Session XXI: Reinforcements Abound Report

General Summary

An Awaited Return

New Faces

The adventurers travel to Savior's Landing to meet the reinforcements from the mainland. Somewhat to their surprise they are met by a powerful mage Soren Azohr and an elf male who are already speaking with Captain Lennard Rye. Soren introduces himself as the Windhelm Trading Company's director of exotic (magical) trade, who joined the expedition to the island after hearing Lyrium was sighted on the island.
Soren bids the adventurers to report on their progress, which turns into a lot of muddling. The redline is similar to what Captain Rye reported to Soren, and Soren continues with his plan of action.

1. Tristan Zabaleta will be leaving their merry bunch at least temporarily to start brewing alcohol. This way, the Trading Company will have something to sell to the goblins of Ban Grond.
2. To replace Tristan, Soren hired an elf chap on the mainland, John Doe, who will join the adventurers on their journey.
3. Soren will continue the progress made by Bolus Farhest and his company on the south western island (where Khazat is situated on the old map). For this purpose, he has brought multiple soldiers, dwarves from the slums of the Westfork cities, and a Lyrium expert from the Kingdom of Orzammar who goes by the name Thorvil.
4. Captain Lennard Rye will take up residence in Gnel's Hold to ensure no Red Armors come disturbing the mission. In addition, Rye and the adventurers are tasked with maintaining peace or at least safety on the goblin front.
5. Soren is curious why these "Oh so powerful Red Armors" do not take interest in the lyrium on the Khazat peninsula, but rather take residence in the Purple Mountain. He tasks the adventurers with discovering their goals. Whether they do this through direct investigation of the Red Armors, or rather reading up on the history of the island, is oblivious to him

Soren then asks John to shortly introduce himself to the adventurer band, who complies by sharing he looked for the taste of adventure off the mainland, explaining Soren sought an elf to join the expedition. Soren clarifies by detailing the Elven Border present on the old map of Rhunaar, where some elven expertise could prove fruitful. Soren then excuses the adventurers out of the tent but not before Oswald Fleetfeet is told to return around 9 as Soren has some other matters of business to discuss with him.

Celebrating on the New Arrivals

Balin seeing a bunch of dwarves joined the expedition decides to join the dwarven band at their campfire. He inquires on his dwarvenkins origins, which results in a lot of shouting of large city names. Yarpin Mc Gillan shares he is quite satisfied with his new forge at Gnel's Hold, which allows him to forge a few weapons he could not forge beforehand (#UpdatedShop). Lastly, Balin asks Thorvil on his story from Orzammar, who responds evasively he is not exactly keen to talk about this (the refinement of Lyrium is a protected secret from the Kingdom of Orzammar). He then continues sharing tales of his accomplishments using his Pipe of Remembrance.
Meanwhile, Oswald & Nalan are interested in John's story, who tells about his 2000 year sleep, and his adventuring on the mainland for a good 40 years before taking the job with the Windhelm Trading Company. Although not entirely satisfied by John's evasive answers, they are distracted by a slapping & staring contest between the two of them. Oswald then leaves for Soren's tent, while Nalan & John join First Mate Mercer and the bunch surrounding him. John asks Mercer if he has something stronger than ale for them, who first stares at him sternly. He then takes John by the shoulder and shows his flask of special rum. Both of them take two shots of the drink, before Mercer shares the secret to the spicy drink is grated Fire Lizard tongue. Mercer is very pleased with John's ability to keep in the drink and they rejoin the others for a few rounds of card games. Captain Lennard Rye decides to join the card game of John, Nalan and Oswald. John takes the first win and the second goes to Oswald. On recounting his profits later that evening though, Oswald figures one gold piece is missing from his earnings, with Lennard Rye nowhere to be seen.
As the adventurers start to turn to their beds, they are surprised by Balin who attempts to put up a Fire Breathing show for his dwarvenkin. With Balin however being a bit distracted by the alcohol, his beard catches fire which he attempts to extinguish quickly. The dwarves share a good laugh, before Balin is joined by Oswald who wants to show him true fire breathing, to which he casts Fireball high in the air. The dwarves are not too excited by this performance and decide to hit the haysack, similar to the rest.

