Post Hoc Report

General Summary

Hudsi 18 (evening)
Our heroes have ported back to their tent with the prisoners. Lord Mattius is quite weak, severely underweight and barely makes it there. Once there Adaon decides to cast a tracing spell to find the children. He finds there are 6 children, one deceased, There are two to the south, one in The City of Valkra, and two to the east (possibly Breäg). Ivan asks the other two prisoners why they were in the jail, but they don't answer. Adaon shrugs and says to wait. Adaon ports to Valkra.
He arrives just after dinner. It is the usual time that Queen Althea is having her bath. Adaon asks her page to give her the message that he is here. She comes back in 10 minutes with the Queen. The news is given to her, so she sends for her record keeper who takes 20 minutes to appear. He has the records showing that 3 messengers have been sent to Northridge, none returned. The lands were deemed forfeit to the crown and haven't been assigned as of yet. Northridge is meant to be a watch place against Gnar raiders, barbarians (Hallü), and monsters. Althea then states that as she has never been to Northridge, she is open to suggestions on how to keep it viable. After some discussion Adaon is sent to the kitchens and from there he returns to the group.
Adaon appears back in the tent with a large bucket of stew to feed the emaciated former prisoners. They are grateful and eat a little. Adaon then shows (literally, through an illusion) the exchange with Althea and her record keeper. Ivan is insulted that Hallü were referred to as barbarians. Adaon defends this by saying that if one's only experience with them is from them raiding, it makes sense. And Cyren pipes up that Dathania Cavebear has referred to herself as a barbarian.
Adaon engages in conversation with Lord Mattius, telling him about the other children he has, telling where they are and mentions their ages as well. "I was unaware that I had any other offspring." Adaon tells him where the younger two are (south), and leaves it at that. Note: the two to the east are twins.
Through listening, the group discovers that the woman is Lady Sieglinda Westridge. Westridge was defeated by The Grandmother's forces, Lord Westridge is dead. As there were no heirs at the end of the war, and Westridge is on a major trade route, it was re-assigned to someone else. Yarek, the other prisoner, was a spy for Lord Westridge who specialised in equestrian sabotage. He was so good that he was capable of stealing destriers. .His story is that he managed to steal at least three from the Grandmother's forces, including one in full harness. He attempted to steal one attached to a wagon, but the child sleeping inside the wagon gave him away. Ivan offers him a job if he needs one later.
Once the newcomers are ported back to Bear Keep, our heroes head south to find Lord Matthias' children. They ask Dreyin Axtwerfer if he wants to ride a horse. He looks at Ivan funny and says, "I have never ridden such a beast before." So, Ivan decides to teach him to ride. As the snow is very deep, Ivan gives him the basics of staying on and will lead the horse.
At dusk they decide to set camp. Dreyin is upset about how sore he is from riding. He immediately sets about setting up a fire pit and starts a firing by smacking a stick against his hammer. Once Ivan sees it, he realises that it's one of his old boomsticks. Dreyin is impressed that it has a formal name.
During the night they are disturbed by the lights of some pixies. Adaon thinks about singing to them, but realises that will increase their lights and activities so decides better of it. They push on in the morning. Ivan wants Dreyin to ride again, but he doesn't want to. After some arguing and persuading, he reluctantly does so.
In the morning they ride on. After their first break they come across a small group of people (4), a wagon with two riders. The strangers immediately pull over and get defensive. Ivan and Adaon immediately state that they don't want to fight, and everyone ends up talking. The other travellers warn of a group of monkey-like creatures (@Eisaffen: species) that are immune to the cold. They state that the creatures attacked them in the night, and killed one of their party before they were able to chase the primates away with torches. At dusk you arrive at Castle Vanyiir. Lord Vayiir greats you appropriately and friendly. Shortly into their conversation Cyren is asked by Ivan to go sit down and have a drink and some food. Ivan notices a couple of the ladies move closer to him. One picks up a pitcher of mead and asks him, "Would you like a drink, My Lord?" He accepts happily.
At some point the baroness sends a servant to speak with one of the ladies paying attention to Cyren. The servant talks to him and she poutingly gets up and comes to sit next to the baroness. "Mother, you ruin all my fun, all the time."   
"My dear, she replies, the young man is already married." The girl sighs and states that at least the other lady will also be disappointed. "Hmm... Perhaps not entirely." her mother muses. "Or perhaps even more so than thee." She raises her eyebrows as she sees Cyren has switched to elderberry wine.
Cyren, clearly starting to get drunk, becomes even more oblivious to the young lady's advances, as she is starting to practically hang on him.
{Session ends here.}

Campaign

Rulers of Bear Keep

Protagonists

Adaon of Datova

Report Date

15 Oct 2020

Secondary Location

City of Valkra