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As dawn's light breaks deep into the cave you all camped in last night, the slaves stand over all of you prepping breakfast. Looking curiously back and forth as to who was supposed to be on watch, you are comforted by the bright healthy smiles of what used to be wan faces. One of the slaves, who you know recognize as a half elf, draws forth a bundle of sticks and herbs, "I dropped this into the fire to help you rest better while me and Brill took watch. You all seemed tired and have done so much for us we wanted to return the favor." They ask again for an escort to either Summit Hall across the river in the east or Red Larch in the west, seeing as they are the closest places for safety. They also mention that following the river north of here is Rivergard Keep, a place they believe they were being held and transferred from. There were many more slaves being carted from there, some from around here the The Dessarin Valley and some as far away as Mirabar.
Is there a good way to cross the river to Summit Hall?
The villagers knew no way to cross. After fumbling around with rope and swimming the party discovers that one of the rescued slaves, Brill, is actually a druid with the ability to walk on water. With her assistance everyone makes it across safely and to Summit Hall, where they are welcomed.
At Summit Hall the party receives a reward and the use of 1 knight and 2 squires. Brill will also accompany us to the fortified port where we believe more slaves are being held.
Harley made a seemingly bad trade with a quartermaster, and worked with the smith to get his new weapon fixed. The smith, Twitch, was hard to deal with and in poor health but seems to be capable of incredible work. After he is found passed out in his shop Marek insists on getting him some sleep.
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I tend to Midnight 2x/day to ensure that the stable hands are taking care of her properly. He and his helpers seemed.... confused on what to do with her.
As soon as I wake I make my way down to Twitch's quarters. I check to make sure none of that herb smoke is drifting out and that everything looks fine before approaching the door.
"Good morning Twitch! Are you awake?"
While at Summit Hall the party is given a map of the Dessarin Valley.
After much talk of how to cross the river, Triss the druid walks the group of slaves across the water to head toward Summit Hall. After a little over 30 miles, over a days trek around the mountains, everyone reaches Summit Hall. Here everyone is greeted, not warmly, by the Knights of Samular. Harley attempted to do trade with the poorly furbished quarter master, who explains that they were waiting on supplies and money from Mirabar. Harley traded his trident for a double sided glaive, with further inspection is found broken. After a bit of brokering the quarter master convinces Harley to see about repairs with the black smith Twitchy. Kleah tended to her animal companion midnight, finding the knights reluctant to keep midnight in their stalls and lacking in resources to please the beast. Princess finds the bath hall and begins to bath along side the ranger in a unisex bathing room. Marek found the prayer hall, and proceeded to give prayers to his god.
Later that night everyone came together for a FEAST in honor of their guest. The slaves are surprised at how much food was presented for everyone, when they investigated the stock it was found lacking. Everyone laugh, sang, ate, and played games. Princess entertained the squires with his exploits of old, adding the flair only he could do. After a bit the overseer of Summit Hall Lady Ushien Stormbanner talked with her guest. She gave them her thanks for saving the villagers and will see to their return to their homes, the group was given a small chest with 100 gold worth of gems, coins, and jewelry. The group told Stormbanner of the monastery to the west and asked for assistance in cleansing it of evil. Ushien told them since the Mirabar delegation's disappearance they are short on supplies and who they can lend out for help. She offers instead to find payment for them if they could cleanse it on their own. Brill speaks up and mentions that she wants to gather more resources from the emerald conclave and go north to a Keep where she heard she and the other slaves were being held. That night Harley talked with Twitchy to get the glaive repaired, while Kleah slept outside of the keep with Brill. Harley finds Twitchy on the floor overdosing from an extra portion of his porridge, and rushes to get assistance form Princess and Marek. Marek attepts to revive Twitch but falls just short, so seeks out the other priest for assistance. They revive Twitchy asking who would give him extra porridge. Harley finds that the glaive is "repaired" having the end still falling off with use but magically returning to the weapon a moment later. Not statisfied with this he asks Twitchy to once again try to repair the glaive.