Selling, Restocking and Examining

The next morning after breakfast, Oswald shares the topic of his talk with Soren to the party. Oswald is to perform a Permit-Exam the next week for Soren. Upon failure, Oswald will be sent back to the Wayspire to prove he's a "Non-harmful mage". After a bit of debate, the adventurers decide to take the next week easy at Savior's Landing, allowing Oswald to prepare for his exam. Balin sells the remaining party loot they still have (5 silver chandeliers and an old chainmail from Nalan) to Goffrey Mc Gillan for 150 gp, which is shared among the adventurers. Balin then joins Yarpin Mc Gillan to forge a few items at the Hold.
Nalan asks Thorvil before his departure to the Khazat peninsula, on the ability of Lyrium to affect its surroundings. Thorvil explains Lyrium can affect surrounding vegetation, turning it slightly or fully red in the process. Nalan then asks whether it may also turn the vegatation purple, which strikes Thorvil as very unlikely. Nalan then decides to spend his week aiding Mercer in hunting wildlife for rations. Mercer certainly appreciates the company, although Nalan is not very helpful with his loud clattering heavy armor. Meanwhile, John decides to practice a bit of alchemy during the week, hopefully to become proficient at the skill (Nature checks: 23, 21 and 19).
After a week, Oswald takes his Permit-Exam with Soren, displaying his Shield, Mirror Image and Slow spells. This convinces Soren of Oswald's magic capabilities, but leaves him skeptical on the nature of his magic (in addition to its source of learning: "Killing Goblins"). He grants Oswald his permit, but expects a writing in the coming weeks on his finding on Chronomancy to be shared with the College of the Wayspire. Soren then congratulates Oswald and gives him a Mana Potion. Oswald turns to celebrating with his friends, even smoking one of the reefers Nalan still had in his backpack.

Mana Potion

Potion

Uncommon

This blue liquid is created using the essence of magic. When you drink this potion, you gain 1d4+1 mana points (MP). In the table below, you can see how many MP is required for recovering a spell slot. When you use the potion, you must distribute the acquired MP immediately. You can recover any number of spell slots if you have enough MP to do so, and every MP left after spending is lost.

Spell Slot	MP cost
1st	2
2nd	3
3rd	5
4th	6
5th	7
6th	9
7th	10
8th	11
9th	13

The next day, the adventurers share their occupations of the past weeks, Balin telling about the tunnel system below Ban Grond belonging to the ancient Stormguard. He tells of a magic door which he could not open, not even by shooting one of his lightning bolts a the door. Oswald & Balin then show the translated documents they found among Azaroth's belongings to the rest of the party (see Scavenges from Ban Grond). Nalan shares he has been busy rebuilding the ground floor of Gnel's Mansion with his carpentry skills. After a bit of discussing, the adventurers decide to travel to Ban Grond to check up on the diplomatic status there as well as inquire on multiple subjects on the island's history.

The Adventure Continues

On to Ban Grond

The next 3 days are spend travelling to Ban Grond. Luckily, the adventurers brought their tents from Savior's Landing, shielding them from the rainfall during sleep times. They encounter some wildlife on the way, which quickly turns tail at the sight of their newfound might. Upon arrival the adventurers spend the night in their mansion, seeing it guarded by 5 soldiers from The Night's Watch. Laying down in the mansion, Oswald mentions the puke stain from Balin still being present on the stairs, to which Nalan responds he only took responsibility for the ground floor.
With a good night's rest, the adventurers ask around about the status of Ban Grond. They learn the kobolds have thusfar been accepted in the goblin societies as goblins, the Ban Grond Mines have been reopened after the collapse, and Zulk the Wise has not returned from his venture to the Shire of Sloniz yet. Oswald asks Balin whether they should pay Bokun a visit for some brand repayment. Although Balin would gladly accept, he thinks it wiser to keep the peace with Zulk for now. They then venture underground using the Stormguard tunnels to the Magic Door.
First another bolt is loosened on the door, with little to no effect. Oswald then casts Detect Magic, with which he discovers the door is opened by a phrase rather than a key. They throw multiple phrases and words to the door, among which the dwarven words for "Thunder" and "Lightning", but to no avail. They then recite a piece of parchment found in Azaroth's quarters, to which the door opens. Inside, they find a sort of workshop with barely readible Stormguard documents scattered around. In the chaos they find an adamantium bar, an out of use forge, and a blueprint detailing the crafting of a spear similar to Balin's Dwarven Stormbow (Weapon). The crafting of the spear requires a magic ore lump and the Blessing of Azulon cast upon it. Apart from the blueprint, multiple Stormguard records are scattered across the room, which Oswald translates to the following information: The Stormguard use to pay homage to their founder Storm Chief Azulon once every 10 years in the Northern Mountain Reach. The adventurers collect everything the room has to offer and continue their way to Aard.
After some friendly greetings, Balin takes the lead in asking Aard about the island.

