GH 02 - "Talke of the Towne"
General Summary
Hello and welcome back to Phonic Fables - Green Hunters of the Dragon Queen Edition, a product of The Techno God, free to consume on World Anvil, Discord, and platforms like Spotify under Wizards of the Coasts’ Fan Content Policy. This journey is shared by myself, my Partner in Life, Katie, and some friends we’ve met along the way, Rachel and Jarod, who have given consent for their characters and tales to be shared here as well. This content is not official in any capacity, and is merely a rendition of stories Wizard’s IP has already published throughout the years. The foundation of lore from the books we use, mine and my players' creativity and passion, and little moments of spontaneity create this tale. With boundless joy, my scribing and reciting of these tales is something I am happy to share with y’all.
Session 01 Recap
When we last left off, the Trio had headed North into Neverwinter Wood, to an abandoned farm on its Southern edge, and discovered a Satyr and Sprite had taken up residence there. As they discuss and experience the two fey beings, they realize that the two fey have made off with a bear cub! Helping the baby bear, they came to call Burly, home to their cave, they also helped the fey collect an item they had lost near there. Just before departure, and as a present for their help, the capricious Satyr puts the party to slumber and harmlessly paralyzes Orlais for a time. While they were indisposed, Orlais saw another Dragon, and the party discussed dragons and their lauths, orcs and their warbands, and cults and their mass of followers that make their way across the Sword Coast. They make it back to the farm, then the trail to town, and as they head back to Phandalin, they feel… accomplished despite the bamboozling.Session 02 - “Talke of the Towne”
Late morning streaks through the trees that sit along the hilltop edge of the path, the trees nestled along its peak, cresting overhead to those that walk along the path below. Autumn had come, leaves were falling in tufts, but the evergreens in the Wood to the North, stood tall and royal in ways compared to these oft traveled trails that were less than maintained. As they finish the last leg of that trail that came into town, Oralis directs the others to take a moment, waving them over to one of the first buildings as one would walk into the outskirts of Phandalin. “Barthen's prices are as low as he is.” They walk up to and stop at Barthen's Provisions, where a friendly Halfling sits outside, feet propped up, and a hat veiling his face as much as the smoke that puffs from his pipe. Not looking up, his surprisingly gruff voice introduces, then quickly cracks. Something in his throat… he clears it and looks up after spitting out a wad of light-colored phlegm into the dust off the landing. Barthen remembers Orlais, from his time traveling around the area, and Reymira, from some mess with the Townmaster Harbin last week - something about ‘accidentally’ knocking over some of the town’s stables? Reymira would share little more than that, but as she left to look at more aisles, Barthen would go on to say, quietly, that he heard that she was a mean drunk, having been in town that night. Oralis met Barthen while stocking up for one of his expeditions with the Orc-folk of the North Hilted Hills. Zelana was new so he introduced himself by blowing a smoke shape of a person his stature bowing. The Halfling stayed outside the shop in his chair, set up near the door, next to a window that was open, folded outward towards him. It created a sort of shelf for him to check goods at and to take care of customers. Comfort was the name of the game, but not at the expense of service! Any questions asked were answered, and great deals were had - save for the grappling hook, which Oralis was able to grab the last one of at a premium cost. Subsiding their shopping at Barthens, the trio made their way towards the center of Phandalin. Zelana was unsure of where anything was, having not really done much looking around, setting up a place to sleep, or much else really - she realized she had some things to take care of and made her way towards the local inn, known as the Green Dragon Inn, she asks the others to meet her there and walks past a stumbling man who was on his way out of the inn - a brewery in his pocket.Prayers & Contemplative Stares