In the morning Kleah returned from the wild refreshed yet romantically unfulfilled. Princess and Marek slept peacefully enjoying breakfest with the priest and squires. Harley immediately goes to Stormbanner and asks why she hasn't tried to break Twitchy's addiction. She states how she and others have tried but he just gets worse, so they thought it better to keep him on low doses. Stormbanner also gives them leave to have sir Ryan, and with the plea of the adventures squires Ted and Sam. She also give them access to a skiff if they are traveling with Brill. They go to seek out sir Ryan, finding him training the squires in grappling. He asks if Harley wants to show the recruits a thing or two. Harley injures three recruits and bested five more, to which Ryan looks at admiringly. Later with the assistance of herbs given to Kleah the group manages to get Twitchy to sleep, something he hasn't done in days. They spend another day in the Hall preparing and learning the lore, such as Summit Hall was established long ago as a fortified
monastery by the Knights of Samular, an order dedicated to Tyr, god of justice. A paladin of Tyr named Samular Caradoon founded the order and its monastery. A tomb within the monastery contains Samular's remains.His brother, Renwick Caradoon, was turned into a Lich by his brother with a Lich potion and whose whereabouts is beleived to be near the area.
On returning to check on Twitchy's health and progress on the glaive, Harley notices that Twitchy doesn't look well. He is pale skinned and clammy to the touch. Twitchy tells Harley it will be a week, 10 days, before he will be done with the weapon. But he promises it will be his finest work embodying everything that he is.
In the morning I find Twitch in bed and become concerned about his condition. I hurry over to the cathedral to confer with the other priests about his state.
"I managed to put Twitch to sleep last night with some herbs, but he appears to be suffering withdrawal symptoms this morning! Have you seen this before? How often must he consume this drug to maintain what you consider his normal state?"
In the morning, I:
- tend to Midnight's needs
- freshen up quickly in the baths and ensure all of my equipment is in order
- get breakfast with my group to catch up on events and plan the next few days.
At breakfast I:
- attempt to gain insight on the personalities, intents, and usefulness (abilities and skills) of our new companions: Ted, Sam, and Sir Ryan
- suggest to the group that we
= investigate the condition of the skimmer vessel we were offered
= request for more ropes, rations, and other general supplies we may need
I drop by Twitchy with real food and water, and greet him warmly.
"Your devotion to your craft inspires me. Thank you Twitchy, for all of your efforts thus far", as I hand him another pouch of ten gold coins.
"My party and I will be heading off for a few days, to combat evil and bash in skulls and what not. I'll keep an eye out for a souvenir for you, and I'll be back before you know it."
-Flaco, if Twitchy would like to reply I stay and chit chat with him for a few hours about him, his craft, and anything he might need from the outside world. Once our conversation is finished I take my leave, and head to purchase replacement rope. I specify a preference for rope that is both light and strong.-
I believe I've figured this out.
Twitch turns to Harley with a drab look, and with a broken smile thanks him while painfully placing the gold back in the large callus hands of Harley. He weakly whispers how he hurts all over and is tired, as spasms hurls his body back into the corner of the bed. Mean while at the cathedral Marek is greeted by a young and spry looking cleric whose drabs indicate he is a follower of Deneir, a god of knowledge. He rushes over and greets Marek with a very eager expression. In a high pitched voice and rapid speech he explains his name is Orxy that he has been searching for a man that he believes you call Twitchy. He believes that Twitchy is actually cursed and wishes to cure him of this. Orxy wishes to speak with Twitchy to give him insight to a ritual that may cure him. He also will need some supplies for the ritual as well, one of key ingredient will be the blood of a plane touched being. He asks if you can show him where Twitchy is?
Kleah goes with Brill to inspect the skiff while finding camaraderie in her as she talks more of the wilds of nature that she loves and the Emerald Enclave she works for. Fearing that time is slipping for her friends, Brill tells Kleah that there may not be enough time to get support from the Enclave and rescue her friends. If only there was a way to send word to the Enclave in the south and go north of the river to free her friends in the keep before they are stolen away forever. But you both know that the Emerald Enclave will stay hidden from all but it's own members.
