Session 4: The Consequences of Caring
General Summary
12 Brussendar - 29 Brussendar
A Single Night's Respite
After spelunking into the ruins of South Tower the party wakes in the abandoned first subfloor of the Ruins. They prepare themselves for the grueling trek back to Marshal Watch, checking their rations and receiving some Goodberries from Mum to supplement their dwindling supplies. The party then gathers their things and heads North towards the outpost. An uneventful 10 days of wincing in the constant dust storm and sleeping the whirling debris of The Dark Wastes pass until the party finally reaches Marshal Watch.A Pact is Born
John Hellbourn seemingly wakes in the middle of the night. Standing in a vast darkness he can only see the dull featureless ground under his feet about 10 feet out from him. A deep voice breaks the still air... “Order. The World lacks Order. I have seen, you, a man of Order.” A slight breeze sweeps through the room, suddenly a large figure appears in his field of vision. The looming creature appears to be blurred as if the lens of reality through which it projects itself is out of focus, John Hellbourn struggles to focus on the form of the figure. “Some men adhere to an internal compass, but you navigate by the true North of Order.” Without moving the figure is instantly closer to John Hellbourn, still cloaked in an invisible haze the figure appears to be at least 8 feet tall. “I have an offer. This world needs Order, Guidelines, Laws; and those who are willing to enforce those laws”. The entity disappears from sight, now looming over John Hellbourn's shoulder, “Justice is blind, and it’s enforcement should be so as well. I can grant you the power to enforce Justice. I can give you the tools to make the Forces of Chaos tremble before you.”. The entity seems to pass through John Hellbourn, now in front of him the figure holds a magnificent spear in his outstretched arms. The shaft of the spear is made of a single, flawless piece of Alderwood stained a dark red color. Platinum filigrees stretch along the shaft, seamlessly embedded into the Alderwood creating eye catching designs that shimmer under the single source of light. The blade of the spear extends from three rings, flanked by two more blades affixed perpendicularly to the main blade. As John Hellbourn reaches out to accept the spear, and the offer, from this entity it utters “Take this, and We will walk together, to bring Order to the world.”. John wakes, his original spear beside him.Back to School
The party decides to rest at the small outpost of Marshal Watch before continuing. Heading into the Cot House Zigil Silverbeard takes a look around. He notices two guards playing cards in the corner, much like they were last time the party passed through. He asks about the old man they saw in the Cot House last they were there, a character that both the guards have no recollection of. Zigil searches the Cot House for any sign of the man, eventually stumbling upon a small pile of pipe ash next to a cot in the corner. Heading out the next day the party eventually reaches the swampy forests of the Taemore Valley, a welcomed sight to the weary travelers. The party makes their way North through the forest back to Taemore National College.A Stressful Semester
Eventually reaching the gates of the College, the party once again presents their writ from the head of the guard and gains entrance to the grounds. They make haste for Stodven Ravenwater's office. Delivering the research documents they retrieved from South Tower, Ravenwater thanks them. He inquires if they had come the College by way of Lanercost during their last visit. The party grows suspicious, Zigil Silverbeard reaches back for his crossbow should things turn sour in the Professor's office. He asks if the party is familiar with the arcane arts. Growing more suspicious that the Professor may have some ties The Silent Vanguard, Zigil instructs John to take the research back. As John motions to take the books back, Stodven Ravenwater makes a quick motion with his hand and rapidly utters an incantation, freezing John in his tracks. Ravenwater quickly explains to the party that he is asking about their travels as Lanercost is now currently under Marshall Law following the unexplained deaths of 5 Vanguard in the town, and is worried for their safety within the Taemore Valley.As the tension in the room falls Ravenwater glances over his shoulder to the far corner of the room. He curses under his breath and utters another incantation, small purple wisp of light extends from his hand as a small sphere becomes visible in the corner. As he finishes his spell the sphere shatters, the lightly glowing shards fading out of existence. In a rage Ravenwater informs that party that someone has been scrying on them, and they may now believe the College is aiding them. The party thanks the Professor for his time, and heads down to see a History professor.
