Roots and Riches

Roster

Marionette Moonbeam

Session Overview

Session Status: Occurred

In Game Date: 21st Hammer 1509

Group Cup Points

NPC's

Ricard Ruanad

Summary

A search for coin and curiosity draws Marionette into Neverwood’s shadowy underbelly — a labyrinth of ivy, ink, and intrigue. A cryptic thieves’ cant message leads her to the cunning Ricard Ruanad and his “lost item” in the forbidden Root Archives. What begins as a simple job quickly becomes a descent into danger, as Marionette battles living vines, a flood that hungers, and her own better judgment — emerging with secrets, silver, and an unexpected companion: a terrified, talking mushroom.

The Offer from R.R.

• Restless and short on funds, Marionette scours campus notice boards for work, finding a subtle thieves’ cant message: “Want a job? — R.R.”
• Checking the faculty roster, she narrows the initials to two suspects: Ronald Rothton and Ricard Ruanad.
• Ronald’s classroom yields nothing, but Ricard’s office door bears his initials carved into the wood — a clear sign to those who know how to look.
• Unable to see inside, Marionette climbs a drainpipe to the window. When she slips, she narrowly avoids a deadly fall by Fey Stepping through the air — landing ungracefully on Ruanad’s desk.

Secrets in the Office

• Searching the room, Marionette finds a notebook with a missing page and a to-do list mentioning “talk to Vigilius.”
• Using graphite and cunning, she takes a rubbing of the torn page, revealing two key phrases: “Root Archives” and “Old Witherbloom.”
• She picks the lock, slips out unseen, and sends a message through a campus guide automaton:
  “Interested in your job. — M.M.”
• That evening, a note slides under her dorm door:
  “I lost something down in the Root Archives. Locate it for me and you shall be rewarded handsomely. — R.R.”

Descent into the Root Archives

• Marionette infiltrates the old Witherbloom wing of Widdershins Hall, picking through rusted locks and creeping ivy.
• The Root Archives lie below — flooded, tangled with moving vines, and thick with damp decay.
• She proceeds carefully, noticing signs of a previous disturbance: scorched vines and broken roots.
• When a tendril lashes around her leg, she slices it free and presses deeper, discovering an antechamber dominated by a mass of writhing vegetation guarding a sealed chest.

Fire and Sap

• Testing the creature, Marionette tosses a rock across the room — the vines twitch in response.
• With practiced precision, she catapults a vial of oil, igniting it with her lantern. The blast fills the chamber with light and smoke, burning the monstrous vines to ash.
• Inside the freed chest, she finds financial ledgers signed by Ricard Ruanad and a vial of shimmering silver liquid.

The Shroom Thief

• On her way out, a small mushroom-like creature waddles into her path. It freezes in terror when she speaks.
• Using Speak with Animals, Marionette coaxes the frightened creature — nicknamed Shroom — into conversation. It warns her of lurking dangers: living vines, sentient water, and ancient roots that hunger.
• The sound of trickling water grows into a rushing flood. The liquid on the floor begins to rise and move. Grabbing Shroom, she races for the exit as the water surges into monstrous form.
• At the top of the stairs, she slams the archive door shut and notices droplets leaking through the keyhole — a slow, ominous drip. Thinking quickly, she freezes the door, trapping the watery horror below.

A Thief and Her Apprentice

• Realising she forgot to relock the door, Marionette returns — only for the door to knock back. She wisely retreats, sealing it again with frost.
• Shroom trembles in her hands, unsure if it’s been kidnapped or rescued. Marionette assures the little creature it will be “trained as a thief.”
• She delivers the recovered ledgers and silver vial to Ricard’s office, leaving them with a simple note — and keeps Shroom as her newest, most unusual partner in crime.

Ongoing Threads

• Ricard Ruanad’s Deal – The sly professor’s “lost item” has been recovered, but his motives — and the purpose of the silver vial — remain unclear.
• The Root Archives – Once again disturbed, the archives now contain a lurking water-creature sealed beneath frost. How long that seal will hold is anyone’s guess.
• Financial Ledgers – The ledgers bearing Ricard’s name could prove valuable — or dangerous — should they ever resurface.
• Shroom – A timid, sentient fungus now in Marionette’s care, eager (or terrified) to learn the ways of thievery.
• The Campus Network – The thieves’ cant marking suggests a hidden undercurrent of illicit trade and favours running through Neverwood’s halls — and Marionette has just joined its ranks.