10/20/2022 Virtuous Age Session 23: Cerberi, Kytons and Alrog the Cave Giant (Roghome)

We begin this week’s session at 9 am (…still September 13^th) in the Great Rift preparing to leave the scene after our most recent battle. About an hour of travel we come up on a couple of wagons heading toward us; their scouts spotted us early and our characters easily see these travelers abandon their conveyances and headed for the hills.

Our characters approach the wagon cautiously, one is filled with hay and the other- planks and construction materials. Our characters consider hailing the individuals but tarry no further and move on.

Not long after Aevum’s attention is drawn to a thin line of smoke in the distance and a strangeness in the air- a possible invisible foe in the sky some distance away?

Our characters carry on and enter a glade. We are soon set upon by four vicious Cerberi. Our characters defeat the vicious three headed canines. After the battle our characters notice the ground is tainted where their blood is spilled. It is Eabrossi’s first encounter with tainted material in regards to any possible metamagic gleaned from the Cerberi.

It is about 10:30 in the morning when Tena heals our characters just as two extra-planar Kytons enter the glade.  

During the battle Kron defeats a Kyton in such a display that Shieldbreaker takes on the good-aligned property as the storm cloud symbol of Stranmas appears on the weapon. Eventually Zaigan defeats the remaining shaken Kyton.

Our characters set to building a pyre for the two Kytons, Tena feels that we are being watched. Tena consecrates the pyre while the rest of us debate a long rest or continue out of the rift. Meanwhile the sky begins to overcast. Not far away Eabrossi finds an occupied hill cave.

After a tense moment with the cave occupant, a cave giant, our characters approach the cave in an attempt to palaver and to seek shelter. Eabrossi breaks the ice with talkative banter before we are reluctantly welcomed by the evil cave giant. 

Alrog is his name and he was adamant that he did not break the covenant with the King and not an Oathbreaker. Alrog believes wizards comprise oathbreakers and speaks with Aevum at length about his pact with the Crown. 

We talk to him and find he is over 80 years and loves to hunt manticore.

Alrog

Our characters share information with the cave giant and he confirms there is a temple in the water. Alrog says during dry seasons parts of the ‘temple’ would be exposed but a few years ago what remained fell into the waters. Since then, there was a noticeable increase in weresharks.

(The first to say such a thing was Vale the human from the White Flag Adventurers) 

Alrog also laments the uptick in activity around the area and allows Erabrossi to examine and recreate a map of what Alrog calls Roghome.

Outside an uncommon monsoon storm strikes the land making us glad to have shelter. It lasts about three hours before easing to a steady rain around the time when Alrog begins to cook. 

Our characters complete a long rest and when we pick up next week it will be evening 8 pm on September 13^th.

We gain our 7^th character level.

10/06/2022 Virtuous Age Session 22: Fear Not Dragons Ye People, White Flag Adventurers Agree to Tena’s Request and Introducing Binki

We begin again on the long morning of September 13^th at the Laketown bridge about 15 minutes after our battle with the troll-copy and the Handsome Beasts. Our characters pick through valuables (updated previous review) leaving behind personal items as well as armor and gear not worth the trouble to collect. Besides our characters do not wish to come across as opportunists. 

Our characters, with the remains of Talbot on a liter, cross an empty bridge. Where once it was busy not just hours ago. In the distance we hear cries of ‘Talbot is dead’ and ‘no leader!’. Word was traveling fast. 

Under the lake surface, Kron notices humanoid swimmers. Tena and Aevum notice arcane marks on opposing sides of the bridge. The same arcane marks, Kron notes, from our suites at Four Winds. Eabrossi. The prince and Tena also notices a magical trip wire and suddenly big bats and ravens fly out from behind the bridge pillars.

After Aevum tests the trip wire with a summoned eagle, Tena finds a way to magically shift us past the 20’ area of the bridge where our character suspect is somehow trapped.

