Pale Rider

General Summary

Grolm 10, 578

about 3:30 PM

Rewards Granted

The below is not correct -- I'm still editing it to reflect the correct chapter!

Summary:

• Each member of the SNAFU Posse -- each of the Player Characters plus Chef -- receives 400 XP for manipulating the would-be capturing ring of sixty Briarseed Children into fighting each other instead of attacking the SNAFU Posse.
• All members of the Posse except for Jesse Devonshire -- Chef, Bruthazmus, Lee Chung, Miro Teague, and Zhang Sephia -- also each earn 320 XP for fighting the roving band of Leaf Rays.
• Jesse Devonshire, Will-Bound to serve Farvald Kerner, roleplays his way to 1200 XP by getting information, a tool, and a few irresistible commands out of the plant-like Master of the Cavate.

Details:

1. Everyone worked together to trick the ring of sixty Briarseed Children into demolishing themselves. With cries in Kayam that equate to "Crivens!", the Tiny monsters fought over the prestige of the Oak Leaf Badge of Leadership. The Posse softly snuck away into the entrance to Oatman Cavate while earning a total of 2400 XP -- making each Posse member's share 400 XP apiece.
2. When they split up at the intersection:
   • Zhang Sephia followed the northward tunnel into the heart of the mountain until she reached the Cavate Main Chamber. Differences from earlier: It's full of that lovely blue light, it's empty of working prisoners, it's empty of guarding plant monstrosities.
   • Miro Teague followed a tunnel wandering more eastward than anything else, sometimes up a steep hill, until he reached The Smoking Room where defeated Hellbeast carcasses get charred over a constantly smoking pit until they eventually become plant food.
   • Chef stayed with Jesse Devonshire at the intersection at first. After Sephia returned, she and Jesse sent Chef off to check Miro's progress.
   • Bruthazmus investigated the westward-wandering tunnel. He reached a locked door with its lock on his side. He also found marks of repeated travel in the tunnel floor. Beyond it were the bunk-style quarters carved into the rock for the involuntary recipients of Master Kerner's "protection". Drawn from Purgatory Gulch, the surrounding farms, and even a few from lesser ranches -- and, of course, from the Bicchieri Caravan! -- some of these folk were in particularly rough shape. All were meek with a tendency to follow instructions!
   Miro and Chef rejoined Jesse, Sephia, and the invisible Lee at the intersection. They all go meet Bruthazmus as he is on his way back.
   • Jesse Devonshire heads off northward to present himself to Master Farvald Kerner.
   The Posse other than Jesse get attacked by a swarm of young Leaf Rays! They must have been waiting for the druid to move out of perception range! Every Posse member who is not a druid earns 320 XP apiece!
3. Jesse Devonshire, meanwhile, ascends the great stone staircase from the Main Chamber into The Master's Chamber at the deepest point within the unnamed mountain. Jesse presents himself to the Ministry Transmogrifer into whose service he has been thrust. Through absolutely excellent conversational manipulation, Jesse draws out several useful details
   • about what Farvald Kerner's current agenda is,
   • about Kerner's chief priorities while in this region,
   • about why "Padre" Cirino De Mario currently floats in a crystal cylinder while emitting divine light,
   • about Kerner's next steps to defeat the Hell Bovine Herd and disrupt their access to the land now under their hooves,
   • even about the current location of Alfredo Family heir Princess Alfredo-Alston in one of the nurseries!
   All this without arousing Kerner's distrust or even concern.
   Jesse even gets approval for the cleverly twisted notion that if Jesse is at all uncertain as to what he should do when a situation arises outside Kerner's direct supervision, Jesse should seek out the guidance of his "bestest buddy". Jesse Devonshire picks up 1200 XP for his partial success in thwarting a major villain while gaining the rest of the Posse some advantages and ensuring a powerful organization will want all of them worse-than-dead later.

Remember, we have worked out that your Animal Companions determine their levels off of their Chosen Person, so going forward we will not include them in XP calculations.

General note: By this point in the campaign, everyone is probably past the necessary experience point accumulation that qualifies you for 7th level. Please remember that you can't Ding! and do the actual leveling up until you have time to train. Right now, it looks like you won't have a chance for that until after the end of this adventure. Record the XP, but don't level yet!

Character(s) interacted with

• Farvald Kerner
• A beautiful light!
  Padre De Mario
• A soot-slathered schoolmistress!
  Miss Roselli Amore
• A self-silencing farmer!
  Thurgus Gnarlbeard of Corriente Farm
• Two desperate merchants!
  Fiore Bicchieri and Casto Trapasso

Related Reports

Campaign

The Bows of Purgatory Gulch

Protagonists

Lee Chung

Human
-Level Monk 6

Jesse Devonshire

Human
6-Level Druid

Zhang Sephia

Harpy
6-Level Ranger

Bruthazmus Kele

Nodin Bugbear
6-Level Ranger

Miro Teague

Hafling
7-Level Sorcerer

Player Journals

20201108 Pale Rider. Pale Ale. Coincidence? I think not. by Jesse Devonshire
Into the caveat by Zhang Sephia

Report Date

07 Nov 2020

Primary Location

Oatman Cavate

Secondary Location

Oatman Canyon

Related Historical Events

• 578
  Two Pale Riders