Session 25 Report

General Summary

Sonden 27 Frostwind 834EA

As Rowan Martin and Pōtiki finally pulled anchor and the sails were unfurled to catch the wind, lurching the boat into motion, a faint shadow flicked across the deck and drew the party's eyes upward to the sky where they spotted in the far distance the large spread leathery wings of a flying creature unlike any sort of bird they'd seen, the sunlight glinting and reflecting off its sides unnaturally. The creature circled once and then flew off out of sight. Pōtiki, Harthe and Jodariel Balakin discussed what they'd seen and racked their brains about what it could have been. They decided it was most likely a dragon of some variety but Harthe said that they had been assumed to be extinct as none had been seen for many years. He shared his recollections of things he had read over the years but let them know that a lot of it was based in folklore so many not be entirely accurate. He said that different types of dragons preferred different types of terrain and locations and that it was rumoured they could change shape so it was possible that many dragons had been disguised for a lot time leading people to believe they were extinct. Pō commented that it had headed south east back towards where they had come from. They suggested that maybe it was escaping Rouvray. The discussion along with assertations at Rowan that there was a need to prepare for war, alarmed Rowan greatly and several times he turned the boat back towards Maksary out of concern for his family, but they managed to convince him to continue towards Nuvar and that it would be safer for him there. He reluctantly agreed. The day passed otherwise with no issue and despite several checks back to the horizon from where they had come, there was no smoke. Towards the evening, Jodi received a message in her ear through her communication pebble. It was Glynna Willowbank. She told Jodi that she had returned from meeting with the Pyat'krug in Grechia and reported that they were asking for advice on arcane means to shore up the city's defences. Jodi thanked her. After the evening meal, Rowan asked if the group wanted to anchor for the night again, or if one of them wanted to take over sailing duties over the course of the night while he rested, noting that if they kept sailing they would get to Nuvar faster. Jodi volunteered to take over the sailing duties and Rowan gave her a crash course on sailing, first furling the sails somewhat to ensure the boat would not travel faster than the novice sailor could control the boat. Rowan, Harthe, and Pōtiki then settled down to sleep while Jodi sailed and took the first watch shift for the night. Both Harthe and Jodi's watch occurred with no issue although it was starting to rain quite heavily. Harthe returned to bed at the end of his watch. While Pō slept, they had a dream. Their consciousness was pulled across time and space and they found themself watching over the familiar spot deep in the heart of the Lyushin Wilds where they had come to know as home, the large ancient pohutukawa tree in full bloom. The early morning sun glinted off the raindrops still dripping off the leaves from the night’s storm. The focus shifted slightly and they spotted the familiar figure of Te Tauheke o te Wairua approaching the base of the tree and starting a small and carefully contained magical campfire. He set a rock on the fire and waited for it to heat up. Satisfied that it was warm enough, he pulled the rock out of the fire and pulled out a few eggs from his kete, and cracked them over the rock. He cooked them on the rock, then served them up on a large leaf. He carefully carried them over to a small sleeping firbolg curled up under the shelter of the gnarled branches of the tree, and gently shook the child awake. When the child roused, he passed them the leaf and pointed at it. ‘Kai’ he told them. Pō awoke with a start and pondered the dream as they took their watch, though nothing of note occurred beyond getting rather wet in the rain and thunder and lightning booming in the distance.

Smo'sby 28 Frostwind 834EA

The next morning, the rain had eased and the lightning and thunder stopped. Rowan unfurled the sails some more and returned to his post at the steering wheel of the longboat and Jodi headed below deck to sleep. Harthe and Pōtiki could see a double rainbow in the sky as the rain eventually cleared and the sun came out. Pōtiki took advantage of the lack of rain to clear their head a little by drawing a picture of their dream. At about mid-morning, Pōtiki had a sudden feeling like they were being watched. They looked around but could not see anyone of concern. They cast detect magic, and spotted a glowing sphere hovering above Harthe. The sphere disappeared but Pō told Harthe about it and mentioned that they had seen a similar thing when Tyna Brushgather had been spying on them. The day passed otherwise uneventfully but at one point, Harthe and Pōtiki spotted a group of will-o-wisps on the shore of Vanimaldine. They appeared to be doing a waving dance for the group. The evening arrived and Jodi joined the group back on deck and offered to again take point sailing while Rowan slept. Jodi took first watch and the shift passed again uneventfully. Harthe took second watch and his watch also passed with no issue. Towards the end of the final watch, which Pōtiki took, they noticed a periodic thump sound against the hull of the boat. They looked out into the water and could see one huge shadow and two slightly smaller shadows in the water. They called out to Jodi and Harthe and shot out a chill touch spell towards the closest shadow. The shadows breached the water and revealed themselves to be two giant crabs and one huge giant crab. A battle ensued and Pō sustained a lot of damage from the huge giant crab, but eventually the three Venturers took the creatures down and with a thunderwave attack, Harthe landed the final blow on the huge crab and sent its corpse hurtling into the water and off the deck of the ship... along with a portion of the deck wall. The missing section was above the water line though, so there was no immediate cause for concern unless they were faced with a large wave or a storm.

