Log #43692, Session 8

As I continue editing and meticulously going over my notes, I needed the answer to these specific questions.
Zudd-nock’s race: gnome
What is Sam’s goddess’s name? Shantae
What is Shantae's symbol? Scythe or grain. There is a symbol on messenger that would be useful here.
K is an ELF! All this time I thought she was a half-elf. My eyes appear to be failing me in my older age.
 
Over the 4 remaining days of our trip to Galdere, I set out to accomplish some inner working peace amongst our newer group. Specifically amongst our new drow friend Viravell, the bard Aerilyn, and our cleric Sam. I start by having a true conversation with Viravell. He seems to be all-encompassing of the word gentleman. Raised in a higher-class household (he uses the silverware he brings with himself in his mess kit, drinks finer wine instead of harsher alcohol and beer). He is also very well-mannered. I genuinely mean it when I say that I do not wish to fight him. Not only because I know he could cut us in thirds before I even got a hit in, but because he seems like a genuine man who is just trying to pick up the pieces of his old life and forge a new path ahead. My firm belief is that he got a bad start (trying to help the house that overthrew his family and the other prominent members of Drow society) and is just trying to make the best of it.
 
From there, I took Aerilyn and her mother, Idris, aside and apologized to both of them as privately as I could. I apologized for harboring ill will towards their family because of the tragedy brought down upon my house by their father's (and husband’s) hand. From what I can tell, they both shrugged it off as if it was not a need to apologize for this. They must have heard something similar in the past several times. If that is true, it leads me to believe that they are both of such incredible character that it somehow overcomes what Mr. Faeyth did, or that they have become numb to the trauma of it all.
 
Lastly, I pulled Sam behind the bar for a quick peek at my stash of teas. I made sure to offer them to him so that at future times when he is offered a drink, he knows he can make some for himself. I still feel terrible for breaking his sobriety, and I pray I do not cause ill will towards him from his Deity. Which, of all deities, seems to be the most interested in our plight. I’ll admit my reluctance to trust a holy man has proved to be of little use. The man is kind-hearted through and through, valuing a good joke over a spiteful comment. This is not to say that he is incapable of dealing with or producing harm, rather he values joy and health over it.
 
On the afternoon of the 4th day, we have finally arrived. While I was informed by Borris that the weather in this area would prove to be colder than what I am used to on the coast, I was not prepared for a freezing blizzard. What makes matters worse was that Borris was not prepared for this either. We can land the tavern in a clearing a mile or two from the front gate. We are barely able to see more than 30 feet from our faces. Before we leave the ship and its passengers, Aerilyn and I attempt to cover the ship and hide it as best we can, completely forgetting that nature itself will cover us with a blanket of snow within the day. Proud nonetheless with our handiwork, we attempt to set off. We don’t get more than a few feet from the tavern’s entrance when K stops us, an idea brewing in her head. She has been pondering what we should call ourselves and has landed on a dwarven term for party or group. The symbol is:
 
Log #43692, Session 8
As I continue editing and meticulously going over my notes, I needed the answer to these specific questions.
Zudd-nock’s race: gnome
What is Sam’s goddess’s name? Shantae
What is Shantae's symbol? Scythe or grain. There is a symbol on messenger that would be useful here.
K is an ELF! All this time I thought she was a half-elf. My eyes appear to be failing me in my older age.
 
Over the 4 remaining days of our trip to Galdere, I set out to accomplish some inner working peace amongst our newer group. Specifically amongst our new drow friend Viravell, the bard Aerilyn, and our cleric Sam. I start by having a true conversation with Viravell. He seems to be all-encompassing of the word gentleman. Raised in a higher-class household (he uses the silverware he brings with himself in his mess kit, drinks finer wine instead of harsher alcohol and beer). He is also very well-mannered. I genuinely mean it when I say that I do not wish to fight him. Not only because I know he could cut us in thirds before I even got a hit in, but because he seems like a genuine man who is just trying to pick up the pieces of his old life and forge a new path ahead. My firm belief is that he got a bad start (trying to help the house that overthrew his family and the other prominent members of Drow society) and is just trying to make the best of it.
 
From there, I took Aerilyn and her mother, Idris, aside and apologized to both of them as privately as I could. I apologized for harboring ill will towards their family because of the tragedy brought down upon my house by their father's (and husband’s) hand. From what I can tell, they both shrugged it off as if it was not a need to apologize for this. They must have heard something similar in the past several times. If that is true, it leads me to believe that they are both of such incredible character that it somehow overcomes what Mr. Faeyth did, or that they have become numb to the trauma of it all.
 
Lastly, I pulled Sam behind the bar for a quick peek at my stash of teas. I made sure to offer them to him so that at future times when he is offered a drink, he knows he can make some for himself. I still feel terrible for breaking his sobriety, and I pray I do not cause ill will towards him from his Deity. Which, of all deities, seems to be the most interested in our plight. I’ll admit my reluctance to trust a holy man has proved to be of little use. The man is kind-hearted through and through, valuing a good joke over a spiteful comment. This is not to say that he is incapable of dealing with or producing harm, rather he values joy and health over it.
 
On the afternoon of the 4th day, we have finally arrived. While I was informed by Borris that the weather in this area would prove to be colder than what I am used to on the coast, I was not prepared for a freezing blizzard. What makes matters worse was that Borris was not prepared for this either. We can land the tavern in a clearing a mile or two from the front gate. We are barely able to see more than 30 feet from our faces. Before we leave the ship and its passengers, Aerilyn and I attempt to cover the ship and hide it as best we can, completely forgetting that nature itself will cover us with a blanket of snow within the day. Proud nonetheless with our handiwork, we attempt to set off. We don’t get more than a few feet from the tavern’s entrance when K stops us, an idea brewing in her head. She has been pondering what we should call ourselves and has landed on a dwarven term for party or group. The symbol is not available on this entry.
 
