Session 11: Trip to the post office

General Summary

Summary - 2 pts

Preparations

The group discusses what preparations they want to make before leaving town, with the remainder of the current day (22nd day of the month of Stormwake) and the following one before they get started. Several folks resupply with rations, and the group acquires some machetes for clearing underbrush.

Harb

Ol'Harb writes a letter to a contact explaining the things he's found out about and asking if she knows anything of use. He also looks into shipping documents from the Llyrian Moon Facility - the documents from the back of the place near the Sun Carving only mentions shipments to Sunhaven, but the ones in the Shipping and Receiving office nearer the front mention several places (some familiar and other not).
Harb inquires of Roger whether he has a pre-Calamity map of the town, particularly the ruined side. Roger doesn't think he has such a thing, because if he had he would have posted it visibly.

Kolvonnin

Kolvonnin adjusts his letter to include updated information.

Nock

Nock raised the point that he'd like to discourage people and creatures from taking up residence in the facility while the party is away. Several ideas were discussed:

• He originally thought perhaps traps might work, but the townsfolk explained that they weren't terribly effective against the orcs of the woods and that there weren't many available.
• The idea of using Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments to conceal the door was considered.
• The group discusses using the Mending spell to fix the door, but they're not clear on how reasonable that would be.

There's a separate discussion about transport; a cart is likely too large and cumbersome, but a donkey seems like a workable beast for carrying loads. Taking a pack animal into the facility, however, seems unlikely to work well. Nock rustles up a donkey ("Cinnamon") from one of the farmers in town, a few days of feed for the creature, and a pack saddle.

Leucis

Leucis spends some time with Roger combing through the research scrolls for mentions of Leng. He's able to determine that Leng isn't the name of the city itself, but the name of a district within that city.
Leucis reclaims the Llyrian Charm from Roger on the premise that it might be needed at the Llyrian Moon Facility.

Maya

Maya and Leucis check in with Harridra Flintchip to inquire about any known dwarven settlements. Harridra mentions the dwarven settlement of Ironheart out west and south, but only knows of it from a traveler who had been looking for it some years ago. The traveler said he spent a lot of time in the desert, but near a bay, which seems like a strange arrangement.
Leucis inquires whether the Temple of Selune has ever been Identified, and Harridra seems intrigued by the idea - the sanctity of the temple is clear to the faithful and the temple's ability to become transparent is known, but she is open to finding out if there are other things to know about it. Her only requirement is that she wants to be present when it happens.

Sunny

Sunny decides to leverage the Identify spell for the various interesting things in town. He cites the wisdom of Old Lady Rustling Trees about paying attention to the things that don't change. Sunny finds some time with Kolvonnin to check things out in the Temple of Pelor, time with Nock for some things about him and the warforged parts, and time with Leucis (and approval from Harridra) to investigate the moon temple.
At the sun temple, Sunny gets more information on stained glass mountain, with many of the same sensations that accompanied Identifying the Sun Carving (heat, dry mouth, desert). It's tied to the temple's consecration, and Sunny feels like the hallowedness is connected to the main altar stone. After a quick check-in with Kol to make sure it's not offensive, Sunny Identifies the altar - he senses the embrace of warm sunlight and protection. Sunny can sense that the consecration of the temple has several effects, mostly around protecting and empowering paladins and clerics of Pelor. Kolvonnin gets the impression that to the paladins who empowered it, this temple was probably an outpost.
Next Sunny checks out the Sun Paladin Armory, and the face of Pelor on the armory takes on a hint of amusement as he works the Identify spell. The same order of paladins created the armory and placecd several like in their various outposts. Sunny also tried it on the armory with the morningstar in it, and discovered nothing new about the armory, but got some details about the individual morningstar Kolvonnin carries.
On the journey back to the main part of town, Sunny Identifies the bridge itself. The bridge is stone but doesn't reflect either the sun or the moon, and was originally modified to do so as a symbol of the solidarity between the churches.
Catching up with Nock, Sunny tries Identifying both the warforged himself and the various parts Roger has on hand. Nock doesn't come across as magical, but Sunny does get a sort of afterimage sensation of transmutation from both the complete warforged and the parts individually. Sunny gets the impression that perhaps Identify isn't up to the task of telling him everything he needs to know.
Sunny meets up with Maya and Leucis to Identify the effects of the Consecration of the Temple of Selune in Stonebridge. The sensation from the spell is being waist-deep in cool water, with a kind of calm but changeable feel. The transparency and light-amplification effect reminds Sunny of the room with the Llyrian Tree. Leucis gets the impression that the thrust behind this temple were operating in more of a protective capacity, with power to restore. Maya muses that perhaps this explains why lycanthropes have not come to Stonebridge.
Sunny realizes that the two temples were originally designed to be complementary, and were erected by a unified force that contained both faiths. Harridra was ignorant of most of these powers, but isn't immediately aware of some way to put them to use. Sunny shares what he found out about the sun temple, and Harridra expresses an interest in working more closely with the worshippers of Pelor once they've reestablished themselves.
Sunny posts a letter to Grayhill for Moon to inquire about the name Leng in the ruins outside Sohmweyr, the tabaxi enclave.