Hossen 29 Frostwind 834EA

The sun was cresting the horizon by this point and Rowan, a little shaken from the events, returned to his post, and informed them that despite the slight delay the battle had caused and needing to travel a bit slower and carefully to avoid taking on water, they should arrive in Nuvar by the end of the day. Jodi disappeared below deck for a rest. By mid-afternoon, The Vanim Channel had opened out into the Luth Sea. Jodi awoke and rejoined her friends on deck and the boat had moved around the peninsula. As they travelled further, they could see up on their right the large walls of the capital city, Rouvray, atop tall white cliffs, with the castle turrets peeking above the walls. Travelling further around, the passage narrowed again into a large bay with the same tall and sheer white cliffs lining each side. Two large white marble elven statues atop the cliffs on either side marked the entrance into Albious Bay. Rowan told them that the statues were of Albious Cleroy and her right-hand person, whose name he couldn't recall, in honour of her victory leading the Taesai Rebels against Chambon’s aggressive expansion and dissolving of Taesai. He added that the Bay was also known as Taesai Harbour. As the boat neared Nuvar, they could see that the city of Nuvar was bustling with life. The docks and market sat on the flat at the shoreline, while the rest of the city sprawled up a steady incline, cobblestoned ramping main roads and retaining walls giving a terracing effect up the hill with the mayor’s manor sitting at the very top overlooking the city, some of the cliffs seemed to have been carved away to make room for buildings and houses, with a sandy beach running along either side of the docks. As they passed one of the beaches, Harthe looked out and noticed that the lowly shack-like building at the end of the beach he had grown up in early on, had been reduced to a pile of rubble. Jodi could see from Harthe's face that something had upset him even though he had tried not to show it, but she could see that he was trying to hide it so did not pry. As the boat moored alongside a pier at the far end of the docks, the party was treated to a complete assault of the senses. The docks were bustling with energy as dockworkers and seafarers went about their business. Sea spray and the smell of fish filled their noses, the market square beyond the docks was alive with noise and colour, and they could see that there were people of almost every possible race and creed within the throngs. Harthe immediately set about finding the harbourmaster to find someone to repair Rowan's boat and paid them, making a special request for a carver to carve a design of a crab onto the side. As he returned to the boat to let Rowan know it was all taken care of, Pōtiki and Jodi were gathering up their supplies and farewelling the boatman. Rowan told them they did not need to pay for the rest of the journey if they instead did him a small favour. He handed Pō a small stone with a runic design on it. He said that as they were headed to Rouvray, he would be grateful if they would take the stone to Taesai Academy and recommend him to study there. They asked him what the stone did and he told them to tap the rune. From the stone, a beautiful clarinet song played out of it. They asked if it was him playing and he said yes and that he had played a good sum of money to have the stone enchanted to record him playing and that he wished to learn how to use his music to do magic and hone his craft and hopefully improve the lives of his family. Pō told him about how they had had a friend who was a bard and used her music in similar ways and asked Rowan about his family. He told them he had a wife and two children aged 1 and 3. Pō told him they would take the stone to the academy if they had time. They insisted on paying him though, and gave him 30gp and Jodi also gave him 5gp. The group disembarked from the boat and headed along the docks toward the marketplace. Pōtiki noticed that everyone in the city seemed to have fashionable hairstyles, moreso than anywhere else they had visited. With night fast approaching, the group decided they had best find somewhere to stay. Harthe told them there were three main options in Nuvar that he knew of. The Golden Rose which he said was very fancy and very expensive, The Gatherers' Roost which was less expensive but still nice, and Haunui's which was cheap but has a bit of a rough clientele. They opted for Haunui's and Harthe led them toward the inn. As they approached, they received a message from Glynna, telling them that she was going to head to Beboloba for them to see a friend over there that might be able to help recover some books from the lost library and find out more about the artifacts. Pō thought that the library had been suddenly found but Glynna explained that it hadn't been, but a friend of hers was familiar with the area and might have a better chance than anyone of turning up some useful finds. They thanked her despite Pō being more than a little skeptical about Glynna's chances of finding anything, and then entered the inn. Inside, they found a small bar with all but one table already full of patrons. Jodi noticed that a group of them had crabbing cages by their feet and went to tell them about the giant crabs they had fought and that they might be able to find the dead corpses in the Vanim Channel. They seemed interested but were also far too drunk to go searching right then. The only table not fully occupied had one person sitting alone. The person had black studded leather armour and hair fashioned in a mop of curls on top with short sides and back and sat with an ornate but functional looking longbow at their side. They radiated an aura that seemed to put most people off sitting near them. Pō went up to the bar to talk to the innkeeper who introduced himself as Haunui. The burly man looked human but his opalescent eyes and celestial name gave away that he was an aasimar. Pō began to speak to him in celestial and asked him about any rumours. He said there wasn't a lot to tell except for an unusual increase in bandit activity and that there was word that Haley Cleroy was ill and that if she died without a successor as dedicated to keeping the peace with Chambon that war may be inevitable. Pō thanked him and asked for three rooms for their party for three nights, paying him 9 silver pieces. Jodi also gave 5sp even though they both told her that the fee had been covered. She said to keep it though, so Haunui thanked her and offered them an extra special meal. Pō asked if fish and cheese was on the menu and he said that was a weird combination. She told him that it was a Grechian delicacy and he commented that Grech was a weird country. Pō agreed. Pō then asked about the strange person sitting by themself in the corner. He told them that they had been there a few days and didn't say much. The group then headed over to sit with the lone person, out of curiosity as much as a lack of anywhere else to sit for their evening meal.