A long-awaited important conversation happens between Mei and Nadyn in regards to what happened at the Taochuan Fair. Brooks realizes that going around Junyan unnoticed will be more difficult than it seems.
Characters Interacted With
Donovan Lufei?: Asked Amanti and Brooks for input on what Donovan was like.
Mei Zhang: Overheard having a heart-to-heart with Michael. Gifted tea by the party, and talked to by Nadyn. Trying to heal and move forward.
Nadyn Donaurkos: After some hesitation, went and talked with Mei, offering an apology for his part in her suffering.
Healer Danxia: Gave Brooks the package addressed to him that was left at her doorstep. Encouraged the party to check out the village market.
Liu: Helped Brooks when he was having some difficulty remaining unnoticed in the village market.
Trader Zhou: Sold Nyssa some berries.
Other Characters Mentioned: Michael Yang, Brooks’ Mom, Other Junyan Vendors
Locations
- Eastern Shengdu Temple
- Junyan (Village Market)
Session Overview
Finishing Donovan’s Assessment
The session started retroactively when Master Hua, Michael, Guiying, Mei, and Yao Lufei were evaluating Donovan’s ability to walk. Donovan had fallen down and hit his face directly on the stone. Fanna approached him to see if he was okay, and he slowly turned his head, blood coming from his nose. He tried wiping the blood with his hand, but ended up just smearing it across his face and hand. When Fanna offered a handkerchief, Donovan merely just stared at them. Fanna asked if he knew how to use a handkerchief, prompting Donovan to ask if Fanna thought he was stupid. As Donovan got up, he mumbled to himself about having a strange dream as he was briefly unconscious, where everyone was arguing with each other, and Mei and Michael were involved.
The other NPCs came over to bring Donovan back to the infirmary, seeing as he had clearly injured himself. Before he left, he asked Brooks and Amanti what Donovan was like, both of whom giving answers alluding to Donovan being heavily troubled, and that they unfortunately did not see him at his best. As he was escorted back to the infirmary, he seemed intrigued by Brooks and Amanti’s comments.
Mei’s Troubles
After Donovan and most of the other NPCs left, the party serendipitously decided to check in on Mei. After asking around, they found out her and Michael had gone down to the Ming River, so they walked down to the shore, seeing the remnants from when Donovan first snuck out to meet Lauran on their way there. There, they saw that Michael and Mei were sitting out at the end of a peninsula having a conversation. They decided to wait and respect the two’s privacy, wanting to turn back to the Eastern Shengdu Temple.
The party ended up hearing Mei express her grievances to Michael, and how wronged she’d felt seeing Nadyn receive love and support, whilst she had to carry her burdens since the Taochuan Fair alone. Michael admitted he wasn’t more proactive in checking in on her because she didn’t seem to directly need any help, and he thought she’d reject his offers of help. Realizing his mistakes, he offered a sincere apology, and sat with Mei to comfort her while she broke down crying. He directly asked her if there was any way he could make things up to her, and she admitted that him being around to listen to was already very helpful.
Michael asked her if she thought she could ever forgive Nadyn, and she admitted she wasn’t really sure. He also asked her if she could refresh him on what exactly happened that day, and she explained how she witnessed the moment Nadyn struck Donovan with the rock, how she ran over and cradled him in her arms as he was dying, how a Spirit appeared to her and told her that it could extract her life force and save Donovan’s life, at the cost of their lives and deaths being intertwined from that moment forward, how after making the Binding Vow she discovered where Nadyn had ran and hid, and finally the party showing up and interceding at that moment.
