Best Laid Plans Report

Only a few days had passed since the Lost Sons made it back to Mahd Alhadara and began their short rest period. Most of them had gone about taking care of personal business and training. During an evening after the rank ceremony of the new bloods, the party settled in for the night. As Dir went around, inviting the veterans to lunch the next day, Aurelia found a quiet place in the gardens.   Holding on to her ancient lance, Aurelia contacted the spirit of the dark knight attached to it. Wanting to regain some personal purpose, Aurelia told the spirit she hoped to do some good while disguising herself so there wouldn't be negative consequences for the Sons. The spirit agreed to help but Aurelia would need the blood of a powerful creature.    Dir encountered Aurelia as she made her way toward Sawbones. They spoke for a bit and he invited her to lunch with the rest of their veteran squad. She agreed and they parted ways again. She found Sawbones in his quarters, performing an experiment with his own blood. He provided Aurelia with some chimera blood, which she took back to her quiet spot in the gardens.    Aurelia imbued her lance with the blood, but as the spirit of the ancient warrior manifested, Aurelia lost control of the power and was instantly possessed by the black knight. Realizing they would not be able to leave without being seen, Auralia, now looking entirely like a large, male warrior, attempted to sneak to the private docks. The alarm was raised immediately.    Spotting Soza on the docks, Aurelia made a beeline for him as the Lost Sons fired arrows at the "intruder." Soza was able to see through her disguise and agreed to help Aurelia in exchange for a quantity of jade. He opened a small gate in front of her, which allowed her to escape to the burned district of the city.    While the Sons were searching for the trespasser, Vaas made his way towards the secret escape tunnel, intending to stake it out for any potential intruders. Instead, he encountered Ionnia who was sneaking through the tunnel. Unfortunately, Ionnia tripped on the wire Vaas had laid and came up with a bloody nose. She dusted herself off and made her way through the tunnel.    Vaas secretly followed her, eventually exiting at the base of the massive statue at the mouth of the harbor. There, Ionnia rendezvoused with several mysterious individuals. They were clad in leather and claimed to have a copy of a lost chronicle of the Sons. In exchange for returning it, they wanted information on Prince Youssef and his dealings with the Tujaar Alrabie. They made the deal and Ionnia returned to the palace with the chronicle and Vaas followed in secret.    In the city, Aurelia, still disguised as the black knight, found a place to hide from the Lost Sons patrols while she fought to regain control of her body. She found herself back in the ruined pits that the Sons had raided seemingly ages ago. But it was not empty. Sat on the central throne, with a headless body before her, sat Octavia. She was heavily wounded and regarded Aurelia with mild interest.    After assuring Aurelia that her business had nothing to do with the Sons and that her wounds were not fatal, Octavia agreed to leave Aurelia to her hiding spot. Octavia went out into the street as a group of Lost Sons, including Dir, passed by. Octavia disguised herself as Dir approached her. Not knowing who she was, Dir introduced himself to Octavia and spoke with her briefly, even participating in some mild flirting before they parted ways and left Aurelia hidden in the ruins until she regained control and made her way back to the palace.    As Aurelia made her way through the gates of the palace, now fully herself, she met the Old Man. She attempted to lie, and though he didn't believe her, she was able to redirect him by telling him about her encounter with Octavia.    Morning finally broke on a very long night as Myr and Shade returned from their personal mission. Myr went to Sawbones for medical treatment and brought the corpse of a demon with him. They discussed the possibility of using parts of the demon's body to empower Myr before they left to join the rest of the group at breakfast.    All together again, the veterans of the Lost Sons discuss lunch plans over breakfast, though half of them are clearly exhausted from the night's events.