The Journey from Stonebridge to the Llyrian Facility

The party sets out from town.

• The journey begins on the 24th of Stormwake mid-morning after a nice breakfast at The Spotted Cap. The group establishes Watches and Marches and passes a quiet night.
• 25th Stormwake: the day dawns a little foggy with the wind out of the northwest. Wind shift northward and there's some cool rain.
• The following morning (26th Stormwake) dawns with the wind out of the south. Maya and Kolvonnin note that this will blow the scent of the party ahead of them. Towards midday, Maya identifes some howling and brings the party to a halt. The group decides the best course of action is to find a good spot to get in a fight, array themselves for incoming foes, and wait for the onslaught. They locate a place with some cover and good sight lines.

A fight: worgs and mounted hobgoblins

1. A quartet of worgs charge out of the woods.
   
   • Maya gets a solid opportunity attack on a worg as it runs by.
   • Leucis uses Divine Favor from the Order of the Rising Twilight - Holy Symbol.
   • Sunny Shatters three of the worgs with great success, killing one.
   • Kolvonnin breathes a line of acid, offing another worg.
   • Nock uses a Grasping Arrow to finish off a third worg.
   • Maya crushes the last one with his Shillelagh'd club.
2. A trio of hobgoblins mounted on worgs follow them in short order.
• Leucis lands a Guiding Bolt on a worg.
• Sunny casts Heat Metal on a hobgoblin's longsword; when the hobgoblin drops the sword it damages the worg mount on the way down.
• Ol'Harb finishes off the hobgoblin who was disarmed.
• Kolvonnin brains the Guiding Bolt'd worg with his morningstar.
• Nock uses a Blasting Arrow to hit all the enemies in Harb's vicinity (and Harb), then Action Surges to feather a worg.
3. A second trio of mounted hobgoblins arrive slightly later.
   • A new mounted hobgoblin strikes Kolvonnin for 16 damage.
   • Maya uses Cure Wounds on Kolvonnin for 11.
   • A hobgoblin is interrupted mid-critical-strike on Ol'Harb by Sunny's Silvery Barbs.
   • Leucis casts Shield of Faith on Ol'Harb, since he has four opponents in his immediate vicinity.
   • Sunny attacks a worg with a Defensive Flourish, killing it handily and throwing the riding hobgoblin.
   • Ol'Harb misses a swing at a worg, then Action Surges to land a hit and finish off a worg.
   • Kolvonnin lands a hit with a Thundering Smite on a worg.
   • Nock lands a critical hit on a worg spleen, finishing it.
   • A hobgoblin is interrupted mid-critical-strike on Kolvonnin by Sunny's Silvery Barbs.
   • Maya crushes the leg of a worg with his Shillelagh'd club, and it falls dead.
   • Leucis uses Healing Word on Ol'Harb.
   • Sunny lands a hit with the rapier on a hobgoblin, killing it.
   • Ol'Harb strikes a hobgoblin, and uses his Second Wind.
   • Kolvonnin queues up a second Thundering Smite, lands a solid hit but doesn't quite finish off the worg.
   • Nock kills another worg with an arrow.
   • Sunny uses a Slashing Flourish on the worg near Ol'Harb, and catches the hobgoblin with the hit, concluding both creatures.
   • Ol'Harb finishes off a hobgoblin by severing its leg.
   • Nock murders the last hobgoblin.

Combat summary:

• Total duration: 6 rounds.
• No PC drops.

Session Feedback

Eddy: Long breaks (three weeks) suck; it was hard to get back on the bike. Good clear moments in combat. Information coming out bit by bit has been nice.
Matt: I like stealing kills. Less pressure in combat than expected, between the wave setup and poor dice. Otherwise good in terms of tactics/strategy. Teamwork seemed solid.
James: Seemed like a lot of enemies. Hobgoblins should be smarter, though - they likely should have cut and run.
Meg: Waves made combat easier, which was good. Tactics question: How did the DM know we'd need the setup we got on the map? Explanation: the Survival roll allowed for a spot with good lines of sight; DM had several ways of addressing this kind of thing or modifying if the roll was bad.
Heather: Not too bad. Used a lot of resources, but it was a lot of enemies. Also go to use more of the kit than prior.
Jeremy: Slow start, but the info was good. 5E combat mechanics were good to see. Hard hit for a non-crit was a bit of a shock. Resource management - felt like a lot got used. Frontliners seemed effective and PC placement was good for not being discussed.
John: The fight came out easier than it was intended to be, but that was in large part dice rolls. The difficulty knob will be turning up. I turned up the heat a little bit to keep it from being boring. Glad the info-dumps early hit well.