The party, made very uncomfortable about how clearly they overheard the conversation, quickly skedaddled back to the Eastern Shengdu Temple. While there, they discussed getting some kind of gift for Mei to show that they cared. They eventually settled on getting her some loose leaf tea, particularly a lavender and chamomile blend with added citrus extract. When she returned from the Ming River, Fanna presented it to her, making sure to note that Amanti in particular suggested for them to get a loose leaf tea for her. Mei was surprised at the effort, but was genuinely appreciative, telling the party she was thankful that they remembered to think of her in everything that’s been going on, though did seem to stare at Amanti with some doubt when Fanna explained his part in the thing. She told the party that she’d go try out the tea right away, before leaving.
A Lesson for Nadyn
Having finally been thoroughly convinced, Amanti went to Nadyn to tell him that he needed to say something to Mei. He found him in his room in the Eastern Shengdu Temple, and he answered after Amanti knocked. With the party giving the two some privacy, Amanti told Nadyn sternly that he had to go to Mei and tell her he was sorry for his role in her pain. Nadyn didn’t disagree, but was rather avoidant of the whole situation, saying how he didn’t know how to do it and he was afraid of approaching Mei, fearing her anger.
Amanti continued pressing Nadyn, so Nadyn asked him how he should start the apology and what he should say. Amanti told him that he had to be honest with Mei, apologize for what he did, and take responsibility for his actions. He further said that he couldn’t just go off a script, and that he had to be genuine with his words, along with being honest, communicating, and listening to what Mei actually had to say. Amanti concluded by saying Nadyn had to take accountability and initiative: Even if it seemed scary, the path to recovery wasn’t easy, and it was something that had to be done. Nadyn asked if Amanti and the rest of the party could be there with him when he did the apology, and Amanti said that they could try, but only if Mei was okay with it. In the end, this was an important step Nadyn needed to take himself.
Nadyn asked Amanti when he thought a good time to do it was, and Amanti suggested after dinner. Knowing now what had to be done, Nadyn told Amanti that he’d try and think about how he’d apologize, and he’d meet up with him again when dinnertime came. Amanti was okay with this, but reminded Nadyn once again of the importance of this task, which Nadyn said he understood. The two then parted ways.
Bachariel’s Check-in
Sometime that afternoon, after Mei and Guiying had gone out for a walk together, Bachariel waited for Mei to come back to check in on her. Mei was once again pleasantry surprised. Bachariel asked her what she was up to, and she said that she was planning to meditate for a bit. When Bachariel asked her if there was anything in particular troubling her that she wanted to talk about, she admitted that she was worried about her relationship with The Atracidae, Louisa in particular. She hadn’t done her caretaking duties at the Gingko Tree Park in a while, and furthermore, Louisa hadn’t contacted her ever since the tensions with Donovan blew over at the second plant construct demonstration fight. She figured it was because Louisa was reevaluating her priorities to better spend time with her family, along with recovering from the injuries she sustained at the fight, but was worried that it was also because Louisa was mad at her for her actions protecting Donovan.
Bachariel told Mei that perhaps Louisa and her’s paths were at a point where it was time they diverge, and that in life sometimes people just naturally go separate directions. Mei agreed with Bachariel’s sentiments, though still felt unconfident. She relied on The Atracidae to feel a sense of purpose in her life, as she did agree with their mission. While the more militaristic wing that Louisa had headed helped her hone her martial and combative talents, she had grown disillusioned with their approach, and was thinking of transferring to other activities of The Atracidae, but was still worried over how that’d pan out.
Bachariel brought up how Mei had said she was going to meditate earlier, and suggested that doing that would help her think about what she wanted to do in the end. Mei agreed, and the two walked over to the rear courtyard. As Mei meditated, Bachariel sat silently beside her, ready to offer support if needed.
After about 20 minutes, Mei finished her meditation and opening her eyes, Mei said that she was probably gonna explore other paths like Bachariel had suggested. The Atracidae had many other areas they partook in, such as community outreach and environmental cleanup, that she was willing to try. She admitted how she had stayed under Louisa’s command for so long because she had become one of Louisa’s most trusted, and that she thought she could better protect Donovan if she remained within The Atracidae. Bachariel was sympathetic and wished Mei good luck with her pursuits, encouraging her to take things one step at a time if needed.
