Session 50: Distilled and Revived

General Summary

Logistical concerns

Due to changes in the player makeup, characters, and the long break, several items were handled before starting the session proper

Session 0 Revisit

See Session 0.3 Discussions and Agreements for details. Salient points that changed were:

• Player absences are now considered a showstopper.
• Hangouts has been retired as a communication channel in favor of Discord.
• We may stretch the timeslot at some point in the future once we know how the current group flows.
• Jeremy is handling quartermaster duties on the Party Gear (Sheets)

Pre-working out some party considerations

Watches and Marches gets updated with the new plans. The group also works through some of the gear left from the other player characters and equips some of it.

Session proper

No summary due to the length of the break.

Summarizing recent party events - 13th Longharvest to 22 Longharvest

The group at large returns to Sohmweyr and arrives in Sohmwyer on 22nd Longharvest.

Parting of ways

A few current party members are called away to other business:

• Mayari Bandersnatch got a communication from the Elders of Hearthstone that the fae have expressed a desire to renegotiate the Hearthstone Deal With The Fae. Maya and Saf are going to head to Hearthstone to work out the details.
• Leucis is going to take the cured werewolves to Stonebridge and try to get them more permanently returned to regular life with the help of the Temple of Selune there.
• Sunny decided it's time to see if Moon is ready to start their band and get out into the world.

Summarizing new party events - 22 Longharvest to 15 Saltmeat

The folks leaving the group head out overland about the time a Muddy Boot caravan rolls into town. Kolvonnin and Ol'Harb are in town and trying to figure out how to proceed when they meet some new people.

A curious verdan

Vaevlilk aka "Lil" spys Kolvonnin in the common room at the Sohmweyr common house, interested in the trappings of Pelor about his person. She explains that she's interested in Sunhaven and Harridra Flintchip suggested that she track down the party as they made mention of going there. Lil's patron is interested in the Sky Pantheon and had no luck contacting Selune. Kol suggests they discuss with his companion and they head to a table.

Tall tales from a short scavenger

Meanwhile, Harb is at the bar acquiring drinks and encounters a wiry halfling who's regaling the locals with some very clearly embroidered stories. He's got the look of someone who's been weathered, but is still clearly hale. The two strike up a conversation when Harb offers to buy him further drinks - the bearded halfing introduces himself as Regizar Thunderbuck "but call me Reg." Harb guides Reg over to the table where they join the paladin and Lil.

Conference about setting out

Introductions all around, and after some discussion the topic turns to Sunhaven.

Reg's recent past

Some of Reg's background comes to light:

• He recently returned from far to the west, where a band of scavengers he worked with (a baker's dozen, led by a wizard in silvery robes - Woodenhelm's Company) were looking for Sunhaven.
• Reg was recruited in Steelforge, but the wizard did some sort of magic transport in two groups - the company started their journey from a bit west of the Bay of the Anvil .
• Reg doesn't recall how he fell in with that group, but he does recall hearing several long speeches from the wizard that he fell asleep in the middle of.
• The band got ambushed by some bandits (minotaurs as far as he could tell) and the largest of them killed the wizard.
• Suddenly faced with the prospect of immediate grisly death, he ran off and managed to escape.
• He has over the past month or so managed to limp towards the Grayhill and stay hidden, but there were wolf-men about, so he lit south for Sohmweyr.
• Reg planned to hole up in Sohmweyr for a bit, then head for Grayhill with a caravan or on a ship.
• He's sure the wizard had the right location for Sunhaven - they got close enough they could see a great light burning at the summit of a mountain, even at night.

Consideration and guidance

After ascertaining that the group is fine with a certain amount of scavenging from Sunhaven, he's willing to guide to the light on the mountain for a reasonable share.
A few other items of note from the conversation:

• Reg had no real respect for Thombir Woodenhelm, and it seemed like the wizard was in charge.
• Reg can't recall exactly how he was convinced to take the job - Lil takes this to mean he might have been magically duped.
• Kolvonnin recalls some caravans from Thombir's iron mines in Steelforge.
• The night before the attack, Thombir's group heard some distant and deep drum.
• Thombir has a noted dislike for non-dwarves, but Reg's distant dwarven ancestry was close enough to justify hiring his skills in getting into places he's not supposed to be.
• When the idea that the party is "on a mission from god" comes up, Reg sighs that "god doesn't always pay super well." Kolvonnin (on the strength of a natural 20) completely convinces Reg that he will in this instance.
• Reg holds out some hope for the guard (Cori, Tori, and Lori) or the scouts (Frolo and Kolo) but isn't at all sure anyone made it out.
• Reg isn't sure how many minotaurs there were - he spotted at least four or five plus the notably larger one.
• The halfling got pretty close to one minotaur, and he smelled of alcohol so they might have been drinking.
• Reg sketches out a few other threats beyond the minotaur bandits - orcs (some mounted on boars) and wolf-men. The rogue successfully avoided having a run-in with either.
• Kol and Harb had a run-in with the orcs, but it's not a guarantee that they'd be welcoming in the future.
• This group being smaller than Woodenhelm's, they can probably be more easily hidden, and knowing there's a danger means it they could be more prepared.
• Lil can ritual-cast Leomund’s Tiny Hut (DnD Beyond).

Aside from some basic provisioning (Kol uses party funds to grab 20 rations for the portable hole), the group agrees to head out in the morning. Reg's very rough estimate is about 3 weeks (18 days) of travel to get back to where the company was.

Journeying to the west

Reg guides the group using a slightly different path to avoid the wolf-men, and then heads steadily west.

