Session 21 – An Unusual Knight

Campaign I, session 21. Previous: Session 20. Next: Session 22.

Or: You’re a little short, for a stormtrooper.

The party begins their return to Metrol, a journey of nearly 150 miles. Thanks to their fast horses, the journey is expected to take three days across the Talenta plains, an open spacious prairie, fairly flat, with tall grasses. In the first hour of travel, they encounter another adventuring group that waves them down and, as they approach.

Each group dismounts and the leader, an obvious halfling named Enide, calls out with a thick Caernathi accent and asks if they also seek “The Inn”. Meanwhile, Casino (Spellcarved Soldier PC) notices the mysterious card they had collected rattling in its pouch. He clamps down on it with one hand and falls back. After some discussion, the groups achieve a level of moderate trust, and the party shares tales of their adventure. Enide also shares her own mission – she is personally looking for ancestral relics of the halfling race, but her true quest is “to seek the grail, and with it restore the Once and Future King.”

Enide tells her own tale of being raised in Corth and a search for her ancestry. She is saddened (but understanding) to hear that the manor house had to be burned, and slightly heartened when the party shares the logbook and other notes. Dreyfuss (Sakkalin Watch-hound PC) hears a card flapping in Enide’s pouch, and nudges Casino to come forward.

“I do not intend to impinge on your salvage, but could I look over any items of note that you recovered?” After some discussion and negotiation, Enide offers them 2,000 gp (to be paid by Corth’s embassy in Metrol) as well as her card, in exchange for the Skull of the Black Dog (and its candles) and the promise that the original copy of the ancient ceremony book will also be left at the embassy in Corth. The group notes that the signet ring she uses to seal the orders with is the same as that used by Calgronen (the knight who attacked them previously over the Emerald Heart). With the deal done, the groups part.

Other notable day 1 encounters (in no particular order):

• Dreyfuss smells blood. The party discovers a bugbear corpse. Apparent cause of death: puncture wounds in the chest. The feet (a component in magic items involving stealth) have been removed.

• Slightly on edge, the party is relieved to find a game trail through the prairie, allowing them to make good time and easily hunt some additional provisions.

• A ring of standing stones, with impossible shadow puppetry. Shadow halflings riding shadow dinosaurs around the stones, despite that being impossible based on the lighting. Nothing detected as magical. Each standing stone had an obsidian gem embedded near the top. Eventually the party moves on without much disturbance.

• A giant pile of fresh humanoid corpses. Mostly human, some orcs and drow, one elf. A symbol of Talavosh. Valuables have been stripped. Apparently, the remnants of a valerian raiding party.

• The foundation stones and crumbled walls of a long-ruined castle. Hypothetically could speed the construction of a new stronghold on the same site by a bit over 5,000 gp.

On first watch night 1, the watchers feel a deep sense of ennui. Most of them are able to shrug it off, but one of the henches stumbles and falls, refusing to get up. Casino recognizes these as effects of a manifest zone to Dolurrh, the plane of the dead. He rouses the party to wakefulness; those who are afflicted are forcibly hoist onto the backs of horses and the party moves a few miles west before camping again.

Day 2 encounters (again in no particular order):

• A run-down keep flying a black flag. War dogs outside catch Dreyfuss’ scent and start barking. Tassi (hench Gnomish Elementalist) approaches to try to speak with the dogs. A mass of bandit archers begin loosing arrows; fortunately, the party is quick to retreat and only a few shots strike true.

• A manifest zone to Lammania (the “twilight forest”, amplifies the natural life of the area). In this place, elementals and beasts are moderately empowered (easier to conjure, harder to control). Other spells that enhance natural healing or damage might be enhanced in this area, as would appropriate kinds of magical research. Occasionally creatures from Lammania might break through from the other side. [effectively, a Place of Power]

• A band of men, equipped for war but flying no flag. They send a few platoons of cavalry to intercept the party, but the party evades.

• A band of angry shepherds. When they spot the party, they begin shouting and throwing rocks. Pashlatine (PC Venturer) calms them down; their flocks became mixed after some riders had charged through carelessly. Since Tassi can speak with animals, she and a few other characters help separate the flocks. The reeve in charge of this area rewards her with a potion of shimmer.

• A caravanserai. The Twilight Traders organization wants to establish long-distance trade between Metrol and the Ironroot mountains. Lacking their cart, the party declines to engage in direct commerce, but there is some exchange of information. Alwyn (PC Thief) picks the pocket of one of the merchants for about 60 gp worth of various coins.

Day 3 encounters (no particular order)

• One horse randomly throws a shoe, and the overall disruption causes the loss of rations.

• A manifest zone to Daanvi (the perfect order). When the party enters, they find themselves automatically sheathing their weapons and attempts to ready them again prove fruitless. Within this area (a few hundred square feet), drawing a weapon or making any other hostile action requires a successful save versus Paralysis (a safe place to sleep!)

• Once they rejoin the roads, there are several broadly unattended flocks of livestock. The kobolds replenish their rations by slaughtering a sheep, which Dreyfuss pays for by attaching a gold piece to another animal’s collar.

• A caravan camped outside of Metrol, packing up to move along (also the Twilight Traders).

Once in Metrol, the session broke down into discussions about what is next. Casino pays an arcanist at the tower of knowledge to attempt to ID the bracers (no luck). With a day of sparring, he can work out that they are +4 bracers, but he has no knowledge of what command word(s) might trigger it or what the effect(s) might be.

Singil (PC Orcblooded shaman) is able to consult with the ceremonialists in Metrol about the book of ceremonies. Technically illiterate (except for works dedicated her specific ceremonial tradition), she is able to arrange for a couple castings of explication to grant her the ability to read and write classical gallifaran for the duration of her transcription project, as well as crafting to grant her a rank of Craft (Calligraphy) to speed the process up. It will take about a month to make two complete copies.

Casino makes arrangements for Ebba’s (deceased hench fighter) burial. He attempts to recruit a changeling pretender but is turned down (even after a substantial offer of bonus pay). He also hears of an underground fighting ring that he is contemplating participating in.

The current plan for the group is to begin accumulating merchandise to potentially sell in Atur. There are several potential adventuring opportunities in that direction as well.