• Balin asks if Aard knows how the peninsula came to be, as on an ancient map they found of Rhunaar, the peninsula is still connected to the whole. Aard tells he has no knowledge of such things, as the peninsula existed long before his birth.
• Balin continues asking about the Red Armors, on which Aard has a little more info. The Red Armors came to the island around 4 years ago, clearing the Skyward Fort at the Purple Mountain from all kinds of abominations infestating it. He never directly spoke with any of them, as Gnel made an agreement with them to keep their distance. Aard also shares he has no knowledge of what the mountain hides, telling they should rather ask Zulk the Wise or their enemy Azaroth, who unfortunately is still missing. Aard does give a handsome reward to the one who can bring his head to him. The adventurers ask, if Sabulah may hold some additional information. Aard starts a loud bouldering laugh, telling them that she is indeed ancient enough to know about such matter, but way to dangerous to venture into her domain (commenting on how his messenger recently did not return, confirming she got the message of their possible joining to the Ban Grond Alliance).
• Balin concludes by asking Aard about the ancient human capital of Gildin. Aard asks why they would want to venture to that undead infested place, talking about a mighty necromancer inhabiting the city. He knows Azaroth paid interest to the city before but other than that, he and his lads stay far rid of the ominous place.

They thank Aard for his time and continue discussing among themselves on a plan of action. They see 3 options ahead: A) They venture to the Red Armors, either over land or via sea, to spy on them. B) They go to Sabulah's domain to confront the spider-dunmer on the history of the island. C) They travel to Gildin to search for clues on the history of the island, possibly involving the necromancer. In the end, they decide to go with option C and leave for Gildin after a good night's rest.

To the Jungle

Venturing onward, the party takes rest at the edge of the jungle come eveningfall. Balin & John go on a hunt for food, finding a Giant Boar carcass being scavenged by Giant Mantises. They collect the boar, John also taking two Giant Boar teeth from the carcass, and cook the boar over a fire. After having eaten plenty, they can make 3 rations of the remaining boar and start their watches. Nalan takes first watch but doesn't see a thing in the total darkness, John takes second and makes a fire to stay warm, Balin has third watch and studies the found blueprints and Oswald takes fourth, experimenting with his Momentary Stasis ability on the campfire. They feel replenished at dawn, preparing for their further travels.

Rewards Granted

• Mana Potion for Oswald for successfully completing his Examination
• 150 gp from selling 5 silver chandeliers & Nalan's old chain mail
• An adamantine bar, a blueprint of a Stormguard Spear (dubbed "Stormspear" by Balin) and documents on the arts of Adamantine forging.
• Documents from the Stormguard detailing they paid their respects to their founder, the Storm Chief Azulon, every 10 years in the Northern mountain reach.
• 3 rations & 2 Giant Boar teeth.

Balin's Forging

• ?

Campaign

The Island of Runaar

Protagonists

Nalan

Oswald Fleetfeet

TN halfling(gnome) (cloistered scholar)
wizard 5

26 / 26 HP

STR
8

DEX
15

CON
13

INT
19

WIS
16

CHA
10

John Doe

Lawful Neutral Wood Elf (Inheritor)
Ranger 6

63 / 63 HP

STR
9

DEX
18

CON
14

INT
18

WIS
16

CHA
13

Report Date

01 Apr 2021

Primary Location

Rhunaar

Secondary Location

Savior's Landing