On the other side of the lake we find two unknown humanoid bodies stabbed to death. On this side of the lake our characters see folk moving away at the range of about five hundred feet.

Zaigan examines the fallen and thinks them to be fetchlings but likly wererats with armor and weapons. Some items were taken from them- for instance rings on both. 

Meanwhile Aevum grants Eabrossi a clarion’s call and summons the Laketowns folk to palaver.

Eventually boats move in and slowly around 50 people start to gather forth. Eabrossi carries on for about 30 minutes and after that there is more than 100 with about a dozen boats now in comfortable distances. 

Finally we see Cutty who looks to have been injured in combat while protecting his house from a troll-copy our characters later learn. 

Shortly there after we encounter Toomes the werevulture who approaches us and informs our characters there are those who want to know who killed Talbot.

At this time Aevum makes a speech to the masses who have gathered: The Handsome Beasts killed Talbot, those sympathetic to draconic influence. We eventually turn over Talbot’s bodies.

Toomes takes this in and relays the story to mixed reactions. Tena channels some healing energy to emphasize our good intentions for 20 injured individuals.

Two boats approach for some of Tena’s healing. The first being a pair of fishermen but the second was curious apporaching with a white flag: a Dwarf. Elf, human, and halfling. They state that they have been bitten by sharks and they are worried about infection. They state they all come from different places. When they disembark the dwarf stows the folding boat. They are all adventures with the human seeming the most uncomfortable.

Tena heals an area of fishermen and the four 'white flag' adventurers.

Kron and Aevum see that the death of Talbot comes as a shock to many. Cutty informs us that some fights started over differences in opinions. Some of these involved the troll-copies.

As for Talbot, Cutty says a message will be sent to the white wolf clan for Talbots body.

For Tena it is clear the adventurers know who Talbot was and the elf had a reaction of the mention of the White Wolf clan. She also notices the elf Faramel seems to recognize her deity Agamotto.

Eventually Toomes will lead us to a common drinking hooch-house with the White Flag Adventurers:

The Elf is named Faramel, the Dwarf name is Gabbox, the Human was just called Vale, and finally the Halfling is Kofu. Kron goes with Cutty to retrieve Gwelldar and Polurn.

On the side Toomes asks to accompany us on our travels but will later end up staying to help the White Flaggers. 

In the Hooch-house Eabrossi expends healing wand on the injured adventures. Gabbox offers a gemstone for the effort with grudging generosity. Eventually Kofu will speak for some of his friends. He states they operate out of Lowport. Faramel admits that Talbot was his friend; they were on the lake and had a deal with the White Wolf the clan because they do not come this way all the time and the White Wolf was their point of contact. 

As a group they facilitate specialized trade between the Rift and Lowport. They were contracted to find something for Talbot and deliver a magical spade to him.

Tena asks to examine Faramel for lycanthropy and does not believe him to be infected. In the end it is revealed that both Gabbox the dwarf and Vale the human are infected.

As payment for her services Tena would task the quartet, since they were friends of Talbot, to stay behind and supervise the change in leadership until a leader is chosen. (not more than 3 months time) Faramel says he is more than willing to make that sacrifice for his friends; with this revelation rest of the adventurers eventually concede.

Kron arrives about this time with Gwelldar and Polurn just in time to witness Tena use mythic power to remove disease on the Vale and Gabbox. In return Gabbox gives Tena a platinum necklace. Vale passes out briefly and when he wakes exclaims “there is a temple in the water!”

We spend the day connecting the White Flag adventures with Cutty and intend to take our long rest here. It is here when Toomes states his intention to aid the Faramel and is companions and spends the rest of the day acquainting them with the area. 

Kron spends eight hours to retrain a hit point. The rest of our characters write scrolls, work on items and work the community. Tena gives 100 gp to Mrs. Cutty.

Questions of the honor of the four is brought up, Aevum says as long as they act in good faith they should be trusted.

Polurn, after the events of yesterday, is validated  in his assertions about dragons and it is clear Gweldar is anxious and worried about more trolls. 

