The session started with the party locked in combat with the Bastet Temple Cat in front of the Bastet temple.
The cat, under the magical effects of a bleed spell from Nix, clawed furiously at Aswan but missed. However, the cat’s bite found purchase.
Aswan reached out and inflicted 38 points of wounds on the cat, knocking it unconscious. But as a bonus action, Aswan, using grave cleric magic stabilized the cat.
A black panther materialized out of one of the cat statues in front of the temple, watching intently, tail swishing from side to side.
The crowd gasp in horror as the cat fell into unconsciousness. One acolyte fainted and the other rushed toward the cat, falling to her knees and burying her face in the body of the unconscious animal.
Karwl picked up the cat and brought it to the feet of the black panther. As Karwl approached, she felt an overpowering pull from the panther to meet eyes, but Karwl intentionally averted making eye contact. The black panther then stared intently at Aswan and the strong feeling to stare back arose within him. But through his indomitable spirit, he resisted looking. Belladonna had the same desire to look but resisted.
The crying acolyte helped the other one up and then rushed toward the black panther and the unconscious cat, falling face down and worshiping the magnificent creature that had a “void” for eyes. As quickly as the black panther emerged, it dissolved back into the stone statue.
The crowd slowly backed away, the party noticed that two familiar faces were in the crowd and also slipped quietly away:
(1) Nore (the merchant that sold them citizenship bracelets and bargained to go with the party if they were selected for the hunt and (2) the blind beggar from a few streets over that insisted that Raheed was a stand-up guy.
The two acolytes picked up the cat and took it into the temple. The party continued off in the direction of what they believed was Raheed’s dwelling. A few blocks later, they come to an apothecary named “Festering Heths Apothecary” which was next to an exotic pet store.
Belladonna quietly flew up and peaked in a window that had a rope dangle down. She detected the awful smell of body odor and saw a caged cheetah.
Karwl knocked on the door while Aswan and Zithgar put their backs to the wall of the exotic pet shop.
Almost immediately, Aswan and Zithgar felt a feathered arm on each of their shoulders and a sing-song female voice asked if they were customers.
As they turned, they saw a female Owlin smiling at them as she cocked her head from side to side. She said her name was “CahCahCah.”
She invited them to see her collection of exotic pets that she had saved and was looking to sell to those who would provide suitable homes for these lost animals.
Just then, the door to the apothecary opened, and the party saw a dirty, smelly gnoll. He tried to sell the party potions and in particular tried to sell a “hangover
remedy to Karwl. Zithgar tried to commission a potion to regrow his missing horn but to no avail; at least not without significant gold. During the negotiations, Karwl and Zithgar began to grow suspicious of the gnoll, and Karwl “accidentally” bumped into the gnoll hard, knocking him to the ground.
As the gnoll fell, he lost concentration on a spell and changed from a gnoll to a wiry little half-elf that begged the party not to harm him or tell anyone that he was not a gnoll. The party tied him and went upstairs.
The party searched the laboratory on the second floor. They let the trapped cheetah out of the cage, that ran across the street to the exotic pet store and easily found the grimalkin eye! However, they ignore the 3rd and 4th floors despite another bad smell and sounds of swinging rope from above.
Believing they had the magical item that everyone has been looking for, the party exited Festering Heth’s apothecary and headed back to the street, where they find Cahcahcah petting the freed cheetah.
She explains that the cheetah is “Sarah” and she sold Sarah to a man that had an adventurer’s hat and sold citizen bracelets a day or two ago. She said that he was taking the cat to the temple nearby Bastet temple for service. She further explained that she can speak with animals and Sarah reports that indeed she was taken to the temple but suddenly everything went dark and she awoke in the cage across the street. When asked how much Sarah cost, Cahcahcah stated 75 gold.
Suddenly, one of the temple acolytes appeared in the street, hollering for help. Upon seeing the party, she rushes over, begging them to help as the temple’s treasury is under attack by thieves. The party rushes toward the temple and entered.
Quietly they make their way into the treasure room. As they approach the main treasure altar, they see a marble cat statute with a hole in its forehead, which had been moved. Just at this moment, various thieves leap from the shadows, the party rolled for initiative, and the session ended.