"I will guide you to his chambers. On the way, please tell me more about how you plan to treat him. Do you have any idea where we might find the ingredients you need?"
I begin guiding Orxy toward Twitchy's chambers.
As Twitch collapses onto the bed I sit down on the floor, back against the wall, and watch over him, chatting him up in an attempt to distract him from the pain.
"Where is home for you, my friend?"
I return to Twitch's chambers with Orxy, who is apparently a seeker of knowledge and has some suspicions that Twitch may actually be the blacksmith he has been searching for. Upon reaching Twitch's chambers I introduce Orxy to the group and tend to Twitch well enough that he can return to sleep. I explain that Orxy wants to attempt a ritual to remove a curse that may be on Twitch, but that he requires the blood of an Outsider to do so. I quickly check with Lady Stormbanner to see if she knows where we can find such blood and all she can tell me is that I may be able to find Outsiders at one of the trading posts along the river.
Shortly after returning to the group we met a traveler, Zuki, who took an interest in the hubub around Twitch. He proceeds to scare the crap out of Orxy who made a rude comment about the man. Brill wants to head toward Rivergard Keep to rescue her friends. She and Kleah checked out the skiff and restocked to prepare for the trip. After a short discussion about what to do about twitch and acquiring Outsider blood we decide to head upriver to the keep, possibly stopping at the trading post further upriver once we are done at the keep. Harley doesn't seem to trust Orxy with Twitch and asks that Lady Stormbanner have her own priests keep watch on him until we return.
We haul the boat to the river and make camp, along with Zuki, Brill, Sir Ryan, and the squires Ted and Sam. During the night we were attacked by 3 ogres, which we put down fairly easily while Brill, Sir Ryan, and the squires slept. Harley created a crude mask from an ogre skull. We finished our rest and began our trip upriver. Sir Ryan orders the squires to row, and we make quite terrible time under their power.
We stopped for the night and our slumber was again interrupted, this time by attackers arriving by boat from upriver. The skiff contains 3 powerful opponents along with nearly a dozen fighting men who seem to be quite capable swimmers. One of the magic users who had turned himself into some sort of serpent made of water and half a dozen of the fighting men escaped as the tide of the battle turned. We killed 2 of the more powerful attackers and captured one of the grunts. The priest lays dead on the deck of his boat, Princess hauls the prisoner over to the group where Sir Ryan provides manacles to secure him, and Harley gets to work looting the corpse of the unkown attacker he took down.
"I would like to take a look at that priest, to see what I can find out about his background. Ted! Sam! Please secure that boat to shore and fetch the priest's body from the boat."
I take a look over at Harley's kill, interested in that magic user as well as the priest.
"Is everyone alright?"
I check on each member of the party to see who needs medical attention.
When I get a chance to talk with Sir Robin alone, I explain to him that as leader of the group it is my job to take care of all it's members and that I feel he is being too hard on the sqires. I also tell him that if he wants to teach them respect for the chain of command he should demonstrate it himself.
I grab what's left of the foolish spellsword who dared to wound me and haul him twenty feet or so away from the shore, closer to my companions, before beginning a thorough search of him and his possessions.
My passive perception is 16.
"I believe the warlock made mention of wanting to investigate the priest as well."
{I don't believe Szuki is added yet, if Brad would like to assist him.}
Posting to test some modifications to my profile.
Indeed I did plan to drag the corpse of the priest from the ship and see if there was anything I might be intrigued by on his corpse. Of course anything that would aid Marek I'd gladly give.
I take a moment to gaze over the water, weary of the potential for another attack. I give Midnight a watch task as I point across the water by saying, "Midnight, be a good girl and keep those eyes and nose pointed toward the water and chirp if you sense something." Then I pat her gently on the back and she hides herself amoungst the shadows of the tree line. I begin to scan over skiff and the people we terminated searching for anything that may be useful or provide us with information.