Orlais and Reymira stopped by the Shrine of Luck, so Orlais could make his homage to his deities of luck, fair winds, and whomever else - he had a lot of them. Reymira had yet to ask Sister Garele, the Elf that maintains the shrine, of rumors and happenings, learning of growing threats in the region, Reymira’s paranoia getting the best of her. As Oralis was conducting his prayers to the stacked-stone shrine, the two of them heard of a tale most troubling. West of the town, right along the coast, is an old stone lighthouse. Cobbled and cragged as it is, it still seems to lead ships to doom as if the proverbial moth being drawn to a flame. Misfortune for one, can be serendipity for another, after all! Not that Lady Tymora teaches that necessarily… Sister Garele implies that there may be great treasure lurking in the depths of those ships, or even in the tower itself - something is gleaming atop it after all, luring these ships to their watery graves. Orlais takes note of it on a scrap of parchment, one of many he keeps on his person, tucked away in one collective case. It hangs on his belt alongside his ambered jug. Sister Garele mentions she will be leaving town in a day or two, and answers all their questions about Tymora, and theology in general that she can. Orlais adds in some of his experiences with her blessings as an outlander, a sailor, and… starts to go further back but stops himself when his eyes meet Rey’s - whose interest in the Gods of the Multiverse were always somewhat of a pique at the monastery. Reymira’s soulful eyes brought Oralis back to the present, still not ready to share those scars. Sister Garele had told them both about the Goddess of Good Fortune aplenty though. Lady Luck, the Smiling Lady Tymora is the embodiment of good fortune in all its forms. The bright-faced goddess of luck and providence, as in, the bright face of the coin that flips. She is joined in the portfolio of fortune, by her sister Beshaba, known as the Maid of Misfortune, and in much the same way that Selûne and Shar combat over matters of light and dark, these two sisters feud over matters of favor. Tymora gives her gift of fortune with open arms and an open heart to those that pursue life with boldness and grace; as such, she is the patron deity of adventurers. Having gotten her fill of ‘god-talk’ in, something she hasn’t really been able to do since leaving the monastery last month, Reymira thanks the Sister and Orlais does the same. As they both walked towards the inn, at the crossroads of the town center and the dirt road that the inn sits on, the man with the brewery in his pocket had taken a tumble into a small bush. Neither of them reacted though and carried on towards the inn.Green Dragon Inn - "Aeri's Rush"
When Reymira and Oralis walk in, they are greeted by the music and voice of the Firbolg hostess and headliner Aeriana Grand. Enchanting tunes that simmer with magical accord, bursting with little bits of joy as they dance within each of their ears. They are only galvanized by the host of patrons that also pulsate with the sound waves of bliss. It is a sanctuary amongst those that live hardened in the shadows of the mountain, mining and delving deeper into the bones of the earth. This respite makes a difference in their lives, and Aeri understands that, putting it into her being for them and those that are ‘just passing through’ all the same. Orlais’ last time in town was about a month prior, himself, when the place was still known as the Stonehill Inn. He was curious to know the tale of what had happened, so as the music danced into notes and rhythms unheard of prior, Orlais found the old proprietor still… behind the counter? To the left of the door, wrapped around the corner, serving as the bar as well, Toblen Stonehill stood, and remembered Orlais much like Barthen did. He still had his room made up, and said that he would still be the one to talk to about such matters, the only thing that changed is that he gave “the bard” naming rights, as long as they played at least a fortnight per month. After some sussing out on Orlais’ part, Toblen quietly admits that she owns the Inn as well now, but they are indeed partners, otherwise. Reymira seemed to get heated after seeing someone in the bar area, but wouldn’t talk about it, as per usual. As Orlais and Toblen finish talking, the music, and time seem to slow as Zelana walks down the stairs to the right of the counter and across the room - but only to Orlais. It was like last time, when he reached for the card at the quest board, the flickering lights of the lanterns and candles alike glimmered off her watery skin and scales like gemstones. The Sun was the beacon before that made her look as though a rainbow to him, but also the path at its end, goal and journey in the same peripheral. Time sped back up to normal-time, and the music from Aeri’s stage finally spoke to him, making him weep for a few heartbeats