Actual Play: Blue Rose AGE "Trouble in Hyrith" Session 1

Trouble in Hyrith, Session 1

Session 1
Monday, October 16th, 2017

Dramatis Personae

• Zajan, Night Person, Warrior, played by J
• Sabo Duskfire, Human, Roamer, Adept, played by J
• Kiva, Vata'an Adept, 17 years old, played by C
• Ajax, Rhy-Fox Expert, played by Me
• Captain Ramava, Vata'sha, Hyrith Guard
• Iradal, Vata'an, Guard Scribe
• Nissun, a missing girl (mentioned)
• Fastholm, Nissun's father (mentioned)
• Zar Mina Kazmi, Adept, favored contestant of the Tournament, lost but won several years in a row (mentioned but not met, yet)
• Stanford, a Rhy-Cat Adept, Ajax's roommate
• Serik Alenev, Adept, High Secretary of the Arcane Academy of Hyrith (mentioned)
• Acheolis, winner of the Tournament, not favored to win at all (mentioned)
• Rustam Janwari, Roamer, owner of the Unicorn and Jackal in the West Market
• Ninziar, Night Person, Sabo's girlfriend of less than two weeks (mentioned but not met, yet)

Ajax, Zajan, Kiva and Sabo awake in gaol, with no memories of the past two weeks. As Ajax is trying futilely to escape, the others introduce themselves and ask each other why they're there.

Captain Ramava, a Vata'sha Hyrith Guard, comes into the gaol and tells them that they are persons of interest in the disappearance of a young woman named Nissun, who has been missing since the 1st of Gaileth. It was now the 7th of Gaileth.

They were questioned and held as witnesses. A guard scribe named Iradal took their statement. And now those statements were missing! 
Even then, the heroes remembered none of it. Two weeks of their life, memories gone. Which means some pretty serious sorcery.

Captain Ramava agreed to release them to investigate the mystery themselves. But they couldn't leave town without getting permission from the Guard.
Ramava escorted them to the guard scribe Iradal for release. Iradal gave them back their property. Ajax has a bill of faire from the Cosy Quail Inn, an ornate ticket with a sun on the corner, a ticket stub from an artist gallery and four stale cheesy biscuits, which he ate promptly.

Iradal told the party that we'd all been brought into gaol together. The guard picked us up while we were all eating dinner together at the Cosy Quail.

We found out again that Nissun disappeared on Gaileth the 1st. We'd been picked up because it was rumored we were in her company. There seemed to be a lot of coincidences that Nissun was at places where the party were at the same time.

Iradal also told us that Nissun's father runs the Top Run Stables outside of town. Her father was Rezean and was claimed to be willing to give half his stable to see his daughter again.

After some questioning, we learned that the tickets were for the Tournament. Every year, the Arcane Academy meet with a Martial Academy from the Capital of Aldis and compete in a variety of events. Then the winners of those events go head-to-head and winner take all. 

The Tournament lasts about a week and, while there were no dates on the tickets in the characters' possession, the games ended several days ago.
The tickets with stars were for Arcane events. The tickets with suns were for non-Arcane events. The favored Arcane contestant, Zar Mina Kazmi, who had won several years in a row, surprisingly did not go all the way in the Tournament.

Iradal showed them the notebook that had their statements in it, but the statement sheets had been removed. No one knows who took it. Ajax smelled the book and detected three distinct scents that he would remember.

After getting out of gaol, they headed out into the city to see what they could find out. Ajax suggested they go to see his roommate, Stanford. Stanford, a Rhy-cat, is an Adept and knows about the Arcane Academy and would probably be able to help get their bearings.

Ajax opened the door to his apartment, causing a howl of indignation and pain as Stanford's alchemical experiment blew up. "AJAX!"

Stanford was irate with Ajax but agreed to help the party. They found out more about the Tournament. The winner, Acheolis, did an awful showing last year, not making it past the 2nd rankings. But this year won the whole thing, a surprising turn of events.

When they wanted to find out more, and possibly meet with folks from the Academy, Sanford offered to put in a good word with them with Arcane High Secretary Serik Alenev. Then he made Ajax promise not to come back to the apartment so he could finish his experiments.

They traveled to the West Market, where there were several interesting shops, like the Dancing Door Liquor Store, Wandering Road Book Bin, the Secret Knife Fishmonger, the Unicorn and Jackal, and The Fifth Wheel.

They wandered the market. Sabo traded some fake "good luck" charms for something much more worthwhile with the Rustam Janwari, the Roamer owner of the Unicorn and Jackal. While there, Sabo learned he had recently started a relationship with a Night Person woman named Ninziar. And he had no memory of it!

Next Time: The Cozy Quail and an Art Gallery.