Session 9: New arrivals and an old temple

General Summary

Prior session summary doesn't result in Luck this time around. Existing players summed up their downtime, and new players summarized their time in Grayhill and heading to Stonebridge.

The existing party

Nock is informed by Lem that due to the impending ship from Grayhill, he's going to have to drop the lessons in Orcish for at least a day. The two agree to revisit continuing once the ship has completed unloading and loading in a day or so.
Leucis is studying the recently retrieved tomes at the Temple of Selune.
Sunny has letters pending the arrival of the ship. Word at the Spotted Cap is that she ship should be in next morning, so Sunny eases off the alcohol in anticipation of needing to be up early enough to get them posted.

Dockside

Meanwhile, the trio aboard the Chestnut Mare is pulling into Stonebridge, and the relatively sedate Captain Yok has gotten tense and terse again as the ship neared dock. He unceremoniously parts ways with the travelers and escorts them off ship. Sunny, mostly awake, arrives at the dock with an eye towards the captain but gets a bit distracted by the odd trio standing at the gangplank. Maya waves him over, as he's never met a tabaxi up close before. The trio advises Sunny to wait a bit before approaching the captain, and Sunny sees that the captain looks a little grumpy. A moment of consideration about ship etiquette and an introduction from Maya is suggested, at which point Kolvonnin calls out to the captain to inquire where outgoing mail should be placed. Sunny makes arrangements for his letters to be delivered; the one to Grayhill costs 3 silver, and the other to the tabaxi settlement costs 5 gold. Yok looks like he's concerned about finding someone willing to make that journey, but places the letters in a sealed box on the deck.
Ol'Harb confronts the captain about his surly attitude when landed, and notes that the captain doesn't appear to ever leave the ship. Harb inquires if the captain feels bound to the ship in some way, and Yok allows that he considers the ship his home, like a larger shell. Harb then entrusts him with a letter to Grayhill, pays the requisite 3 silver, and offers his services if the captain has an issue he might be able to help with. The captain says he will consider this offer, and Harb takes his leave.
Back on the dock, it turns out that Sunny and Leucis are acquainted, which simplifies Maya's search considerably. Sunny begins to talk about the recent trip to the Llyrian Moon Facility but indicates he's bad at explaining, so he suggests finding Nock at Roger's Bargain Basement. Kolvonnin, on hearing this, indicates Roger might have gotten hands on items from the Ruined Temple of Pelor, so they decide to go there first.

At the Bargain Basement

Descending into the Bargain Basement, they find Nock - upon meeting him, Harb has a fit of nausea and vomits a strange green substance that hisses when it hits the floor and appears to contain some sand. He seems overcome with a sense of deja vu, as though he's met Nock or someone very like him before, but he can't reconcile it with anything he knows, as though the knowledge is missing. His companions express some concern about his health (and Nock seems as though the episode might have been an attack), but it passes fairly quickly. The group gets Roger's attention (he's pretty fixated on the research) and he arranges for one of the bullywugs at the shop to clean up as best he can. It comes to light that Harb was looking for Nock (not by name, but as a warforged) in pursuit of his interest in things of the past.
Maya turns his attention to Nock, and notes that the wood in his construction is unfamiliar. Roger shows a few of the pieces retrieved from the Llyrian Moon Facility, and Maya determines that it's been treated with some alchemical process to cause it to work as it appears to. Maya inquires if the group collected any seeds, but all they have is a small twig from the Llyrian Tree.
Before they leave Kolvonnin has a word with Roger to inquire about any relics of the Church of Pelor that have moved through his hands, particularly from the nearby ruined temple. Roger indicates that he's not aware of anything specific that had the mark of Pelor on it. Kolvonnin respectfully requests (with a gold piece) to hang onto anything of note regarding Pelor that comes through, and may send an acolyte to weed through the current wares in case things were missed. Roger indicates that he keeps pretty good records (when he can find the book...) and that he will be happy to cooperate with the Church. Harb expresses an interest in looking over the book when it surfaces, as well.

The moon temple

As a next step, the group moves on to the Temple of Selune in town to find Leucis. Sunny raises a concern about Kolvonnin as a sun priest entering the moon temple, but he assures Sunny that the two faiths have amicable relations. The group enters the temple's main worship area and an acolyte fetches Leucis. Maya mentions that it's odd that the temple has a roof.
When Leucis appears, he and Maya catch up. Maya mentions that his hometown had a similar issue with lycanthropes to the one Ironmere had, and that they sent him out - but he clams up suddenly and changes the subject to meeting his friends from the ship. Kol inquires if the sun temple has been attended of late, so they consult with Harridra Flintchip. Harridra indicates she's not aware of any great attention paid to the temple, but that it's still standing, which is better than one should expect of buildings on that side of the river. She offers the service of the Church of Selune if it's required, and Kol responds in kind. The subject turns to lycanthropes, but Harridra hasn't had a lot of experience in dealing with those; most of the group doesn't have a lot of direct contact in their history. Sunny brings up the half-drow that turned up on the fringes of town and the skin irritation where the Llyrian Charm was, and perhaps that indicated he might have been a lycanthrope.

