Session 01 Report
Session 01: December 17th, 2023
General Summary
19th of Deepwinter / Hammer moon 1489 , Year of the Warrior Princess
The trail up North is cold and harsh - after Hundelstone begins what’s commonly known as the Ten-Trails, a road so badly maintained it’s almost a joke to call it a trail. Anistia Sedgewinter and High Initiate Primrose have both booked a ride with a caravan traveling up north, both having their own reasons for doing so. They’ve shared a few meals here and there, sat around the same campfire with fifteen or so other people, most of whom belong to the merchant caravan actually traveling. Traveling by yourself is possible but there’s safety in numbers, and the company is… well, mostly nice. After a week on the road, most of what you can think of is getting some hot soup and a warm bath at Geldenstag’s Rest once you arrive at Bryn Shander, the largest and most southern of the Ten-Towns. Its walls are high and made of sturdy wood, and its gates are kept shut come night.
Geldenstag’s Rest happens to be the same inn where Viridian Underbough is renting a room. It’s her first trip alone to sell pelts and get some income for her family, although money is not necessarily the most important thing to her. For a couple of days now, she’s spent her mornings selling her wares at the market, befriending other vendors and people-watching. She knows where to find the best hot apple ciders, spiked or not. Geldenstag’s is a nice, familiar place, since the keeper of the inn is a friend of the family. Miss Myrtle Barleywood is a middle-aged matronly halfling who knows most of her visitors, and perhaps other gossip as well.
Vilu, an air genasi, has been working for the proprietor madam for some time now, although they are technically not an official staff member of Geldenstag’s. Helping around might get you favours however. They meet up with the rest of the party while serving them food, and end up chatting with a traveling tiefling Dannika Greysteel, who has been staying at Geldenstag’s for a little over a week now. They give the party a lantern of tracking, a candle-lit lantern with a sigil of some sort drawn into the bottom of the iron. Its candle doesn’t burn, but glows very faintly. Dannika tells the party that it should react to the presence of chwingas, small nature spirits that they’re trying to find to study more. However, chwingas seem to be elusive creatures that belong mainly in old wives’ tales, few people even care about them anymore, most have mainly forgotten about their existence entirely. But they seem to favour the outskirts of towns and other more rural areas, and are known for their mischievous and playful nature. Some even say that they might appear to travelers as little will o’ wisps. Dannika first promises the party 50 gold upon bringing her a live chwinga unharmed, but raises the sum to 60, since it’s Morninglord’s money anyway. They mention their mail-clad friend Salvia in passing, who is on some official business here in the north. They haven’t seen him today, as they were asleep when he left.
Viridian learns from her ‘auntie’ Myrtle, that she has seen a chwinga back in Targos, but her sighting is at least twenty years old, and it was summertime. She mentions dancing by the fireside at a summer festival. Lonelywood should also have chwinga, as they are mostly woodland creatures, and the never-ending winter does not promise much comfort. They might be hiding in the woods.
Annie chats with a fellow named Rowan, after asking Myrtle whether she has seen her brother, who should have come to the town some time ago. She shows a faded portrait of a young man who looks strikingly similar to her, although slightly older. Rowan seems intrigued, as he might have seen the guy, but he can’t quite recall when, possibly three months ago. He’s also looking for his friend, and finds the situation peculiar.
The party heads out to find some snacks at the marketplace, but first - the dogs. Ten-Towns are known for their difficult roads and especially in the height of the winter, the fastest way to cut travel time is to hire a sled. Renting proves out to be a little too expensive still, but at least they each get to pet some huge, fluffy dogs. The kennel owner recommends the party to find some ponies if they need someone to carry their things.
Back at the market, Primrose buys beeswax for her horns from a fellow firbolg, and Vir treats everyone to some hot drinks, with Annie providing snacks in the form of glazed almonds. The party gets to know one another a little better, and try to cipher the relationship status of the two folk heroes immortalised in a statue in the middle of the market square. Vilu remembers the story of Drizzt Do’Urden, a daring drow who helped to save the city alongside with … Endrin Stonehammer..? They successfully helped to defeat a horde of ice-kissed goliaths roughly 150 years ago, give or take. They seemed to be really good friends.
While they eat and drink, they hear locals talk about new caravans of mostly dwarven folk they haven’t seen before. They don’t seem to stay in the town for long however. A couple of guys talk about there being a payment to find a missing shipment of goods, although they do not mention anything more specific than that. As it starts to get colder and the first hues of the northern lights start appearing on the sky, the party decides to head back to their tavern, to chat with Dannika and wind down from the day. Viridian notices in passing that one of the more established stalls has not been present today; she remembers them as mainly steel merchants, possibly dwarven.
Back at Geldenstag’s Rest, the party enjoys some downtime before embarking on their very first journey.
Outside the window, it slowly begins to snow.
Character(s) interacted with
- Myrtle Barleywood
- Dannika Greysteel
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