#shibanah

[we-are-a-dragon]

Hamish (playing Thaddeus): I want to look through every room in the Crownkeeper's hut.

DM: There's not much to find. As I said, it's a large hermit's shack, but not much remains of the original decor.

Tati (playing Seraph): Can I look for secret doors, tunnels, cleverly-hidden levers?

Hamish: That's my next move too.

DM: There's a fireplace in the main room, and in the back of it you find a candlestick.

Tati: Exactly what we were looking for!

Hamish: Together?

Adam (playing Billie): *puts hand up* I'd like to pull it.

Tati: Fair enough, this is your moment. Una, can you do a Dungeoneering check first?

Andy (playing Una): Yep.

DM: You notice that there seems to be a seam between the stone floor of the hut, the wooden walls, and the dirt outside. A little bit of snow has drifted under it.

Hamish: So the floor moves.

Adam: I pull the lever.

Hamish: Pull the lever, Kronk!

Tati: Wrong lever!

DM: It actually twists, it's not a lever. Do you want to twist left or right?

Adam: Uh... Is there a wrong answer? To the right.

Tati: Nice knowing you all.

DM: There's a rumble of ancient machinery and the entire floor of the hut starts to move downward, leaving the walls and ceiling behind.

Tati: I say, "Ugh, what is this? I feel like I've left my stomach behind."

Andy: "I don't know but I'm fascinated!"

DM: You've been in a lift before, there are freight elevators in Shibanah.

Tati: Good point. That would be very different though, they use pulleys and they swing in the wind.

DM: Very different sensation, true.

[we-are-a-dragon]

Tati (playing Seraph): I want to ask around Rustcliff and find out why the townsfolk don't live inside the wall anymore.

DM: It turns out that around 300 years ago, the inhabitants started having nightmares. All of them. The same nightmare, every night, of a giant lizard creature that turned into a many-legged horror and ate the world. Visions of the Red Mountain crumbling, of Shibanah collapsed in on itself, of Suda a flattened wasteland.

Adam (playing Billie): God, okay.

Hamish (playing Thaddeus): Guess that's the 'leviathan' I heard of.

DM: The miners dug further and further under the cliff in search of good stone over the centuries, and there are a lot of houses built inside the cavern now. Those were the first to get the nightmares, then those who lived in the open air. The whole place was almost abandoned until someone realised that you don't get the nightmares if you don't sleep in one of the stone buildings. They rebuilt the town from wood out here, and still mine the stone but export all of it now.

Tati: Do the people who buy the stone get the nightmares?

DM: Don't know, don't care. Nobody's complained.

Tati: *frowns* Nobody's realised.

Hamish: Can I find anyone who was alive before they moved outside the wall? Dwarves live to 300, right?

DM: You do in fact find one decrepit dwarf who remembers living inside the wall in his childhood. He says that the nightmares began when he was very small; by his late teens everyone was getting them; by the time he was thirty the town had been abandoned.

Tati: I want to go right up to the wall and do an Arcana check to see what would cause nightmares. Some kind of curse?

DM: You're not far off. It seems that the stone itself is not magical, but over time some kind of corruption has seeped into it.

Marijn (playing Godric): I want to ask what else changed around the time they moved out of the wall. Different water source?

DM: They actually did dig a new well outside, since it was inconvenient to keep using the one inside the stone quarry.

Marijn: So poisoned water? Cursed water? We should sneak inside the wall-

Tati: Yes.

Marijn: -and drink from it.

Tati: What? No!

[we-are-a-dragon]

DM: Alwel says, "We should greet my parents-" but before you can move there's a familiar voice shouting across the ballroom. A voice speaking in Common. A voice with a Shibanah accent.

Andy (playing Una): No.

DM: Nissandril staggers through the crowd looking absolutely delighted, yelling "MY FRIENDS!"

Marijn (playing Godric): How the fuck??

Adam (playing Billie): "Una, say nothing."

Andy: *faintly* "I'll try."

DM: "LOOK AT US ALL MOVING UP IN THE WORLD!"

Hamish (playing Thaddeus): I ask, "How did you get here?"

DM: Nissandril is totally sloshed. "Well, you remember how you put me on to that mindflayer?"

Marijn: Oh shit, yeah. I thought I got him killed.

DM: "Well, I asked around and sure enough I got introduced to the mindflayer! I explained to him about all the work I'd done in Shibanah and Suda and he said someone of my talents was being wasted so he promoted me! Now I'm the ambassador to the Feywild!"

Andy: Jesus Christ.

DM: He raises his glass. "Good old Qhezessk, eh?"

Adam: "He's dead. We killed him."

Tati (playing Seraph): *facepalm*

DM: He gapes. "What?? What does that mean for my job here?"

Andy: "Was Qhezessk the one who was paying you?"

DM: "I don't think I was getting paid."

Andy: "Then probably nothing."

