Session 14: The Voyager

General Summary

Our party found themselves back within the village of Morose after the battle with Father Ajax. The party would spend the early hours of the morning tending to their wounds, and caring for the body of their dead friend Cleetus. The villagers had begun to transport their dead from the ruin, removing the masks and robes to reveal just simple and humble peasants, ensnared within the machinations of Mehrunes Dagon. The remaining villagers, led by Johjin, prepared the dead for the last rites to be said over them and for them to be transported to their ancestral halls. Nami, the pregnant woman and friend of the party offered to help preserve the body of Cleetus while they travelled the rest of the way to Skaven by casting the spell Gentle Repose, a blessing from Morwha. Steve would suggest to Johjin to perhaps consider offering the Reiklings within the Temple of Morwha a gift of food to aid them in the reconstruction efforts. As the party began to collect their belongings, Knight Sister Solaine let the party know that due to the lack of men and a local government (The Mayor lay amongst the dead) that it would be wise for herself and Theodane to return to Sentinel to send for a contingent of soldiers, magistrates, and officials to help snuff out any more Mehrunes Dagon worshippers and to help keep the peace. She would meet the rest of the party in Skaven.
With their cart restocked and the Knight Sister and Theodane departed, the rest of the party consisting of Steve, Jonus, Havem, Aethrondil, Peeeeeen-Ja and Darius would set a course for Lainlyn, the next village along the road to Skaven.
The first three days would pass uneventfully. Havem and Aethrondil would spend a part of the first few days hunting a rhino to help fill one of the common soul gems recovered in Morose. They would also spend some time crafting and working on various potions from the components discovered in their travels so far. Steve spent his time meditating on the past events, and hoping to gain some more awareness of the world around him. As the party traveled, Havem would admit to Steve and Aethrondil, what had really occurred during his hunting trip. Havem was chosen by the Worldskin Satakal to become his Avatar in Tamriel. Havem mentioned that he spent a lot of time in the desert, hallucinating and receiving visions from the Worldskin, and also speaking with a few wandering priestess’ in the desert who confirmed his role. He also said that he underwent a shedding, shedding his original skin and growing the new brilliant pattern he has now. The tales of Ouroboros in the past spoke of a hero who was either destined to save the world, or destroy it and Havem was this era’s Ouroboros. This confirmed what Prince Phastos and the Priestess of Satakal had warned of, that Satakal had begun to stir in his primordial sleep, however it was still unclear as to what it was that had caused him to slowly awaken. Steve and Aethrondil would comfort their young friend, reassuring him that they would figure out what all of this meant together.
On the fourth day of travel, the party would find themselves traversing rocky cliffs and mesas between the sands of the Alikr. The terrain was slowly shifting, making it difficult to travel quickly. Aethrondil would notice that part of the mountain began to stir, and in the nick of time was able to notice a massive Duneripper burst from the mountain. A fight would ensue, and Aethrondil’s camel would be slain during the melee with the two dunerippers. Steve remembered that he and Jonus had been asked to harvest Duneripper Plates by Larissa, the Bosmer Monster Slayer in Sentinel and so they would spend some time harvesting the Plates for their return to Sentinel.
As the day continued, the party began to look for a place to camp. As evening approached, the Party came upon a simple Inn built on a small plateau of the craggy mesas. It was an assuming inn called The Voyager, and stuck out as it was built entirely of wood and straw thatch, a common building material in Skyrim, but not Hammerfell. The Inn itself was perfectly maintained and clean, albeit empty. It was tended to by a bored, and somewhat aloof Nord by the name of Nokke. At the bar was a beautifully engraved bowl with a small sign that read “Tips Please” with another sign with the number 155, 263/1, 000, 000 on the back wall. Nokke himself was evasive and distant when queried about his inn. He was a Nord from Falkreath, a small hold in Skyrim. When pressed for more information he would never give any straight answer, and this put Jonus at an unease. Jonus would query if he had ever killed a man, at which Nokke became displeased by his rudeness and lack of manners. Jonus didn’t trust Nokke and as much as Steve and Aethrondil would push him to be nice to their host, Jonus couldn’t shake his feeling of unease.
Nokke was the perfect host, offering fine Hammerfell wine and a fresh Stew for the party to eat while the rested. The party would do a cautious sweep of the rooms, locking their doors tight and securing their belongings before heading to bed. The party would awaken feeling fully rested and healed from their injuries from the night before. The only catch being that Jonus was “Evicted” in the middle of the night, so he found himself lying naked outside of the inn without his belongings and zero recollections of the past 12 hours. Steve would find Jonus outside, fully nude, and staring confused into the distance. They didn’t appear to be in the same place that they were when they went to sleep, with the inn and their animals all now located high on top of the mountain cliffside, with the desert no where in sight. With Steve’s help, Aethrondil was able to pinpoint their location to being in the foothills of the Dragontail Mountains just north of Skaven. Slightly unsettled, but grateful to their host, the party would depart the Voyager, and contemplate the mystery of the Inn and its enigmatic Innkeeper.
As the party worked their way down the mountainside, they would come across a smoke stack sticking out of the ground with a simple wooden trap door hiding a cave system. Jonus would immediately recognize the smell of the stack being reminiscent of the smell of Moon Sugar while it is being refined. Throwing caution to the wind he would descend down into the cave to discover a group of Khajit and a small Tabby cat refining Moon Sugar in the den into its drinkable form, Skooma. Jonus would surprise the Khajit in the Den, offering to purchase the product from them. The Khajit located in the den would immediately become defensive, telling the party to leave lest they wish to fight. Seeing that a fight was unavoidable, the Party began dispatching the Skooma workers. After the majority of the Khajit had been slain, just a few would remain and surrender to the party. The party would investigate the rest of the den, pilfering various potions and alchemical components as well as an Alchemy Jug from the Moon Sugar refiners. They would also come across the Tabby Cat, who in fact was not a cat, but an Alfiq Khajit, a rare and magically inclined form of Khajit that takes the form of a house cat. The Khajit was named Ohmasha and she was the one who was truly in charge of this den. Sensing that her fortune had run out, Ohmasha offered information in exchange for her life.
She told the party that she along with her employees had been commissioned by an Unknown group to refine Moon Sugar that they provided into Skooma to sell to the Darkin Spectres based in Skaven. She did not know who her mysterious benefactor was, and she provided a distribution order to the party to see. The order also warned of The Gentleman, an unknown actor who had been disrupting Skooma shipments and sales in Skaven. Lastly, the order warned against failure, threatening retaliation should the shipment be raided, and was signed A.O.
The party would collect the order and the rest of their plunder before allowing Ohmasha to leave the Den unharmed for her cooperation. The party would depart and set a course for their destination, Skaven.

Report Date

23 Aug 2022