before catching himself: and Zelana as she trips down the last step and he darts over in the last heartbeat to catch her. Well, he imagines that last bit in the throws of the musical embrace. Love, or its seeds at least, have certainly been planted. As Zelana steps up and hops up on the stool at the counter, she asks Toblen for an ale, and Sereena scurries out of her jacket's large cuff, keeping small as trained. She tells them that she got a room set up, asks if they saw the drunk man outside, and mentions that she ABSOLUTELY LOVES THIS MUSICIAN. As she starts to sip at a pint of Orlais’ ale, without asking, waiting for her own to come, she asks how the shrine was, and Orlais tells her about the Tower of Storms, as he scribed it on his parchment, enchanted by her agency. By the time he is done telling her every-single-detail, her ale, a replacement for his own, and a few others had come and gone. In between cheers for Aeri’s music and song, Zelana splits up into the crowd and engages with others from the town, making new friends within its resonance.Small Talke, Little Town
Reymira secured a table, instead, and set up there for the night, nursing her own ale, and trying to be a bit more reserved than last time after the words of the others earlier. That was until her friend Donnabella Fiasco arrived, however! Fi, as she is often known by, is a small, young Human woman, who had come home to Phandalin after failing out of Candlekeep’s Magewright program. She had some hunting skills and actually taught Rey how to make snares - that's where that rabbit that Burly enjoyed earlier had come from. As soon as Fi sat down, her demeanor, and paper Unicorn mask began to infect Rey and the two became lively drinking partners once more. As Fi told Rey about her run-in with “Smart Wolves” she told her about a Preserving Chest she got as a reward and said that she is welcome to store any small hunts in there to keep them longer. Of course, it’s at her mother’s house in town. Meanwhile, Zelana was chatting with a few locals, little bits of information about the town springing forth, its recent history of growing amongst the crags of yore, the fear of the dragon, and the presence of some Dragon Hunters that had taken the basement floor as their headquarters. Ultimately, she bonded with a man named Talon Thornwild, who had a penchant for prospecting that Zelana could not help but feel a kinship with as a fellow wealth-seeker. Oralis did stalk through the crowds after Zelana a bit, until she got into a chat with Talon. Working up some nerve, wringing hands, drinking a leftover swill or two of backwash of remnants of liquid courage, but alas, he was found breathless again, grasping at his Dark Ice Shard. He shambles back to the table where Reymira sits with Fi, and listens to the end of Reymira’s telling of the ‘Bear Escapade’. It sounded truthful, what he heard, yet a youthful, feminine voice echoed from the corner behind Reymira. “An Orc with honor, now I really have heard of everything. Maybe next time you’ll blow your war horn and take them all as supper. We all know that’s what your people really do.” Reymira bit her tongue, took another drink of her ale, encouraged by Fi to keep it up, but it wasn’t enough. She slams her fist onto the table, but just then Orlais stands up, resting his hand on Rey’s enclosed one, and retorts with the same boldness and fierceness he had imagined himself talking to Zelana with, “This Half-Orc, was being pursued by Those Up The Mountain, and just helped to secure farmland to keep you all fed next solstice. I deal with the Quintel Orcs of the North Hills that are peaceful protectors by nature. Who are you to lump her in with the rest of those that are the well-known extreme?” The blood rushed to Orlais’ head, and the adrenaline and fear intertwined with finding their voice in that moment - it made his foot shake a little under the table. The voice came from a woman - he saw her as he began to yell at her, slender and elvish as well, a Moon Elf he thinks, who has a slight scar under her left eye, along her cheek, and a large light-brown brimmed hat covering her forehead along with tufts of dark hair - the woman is speechless. Mouth agape, eyes at full surprise, seeing the words coming from a fellow Elf in that moment herself. Anyone else speaking the words would land their bellows as if to deaf ears, but Orlais’ resonance dances much like the music, and something stirred within the hostile Elf. She stood up and walked away upstairs in a hurry, uttering, “I am Iverna Nightbreeze, and you’ve given me a lot to think about before the next time I open my mouth.”Lunch Break | Errand Run
