in mind, he had arranged 15 minutes for them to examine the room on their own. He would have three pieces of equipment returned to their quarters for future use.

With new confidence, the trio would return to the scene of the crime. The goliath seemed to have had some of the ice melted away, but remained frozen. Melinda would recognize the goliath as Arch-Synod Valerius Cole, the leader of the Apotheosis Synod from Obleron, and the gnome as a likely Synod master in Valerius' service.  Tav would note that the lamp was missing as if removed from the room. He did discover a pair of discarded cufflinks on the chamber floor. Meanwhile, Melinda would decipher the fey rune as the command word "felicinortis". As part of the search, Tav would discover a secret trap door leading down into earthen tunnels.

In haste, with no hesitation, Tav and Melinda would descend into the tunnels while Josiah would stand guard. Here, the duo would be confronted with great heat coming from the surrounding volcanic earth. Tav shook it off while Melinda would be beat down with exhaustion. Yet, dedication and a thirst for answers drove them down a tunnel, with Tav leading her blind-in-the-dark friend, Melinda by the hand. Quickly, they would arrive at a furnace attended to by an ashen myrmidon with fire and steam mephits in his service. The chamber was well lit by a giant flowing river of lava. At the room's base, the myrmidon remained at his task of mixing the cauldron of lava in front of him, while he directed the steam mephits to handle the intruders. Unequipped, Melinda and Tav resorted to cantrips and unarmed strikes to take down the mephits. 

Disgruntled by the loss of his servants, the myrmidon called off any other attacks. The duo observed the blackened armour that contained the myrmidon. Resuming his work, the myrmidon would explain his need to keep the spa running in service of his master. Abruptly, he warned them that he would not allow the spa to be abused and that the culprit they sought would be someone standing in their face. He would issue them off with extended hand and pointed finger to return from whence they came. With time elapsing and thus intimidated, the duo would make their hasty retreat down the tunnel, out of the secret entrance, and back into the hall, grabbing Josiah on the way, moments before Lyra's return.

Lyra would quickly look them over with eyes of suspicion. She then snapped back into comportment and ushered them down the hall for the night's feast. With hunger and exhaustion, the trio would enter the hall and find a seat at their own table. They would partake of their favourite drinks of ale and mead, and receive glowing benefits. Two tables down, Silas would shout out that his damn cufflings were lost. At that moment, the synod master gnome would run across the room screaming, with arms outstretched and hands looking to grab and strangle, "Murderer! You killed Valerius, and shall die."

The crew did some stuff.