Kleah:
Midnight:
Whilst scanning our generated wreckage, I tell the others, "Let's drag the bodies ashore and dispose of the wreckage as quickly as possible. Those that got away may return with assistance and I don't want them finding us easily. We also need to hide our own vessel and perhaps move camp a bit north and further into the trees. And.. let's do something about that one dear Princess is bear hugging... gag and tie him for now till we are done?"
I look up from searching the unknown warrior to inform Kleah, "Ser Ryan has already clapped him in irons, but those who escaped are already aware of our presence and will be back with reinforcements. Once we've gleaned what we can from their bodies we should be away from here." I resume my search of the unknown warrior.
[ooc]Is there a way to recon a possible route to the keep via land? We're giving them too great an advantage being in the river when they have water warriors.[ooc]
"Also, the wreckage of their ship is on fire. That's going to give them as clear a beacon as they need. They're going to come straight back to this location. When we do move, I suggest we physically lift our skiff- I'm talking to you, squires- and trek it at least a half mile further upstream. There we can hide it offshore and wait out the night."
"You have a point, Harley. Those that escaped will surely report our position and who knows what that serpent made of water is capable of. I don't know if we can make much headway on land, but it's worth checking out. We should at least put out the fire and pull our boat in while we figure that out."
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The prisoner is in manacles that Sir Robin had, that should hold him.
After a thorough inspection of the battle site our illustrious "heros" find 6 Sharktoothed Longsword, 1 broken chain shirt, two scrolls, and 50gp worth of random coinage. You notice that the holy symbol for the priest looks like a hour glass shape with the top line missing. You also notice that while it has been damaged and set on fire the skiff that the attackers used is well crafted and still usable with minor repairs. After the stern talk with sir Ryan reluctantly summits, apologizes, and bows in understanding his position in the group. Tedd and Sam complain and whine as they struggle to pull the skiff into the forest. Seeing this Brill decides to assist in her bear form in dragging the skiff, stopping only to growl mischievously at the squires to give a small fright. Upon beginning questioning the reaver exclaims "Don't you fools think you can gain anything from this Crushing Wave Reaver! You may have defeated a priest,Fathomer, and a few Reaver brotheres, but the tides of combat ebbs and flows. You should either summit or drown in our power!"
Marek becomes excited about the scrolls, wishing to study them when there is time.
Searching the unknown warrior, that is.
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Marek discovers one of the scrolls contains
Ice Knife
lst-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: S, M (a drop of water or piece of ice)
Duration: Instantaneous
You create a shard of ice and fling it at one creature
within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the
target. On a hit, the target takes ldlO piercing damage.
Hit or miss, the shard then explodes. The target and
each creature within 5 feet of the point where the ice
exploded must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or
take 2d6 cold damage.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using
a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the cold damage
increases by ld6 for each slot level above 1st.
DC:13
Other then tattered cloths and one of the two scrolls found earlier nothing else seems to be on the unknown assailant.
I hand the scroll to Marek, annoyed at the meager reward.
"Here, this was on that fool I eviscerated."
I nod to the pile of sharktooth weapons and ask, "Any of those happen to be shortswords?"
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The Reaver stares coldly at Princess not saying a word (give an intimidation or persuasion check). After further inspection they are Sir Ryan confirms, although "unique", that they are indeed all long-swords no short-swords among them.
I grow tired of this back and forth, and step forward holding the severed head of the Unknown warrior, still fully shifted. I drop it at the Reaver's feet, and say "Talk. Or become my new chew toy."
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I look on at the happenings with a face of agreement. But I will pry Harley away from our prisoner should I feel his interigation tactics will kill our prisoner before he gives us good information. ... But, if he keeps on about how we have no chance and that we should surrender, I'll want to be rid of him so we can move onwards to safer ground.
Staring back he silently says "You all will join him soon", [roll a insight check]. Just then a bright light fills the sky, shooting up from the Summit Hall and flashing forth all the land.