- party rests at Blue Water Inn, split into a couple of rooms
- Brume has another of his dreams. In this one, he finds himself before a pool of turquoise with currents of aqua gently rippling through it. A young man, blonde of hair, falls inside the pool, and at first panics. He calms down and seems to be looking for someone or something. After what seems like a lifetime, his eyes light up, as if he had found what he was looking for. He stretches his arm upwards, reaching out …
- and Brume is being shaken awake, a hand gripped over his mouth. Over him stands Urwin Martikov, the innkeep. Urwin tells Brume he has to wake his friends and to hurry, for a little birdie has told him that Baron Vargas Vallakovich, burgomaster of Vallaki, is sending guards to the Inn to find the party. Urwin is emphatic about not wanting trouble to happen at the Inn or near his family
- Brume does as he’s instructed, and within minutes (before even donning armor) the party is walking away from the Inn in the pre-dawn darkness where it’s starting to rain
- the party stands around for a while, dithering and dickering about where to go or which direction to head. Eventually they decide to head eastward away towards the less populated side of town, thinking about finding an abandoned house and holing up
- they spent long enough arguing, however, that they see torches weaving and bobbing, spitting in the rain, stomping fairly loudly
- the party braces for combat, and it turns out the seven torches are really only five guards. a bit after combat starts, it becomes more apparent why; more guards had snuck around behind them and set up an ambush, moving quietly and with no light while those in the front stomped with torches as a distraction

- guards with bows and spears alike tried to capture the party. Paloma let loose volley after volley as Brume called down the powers of the storm and wreaked havoc with lightning, neither caring about leaving the guards alive at this point. Bogdan Gromov used some Ki to cast darkness while simply knocking those he found unconscious, and Zack made do with his loaned longsword to finishing the demoralizing defeat of the guards.
- Ismark lays into several guards before backing up near an ally to protect Ireena.
- the end result was 7 dead guards, 3 unconscious, and 2 who managed to live and flee. the carnage was spread about the main thoroughfare and several back alleys
- Zack now thinks nets are evil. Evil, evil nets.
- the torches had been dropped near enough to a building that its side had caught on fire. <someone> cast some <wind> that, along with the rain, put it out.
- the party decides they need to be armed to the fullest if the baron is getting this aggressive. They seek out Jenny Greenteeth to hopefully get Zack’s sword and Brume’s driftglobe.
- Jenny does not disappoint, although her gifts each have their own quirk.
- Brume’s driftglobe normally appears as a dirty, shapeless hat. Upon a command word, it changes into a virulent green halo, and from then can be moved around as his wishes. A repeat of the command word and it turns back into the dirty misshapen hat.
- Zack’s sword is moss green in color, and while sheathed looks like it’s shrunk to a dagger. While drawn, it reverts to its size. It’s also very loud, now; it has a definite clank when hitting the ground, and even swooshes when whipped through the air.
- the party heads to Saint Andral’s Church for the morning service, and to see how Lady Fiona Wachter‘s plan works out.
- The party doesn’t really trust Lady Wachter, despite having agreed to her plan on two different occasions now. She brings her sons Nikolai and Karl, as well as the old couple the party placed under her protection, Udo and Willemina.
- Lady Wacther wants to have Udo, Willemina, and Ireena testify against the atrocities the Baron has done to the people of Vallaki. This, combined with the growing distaste of weekly festival and common dread, should be enough to turn them against the Burgomaster.
- Zack starts arguing with Lady Wachter, Brume and Ismark start trying to say Ireena shouldn’t be placed in danger
- Ireena is getting pissed because they are talking as if she wasn’t there and her own master
- eventually, a compromise is reached that leaves most people unhappy but not coming to blows; Ismark will testify on his sister’s behalf without naming her.
- As the sunrise should be happening, the rain turns into a thunderstorm.
- After Father Lucian Petrovich‘s sunrise service on this day for the “Festival of the Blazing Sun” (not to be confused with another shitty stormy day in Vallaki), Lady Wachter addresses the huddled masses in the church. She tells of the Baron’s wickedness, how he prefers fake happiness to real solutions, how he has abused the town
- Udo tells of how he was imprisoned and beaten, with his wife not even sure where he was. How he was only saved by the party, not by anything the Baron has done
- Ismark tells of how his sister was kidnapped by Izek, the Baron’s right-hand man. There was no defense. If the Baron knew, he was complicit; if he didn’t, he was incapably of running his own house, let alone the village.
- The crowd agrees, and soon they start storming out of the house, torches in hand, to march upon the burgomaster’s mansion
- As they approach, there are 8 guards standing in front of the mansion. They were forewarned by those guards who escaped earlier
- The party manages to intimidate the guards, and they stand down since they don’t want to fight their own townsfolk and friends
- Party has mob circle baron’s house, not letting anyone in or out, but otherwise to stay back and be safe. Ismark and Ireena stay with crowd
- Lady Wachter is asked by party to come in with, so the five of them enter
- They find servants downstairs hiding and tell them to stay put
- they go upstairs and search in Victor Vallakovich’s room, finding him hiding in the corner
- Zack checks Izek’s room, kicking the door down. He’s not there.
- Zack (?) knocks Victor out. Paloma feels oddly compelled to make sure Victor is okay
- Brume opens the door to the library, and Izek was waiting for that. He smashes his axe into Brume, dropping the cleric unconscious in a single blow
- The party drags Brume back and heal him
- Izek gets in more mighty swings, knocking Zack unconscious twice in two rounds
- eventually, through the powers of their healing magic and the might of their arms, the party kills Izek