Stealthing past orc patrols

Background information about Lil

Noting Lil's tome and orb, the rest of the group gleans a bit of the warlock's motivation and backstory. She's very up front about her magic coming from a patron with a similar mindset - to help get rid of "bullies" and make it safe for everyone.

• Lil's patron (Gathalion) worked for the Sky Pantheon.
• The patron has become active on the Material Plane in the last few years, and has been seeking his allies from before but thus far unable to reach them.
• Lil was originally tasked to try to reach Selune from the Church of Selune at Stonebridge, but was unsuccessful.
• Kolvonnin indicated to Harb that his Divine Sense indicated Lil's associated with a celestial, so it's not as bad as it could be for otherworldly entanglements.
• Kol realizes that entities at the "patron" level of power are few - the deities still have their servants, but other powerful creatures are largely absent and thus there are few warlocks.
• While Lil was nearing adulthood in the swamp, the locals were terrorized by a very dangerous creature. In a situation where several other people were about to be slain or eaten by the creature, she threw a rock at it and got its attention. Time slowed down for a moment, and Gathalion whispered into Lil's mind. He indicates that she's woefully under-equipped to handle what she has just brought upon herself, but that if this is how she plans to act he will give her the tools.
  Lil agrees, and finds Gathalion's Orb in her hand. She rares back to throw it but is stopped in the last moment by Gathalion who triggers an eldritch blast from it instead. Lil uses this power to save the villagers' lives, and Gathalion declares that this is her new job.
• Lil's understanding from Gathalion is that the Church of Pelor at Sunhaven has or had some sort of more direct "connection" to the sun deity than others in the church.
• Harb and Kol recall that Sigmand mentioned Nogos was impressed with the magical craftsmanship at Sunhaven, and adapted some of their magic for use in Sigmand's golden arm.
• The pair also muses over their recent run-ins with the Cult of Ogremoch and other such stirrings of entities from outside the material plane - Maya said the Elders of Hearthstone were concerned about the world waking up. Even Selune and Pelor seem to be trying to make contact.

Reg's goals

Reg is hoping to locate any survivors or, failing that, to bury his dead companions. The wizard is a lost cause (and, come to think of it, Reg never got a good look at his face) but others might still be alive. This means, however, following the same path that they got ambushed on. Alternatively, the group could avoid the place of the prior combat and head directly to the mountain. The group agrees that the course the former group took seems like the way to go.

Nearing the site of the ambush - Starday, 16th Saltmeat

Having decided to retrace the steps of Woodenhelm's company, the group approaches the Bay of the Anvil with caution.

Settling in for the evening

Scanning the horizon

Reg seems to be looking for something that Lil is able to pick out - an orange glow on the horizon as though the sun were still setting in a narrow spot beyond view. The rogue describes that there's not a direct light source but there's always something there giving off light.
Harb inquires about how far away from Sunhaven the group currently is. Reg estimates four or five days to the summit at the least, likely more if the terrain is unfriendly. He's hopeful that there's an entrance that's not at the peak. Harb raises the idea that the wizard with Woodenhelm's Company had something that might prove useful for getting into Sunhaven.

Drums in the night

During the rogue's watch, he wakes Kolvonnin to verify what he's hearing - a single distant drum. The paladin can hear it, too - he directs Reg to wake the others and starts donning his armor. Harb hands his spyglass over to Reg (being the most preceptive) but the rogue can't locate any other light sources beyond the glow mentioned earlier. Discussion ensues about potentially trying to sneak up on the source of the drumming, but Kol raises the point that being that noisy indicates feeling pretty confident about potential threats - but they may also not be looking too hard. The general consensus since the drum isn't moving closer is to keep a low profile and continue on the current path.

Session end

Next session will pick up at the beginning of the day on Clothday, 17th Saltmeat.

Feedback

Eddy: We're a little rusty since it's been a while. Thanks for running, I had a good time. Smaller groups are easier to run and for storytelling, and there's also more personal investment for the characters. It was nice getting back on the horse again after so long. Getting to see Meg's character was cool, as was Reg. I love interacting with characters, it's just trying to make the conversation feel organic which can be hard with Harb. I think we as players play off each other pretty well. We all didn't comment on the plot reference to avoid giving you the satisfaction.
Jeremy: With a smaller group there's more room to interact. The biggest positive is just getting back to the game. The work done between made the transition pretty smooth which has worked out well so far. Excited to see new group cohesion. Lot of questions still but glad we're back and headed towards the same goals for the most part. I got a ring Reg can wear (for Warding Bond).
Meg: There was no fighting this time - mixed bag. Nice introduction of the new character, thanks for the assist on the backstory delivery since my brain was fuzzy today. I enjoyed playing Lil for the first time. I picked up on the Hobbit references when you mentioned the names of the two scouts.
John: No combat on purpose for timing concerns. Expect a combat next session. I'm pretty pleased with the "distilled and revived" campaign. I'm glad y'all got a kick out of Reg - I had a lot of fun making that character. I feel like the "whole plot reference" not really being commented on was a bit of a letdown - I fully expected someone to start cussing at me. I totally filed the serial numbers off Thorin's Company. The reason for the whole thing stemmed from wanting a halfling with a beard - why did that happen? Maybe he's got a dwarf ancestor, and it's a bunch of dwarves... ok, this is just going to become Thorin's Company.
I think we covered both more time and more map distance than in a single session previously - hopefully that's an indicator of faster pace to come. We've been talking about Sunhaven for over 40 sessions now, and you're 90% there which is both exciting and a ton of work to do.
I'm glad the transition has been fairly smooth - lots of work went into that from both me and the folks changing or leaving.

Character(s) interacted with

Regizar Thunderbuck