Session 9

General Summary

After the fight with the halfling assassin the group notices the ringing of the alarm bell stops and the door to the governors office opens and 2 guards tentatively come out asking what was going on. They see the knocked out assassin and the guard that was knocked out groggily tells the what happened. The group enter the interior of the office which is lavishly decorated. The governor is seated with Colonol Sandmere on one side and on the other a jovial looking man that Astraea and Andre instantly recognise. "Sani!" Astraea exclaims and the pair hug. "You know these people" asks the governor. "Aye that I do, Astraea and Andre were at Waterdeep when that particularly nasty business occurred with the fire elementals. They saved the town." Replied Sani. The governor looking slightly more relaxed asks what they are doing here and they explain that they were sent by the King about the rune men. Sandmere is still distrusting as he recognises Astraea, Hanurak and Andre from when they stole the amulet of Wotash and the dagger. They go on to tell him that they have the dagger that was taken from him, the assassin had it and they return it to him. When it is explained that the dagger is of the order Sandmere pales slightly and quickly gives it to his guard. Sani vouches for Astraea and Andre who in turn vouch for the others and are offered any resources Colnel Sandmere can spare.
The group leave for the Pirate and Pipe and as they are walking Hanurak suddenly realises that one of the gauntlets has been stolen. He quickly uses the other one and half of his body expands nearly toppling him over. Faen sends his owl up and can vaguely see something strange in the distance so Astraea sends her owl up in the direction Faen told her and she spots an Aarakocra fumbling with a cask sized gauntlet. They give chase and easily catch up. "What are you doing with my a gauntlet?" an extremely irate Hanurak asks the bewildered looking bird person who is still trying to manhandle the gauntlet. "Well I don't want the gauntlet I just need a piece from it then you can have the gauntlet back." Replies the Aarakocra. "What piece?" Astraea asks. "My grandfather lost part of his beak on the gauntlet and I'm retrieving it for him." Suddenly Thorbris comes through exclaiming "Thrisk what the hell are you doing here I told you to wait at the Pirate and Pipe you idiot." Returning the gauntlet, Hanurak shrinks back to normal size and they all head to the tavern. Thrisk decides to stay with the group with Thorbris vouching for him so the group welcome him in to their misfit band of adventurers. Faen retires to bed and Astraea notices Valanthe sitting in the corner, she approaches and apologises for lying about the amulet. The two make peace and continue chatting, with Hanurak, Andre and Artorias sitting by eating and drinking while waiting for a fight to break our between the two. Thrisk decides to play some dice with the old man at one of the tables and walks away with a tidy sum of money. They all retire to bed and in the morning Faen tells them that he thinks he knows where the other orbs are, He tells them that from his research the challenges are tied to the location that each Lieutenant was known to frequent. Brattin's is in The Sanctuary of Rempeche. and the challenge will most likely represent Brattin's strongest virtue, Courage. Taliesin's is in The Prickling Forest and will take the form protection with Leodas' being in Eidover and testing the groups compassion. Artorias recognises these as the tests you must take to become a paladin of The Church of Sunlight .
They all head to Garth's Glorious Goods for supplies and with only Hanurak buying a new sword and Astraea purchasing some potions. Thrisk being ever resourceful cuts a deal with Garth that he will place protective symbols in Thieves' Cant to warn that prospective thieves that the property is dangerous. For this he walks away with a discount on a new dagger. The group splits up with Faen returning to the tavern with Artorias while the others visit Missa Rogan at the newly reopened Elder Scroll.
As they enter they recognise the familiar store and see Missa behind the counter, she welcomes them and Astraea buys a healing staff for a much better price than Garth's. Astraea asks if she knows where Orryn is and Missa asks them to wait while she wakes him from the other room. While they are conversing Thrisk hears a second woman's voice but can not make anything out that is being said. Orryn and Missa come out and greet the party after some brief small talk Orryn and the group sit at a table in the corner. Astraea proceeds to asks about her family history that he promised to tell her back in The Lover's Purse
Orryn agrees and proceeds to retell Astraea's family history, or as much of it as he discovered while in her hometown Gravitui Lathir. The Izalith clan started as dragonborn from the clan Esalich (Essalich) who settled in Gravitui Lathir, over time the group interbred and mingled with the local elvish clans.Some Elf, Dragonborn children were aggressive and over time felt they didn't really fit in with the elves. To protect themselves from perceived persecution and fed up of the Elven Council's refusal to help the Dragonborn left in The Empire of Thirsk they created a group known as the dragons. For around a 100 years the Essalich prospered but after being involved in riots and political assassinations the clan was banished from the city. During that time the clan became mercenaries and assassins on the edges of the elvish world raiding caravans and protecting their kin in other lands from persecution. Following the intervention of the Elvish elements of the clan in the Three Daggers War of Succession the Esalich were taken back taking the name of their leader Aldon Izalith in order to break their bonds with what they saw as a more vicious side of their clan. Due to the centuries of interbreeding every so often a member of the clan is born with recessive dragonborn traits in line with their ancestors within the community, while the gifts these traits give is respected it is looked upon as a source of shame for the members of the clan with its leaders hiding its true source from the others in the community.
