Session Recap 10-17:

General Summary

Session 10: Midnight Deals

After returning from the orc territories of the east, the party received payment from Moris Mooney. He offered them another job soon after: protect an exchange of goods and transport it to a secondary location to hand off to some associates of his in Ashkaya.
The initial trade turned out to be a trap, and a battle quickly ensued. The party killed the attackers, but alerted the town guards in the process. They fled the city of Raven's Beak and took a boat down river towards their meeting location. In the process, they were attacked by The Black Wolf. He warned Adresin Sanveen that the Moonspeaker was looking for him, but decided he would rather finish the job he'd started than take him to the Children of Runis.
The party escaped and took the cargo to Ashkaya, where they found Mooney's associates.

Session 11: Leave No Trace

The exchange was made between the party and two individuals, a man named Guthrie Rozin and a woman named Blair (who's names they learned from a friend later). They were given a box and the pair left. In the box was a Deep Gnome ranger named Bulwin. He had hidden away in the box on a quest of his own. Why he was handed off to the party is unknown.

The party returned to the city of Raven's Beak to tell Mooney that the job was complete. They snuck back in, noticing an increased guard presence of The Erias Accord and Order members.
Upon arrival at Mooney's, the party found the place to be empty. The only trace was a note.
Then, there was a knock at the door. Yerso Brenkar , the merchant who they had begun their journey with, entered. He said Mooney had to leave in a hurry and that the party should leave too, as guards were approaching. Yerso reached to shake hands with Adresin Sanveen, who killed him to cover the party's tracks.
The party then followed their ranger friend out of the city. He had a quest of his own: to deliver an egg back to its mother. However, deep in the forests of Brymstone, a nightmarish creature attacked: a Wendigo. The party was able to dispatch it without taking too much damage.

Bulwin managed to return the egg and later bid farewell to the party, who followed Zin'fir as he headed into the forests he once knew.

Chapter II Begins...

Session 12: Fugitive Wayfaring

Leaving Raven's Beak behind them, the five adventurers trekked through the forests of the Eldertide. After their close encounter with the werewolves, the group decided they needed to mask their scent. Zin'fir guided the party, who eventually found an old ruin nearby. The place once held ceremonial gatherings and old incense was within. Guarding the door however, was a Shambling Mound. The party fought back the creature, but not before it managed to swallow several party members. They slayed the beast and freed their allies from within.
Inside the ruin, they discovered the body of a mage. Searching revealed him to be a member of the Visitors. It seems he died within the temple through some strange magic that burst from within his chest. Nearby was a blueprint or schematic that listed spell components.

Session 13: Coin Is Coin

The party took a quest from the leader of the city of Ekesta . They were to wipe out a camp of Hobgoblins who were occupying a nearby castle and had made several threats and attempted raids on the city before. They scouted the castle and entered. The battle was not easily won, as the Hobgoblins were well prepared and outnumbered the party.
They managed to fight through and wipe the camp out. Heading back to Ekesta, they were rewarded in magical gear from the town vault. Later, they learned of an approaching Orc horde from the east via an animal message from Zin'fir's ally Bylrin Brol, The Voidsoul. They decided to leave in a hurry and head south toward Aspengarde, where they hoped the city walls would be enough to deter the orcs.

Session 14: Strangers in the Night

While sitting around the evening campfire, the party hears a man approach. The man, Kadel, asked for the party's help to travel south through some underground tunnels. It would keep them off the road and out of harms way from the pursuing Orcs. The party agreed and followed Kadel.
The tunnels were partially natural and partially carved, forgotten ruins of a past civilization. They resembled the tunnels of Betz's home. After stopping to mine some Shadow Steel, the party arrived at a passageway marked "Trial of the Will". Upon entering, they first found themselves in a cold stone circle of broken stones and dense fog. At the edges of the fog were streaks of black. Adresin , Kadel, Kavoth(now using the name "Tasio", and Gonrey all passed through the stone circle into a staircase, while Zin'fir and Betz investigated the blur in the mists. Pushing deeper within, they found a being of shadow, surrounded by ravens. The creature warned the pair that great evils lie on their journey ahead, but that the two seemed pure of heart and shouldn't fret.
The next chamber was revealed to be a long bridge over an endless ocean of black water. In the distance, two creatures approached.

As the party began to run toward the doorway at the end of the bridge, the two creatures began to rise out of the water, pulling up a tidal wave with them like a curtain. Before the wave could reach the party, they passed through the door and found themselves safe, just on the other side of the archway marked "Trial of the Wills".
Later, Kadel found his prize. In a large chamber, illuminated under a beam of sunlight were the gloves he came to find. Guarding them was a Cloaker and a Fomorrian, which the party fought off. They climbed their way out of the cave and arrived at the first checkpoint for Aspengarde. They were given documentation that denoted the number of party members, affiliation, and possession of magic items. They began the trek toward the city as Aspengarde awaited.

Session 15: The Eyes of the City

Upon arrival in Aspengarde, the party was stopped and questioned once more. In order to match the documentation to the number of members, Zin'fir became a cockroach and climbed over the wall. Other members masked their identity with magical disguises. After some time on the road, the party was eager to enjoy the luxuries of civilization. Gonrey showed the party around the Crests and Brightway, using his knowledge of the city from his days as a merchant. Tasio's days as a street urchin benefited the party as he showed them around the Fogway district.