Trunkel asks the professor if he knows anything of other Tortles in the world, as he is in search of more of his kind. The professor informs him that he is unaware of any other Tortles, in fact Trunkel is the first Tortle he has met. Most of his studies
Simultaneously Zigil goes to see the Professor of Cartography, Tram Doomgleam, and see what he has discovered about the globe they found. He tells them that the marking on the globe in the shape of Nostroris, if to scale, means the closest landmass would be an 8 to 9 month sail in the fastest Elven ship. The furthest anyone has sailed was Blem Grassmoon, who sailed 5 months out, and returned after finding Undertree's Ubiquitous Minutes of the Modeling and Antiquity of All Creation on a small island.
Return to the Scene of the Crime
The party sets out to return to Lanercost. They decide to travel through the woods, following 50 to 100 feet off from the road to stay out of sight. John Hellbourn decides to hang back as to not draw attention to the rest of his party. On the second day of travel the front of the party spots 15 or so members of The Silent Vanguard marching east along the road towards the Taemore National College. Mum quickly casts Pass Without A Trace to help hide the party, however John Hellbourn is too far back to be effected by the spell. He is quickly spotted in the forest by the Vanguard, who begin making their way towards him. Quickly the party begins to scramble deeper into the woods, thinking quickly Mum wild shapes into a moose and begins sprinting towards John. She scoops him up and they dart South, deeper into the swamp as Trunkel and Zigil Silverbeard hide from the Vanguard. Trunkel enters a full sprint to the Southwest, easily outpacing the Vanguard. Unable to keep up with Trunkel, Zigil Silverbeard crawls under the exposed root bundle of a tree and waits for the Vanguard to give up the chase.As the heat dies down, Trunkel eventually backtracks to meet Zigil Silverbeard, and they set off to find Mum and John Hellbourn. Eventually the party reconvenes, exhausted and weary of traveling too close to the road they make camp deep within the forest.
Setting off the next day the party eventually makes it to Lanercost, aware of the increased presence of the Vanguard they wait along the treeline on the edge of the Blackberry fields. Mum wildshapes into a field mouse and makes haste into town.
Lanercost Lockdown
Skittering through the well kept fields of berries Mum eventually reaches the village, where she greeted by the sight of boarded up buildings and patrols of Vanguard. Peculiarly the Inn is not boarded up, looking the same as they left it on that fateful day a few months ago. Slinking into one of the boarded up homes she finds a family of three. The family in the small cottage is currently preparing some blackberry jam and bread. Mum ends her wildshape, reverting back to her normal form. The mother is startled, however recognizes Mum quickly. Expecting the locals of Lanercost to hate the party Mum is pleasantly surprised when the woman offers her a meal. She tells Mum that the locals are thankful that the party stood up to The Silent Vanguard, and gave them the courage to do the same. Mum bids the family goodbye and wildshapes back into a field mouse, making her way to The Simple Crow.The Simple Crow is the only building in Lanercost that is not boarded up, in fact it looks no different than when the party was last there. Entering through the front door Mum finds the bar nearly empty, 3 patrons of the bar are quietly eating in the dining area, Brorth Coldwatcher is behind the bar writing something down. Mum ends her wildshape yet again. Brorth Coldwatcher greets her and after pleasantries are exchanged tells Mum of what has been happening since they left.
The The Silent Vanguard has been laying siege to the town. They have been holding back for the time being, avoiding getting violent with the townsfolk, however Brorth Coldwatcher is unsure how long that will last. Most of the townsfolk are running out of food, The Simple Crow is no different with Brorth Coldwatcher's latest calculations putting the tavern's stores empty within a week. With the dire circumstances currently surrounding the town, Brorth Coldwatcher has called for help from the South. He is expecting others who are also fed up with The Silent Vanguard to be arriving tomorrow morning. A silence falls over the tavern.
Tomorrow we spill blood.
With the full weight of the situation currently laid out before her, Mum takes a short rest within the walls of The Simple Crow before shifting once into her mouse form to head back to her compatriots.
The Weight of the World
Meeting with her party again Mum tells them of the current situation in Lanercost, and of the looming battle. The parry ponders their options; they could leave the Taemore Valley and be done with the whole situation; perhaps they just let this play itself out. Finally Zigil Silverbeard speaks up, since he was the cause of this he will be helping the people of Lanercost, the rest of the party is more than welcome to join him...What will tomorrow bring in Lanercost? Will the party follow through and the help the townsfolk?
Stats
- 17 days
- 2 Failed Stealth Checks
- 1 Close Call
- 0 Ideas of what Tomorrow Holds
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