After Spesof got bit by that Hydrargyrum thing and Lathaeril saved him, Spesof and Momen came to find me. They gave me the rundown on everything that happened at the refugee camp - the infected with bite marks and silvery skin, Hydrargyrum manifesting through one of the far-gone refugees, her biting Spesof, the whole dragon plague situation spreading across Torveldas.
I gave them the rundown on my encounter with the cat. There’s this smiling cat named Chessy that plays pranks on people. Turned me into a mime. Yeah, you heard that right - a mime. And it wasn’t just me! There was a whole family at this house that got converted into mimes too.
So I caught Chessy. Stuffed her in my bag of holding - only for a minute or two, don’t worry. I know it’s not safe to keep live animals in there. Let her out in a room. She was invisible. And then she talked to me. The whole thing was bizarre.
Turns out Drusilia and at least some of the other folks around Elvenset are familiar with Chessy (Drusilia told me her name when I brought up the shenanigans). She’s apparently a known entity around here - a prankster cat that does this kind of thing.
Before we could meet with Drusilia properly, there was the moonblade bequeathing ceremony. The ceremony itself was pleasant - Drusilia presenting the moonblade that Lathaeril had retrieved with Tittlin. Toward the end, though, there was a bit of a debate among some folks in the crowd about whether Lathaeril actually deserved the promotion Drusilia was bestowing on him for retrieving the moonblade.
The moonblade itself ended the discussion. The blade personally recommended him for the promotion. Can’t really argue with that.
After the ceremony, we finally got our meeting with Drusilia in her secret room. The one with custom-made materials and her personal stash of candy that Durlan paid for out of his own pocket.
That’s when things got real. Drusilia broke down. Said she hates putting up a front, hates the admin work and constant upkeep of her position. All her advisers always telling her what to do - she was clearly overwhelmed by it all. She was stress-eating candy throughout the conversation.
We filled her in on what we’d learned. The necromancer trying to become a lich - that’s Aemmin, Momen’s former student. The dragon plague spreading through Torveldas. And I mentioned the pickpocketing I’d done.
Yesterday I’d swiped a wallet off a suspicious-looking guy among the refugees. Found a calling card in it - a thief from the Thieves Guild in Torveldas. Guy named Black Dagger. The fact that he was sneaking around amongst the refugees gave me a bad feeling. Seems like he might be involved with spreading the disease.
I pulled out the wallet with the card. Well, first I forgot I was invisible and just dropped it on the floor. Then I pulled down my hood. Drusilia looked at it - just cash and some strange card to her.
I explained it was a criminal card. Pretty suspicious that I - being criminally adjacent myself - find another criminal here. Well, I actually said “being a criminal myself” at first, then corrected to “criminally adjacent.”
Drusilia asked if I thought he was involved with the disease or just screwing around. She seemed to think it checked out that there’d be a Torveldan spy among the refugees.
She summarized: so apart from this strange necromancer trying to become a lich, this disease, and apparently a Torveldan spy, was there anything else?
The conversation shifted to her budget concerns. She complained about not having enough money for her stuff, mentioned that Durlan paid for the secret room. I suggested maybe Lathaeril had some money to contribute. She thought that was a good idea and said she’d “reappropriate his budget.” Spesof told her she was in good company and could just say “steal.”
After we wrapped up with Drusilia, Spesof and Momen headed off to the library to do some research. Something about looking into Aemmin’s notes about monks and possibly needing Spesof’s muscles to help move dusty old materials.
And I was left to my own devices. Hopefully not to assassinate anyone. Though Momen seemed concerned I might try.