Session 57 - Tribal Relations
8 Ambyrmont 1010 - 12 Ambyrmont 1010
General Summary
Tork's father, Targ'Harach, now former warchief, greets the party. He stands leaning on a crutch, one leg recently amputated above the knee. After a few words he invites them into the encampment.
Tork's brother Karagath has now become the warchief. The clan seems quite diminished, with many casualties from the giant raid, and others having moved on to other tribes in the region for potentially greater safety. There are ~50 of what Tork remembers being over 100 clan members. Tork explains briefly their exploration of the giant's base, and explains that the giants seem to have moved in to stay, which will be catastrophic for the tribes of the region. Tork suggests that a war council should be formed to cooperate, and assault the giants. It seems that the clans have not been moving in that direction at all, perhaps not realizing the incursion is long term. Karagath seems amenable to the idea, if it gets support from the other clans, but they can't commit much with their diminished clan size and the coming winter. It is determined that the Council should meet on the 1st of Sviftmont, 20 days from now, near "Three Stones Falls" which feeds into the Gustos river. In their preparations to visit the other clans, Karagath commits to sending two volunteer scouts up to the area of the giant's fortress to observe, and warn of any major incursion. Tork instructs the scouts on how to use the Sending Stones, and takes one for himself, and gives one to the scouts. Karagath also offers to have Haish accompany the party in their visits to the other regional clans to vouch for them, which they are happy for.
Now that a plan is coming together, and stories have been passed back and forth of what has taken place since Tork has left the clan, it is time to settle in for the night. Tork presents the Ring of Warmth to his mother as a gift, explaining that once she has focused on it for a while, it should keep her warm through the coming winters. She seems a bit skeptical of it, but appreciates the gift either way. Elincia provides the clan with 50 goodberries to allow them to save a day's worth of food for the long winter, for which they are grateful. The party rests, and prepares their travel plans.
The next morning, as they prepare themselves for departure, there is a disturbance at the outskirts of the camp. Tork, Stavos, and Elincia notice this, and are prepared when Gnolls rush in to attack, but Leo and Seraphina are surprised, with their defenses down as they are getting ready for the coming travel.
There is a group of five Gnolls to the North, four wielding spears with hide armor, the central figure weilding a tremendous two handed axe with chainmail, and on the East and West three Gnolls each with longbows, also wearing hide armor. Stavos strides forward to split the distance between him and the approaching group of 5 Gnolls. The archers all land shots on Elincia, Leo, and Stavos, several being very well-placed. Tork and Stavos stride forward to face the main force. Elincia places a bear totem in the party's midst, providing much needed temporary hit points to help address the arrow barrage. She then turns her attention to the group of five Gnolls to the North and places a new spell for her, Wrath of Nature, which causes the plants and rocks in the area to become hostile. The leader with chainmail is restrained by grasping roots and the surrounding ground becomes difficult terrain. Elincia then moves behind a tent to reduce her exposure to the barrage of arrows. Seraphina decides that Leo needs some protection, since he has been been pinned down by several archers - she stays guarding him with her shield. Stavos and Tork now face two Gnolls each, which they clearly outmatch. The archers continue to pepper the party with arrows from the flanks. Just as Leo is about to deal with some of the eastern flank archers that have been targeting him, another group of six Gnolls arrives from the south. Despite his frustration with the archers, Leo focuses his ire on the newly arrived Gnolls, casting Synaptic Static and catching five of the six - they clutch their heads in clear agony, and drop to the ground dead. Now that Leo is clearly engaged, Seraphina starts striding toward the last remaining newcomer; this Gnoll now has a look of terror in his eyes, having watched his colleagues so easily defeated. Meanwhile, the northern Gnolls are being actively dismembered by Tork, Stavos, and Elincia. The archers, seeing where this combat is headed, turn and run, as does the Gnoll that Seraphina is approaching. Three of the archers are able to escape, but the rest of the Gnolls are chased down and killed, in total 14. Stavos debates a bit before deciding to use one of Waldhexe's Coins on one of the Gnolls.
The clan seems reasonably impressed with how easily the party dealt with the Gnolls, especially with Tork, who they remember as an unskilled young warrior. His older brother seems proud of how well Tork fought. The tribe plans to set out more scouts to prevent such surprises in the future, as this could have been a devastating surprise assault if the party wasn't there. The party preps for their departure. Seraphina uses a patch from her new cloak to provide a mount for Haish and summons her own war horse, Luminescence. Leo summons Deion, who at first alarms the horses, but they quickly learn that he is harmless despite his resemblance to a Deiny. Tork can move as fast as a horse comfortably. Stavos can ride with Leo, and Elincia with Seraphina, when she doesn't choose to fly. This allows for the party to make good time in their search.
In just a couple days, they are able to find the Jadaran Clerr, a tribe of mostly Humans, along with some Half-Orcs. Upon approach, they are greeted and invited, once they have stated their purpose. Chestibor, the human leader of the Jadaren Clerr, seems amenable to the plan, though he wants to confirm the information described by the party about the situation with the giants. Once confirmed, he will be in attendance at the War Council. However, he does not want to include the Orc tribes, only the half-orc and humans in the council. The party provides details to his scouts on how to find the giants stronghold, and also to inform them of the Dhauwurd Wurrung scouts that are watching for dangerous changes in the situation. Seraphina offers to enrich the land with her blessings, but the tribe's Shaman seems wary of this, and refuses. Perhaps they can offer again after the war council business is complete, after the party has proven their capabilities and reliability.
With that, the party rests for the night, and plans to cross the river the next day in search of the Kuurn Kopan, and their leader Tocro. As they approach the river, Elincia casts Walk on Water on their mounts and Tork, and they comfortably cross the chilling waters. They begin the search for the Jadaren Clerr, which can often be found not too far from the planned war council meeting location, between the Gustos and Magos rivers.
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Report Date
12 Nov 2021
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