In the excitement of recognizing ourselves as a formal group, Borris goes to a nearby tree and inscribes the symbol on it. The rune itself glows, showing some innate magic within the rune. I’ll have to do some further research on this to see if these symbols could prove useful in the future.
 
Finally pushing on, we head to town. This is no short feat as the snow covering the terrain is waist-deep even for me. Apart from that, I cannot tell what we are getting ourselves into. The smaller-natured ones have to follow the paths of us larger individuals, lest they become lost in the snow. Past the tree line, we make our way to the front gates of the city and hunker down, trying to figure out how best to go about seeing what remains of the town. I suggest that Cordelia and I try to scout the exterior wall of the city, using a crude climber’s hook made from my prybar and the rope we have on us. The group agrees to this, and we end up scouting a rough idea of what the town looks like.
 
 
The building with an X over it has been burned down and is in a charred remains state. Off the left of this drawing would be a rough port of sorts that is frozen over and unusable as it currently stands. By my estimate, when we bring this information back to the group, it is nearly sunrise the next day. It makes no difference to us, as the storm blocks out nearly all the daylight. With no evident signs of life anywhere in the town, we press on into Galdere.
 
As we open the main gate of the town, Noelani asks her raven (Haefen) to scout out above us as best he can. He comes back quickly, confirming what we saw already and nothing else as the storm is making it hard for him to fly. The first building we investigate is at the top right of the drawing, a tavern called “The Creaking Doe”. In the tavern, there is a single dead elf in the far corner booth. K finds a sealed and full barrel of ale and a few bottles of local wine. We noted them for retrieval later. As we were pushing into the back of the tavern, Noelani and Aerilyn noticed a small store room, with movement inside. K offers to open the door for us, like a doorman at a local rodeo. Once we all are ready, We gave her the signal.
 
As K opened up the door, 4 large gelatinous cubes spill forth, and combat ensues. I’m truthfully fuzzy on the details, as I was more focused on shoving bolts into my crossbow as fast as I could. In the end, we were victorious. I had to be dug out of a bank of snow and missed the final explosion of the tavern, but we were all safe and unharmed for the most part. As the second building ignites under our guidance in town, we prepare for more danger within the next building. It turned out to be a local blacksmithing shop, whose sign had been destroyed in whatever had laid waste to the town before us. We found 15 Iron Ingots and a silver ingot, which we promptly took back to Mr. Razizz, the expert smith we rescued back in Sgand who was now aboard our tavern. We needed to set up a day camp and rest for a bit, so we set up a small lean-to in town and found out what the other buildings were. They were an apothecary, a general goods store, and a church for an unknown deity. The church seems heavily infested with activity, so may need to tackle that first thing after the snack and light snooze.
 
 
In the excitement of recognizing ourselves as a formal group, Borris goes to a nearby tree and inscribes the symbol on it. The rune itself glows, showing some innate magic within the rune. I’ll have to do some further research on this to see if these symbols could prove useful in the future.
 
Finally pushing on, we head to town. This is no short feat as the snow covering the terrain is waist-deep even for me. Apart from that, I cannot tell what we are getting ourselves into. The smaller-natured ones have to follow the paths of us larger individuals, lest they become lost in the snow. Past the tree line, we make our way to the front gates of the city and hunker down, trying to figure out how best to go about seeing what remains of the town. I suggest that Cordelia and I try to scout the exterior wall of the city, using a crude climber’s hook made from my prybar and the rope we have on us. The group agrees to this, and we end up scouting a rough idea of what the town looks like (see below).
 
 
The building with an X over it has been burned down and is in a charred remains state. Off the left of this drawing would be a rough port of sorts that is frozen over and unusable as it currently stands. By my estimate, when we bring this information back to the group, it is nearly sunrise the next day. It makes no difference to us, as the storm blocks out nearly all the daylight. With no evident signs of life anywhere in the town, we press on into Galdere.
 
As we open the main gate of the town, Noelani asks her raven (Haefen) to scout out above us as best he can. He comes back quickly, confirming what we saw already and nothing else as the storm is making it hard for him to fly. The first building we investigate is at the top right of the drawing, a tavern called “The Creaking Doe”. In the tavern, there is a single dead elf in the far corner booth. K finds a sealed and full barrel of ale and a few bottles of local wine. We noted them for retrieval later. As we were pushing into the back of the tavern, Noelani and Aerilyn noticed a small storeroom, with movement inside. K offers to open the door for us, like a doorman at a local rodeo. Once we all are ready, We gave her the signal.
 
As K opened up the door, 4 large gelatinous cubes spill forth, and combat ensues. I’m truthfully fuzzy on the details, as I was more focused on shoving bolts into my crossbow as fast as I could. In the end, we were victorious. I had to be dug out of a bank of snow and missed the final explosion of the tavern, but we were all safe and unharmed for the most part. As the second building ignites under our guidance in town, we prepare for more danger within the next building. It turned out to be a local blacksmithing shop, whose sign had been destroyed in whatever had laid waste to the town before us. We found 15 Iron Ingots and a silver ingot, which we promptly took back to Mr. Razizz, the expert smith we rescued back in Sgand who was now aboard our tavern. We needed to set up a day camp and rest for a bit, so we set up a small lean-to in town and found out what the other buildings were. They were an apothecary, a general goods store, and a church for an unknown deity. The church seems heavily infested with activity, so may need to tackle that first thing after the snack and light snooze.