The Apology
Dinnertime rolled around, and so did the time in which Nadyn said he’d do his apology. Amanti and him met up, and Nadyn once again asked Amanti about what he should say to Mei. Amanti repeated the advice he gave earlier on explicitly apologizing for the party Nadyn played, listening to Mei, and communicating honestly. The two saw that Mei was relaxing in the rear courtyard. Nadyn double checked with Amanti that him and the rest of the party would watch, and Amanti cautioned Nadyn that he should ask Mei if this was okay with her first.
After taking several deep breaths and attempting to psych himself up, Nadyn finally worked up the courage to run up to Mei and ask if they could talk. He ran out to Mei and very awkwardly blurted out his question asking if the two could talk. With a mix of surprise and suspicion, Mei said yes. Nadyn then stammered through asking if Amanti and the rest of the party could watch. Mei, still slightly taken aback, said this was fine as well. Nadyn quickly ran back to Amanti, noticeably nervous, and asked how he was doing. Amanti answered that Nadyn was doing good so far. Soon the rest of the party came out to watch and monitor the conversation.
Nadyn ran back out again to Mei, and after an egregious amount of filler words and stuttering, stated in plain and stilted terms how he was sorry for the part he had in causing her pain and that he didn’t say anything sooner. He also said that if there was anything he could do to help make it up to her, then she could tell him. Starting off carefully, Mei mentioned that the temple had an archive full of information. She suggested that Nadyn could possibly help by combing through the information to see if anything could possibly help with disconnecting the Binding Vow that existed between her and Donovan. Nadyn recoiled, saying that the Binding Vow had nothing to do with him, prompting a suspicious eyebrow raise from Mei. Nadyn glanced back at Amanti for guidance, the latter promptly whispering to Nadyn to go along with it.
Successfully convinced by Amanti’s Persuasion check, Nadyn agreed, and said he would try and do that. Mei thanked him. Nadyn fumbled through some more assurances that he was indeed sorry, before asking Mei if she was mad at him. Mei calmly told him that she used to hold resentment to him, but was pleasantly surprised to hear this coming from him. Though Nadyn had caused her a significant amount of strife, which couldn’t all be forgiven overnight, she was looking forward to this being the start of interactions between them improving from then on. Nadyn was happy to hear this and ended off by bowing to Mei several times, reiterating how he was sorry once again, before running back to Amanti and the party in a hurry.
Now absolutely drenched in sweat, he asked the Amanti and the party if he did okay. The party was happy that Nadyn finally did this, and everyone seemed to agree that it went okay. Fanna gave Nadyn a handkerchief so he could wipe the sweat from his face. Nadyn declared that after he had calmed down, he’d start looking through the Eastern Shengdu Temple archives right away, and then ran off.
Junyan Antics
The perspective then shifted to the party’s activities in the village of Junyan, minus Amanti and plus Nyssa. After long resting in a camp near the village overnight, they went to go see Healer Danxia again. She greeted them and informed Brooks of something surprising: Someone had left a small package addressed to him at her doorstep, which she discovered that morning. After looking inside it to double check it wasn’t anything dangerous, she told Brooks it seemed to be some kind of cookies. Brooks offered one to Fanna to “try”, and Fanna reported it tasted rather fishy. Seeing that the cookies seemed to be safe, Brooks tried them himself, discovering that they were his favorite childhood cookies, dried preserved fish baked in a mildly sweet biscuit. Though they seemed to have been cooked unevenly, the actual cookie themselves were carefully made, with proper proportions and ingredients. Brooks opted to offload the rest of the cookies onto Fanna.
Whilst talking with Healer Danxia, she had mentioned that there the village marketplace was going on today, and encouraged the party to go to it, since adventurers such as them might find the wares sold there useful. She mentioned a guy in particular surnamed “Zhou” that sold adventuring supplies and hunting tools. After some lingering, the party eventually agreed to head there.