It is not long before our characters leave behind Laketown, trusting Toomes and the White Flag adventurers. Our characters depart intent on reporting directly to the King and after some travel, around 9 am we encounter a trio of trolls and coming up behind us are two four-armed Girallons under the effects of some kind of disease. 

Our characters are able to kill all the monsters and find a wizards mark (again, the same wizard mark from Four Winds and the Bridge) on the Girallons.

Wizard Mark

It is while this is happening a small monkey appears to Tena attempting to protect her from the gaze attacks of the Girallons. Binki seems to be planar touched in someway and feels a strong bond beginning to form.

We begin next week shortly after 9 am in the rift.

09/29/2022 Virtuous Age Session 21: Gettn Jiggy with the Fire Elementals and Mythic Fits Her

 

We begin later on the same morning of September 13^th in the aftermath of the battle between our characters and Bhishma supported with a wyvern. Only a few minutes has past since our discovery of Talbot and his patsy-assassin. 

Tena channels positive energy, the first being at her maximum power. Link to Mythic Handbook on Google Drive. (If we get a mythic tier between scenes, we gain all our abilities as well as benefits from a full nights rest).

VIA TEXT: This reflects what you learned from encounter. Those of you with knowledge arcana gain a free skill focus feat in Knowledge Arcana and those that don't get a free skill point in knowledge arcana. 

After five minutes we begin to regain our senses and Kron his constitution. Our characters start to hear people outside calling out “they killed him” and cries of that nature. The appearance of a dragon has also worked up the Laketown folk. Word is sure to travel fast.

Zaigain calls for action and at the same time an unknown will save is invoked from all of us. Our characters, still inside the nicest place on the lake get the sense that the building is on fire. Aevum and Tena sense the flames are elemental in nature.

Our characters quickly descend down to the grand hall and encounter four large 16’ long fire elementals. Furniture and finery, shit is on fire everywhere. Zaigan is the first to invoke mythic power and in the battle Kron kills his 50^th enemy. 

After destroying the four elementals we spend almost a minuet quickly putting out fires and gathering the severely wounded together outside. Here we also notice the sounds outside have subsided. We count three dead so far and observe two other structures that have also caught fire thanks to another rampant fire elemental. Tena creates water to save the buildings which takes a couple of minutes.

There are no workers present as before and it seems everyone has fled. Our characters walk down closer to the bridge and the burning buildings and find the sinister Handsome Beasts: a couple of wereboars and weresharks each along with the ‘Joe Bridgetroll’. During the battle Tena notices large bats flying around and many of the folk on the bridge have retreated to the other side of the lake.

We are able to defeat them all including the troll who we threw upon a burning structure. Eabrossi wants to leave the bodies where they laywhile Tena discovers varying degrees of magic on each of the attackers.

On the bloodrager changeling: +1 cruel Morningstar (the lake), +1 human defiant chain shirt (none), cape of free will +2/+3 (mythic item) Zaigan, several scrolls (enlarge person x4, expeditious retreat x4, fear the sun x2, longarm x4, stonefist x2)- split between Eabrossi and Aevum, 320 gp, and a ring of 6 keys. (2 are large door keys, 3 are chest keys and one is a magical skeleton key). 

On the knoll barbarian fighters: adamantine battle axe (Aevum), +1 kinslayer light crossbow (Zaigan), studded leather armor (left on the fallen), cloak of resistance +2 (Kron), gutbite belt (Aevum), 4 potions of enlarge person (Kron), 1 potion of hide from animals, 1 potion of pass without a trace (Kron), 2 potions of protection of good (the lake), and 4 potions of remove fear (all save for Tena), and 3 rubys (50 gp each).

Hobgoblin wereshark barbarian: masterwork trident, chainshirt. (left on the fallen)

Human wereshark fighter: masterwork trident. (left on the fallen)

We pick up next game session about 20 minutes later.