After they are done with their lunch rush, Aeri’s music subsides, and she takes a break. Tall as she is, she stems over the crowd like a tree and walks towards the counter to talk with Toblen. As she clears past the tidal wave of fans, Zelana among them, she stops at Reymira’s table and squeals in delight, “Reymira, my best friend, you’re back, how are you feeling after that bender? Still going on about that impending doom of the Sword Coast?” but before Rey has a chance to answer or react, the great lady sets down an ornate tree branch and grabs hold of the half-orc for a great hug, “Glad you’re okay after that Stable situation the other night!” Zelana is starstruck and the fact that Rey not only knows her, but is FRIENDS WITH HER, absolutely drives Zelana green with envy, little swirls sifting into her own watery form, making her teal look more jade. They all sat at Reymira’s table for a bit longer, and Aeri showed off her greatstaff that also featured intricate carvings that she used as visual aid for her stories. The one she shared with the group was about a folly that she had made, attempting to make Reymira feel better. The story, though more detailed in Aeri’s own words, talked about her attempt to save a nest of eagles atop a cliff, only to have to Featherfall off the side into a Giant Spider den far below! The web had ensnared them, and much like Rey, if she hadn't of been so large, the baddies might have gotten away with it! Rey lets out a little chuckle and feels an ineffable comfort in Aeri’s grand presence. Likewise touched by Aeri’s grace, Zelana and Orlais head out into the town to finish some errands. They turn in the quest for the farm, and split the earnings, as well as grab a few more quests to supply aid to the town. Among them: Umbridge Hill. Helping to check in and move an old lady and Acolyte of Chantea to Phandalin; Captain Zoud’s Dwarven Excavation. Dwarf prospectors hired by Captain Zoud are in need of some support… and a warning of the Dragon, Zelena recognized it as one of Zoud’s investments, and made sure to remove this card from the Quest Board; as well as Gnomengarde. A Local Gnome city is known to house many magical trinkets, as they’re made there. Harbin says he will offer money for usable ones the party no longer wants if they find any the Gnomes are willing to part with, that is… Zelana would use her earnings from this most recent quest to buy some extra daggers at the Lionshield Coster. She was in and out in less than ten minutes, where she had also asked the weapon merchant about taxes, tariffs, and other fees merchants might incur. As she left in as much hurry as she entered, Linene Graywind, the owner of the merchant’s space, met her with quite an impression as the Dragon-scaled Water Genasi that she is. She rushed back to the Green Dragon Inn, with a sense of urgency. Orlais, however, went back to Barthen’s and secured a few glass vials, some more length of rope, and a few more adventuring supplies, chatting with the Halfling and enjoying the smoke monsters emanating from their pipe. Barthen smokes so that Orlais can also play alongside him with his bird pipes, but not today. He had noticed something at the inn and needed to hurry back to see about it.Legends & Lore - The Lady of the High Road
Reymira remained at the inn, watching as Toblen ordered more locals to move about the chairs in the tavern area, offering them a round, and had her ear talked off by Fi, but was otherwise comfortable for the hour or so that passed. It was enough time for Aeri to rest her voice, grab a meal, and settle in for the next program. The others got back in time to hear the Legend of the Sly Green Serpent, where the Inn’s namesake comes from. People gather around, the chairs now set up to seat more like an oratorium, the stage at its center. The Dragon Hunters from the basement came up, straggling in and around the hallway at the top of the steps that turn out into the tavern. Not even 15 feet away from the trio they were, this group of four were clad in armor, wrapped in fine leathers, and shrouded under cloaks, but they did not give off any aura of enmity. They permeated purpose with ornate weapons, stillful gazes, and armors decorated with marks of battle and scars to match. These people were the real deal, a band of Dragon Hunters as a Human, a Wood Elf, a Halfling, and a… Tiefling. This was not the first time they had heard this tale either, yet there the four of them stood, listening with intent. Aeri walks up on the stage with her greatstaff tree limb. Some of the more striking images on the branch, strung together in a series: the first depicts a Dragon head