The marketplace was quite crowded, with shoulder to shoulder traffic and people slowly wading through. As the party was walking through and checking out the vendors on one side, Brooks saw his mother was one of the vendors a few tables ahead. Brooks quickly pivoted to going to the other side, exclaiming how suddenly interested he was in animal husbandry tools and herbs that some vendors on the other side were selling. The confused party followed after him. As Brooks approached the animal husbandry vendor, she recognized him as Brooks, exclaiming how she hadn’t seen him in years. Brooks quickly deflected, saying that he was in fact someone else. The party came over, still confused about Brooks’ behavior and referring to him as Brooks in front of the woman, but Brooks continued telling the vendor he was not the Brooks she thought he was. The woman seemed confused, but blamed it on her aging eyesight and didn’t press any further.
Brooks and the party moved onward to the next adjacent vendor, a quiet Yumalyan woman selling herbs. He eventually settled on buying a bundle of medicinal herbs purported to be a traditional Yumalyan headache remedy. After this purchase, Brooks waded out of the throng of people to take a breather. Liu seemed concerned, them and the rest of the party asking what was wrong. Brooks explained that there was someone or some people in the marketplace that he did not want to be seen by. The party wracked their brains to think of a way Brooks could adequately disguise himself, but none of them were up to Brooks’ satisfaction. He ended up deciding on bundling up in a heavy coat, hat, and scarf to obscure his full appearance.
Brooks and the rest of the party went back in, the disguise causing Brooks some significant discomfort. The Zhou person Healer Danxia had mentioned was three tables away from Brooks’ mother, so the party had to approach relatively near her again. Zhou was a middle-aged male Dwarf who introduced himself as a traveling merchant and trader, thus being named “Trader Zhou.” The party surveyed his wares, them being the adventuring and hunting tools that Healer Danxia had said, but nothing in particular caught their eyes. Nyssa asked Trader Zhou if he had any fruit from northern Lingguo, and he said he had some berries. Interested, Nyssa asked about them. After some bargaining, Nyssa ended up with a pint of north-west Lingguoren berries, plus a small cup with samples of other berries he had in stock. The sampler cup was promptly given to Fanna to also try.
Whilst still there, Fanna was interested in buying something Yumalyan for Amanti that could maybe remind him of home. They came across a vendor selling traditional Yumalyan painted plates and pottery. They asked about a plate with a geometric design circling the edges, and the image of a Yumalyan eagle with the sun behind it in the plate’s center, offering four gold to the vendor. The vendor happily took the gold and handed the plate to Fanna in special packaging.
As the party didn’t have anything else in particular they wanted to buy, and Brooks was getting quite overheated in his disguise, the party exited the marketplace, where Liu and everyone else helped Brooks get out of his heavy layers before he passed out from heat exhaustion. Liu quickly gave Brooks some water, and the session ended with Brooks realizing that navigating his home village would require more work then he initially realized.
Key Learnings
- Nadyn would comb through the Eastern Shengdu Temple archives to see if he found any information that could help with untangling the Binding Vow.
- Mei would explore other opportunities at The Atracidae, having grown tired of the more militaristic approach Louisa had.
Items Of Importance
- 1x Lavender Chamomile with Citrus Infusion Loose Leaf Tea, 8 oz. (given to Mei)
- 1 Small Bag of Homemade Fish Cookies (offloaded onto Fanna)
- 1x Bundle of Traditional Yumalyan Medicinal Herbs
- A traditional remedy for headaches. The user grinds the herbs up into a small past and applies it to their temples. It can also be drunk as a tea, though its strong taste might put some people off.
- 1x North-West Lingguoren Berries, 1 pt.
- 1x Yumalyan Painted Decorative Plate
- Geometric designs at the edges, with a Yumalyan eagle in its center and the sun behind the eagle