DW Session 39: Fall of the House of Rosso

General Summary

10/1/897 - 11/1/897 At the end of the previous sesssion, the party was in a battle with Giovanni's Sardivelian Brigade of Knights after its members had stolen the Iron Flask and kidnapped Helena Lockmere. Jax dispatched of Radovan by tossing him over the side of the ancient Kolya Bridge into the icy waters of the Strait of Myltev 230 ft below, and many of Giovanni's guards outright abandoned the fight after surrendering to Beleren.   Only Nick, a fierce fighter from the Campanel Desert, continued to fight after everybody else in the SBK had either died or surrendered. Jax tried to convince him that a battle would be a waste of life with the Sunken God gathering power in the Elflands, but Nick was adamant that vengeance should be wrought against Jax for his savage execution of Viola. The fight lasted a matter of seconds, and by its end Nick was felled by Jax's greatsword the Claw of Yo-Na. The Sardivelian Brigade of Knights was no more.   In the battle's fallout the party reclaimed the Iron Flask, and Asdis seized Giovanni's enchanted spyglass saying it was a stolen dwarven relic used for illicit means. Flora stood at the Bridge's entrance, keeping an eye on the waters below to see if Radovan survived the fall. Sure enough, by the battle's end she spotted a pair of handcuffs washed up on the rocks below, glimmering in the sunlight. Radovan the Killer, restrained and tossed 230 ft into tumultuous waters, had survived and escaped.   For the time being the RKB satisfied itself with capturing Giovanni Rosso and taking him back to Poroshenko for questioning. He tried to escape at one point, but he failed to go far with his ankles bound by one of Jax's handcuffs. Back at the White Kraken tavern the party grilled Giovanni on his true motives and why he risked the wrath of the RKB.   Giovanni, a broken man without any powers or armies to support, explained how he'd discovered a tome that detailed a method of defeating monstrous deities like the Sunken God by containing them inside a legendary relic known as the Iron Flask. He traveled to the Free State of Thorvald with his band of adventurers to obtain this relic for his own, believing that the accolades he'd win by defeating the Sunken God would give him a means of challenging Paoli's authority to remove him from power. Plans were complicated by the fact that the Royal Knights Brigade were after the exact same item and competed against the SBK in Grettir's bloodthirsty tournament.   By that point Jax had offended many of the SBK's members through the savage killing of Viola and his unprovoked tussle with Radovan, and Giovanni's adventurers wanted revenge. Powerless to stop their bloodlust, the SBK sailed north towards Poroshenko to confront Jax one last time and settle the score. This was why they tried stealing the Iron Flask , and the results left Giovanni's army in tatters and his dreams of overthrowing Paoli in tatters.   The RKB debated what to do with Giovanni, Beleren arguing that Giovanni's intelligence could prove helpful to the Gamerian throne if not to the RKB's immediate needs. However, Helena advised that since Giovanni had confessed to sedition against Gameth's closest ally (i.e. Paoli), he should be handed over to Sardivelian authorities for his inevitable trial and execution. Paoli may be a bloodthirsty tyrant with a cruel streak, but his vast treasury had funded dozens of infrastructure projects in Gameth and had helped the kingdom rebuild after the Fairouz Terror of the 870's.   Jax remained uncertain as to whether Paoli could be trusted or not, so he messaged the leader of Sardivelia with the communication ring he'd received back in Gameria nearly a full year ago. Sure enough, Paoli was elated to hear that Giovanni had been apprehended and defeated by Gameth's band of adventurers. He agreed to call off his feud with Jax, and if Jax was willing to swear his undying loyalty Paoli promised to reinstate the Capaldi family's noble titles and turn it into one of the wealthiest families in Sardivelia. As a trade-off Giovanni's Rosso family would be massacred down to the last man, but the Capaldis could very easily fill that power vacuum once Giovanni was tried and executed.   It was an awful bargain, but Jax couldn't help but agree to at least keep Paoli off his back. For years he had dreamed of returning the Capaldi family back to its former greatness, but the fact that it happened in conjunction with the annihilation of a historic noble house left a bitter taste in his mouth. Helena advised that Gameth's government would do everything in its power to save at least one member of the Rosso family, but with that final meeting Giovanni's fate was sealed.   In the intervening weeks the party recovered from its fight in Poroshenko's sewers and prepared for a naval invasion against the Sunken God in Kassadeia. Vadik the city councilor had told the party that a coalition of half a dozen different kingdoms had banded together to send a united fleet of ships to the Elflands and fight the monstrous deity head-on.A large fleet of Sardivelian and Gamerian vessels were expected in Poroshenko in a matter of weeks, so in the meantime the RKB restocked on supplies and arms. Beleren bought a set of silver daggers and gave Kacie Whately some of his old ones, and together the two of them had an intimate training session at Poroshenko's military garrison. They ended the day with a romantic dinner, and while Beleren would be reluctant to admit it the two of them were officially an item. Flora continued her reading and prayers for Erivo, researching the Elflands Empire and the threats they'd face in the weeks to come.   One day Jax gave Giovanni a chance to escape, but the Sardivelian nobleman refused to take it. Defeated, he knew that any attempts at escape would just delay the inevitable and further exacerbate Paoli's hostility towards the Rosso family. After Helena handed Giovanni over to a detachment of Sardivelian guards a few days later, she told the RKB that Gameth had managed to rescue at least one member of the Rosso family studying at Eldermere University at the time of Giovanni's arrest. No matter how terrible the massacre, at least one member of the Rosso family would survive.   After spending more than a month in Poroshenko, the RKB finally saw the green-and-white sails of the Gamerian fleet landing at the city's docks. They rushed into the chaos of the harbor to welcome the commander of Gameth's armed forces, Roland Fireheart. At 64 years old Roland had suffered years of loss and tragedy, but he still looked like he was ready for a fight.   That afternoon the party met with Roland in his captain's quarters to go over an invasion strategy for Kassadeia. A fleet of ships from Sabha and the Kiri Clan were gathering in the Sardivelian town of Silvio, the only settlement that had managed to withstand the Sunken God's sahuagin horde to the Elflands' north. In Poroshenko a flotilla of Myltevian, Sardivelian, Glacian, and Gamerian vessels were amassing to sail towards the halfling city of Noggin and save it from the clutches of the Sunken God. For weeks the city had withstood a relentless siege by both land and sea, but support was desperately needed to keep it from falling. Once Noggin was secure, the two fleets would meet together at the mouth of the Aurelian River and from there begin an invasion to reclaim the city of Kassadeia.   The RKB agreed to sail to Noggin a few days ahead of the Gamerian fleet to survey the battlefield and assist the survivors in any way possible. Adam Divisav, former member of the RKB, was last seen traveling to Noggin with his wife Cassandra to protect it from the Sunken God's forces. Perhaps he could be convinced to rejoin the party and help them defeat the monstrous deity once and for all?   With the party resupplied and reinforcements not far behind, the RKB set sail for the Elflands for the first time in almost a year. The final battle with the Sunken God was fast approaching...

Rewards Granted

• Kacie Whately received a pair of daggers from Beleren Hazid
• Asdis Loderr bought a set of plate armor, increasing her AC to 21