Adresin Sanveen and Betz got haircuts and new clothes. Kadel warned the party of a man who "may or may not" be out for blood, Sunkar the Marked. He said they should avoid him if possible.
The party eventually found the Mothwing, a tavern that Mooney had hinted at meeting at. It was there that they were able to regroup with him and fill him in on what had gone wrong with their previous job. Mooney was upset with his forced relocation and shattered network of contacts. Hoping to rebuild in Aspengarde, he tasked the party with finding a new base of operations. He wanted them to remove a gang, The Vipers, from a nearby safehouse which would become his new HQ.
The group obliged. Betz and Kadel scouted the place out, clearing a tower next to the building to prepare for the assault. Zin'fir entered his wild shape to blend in and get a glimpse at the rear of the building. Later that night, they prepared an ambush. The attack went smoothly enough, but unfortunately, it was done beneath a full moon. After clearing the building, 5 figures approached from the end of the road: werewolves.

Session 16: Blood Moon Rising

The wolf creatures quickly split into groups and attacked. Adresin took the largest of the 5, entering his own wolf form. Betz took up a position on the rooftop, while Tasio, Zin'fir and Gonrey all tried to keep their distance. The smallest and quickest of the wolves flanked the party, attacking Tasio and Zin'fir. Gon'rey blessed the party, which proved to be a cruicial boon as they began to lose blood and consciousness.
Adresin traded blows with Hyde-gar, the pack leader.
"I can't allow you to reach the Children of Runis. It's not in the cards I'm afraid. Tell me, was it you who killed Gralin Grasswood?" the wolf snarled.
Tasio and Zin'fir were forced to go on the defensive, throwing spells and backing up. Tasio took a near fatal blow, dropping to the ground. Betz leaped from roof to roof, trying to get clear to reload his rifle. The wolves were relentless. Betz was able to land a precise shot on Hyde-gar with a silver bullet, significantly damaging him. Adresin turned his attention to the other wolves, dispatching them one by one, and using his blood magic to puppeteer them as they fell.
Zin'fir was the next to fall, and Gon'rey scrambled to provide enough healing magic to keep Adresin standing. In between spells, Gon'rey used Toll the Dead to blast Hyde-gar with psychic energy. Tasio was fading fast, with Zin'fir not far behind. Adresin moved in close with Hyde-gar, fighting tooth and nail. With one final swing, he took out Hyde-gar at the knees, swinging again to behead him. As the enemies lied scattered around the street, Betz and Gon'rey moved to stabilize their fallen companions. They group rose to their feet and fled the scene, finding rest at the Mothwing.
Hyde-gar's one possession was a key for the Frothing Tankard, where the party went the following day to investigate. Inside were two letters. One was an invitation by High Priest Jossan to Hyde-gar, the other was a message from The Gray Shepard to Hyde-gar requesting that he kill Adresin.
After Mooney had finished moving in, there was a knock at the door of the Viper's warehouse. Mooney stood out of site, while Adresin answered. A woman, her face masked, entered. She said that the Viper's were on her payroll, and the group had just disrupted that flow of money. She demanded that the operation get back to running or else she would have to get involved. As she left, she dropped a rose on the ground.

Session 17: Honest Work

In need of some gold and awaiting a new quest from Mooney, the party split up in search of coin. Gonrey, Betz, Zin'fir and Tasio all took a quest in Stonebridge. Betz devised a plan to intimidate a local lord into treating his workers fairly after a workplace accident that claimed the life of a father and husband. Betz entered the home of Kenning Srenn under the cover of darkness. Zin'fir took the form of a horse, while Gonrey and Tasio waited on a cart out front. Betz incapacitated Srenn's attendant and ushered the group inside.
Gonrey and Tasio searched for anything of value while Betz went upstairs and kidnapped Kenning Srenn. Taking him back to Mooney's, he forced him to take some of the Feather (the Viper's drug) he had acquired. In between fits of drowsiness, Betz threatened the man, who eventually caved and said he would do anything. Betz knocked him out again and returned him to his home.
The group spent the next few days gearing up. Betz invested in a new rifle and Zin'fir in a new cloak, using parts of the Shambling Mound they had killed in the Eldertide forests. Zin'fir caught the eye of someone in a crowd wearing an Eldertide mask.
Taking one more simple job, they babysat the Archer's Target storefront in the Fogway while the owner was away. While hiding out inside, they witnessed Ritegrayer Moorhide, a member of the Order, as he led a raid on a suspected mage's home. A brief struggle ensued, but the pair of mages were eventually taken prisoner and dragged off.
Later, while clothing shopping in the Crests, the party witnessed one of the only public appearances of The Chosen as he was paraded through the streets.
Mooney had finally prepared the next job. If he couldn't get into the bank to get his money, then he would have the party intercept a shipment of coin, outbound for the town of Srenn. With a few days to prepare, the party readies a delicate heist.

Rewards Granted

Magic Items:

Rewards from Ekesta 

Steel Hawk Handaxe 

Coil Crook

Swiftslash Rapier

Satall's Payback Shield

Necklace of the Orcs Endurance

Given by Bulwin to Betz 

Bandolier of the Elements

Character(s) interacted with

Kadel 
Bulwin 
Moris Mooney

Yerso Brenkar was killed by Adresin Sanveen in the escape from Raven's Beak

Report Date

20 Jan 2023

Primary Location

Aspengarde

Secondary Location

Ekesta

Related Characters

• Moris Mooney
• Yerso Brenkar