Astraea goes on to ask about the runes on Hanurak and Orryn explains he needs an army to stop the fire elementals returning. Valanthe who has been very quiet since seeing Orryn wanders off to one end of the shop. Astraea asks about the amulet and Orryn says he knows of it and wants it destroyed, he also says that he knows of Tarrius and him killing Arendel but explains that Tarrius was killed ten years ago when Arendel died. The group thanks him for his help and leaves even more puzzled than before.
They recount all this to Faen and as a group they decide to leave for the Prickling Forest and the second orb. As they approach the city gates they come across some merchants who ask for protection on their way to Eidover and offers some of their wares in exchange for their services. The group accepts and they all continue on. On the way Thrisk notices Hanurak's runes are pulsing slightly and he remembers he forgot to take his dwarf rot so quickly takes his dose. Astraea looks at him and asks if he has shrunk slightly which Hanurak denies by walking slightly straighter. They set up camp for the night and Faen takes first watch. He notices movement in the bushes and investigates to find a small transparent creature, he wakes Astraea who has no idea so they wake Valanthe who also has no idea what it might be although she does tell them of strange fey creatures that roam the fringes of the Forest, as it appears to be no threat the trio retire for the night with Astraea taking next watch. Suddenly Astraea sees a shadow of an owlbear and wakes Faen who wakes the others. Feeling brave Thrisk attempts to tame it by feeding it but it wanders off after eating the meat offered.
They continue on in the morning and as Thrisk is flying he notices the trees ahead have been flattened in a circle with small fires blazing everywhere within it. The group approaches and sees a dragon egg that Astraea recognises from the stories Rashal told her. The group realise this could be the test of protection and when Thrisk flies above he sees a mob of angry villagers approaching from a smouldering village that appeared to be set alight when the egg was explosively birthed. The gang form a line in front of the egg as the mob approaches and with his quick thinking and silver tongue Thrisk manages to talk his way out of any fighting with Hanurak reminding the villagers that they don't really want to anger the mother dragon when she returns which they definitely will if they destroy the egg. The villagers agree and leave when the egg suddenly starts shaking and the group back up all except Thrisk who does manage to stay upright as a huge geyser of fire erupts from the egg and the shell turns to ash leaving another segment of the Orb. Astraea picks it up and pockets it deciding not to reunite it with the amulet. As they turn to see if the merchants they were travelling with are ok they see only 2 horses are left and the merchants and cart have disappeared. They continue on and get to Valanthe's village where she is extremely excited to be home and brings her father Erlas to greet the group. He puts them up for the night and they ask about Tarrius. He is adamant that Arandel was killed by Tarrius and Valanthe also agrees as she was there to see Tarrius run away in the aftermath the rock dropping on Arendel. Erlas takes the group to see where Arendel's ashes were buried and when Faen makes a water bust of Orryn, Valanthe's father confirms that is Arendel. The group argue into the night about what this could mean and with no clear answers by the morning they decide to leave and continue on to the next segment in Eidover. While camping for the night Thrisk takes first watch and his owlbear returns for more food before again wandering off. Andre takes the next watch and in a momentary lapse of concentration while remembering the good times with his brother he gets an arrow in the shoulder. Thrisk jumps awake instantly and the grunt from Andre wakes the rest of the group who see 2 bandits approaching. Thrisk using his abilities as a thief does huge damage by surprising the bandits while Hanurak and Valanthe cut off one of the bandits' arms and Hanurak eviscerate's his with his bare hands. Artorias deals with the other bandit by beheading him because "that's what he's good at." according to Andre. With Astraea and Faen supplying covering fire 2 more bandits approach which they easily dispatch and in a daring move Hanurak finishes off the last one by leaping over Valanthe and cleaving the bandit in two with the flat edge of his sword. They continue on their journey and in the next camp Thrisk finally manages to get his owlbear to sit with him while he keeps watch naming Him Olly.

Report Date

04 Aug 2018