Adam: I telepath to Alwel. -Can we get rid of him? He's ruining my vibes.-

DM: -Of course.- Alwel says, "Nissandril, my good sir. I have to go and speak to my parents, the king and queen there, but later this evening I will be delighted to hear about all you've done in your role as ambassador." Nissandril practically faints in excitement.

Marijn: Oh, poor Alwel.

Andy: Yeah, you don't have to do that.

[we-are-a-dragon]

DM: Another drow comes and talks to the gate guard in a low tone.

Adam (playing Billie): I say, "You’re to take us to the entrance to the Underdark."

DM: She glares at you.

Tati (playing Seraph): Let’s not immediately antagonise her. If she says no, we have to go all the way to Shibanah.

DM: Those of you who can understand elven hear him tell her that he’s arranged for her to guide you through the city for four platinum pieces. This mollifies her.

Adam: That’s a fortune! Whatever. I give her one and tell her she gets the rest on arrival.

Tati: I thank them both for their help.

Marijn (playing Godric): Stop saying thank you to fey creatures.

Tati: We're not in the Feywild, and we literally have an elf in our party. You can say thank you to elves in the mortal plane. Society would constantly break down otherwise.

DM: The guard says, "If you need to get in again-" and eyes your purses "-my name has been Ranlith."

Andy (playing Una): It’s not easy to gain access to Dark Town.

DM: The dark elves like it that way.

[we-are-a-dragon]

DM: Your world-building Dad Fact is that banking in Persia is conducted on a city-state basis. So if you deposit money in Shibanah, you can't withdraw it in Suda.

Adam (playing Billie): That's why Hanako had to send us our gold physically.

DM: It's also contributing to the breakdown of the country.

Tati (playing Seraph): Oof. Too real.

[we-are-a-dragon]

DM: At one point Telchal asks, "How did you come to be adventuring at such an early age?"

Seraph (siren sorcerer): I, uh. I was living on my own when I met TTC. They hired me for a job, and then they offered me a place in their party. I guess they were impressed or they felt sorry for me.

DM: Telchal says, "I have a million follow-up questions!" Alwel says, "I'm not sure you do." Telchal turns to him and says, "No, I do! Why was she living on her own? How did she-" Alwel elbows him in the face and he clutches his nose and mutters, "Got it." Glatur signs and Alwel asks you, "What kind of adventures have you had with TTC?"

Seraph: *grateful* Well, the first big adventure we went on was to find this vampire hunter so we could replace the awful guard captain in Shibanah. The trail led to a town called Bone Cradle which turned out to be all vampires, but apparently they had a good relationship with the local farmers where they'd get blood in return for protection from monsters and marauders. A rival pack moved in, an ancient vampire lord and his minions. We killed them.

DM: Telchal whistles.

Seraph: That's where I got the crown. I took it from his personal hoard.

DM: He says, "It's an ancient vampire king's crown? That's so cool!"

[we-are-a-dragon]

Tati (playing Seraph): My Dad Fact is that one of Seraph's bad habits is that she litters a lot.

Adam (playing Billie): Oh my god!

M (playing Kjell): Gross!

Tati: Where she lived in Shibanah there was no organized rubbish collection, no bins, it was a slum. Literally her only options were to throw it over the Cut or into the nearest alley.

M: I guess.

Tati: Not that she threw much away, she'd eat every part of a food and could repurpose most rubbish.

Marijn (playing Godric): If you do it in the forest I will throw that shit straight back at you.

Adam: I want to say Billie has been working on this.

Tati: Yeah, she understands that people don't like it and she's working on it. But it's a long habit to break. It's like those astronaut videos where they let go of the pen in midair-

Marijn: NEVER HAND SERAPH A BABY.

[we-are-a-dragon]

Tati (playing Seraph): Does Emperor Cherish come to my party? It's at his house, after all.

DM: He's a bit busy.

Tati: Aw. The emperor didn't come to my Sweet Sixteen.

DM: You know what, Dorphi drags him down. She snatches the document he's reading and replaces it with a piece of cake. He looks up. "Hello, Seraph Vencaryn. Happy birthday."

Tati: I bow deeply, still awestruck that the emperor is talking to me. "Thank you, your majesty."

DM: He says, "I hope you've had a good day."

Tati: "Yes, thank you. It's been wonderful."

DM: He asks, "Are you enjoying Suda?"

Tati: "Yes. It's beautiful. Much better than where I grew up."

DM: "Where was that?"

Tati: "Shibanah. The lower levels." I grimace.

DM: He says, "I visited Shibanah once, even the lower levels. It seemed nice, but I suppose I wouldn't see the reality of life."

Tati: "Oh, it's as bad as it looks... Anyway, I love Suda. I hope I can stay here for a while."

DM: He smiles. "You are very welcome here. I, personally, am very glad you are around. You did save my life."

Tati: Aww. I feel better.