with webbed spike plates running down its neck and back; the second housed an armored heroine and two groups of adventurers that she helped unite - she stands taller than both groups that stand behind her with her raised sword; as well as crossbones under a skull-shaped visage of the Dragon head from the start - depicted at the series’ end. The tale is of Azdraka the Green Dragon, the Dragon Barrow where they now lay slain, and the heroes, led by Lady Tanamere Alagondar who saved Neverwinter’s High Road from Azdraka’s cunning menace a century prior. She rhythmically taps the staff on the floor, and as she tells the tale, the story is embossed with the staff from Major Illusions, and Prestidigitation that bring the depictions to life on stage. A handful of other performers set the mood with low drums, and trumpet fanfare as the plot swells and wanes from the perils of the Lady and her fellow protectors. After the tale was told, the trio began to turn in for the twilight hour, the Dragon Hunters descended into the basement once more after studious claps - still processing parts of the tale, picking away at something in their brains. Zelana and Oralis stayed in the tavern learning of a rumor of a Shrine to the East. A Shrine of Savras, the God of Divination, and took in some music a while longer, though it was not as good as Aeri’s, that much is certain! Orlais had some time before his meditations would be needed for the day, and so, after the story time was over, he asked Aeri to train him on woodcarving. She was so overjoyous that he noticed her talent and touched by the way he had asked that she also gave him her pearl-handled carving knife, an oldie but a goodie, and a whetstone - his first lesson being to find the right kind of wood to practice on.The Storm Ebbs Closer
Reymira pitched her tent outside the town limits, atop a small hill. She spends time oiling her weapons, and some rusted tools she had gotten from the farm earlier, but is distraught as a great storm brews to the North. A direction and location too familiar to her, a Circle of Thunder hidden within the Neverwinter Woods. It would be the last time she saw her family, her brother, her father, and failed them as a tribe member. This location and tale are a secret she would keep even from her companions, but this was one of the few reasons the Anchorites would come down the Sword Mountain, aside from the raiding parties, She knew it to be there because there loomed the clouds and crashed the thunder just like before. Her mind manages to stay in the present this evening, but the threat cannot be ignored, and her paranoia only grows - the ritual was completed again tonight, that much is certain. Conversely, Zelana had never slept more soundly in her whole life, not even when Zoud first took her in, but then, he always was more of a father figure to her. With these two, she already could feel the comfort of kinship, connection… safety even. For the first time, despite the dangers looming around her, she felt truly safe and also knew that she was making a real difference, finally. Surely the several ales, music, and food had played some hand, but all she remembers before drifting to rest is warmth. The kind of warmth that a roof alone does not provide, the kind of warmth that cannot be imagined and only experienced until it melts you away into a cocoon of release with it. Orlais whittled away the hours as well as the sticks he had found under Aeri’s direction, practicing cutting thinly and deeply, but always away from him. His last act before rest was pressing his ear to Zelana’s door and hearing her snore as if a giant boar. A slight grin undertakes him, and he eases out a woeful sigh before heading down the hall a couple doors, being in the last door on the left. Disturbed by the cacophony of the tempest in his meditations, it seemed as little more than a run-of-the-mill lightning storm. In the morning, Talon would be waiting outside the Inn, living in town with his mother Hannah, and his brother Grady, he could make it there quickly, and Zelana had made promises. She pulled out the small hunk of gold Talon had shown Zelana the evening prior, a hand shake deal being made to take him along to the Excavation Site, as he had found the gold ‘just outside its boundary’. She did not tell him that Zoud owned the rights so he would, uh, likely see nothing from this trip, but if living as a ward of a Dwarf noble taught her one thing, it's that this is definitely not Fools Gold.Farewell, Fellow Adventurer!
Missions/Quests Completed
"Secure the Farm" Quest Completed
Report Date
05 Dec 2023
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