Harmony Session 15: Are You There, God? It's Me, Vardura
General Summary
We return to our heroes as they scour Lonely Cove for signs of Azure Kevin-Kevin's ill-fated Exodus. Though much lost cargo had been recovered, many beach-lurking monsters had also been found! Currently, a talus flow, an elemental manifestation of salt and sand, had Enoch and Zoran wrapped up in its cyclone of stone. Behind, a beach weird rose up out of the tidal pools to take advantage of the chaos and attacked Pilgrim! Though the weird tried to sink Pilgrim and Azarki in a pool of sudden quicksand, the cleric's newly acquired mold earth kept his neck above ground. When Zoran entered the fight with a very cinematic leap over the sinking sand, the beasts soon fell and our heroes recuperated.
Pluggin' Crab Holes
Our heroes swept past a bunch of discarded crab shells and straight into the cave at the north of the cove. There, they found said crabs chilling out in their little house. Though they were able to overcome the giant crustaceans and their sexoskeletons, our heroes couldn't help but notice the suddenly imminent onset of an awfully violent storm. They quickly looted what they could of the crab hole. Stashed at the back of the boss crab's room was the skeletal corpse of Azure Kevin-Kevin himself, as identified by the badge he clutched in his bony fist. Curiously, his skeleton had been slashed and broken apart as if with the heavy swing of a giant weapon, much like the skeletal corpse of Emparae the Aria found in the flail snail cave. Zoran hoisted what remained of the skeleton and the party headed away from the shore and the oncoming storm for better shelter further inland.No Gods Allowed
Our adventurers were able to find suitable shelter until the storm passed by. The black clouds came in fast and loud, thunder heralding their arrival before any rain. Of that, there was little, and hardly a spark of lightning to be seen. Still, the storm held an hour of violence over our heroes' heads, then disappeared almost as quickly as it came. After a relatively peaceful evening on the edge of Swango Swamp, our heroes successfully recovered and returned to the cove to find what else was left of the Exodus. Somehow, the wreckage in the cove seemed even more wrecked after the passage of the fast moving storm. Though the hee-haw had been destroyed, they were able to recover quite a considerable amount of goods. More interesting was their encounter with Bilbinboombixbang, a celestial agent sent to investigate Vardura on behalf of Otuna. The man-faced not-fish provided some very interesting divine context to the exploration of Vardura and reported that a very mean creature had "ridden the storm" and been largely responsible for the increased damage. Our heroes helped Billy leave the cove then did the same, plopping down a bolt before finally heading back to camp after weeks in the field. Unfortunately for them, they were still quite a few days out from home, and the wilds were nothing if not wild. A strange honking siren greeted our heroes as they entered a stretch of Swango Swamp. Two weirdly-horned spiders stood atop two tall boulders, loosing their call into the wilderness. The brush came to life around our heroes as some insatiably violent and naked bird-like orniraptors leapt to attack.Rewards Granted
- A 5-yard bolt of gold and silver brocade (worth 40 gp an 8-yard bolt of white muslin (worth 32 gp a 10-yard bolt of wool dyed midnight blue (worth 80 gp and a small bundle of assorted furs (worth 34 gp).
- 50 1-lb. ingots of copper (worth 25 gp total).
- An ebony walking stick, capped and inlaid with silver, with a large, faceted quartz crystal set on top (worth 40 gp).
- 40 1-lb. silver ingots (worth 200 gp total).
- Azure Kevin-Kevin's badge of office, awarded to Merchant Captains of repute among the Kevin-Kevins.
10 barrels of hee-haw
Missions/Quests Completed
- Find the Exodus!
Character(s) interacted with
- Bilbinboombixbang (Billy) is a pescavitus, or literal angel fish, working for Otuna. After the expiration of The Decree Against Foreign Discord, Otuna sent Billy to perform reconaissance on the lost continent. As one of her bravest servants, he readily agreed, but was stymied when Azure Kevin-Kevin scooped him up on his way back to Keshloam, thinking Billy was a strange creature native to Vardura. When the Exodus sank, Billy spent decades stuck in a cage beneath the waves, only to be eventually tossed into the prison-like tidal pool where Malachai and Gorr found him.
Created Content
- When Zoran "plugged a crab hole" during combat and said "Hope we get outta this pinch!", Enoch used a reaction to kill himself. RIP.
- When camping inland to avoid the storm, our heroes found themselves on the northern edge of Swango Swamp where it met a dense and lush forest. Nearly tropical heat incubated beneath the thick tree coverage and seemed to lull our heroes into a hazy, dreamy rest. Even the song Zoran played on his bone flute that night seemed to reflect a strange and ethereal lullaby that many of his friends heard in their dreams that night. Oh, and he attached a piece of Azure Kevin-Kevin's skeleton to his bone flute to expand the register. Fun.
- Speaking of which, our heroes buried the notorious Azure Kevin-Kevin under an unmarked grave nearby. Not even Azarki felt particularly inspired to say anything about the cowardly poacher and they left without ceremony.
Notes
Bilbinboombixbang (Billy) traded his rescue for information:
- Billy originally hid from Malachai and Gorr because the previous night's strange storm had frightened him. He thought Otuna had come to punish him for his failure, especially when the giant roaring monster stepped from the ocean and tore apart the coveted barrels of hee-haw. While hiding, Billy noted that there was very little rain or lightning, but plenty of thunder and wind. Still, our heroes were reminded of the creature on Valen'taomi that struck from the sky on a bolt of lightning (See Harmony Session 0: The Storm Comes, true believer!), only to be held at bay by the stoic Valen. Whatever happened to that guy anyway?
- The Decree Against Foreign Discord was not just a document, but had the power to keep even the gods at bay for those 500 years. This likely had something to do with the Evervoice, which weaves itself through every atom of Vardura. Even now, the gods' influence upon Vardura is still restricted, with only corporeal agents able to enter.
- Billy was not surprised to see Azarki here, as it would only make sense that the lone follower of the nascent God of Exigency would be tasked to represent the entire divine pantheon on Vardura.
- ... Is Kogos mad about something?
Report Date
05 Dec 2024
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