Session 9 Report

General Summary

As the group shared their evening meal in the Leomund's Tiny Hut that Bain de Soleil had conjured in the woods off the track, Pōtiki asked Harthe about his recklessness in their last fight with the bandits. Harthe expressed frustration at all the bandits they had been finding but Pō told him there will be many more and he is no good to the party if he is dead. Bain also agreed, but Harthe brushed off their concern. The party slept through the night with no interruption.

Grissint 2 Redfall 834EA

The next day, the party packed up and continued along the path to Grechia. At about mid-morning, Harthe heard a small group of bandits setting up an ambush ahead. He could tell they were not yet organised and after a whispered discussion with the rest of the group, they decided to skirt around the area and ended up coming out on the main road along the coast between Tolyapol and Grechia. Travelling along the main road made their travel much faster and by mid afternoon, they crested a hill and saw the sprawling city ahead with its large brass walls and five central brass spires. They passed through the shantytown on the western outskirts of Grechia, outside of its main walls. Bain told the group that the area was called Trushtown. They arrived at the western gate into the city which had a large sign overhead labeled Zapad Gate. At the gate they were greeted by two guards, Arofinas and Barvia Craghold, who told them they needed to pay a toll of 15 gold to enter the walls of the city. They were very polite to the guards and initially were skeptical about the purpose of the toll. They asked what the money goes to and they were told that they were taxes that went to the upkeep of the town mostly and some went to the care and maintenance of the country of Grech. They agreed that this was fair. Shu was initially reluctant to pay, so Pō offered to pay for him, but he paid for himself instead. They walked through the Doki District but Pō was in a rush to go directly to the Grechian Temple of Kuzmjir so Bain led them to the Zaniya District and asked around till they found the temple. At the temple, they were greeted by Hily Smallburrow. Pō told her about their issues and tried to get information but she was unsure what to do and called upon Berinon Pratov, the head acolyte of the temple. Suiadan asked Hily about the sun and about the god of the sun. She told him the Grechian Temple of Idur, the temple for the god of the sun, moon, and stars was a few streets down. Berinon suggested a ritual to Pō which he set up after a bit of a wait and called Pō into a small side room. The two sat in a circle and Berinon started the ritual. Pō could feel Kuzmjir trying to reach through but was unable to get contact. Berinon apologised and suggested they try again the following night. Frustrated, Pō left. As it was very late by now, the group decided to go find somewhere to sleep. They asked Bain where a good inn was. She asked them how fancy or rough they wanted the place to be. They said somewhere in the middle, so she led them to The Gambling Wolf in the Klavs District. Shu did not want to go in because of the name of the inn, and opted to sleep outside that night. He turned into a wolf and curled up in the corner of a back alley to sleep where he was hidden from view and would be undisturbed. The others continued into the inn. The inn was crowded with patrons. Harthe noticed something strange about the shady figure in the corner and asked Bain about it but she just winked and smiled at him about it. They all ordered meals and rooms for the night from Lodwig Pavlok and Onio Pavlok and were served by Vel'dyn. That night Shu had another nightmare. It was similar to his usual nightmares but it felt more urgent and more far away. He felt a pulling to the west.

Edden 3 Redfall

The next morning, the group gathered for breakfast in the inn. Shu still did not enter the inn so they brought food out for him. They wandered around the city and explored all day. Shu wanted to visit the temple of Idur so they stopped by the temple that Hily directed them to. Shu asked the tabaxi acolyte there, Lord in the Rain, what he knew about the west but he did not understand, so then he asked about his god. Lord in the Rain told him that Idur's symbol is the wolf and that he has been known to appear in the form of a large black wolf. Shu was scared about this. He then asked if Idur was the sun. Lord of the Rain said no, that Idur has dominion and control of the sun, stars, and moon. Shu ran away. Confused, the others thanked the tabaxi acolyte, and followed Shu out of the temple. Shu talked to Bain and told her that he was scared because he has had visions of a black wolf destroying a town and that his mistress was the sun and he did not like that she was being controlled. Bain was confused by the latter part and worried about the first. She asked him if he knew if it was a prophecy, or a metaphor, or just bad dreams. Shu did not know. That evening, they returned to the temple of Kuzmjir for the second attempt of the ritual. Shu offered to help and sat in the circle too. This time it was more successful and Kuzmjir was able to break through and commune with Pō. She told them that they were being deceived by their patron and the souls they were collecting and sending were not going to the right place. She told them that their patron had become corrupted, looked different and was twisted and gnarled from who and what they once were. She told Pō that their bird friends Hāmua and Pīpī had also been deceived by the patron. Pō asked what they should do about the souls they had been collecting now and where to send them. Kuzmjir taught them a new ritual similar to what they had been doing but involving a new chant and sigil to carve into the ground. Pō then asked if Kuzmjir should be their new patron. Kuzmjir said she would like that but it wasn't as simple to just change patrons and would be a complicated process. Lastly, Pō asked if they needed to do something about the deceptive patron and she told them yes. The ritual ended and Pō thanked Berinon. Shu did not learn all that Pō did from the ritual but were able to sense shock and confusion from Pō during the ritual.