Episode 3 - Mercenaries on the Road
An eventful beginning to a long journey...
After awaking in the morning, the gang reconvenes for breakfast and begin planning the day. They reconfirm their route and meet with Wilshen Coppers, the halfing who had requested their escort to the Shrine to Diprovius. Most of the gang spent some time doing some last minute shopping in preparation for their journey, while Necrid visited Greel at the blacksmiths to inform him that he will be away for a while. Greel offered to deliver the new mace via courier once the group was on their journey.
Escorting Wilshen, the group probed him for details about who he was and why he was travelling such a dangerous route. He explained he was a down on his luck farmer looking for some spiritual assistance, a truth of which the group was not convinced. Midway through their journey, the party stumbled upon a lone camper overlooking the ridge. The campers disguise did not fool Yedahlia however, as she quickly called him out and readied her weapon. 4 other bandits revealed themselves along with the 'camper', who went by the name Joe. Some tense negotiations ensued, with the group finding out that Wilshen not only owed money from a loan to a crime lord called 'The Samaritan', but he also stole 2000 gold from him. Although the party pondered giving Wilshen over for the reward money, they eventually decided to kill the bandits and take the bribe money anyway. A short amount of begging later, the party agreed to escort Wilshen the rest of the way to the rsst of the way to the shrine.
Upon their arrival, the gang quickly took payment from Wilshen and let him be on his way. The other visitors and monks of the shrine however, took immediate interest in the group – Arcim specifically. Approaching the head monk, Arcim found that his vegetable-laded visage was seen as a good omen by many of the visitors, a potential sign from the god of the shrine Diprovius, God of prosperity. Arcim was also approached by a mysterious elf woman named Deyn, who worked up in the Scarlett Trees. She was very interested in Arcim for other reasons...
The group was then invited by the head chef to assist in the preparation of the evening feast for the monthly Thanking Ceremony. They were tasked with collected as many Diprovian Bloom mushrooms as they could from the garden maze behind the shrine. They were told that the mushrooms brought peoples consciousness closer to the ethereal planes where the gods reside, though the effect was very strong when the mushrooms were raw. Arcim found some mushrooms by a wishing fountain, and also tasted the water (it was bad). Yedahlia took some berries from a small vineyard, the vines of which turned out to be magical and attempted to grab onto her. She was able to quickly dispatch of them and then head to another part of the maze that held a small burrow. Inside she found a pile of mushrooms guarded by a crab, with which she was forced to do battle. After defeating the crab, Yedahlia claimed her prize of mushrooms, and also found a small ceremonial dagger. Lyra found a magical butterfly sanctuary, where the butterflies surrounded her with a gentle blue and orange glow. They then fluttered away, drawing on her memories to show her lost love, killed in front of her by her parents. Finally, Necrid stumbled across a small fey garden tended by a fairy caretaker named Florna. She gave Necrid a bit of info about the dangers of the Glynwood, and then helped him find some more mushrooms. The group then reconvened with all the mushrooms they collected and returned to the chef, who was very pleased with their haul. Yedahlia also kept one mushroom for herself. Arcim assisted the chef in preparing the stew, while the rest of the group took some down time and met some of the people around the shrine. They then joined in the Thanking ceremony in the evening, and retired for the night.
The following morning, the gang was asked to escort a caravan to Pioneer's Stride. They gladly accepted as it was on their way, and set off in the two carts towards their destination. Along the way they were attacked by hobgoblins on horseback and pseudodragons, another unusual pairing of creatures. After a bloody fight in which Arcim and Yedahlia were knocked out, the party prevailed, shortly before arriving in Pioneer's Stride. They recovered briefly, dusted themselves off, and prepared to explore this settlement.
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