Session 2

Session 2 – Whispers in the Vaults

The tavern was quiet now, but no one had forgotten what had happened in its basement the night before. Blood had been scrubbed from the stone, but the air still carried the weight of cult chants and betrayal.

The party—Kira, Delphine, D’Artagnan, and Bernard—stayed there, sleeping in the same building where they had nearly lost one of their own.

Benard saw to the rooms. Delphine and Kira shared one. D’Artagnan took his own and shut the door behind him. He didn’t sleep.

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The Morning Routine

Before dawn, Benard slipped out for a two-hour walk through the quiet streets.

Not long after, Kira came downstairs and sat for breakfast. By the time Benard returned, she was already mid-meal. A few moments later, Delphine joined them.

Their quiet was interrupted by the arrival of Johnathan, the always-composed assistant to Aric Thorne.

He came with a message: Aric had interrogation notes from the captured cultists, but the party had made it clear they wanted to do the questioning themselves.

Aric had agreed. They would be escorted to the vaults in four hours.

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The Silver Spoon

With time to spare, Bernard, Delphine, and Kira made their way to a nearby restaurant—The Silver Spoon.

While waiting for a table, they wandered through the gift shop attached to the front. The place had charm, filled with enchanted knickknacks, trinkets, and polished spoons inscribed with little sayings.

Then came the booming voice of their hostess, who casually used thaumaturgy to announce:

“Williams, party of three!”

Everyone turned.

At the table, all three ordered the house favorite—Goblin Poppers. Spicy, hot, and known to punch back.

Bernard, however, asked for his to-go. He had other plans for his.

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D’Artagnan’s Delay

While the others passed the morning with mild normalcy, D’Artagnan remained upstairs, still locked away.

He didn’t go to the vaults that day. He chose to rest and conduct his interrogation the following morning. He needed time—if not for sleep, then at least for stillness.

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Interrogations in the Vaults

When the time came, the remaining party members were escorted below the city—into the Vanguard vaults, where the cultists were being held in stone-lined cells.

Each of them walked in with different intentions. And each of them walked out changed.

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Bernard – The Quiet Bargain

Bernard carried a small paper bag into the cell with him—Goblin Poppers still warm.

His prisoner was an older woman named Sister Melenne. There was an eerie familiarity to her, in both her age and her calm.

Through a slow, careful conversation, they discovered they had both once been members of The Divine. But where Benard had walked away, Melenne had been betrayed.

Her husband had been killed. By the Divine.

And that betrayal had driven her to the Unaligned.

She offered Benard a deal: Get her out, keep her safe, and she would tell him everything she knew.

Benard left the vault and sought out Aric Thorne.

After some consideration, Aric agreed—on one condition: she would be followed. Silently. Carefully. So well she’d never even suspect it.

Bernard returned to the vaults, passing Delphine and Kira as they were leaving. He handed the guards the orders and walked out with Melenne, escorting her back to his room at the tavern.

There, she finally spoke:

She was a field medic for the Unaligned.

She didn’t know many names—the organization was careful. Members were kept isolated. Notes were left in random locations, never the same twice. No contact. No trust. Only function.

But she did know one thing: “The Order will be attacked… before us.”

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Delphine – Fire and Pain (and a Little Comedy)

Delphine’s approach was surgical—and savage.

She entered the cell and asked questions. When the prisoner stayed silent, she stabbed. A twist. A pause. More silence.

She turned to the guards. “I need fire.”

One of them blinked and slowly pointed to the blazing torch on the wall.

The look said it all: “Are you blind?”

Without missing a beat, Delphine grabbed the torch, pressed the flame to the wound, and cauterized it herself.

Still no answers.

She beat him. Punch. Punch. Punch.

Finally, he broke.

He had been a mage once—trained formally. But when he pushed the boundaries, explored the dark arts, he was cast out.

The cult took him in. They didn’t care how far he went.

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Kira – The Watchful Presence

Kira played the long game. She didn’t speak much.

She simply sat, watching her prisoner across the cell.

She waited for two and a half hours.

But this one was either trained or too afraid. In the end, Kira got nothing.

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D’Artagnan – Words, and a Weapon Returned

The next day, D’Artagnan entered his cell alone.

He didn’t threaten. He didn’t yell. He listened.

The prisoner eventually opened up. He gave D’Artagnan a phrase:

"When fire fades, so too will structure. The silent halls of power shall echo with betrayal. Laws will fracture, and the unseen chains that bind the world will snap. Those who governed from shadow will find no place left to hide."

A prophecy? A warning? D’Artagnan wasn’t sure.

Then, quietly, he unlocked the man’s shackles, handed him back his scimitar, and said:

“Punch me.”

The prisoner did.

And D’Artagnan let him go.

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Back at the Tavern

Later that evening, Bernard sat quietly in his room, Sister Melenne seated nearby, the weight of her story still hanging in the air.

Then came a knock.

Bernard opened the door cautiously and found D’Artagnan standing there. He stepped inside, quiet and direct as always.

The two spoke in low tones, comparing what they’d uncovered.

Then—something clicked in D’Artagnan’s mind.

“They’re going to hit the Forge first,” he said slowly, his eyes narrowing. “Then the Order. Then the Divine. And last—the Accord.”

The logic was terrifying. Break the stronghold. Then the structure. Then the faith. Then the diplomacy.

One by one.

But Sister Melenne was now vulnerable. If the Unaligned found out she had shared information, they wouldn’t hesitate to silence her.

She told them of a place where she might be safe—where she and her husband had once lived, where they had adopted their son, and where he had worked.

Wayward’s House of the Misfortune. A sanctuary within The Order.

She could disappear there.

Then came another knock at the door.

Without hesitation, D’Artagnan climbed out the window, slipped back through his own, and casually opened his hallway door—just in time to see Johnathan arriving at the top of the stairs.

“Hello.”

A moment later, Bernard opened his door.

“Oh. It’s you.”

Johnathan offered his usual half-smile. “Yes. Mr. Aric would like to speak with you.”

“We’ll be there shortly.”

Inside the room, Sister Melenne remained hidden.

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The Debate with Aric

Bernard and D’Artagnan stepped outside, made their way through the hall, and found Kira and Delphine waiting below.

The four left together.

When they arrived at Aric Thorne’s chamber, his message was clear and urgent: Go to the Forge. Now. The attack was coming, and they could still stop it.

But the party disagreed.

They wanted to ensure Sister Melenne's safety first.

They didn’t serve Aric. And they didn’t trust him—not yet.

The argument grew tense, but Aric could only do so much.

In the end—he relented.

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A Sending Stone and a New Heading

Aric handed them a sending stone. A link. A lifeline.

And with that, the party turned away from the Forge—at least for now.

They would go to The Order.

To hide a woman marked for death. To protect their only lead. To make their own choice, on their own terms.

The world was shifting. And they were no longer just reacting.

They were deciding what came next.

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Level 2.