The sun temple

After some discussion, the party proceeds towards the Ruined Temple of Pelor to investigate its condition. The temple looks like it was built on the same plan as the Temple of Selune, and the party enters the main worship area. It's immediately apparent to both Kol and Leucis that the temple is holy ground - Kol experiences a heightened awareness through his connection to the divine and there may be other powers imbued to the building.
The main altar stone was too large to move and remains unbroken. It's a large single block carved with many faces of Pelor in various expressions. The upper walls were largely stained glass windows, their intricate frames home to only shards of colored glass now, except one on the west wall. The rest of the walls tend to be art - one section was clearly a mosaic at some point but many of the colored tiles have crumbled or been removed. There are some painted scenes around the place, many of which have moss or lichens growing over them.
On the west wall is a stained glass window that appears intact. It's too high to reach easily but in addition to being whole it appears absolutely clean - not even dust or water spots on it. It depicts a huge yellow-orange sun in the top center, as though at high noon. A single narrow beam comes down from the sun into a jewel nested in a mountain peak, then splits into jagged veins within the mountain that shade towards orange and then into deep red as they reach the mountain's base. It's not the right time of day for it, but the sun in that window is lit up like the sun is right behind it.
Kolvonnin seems impressed by how intact the temple is given the state of the surrounding area. Observant party members determine that this temple is largely picked over and that some folks have taken shelter here, but that the looting that happened appears to have been quite some time ago. Moving further in, behind that main temple area are some sleeping cells for the acolytes and visitors, a small office for the head priest with an attached sleeping chamber. In the priest's office is what looks like a large stone armoire. It doesn't show any seams, but it looks to be the same material the altar stone was made of and has some of the same carvings of Pelor on the outside. The front panel is a single large face carving of Pelor, his eyes full of judgment. Kolvonnin gets the sense that it could be empowered or opened by the power of Pelor, so he channels divinity. Characters nearby feel a sense of warmth as the expression on the carved Pelor face softens to a look of recognition before slowly fading away. Once it's gone, the front surface silently opens, revealing prongs where five somethings could be hung. These are oriented lower than would be intended for someone of Kol's stature. Below that are a five rods with gold tips.
Kolvonnin places Pelor's Rising Sun into a set of prongs. Once the morningstar is seated into place, he feels a surge of power - when he reclaims it, it as though it has been both replenished (of charges) and empowered to hold more than it once did. This being their first good look at the relic, several people try to place it with what they know. Leucis recognizes that this kind of weapon has a similar sense to it that his Order of the Rising Twilight - Holy Symbol, as though a paladin order created it in furtherance of their mission for their deity. Ol'Harb is more familiar with the specific order than that - they were mostly dwarves whose remit from Pelor was to bring light to the darkness beneath the mountains. The relic chosen for their order was a morningstar because the forces of darkness wouldn't go quietly. Ol'Harb shares this insight with the paladin and mentions that Kol's calling is not far from the mission of those who made his weapon, and Harb wonders where that order went.
The group discusses how odd it is that Harb scratches at his metal skullcap when trying to recall something, and Harb explains that it's merely a habit. He explains that he's trying to stir up memories from his past in general, which is why he sought out Nock. Trying to help, Sunny inquires if Harb is looking for more warforged like Nock, and points out that the group saw a Sun Carving that they didn't fully understand but might be relevant since many warforged parts were sent there. Ol'Harb recollects having personally seen thousands of warforged at some point in his past, but has the sensation that he's brushing against the damage he felt earlier when he first saw Nock.
Kolvonnin collects a pair of sunrods and closes the armory. The front surface closes without seam, and the face of Pelor reappears, this time looking more neutral. Having concluded their business here, the group heads to grab some lunch.

Spotted Cap

The myconid guards at the tavern seem a little put off by Harb and downright concerned by Kolvonnin, possibly as a result of his association with the sun. The common room is pretty busy but not crowded; the barkeep mentions that the special today is a mutton pie. Leucis and Sunny spot Esmarl across the room, and Maya is new to loxodons. Leucis explains that the guard captain used to be a hired sword but has settled in town - Kolvonnin seems amused by this. There's a short conversation about the relative effectiveness of the town guard - things seems pretty peaceable.
After ordering the group gravitates to a table, easily able to find accommodates for their various body sizes. The original trio explains how they met and what they got up to before the newer members arrived. Sunny was seeking inspiration, and Nock was seeking other warforged. Leucis takes the time to explain the story up to this point. The highlights:

1. Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears and worgs
2. Several sizes of spider
3. Jasperia
4. The Llyrian Moon Facility

The food arrives during the telling and is of excellent quality (though it's noted that the beer is a bit flat). Ol'Harb muses about how fortuitous the various meetings of the characters have been up this point, as though destiny or some other force was involved. Conversation turns to the research information that Roger is combing through; there's some hope that it might shed some further light on the warforged being made.
Kol inquires of the barkeep if there are rooms available, and notes that the shroomfolk behind the bar seems nervous about him.

Notes

Session feedback: James: Sunny's bro personality is a lot of fun. Eddy: Pre-session summary concerns about memory. Looking forward to the dump from Roger. Heather: Fun, no major issues. Matt: Slower pace, and not likely to change. Megan: Interesting meeting new characters Germ: Details ready and available, nudges were well placed. Pacing and hesitation expected but handled pretty well.

Campaign

Moon's Rise

Protagonists

Ol'Harb

Chaotic Neutral Reborn (Multiverse Wanderer)
Fighter 6

52 / 52 HP

STR
14

DEX
20

CON
15

INT
12

WIS
6

CHA
10

Kolvonnin

Report Date

10 Jan 2022

Primary Location

Stonebridge

Secondary Location

Temple of Pelor

Related Historical Events

• 27 PC
  New Trio Arrives in Stonebridge