Kilwin’s Homecoming

== Arc Summary==

Before leaving Malino're, Erak tells the party that he's had another vision that he needs to investigate on his own. After some well-wishing, Erak and the rest of the party part ways. Kilwin also attempts to perform a ceremony of atonement for Slumberjack, but the ritual fails. Slumberjack thanks him for even trying, however. Reides says his goodbye to Wyrran, and the party heads west for Cowersby.

On the way to Laketon, the closest town to Cowersby, Kilwin confides his family situation to the rest of the party. He also asks them to avoid causing too much chaos in the village for his sake. The party's stop in Laketon is uneventful, and they arrive in Cowersby the next evening. Kilwin introduces the party to some of the people from his home life including Father Glasny, his mentor and father figure, and Eleanor, a paladin of Alethus who grew up alongside Kilwin. The party also gets to meet and pet a baby cow named Baskets. However, when Kilwin asks after another person from the village named Len, he learns that Len left Cowersby and there are now rumors that he's joined a group of bandits plaguing the road to the north. Although Kilwin seems to have a troubled relationship with Len, he's determined to bring him back and asks the party for their help in confronting him. The party concocts a plan to be purposefully ambushed by the bandits, although Kilwin requests that they avoid killing the bandits in case Len has bonded with them. However, the fight quickly turns bloody and two of the bandits are killed. Despite Kilwin's worries, Len is convinced that his turn to banditry was a terrible mistake and agrees to return to Cowersby, even though his parents have kicked him out and he has nowhere to stay. Back in the village, the surviving bandit is taken to Laketon for formal sentencing, while Len is sentenced to spend a year serving the Temple of Alethus. Len accepts his punishment as relatively light and is taken away with a promise to try harder in the future. The party then prepares to leave for Port Valor to finally confront Thorak, and Kilwin and Glasny bid each other a tearful farewell.

The party travels north to Port Valor, passing through Quadroad on the way. When they're about an hour from Port Valor and can see it from atop a hill, a blinding light envelops the town. The party realizes that the magic that killed Keras has been unleashed on a much larger scale and rush downhill to see the extent of what happened.

Session 36

 * Google Document (2-8-20)

The party meets with Erak at the inn to ask if he wants to go back to the cave where the hags made their lair. When they get there though, they see Erak already packed and ready to leave. He explains that he had another vision after we slayed the dragon, and he’s not sure what this one means. He thinks it’s related to his totems and he needs to spend some time on his own to figure it out. We all wish him good luck! Kilwin tells him we’re heading west to Laketon once we leave Malino’re, so Erak knows where to go once he’s ready. He also tells Erak to please stay safe. Reides tells him not to eat weird stuff off the ground, even though he probably will anyway, and Reides probably will too if he’s being honest. Marcyra tells him to just do what Kilwin would do. Erak says he won’t be totally on his own and pats Qbby. Kilwin tells Qbby to keep Erak safe. Qbby does not respond. Erak also has his Bag of Tricks though, and Kilwin asks Erak to say hi to the elk for him, and Marcyra asks him to say hi to any of the animals for her. Erak leaves the inn, does an okay backflip once he’s outside, and eventually leaves our sight.

Slumberjack goes shopping for rations. With Erak gone, the party almost immediately decides to let the elves of Malino’re deal with whatever is left in the cave. Marcyra briefly entertains the idea that there could be a lot of money behind the mirror door, but Reides convinces her that there’s plenty of money in less stinky places. Marcyra says we’ll tell the elves fuck them and we’re leaving, but Kilwin gets distressed that she wants to be that rude. Reides backs him up, and Marcyra accuses them of being rude for ganging up on her. Reides says it’s different because they’re just friends giving her a mildly hard time. Reides wants to shop for healing items and buys a Potion of Healing at the festival grounds. Before the party sets out, Kilwin asks Slumberjack if they’d like to try the ceremony of atonement while they still have inn room access so they can do this privately. They agree, so he very awkwardly excuses them both and they head back to the inn. Reides and Marcyra think something weird is going on! Reides says it can’t be too bad since Kilwin is involved, but Marcyra points out that Slumberjack is also involved. Reides jokes that Kilwin and Slumberjack are having an affair, but tries to pretend to be serious about it. Marcyra thinks this is absolutely hilarious and rolls with it, while struggling to keep a straight face. As Marcyra says they’ll have a beautiful life together, Jorah appears behind them and asks who’s going to have a beautiful life together. Jorah didn’t think we were planning to stop in Malino’re and spent days looking for the party around Laketon. Marcyra said she didn’t want to stay and help, but the rest of the party insisted so she did like the good person she is! Reides explains the gist of the hag situation and also tells Jorah that he got to go on a date with a cute guy. Jorah is more confused than he was to start with, and asks who’s having a happy life then. Marcyra and Reides tell him their theory, and he says he wouldn’t have expected that! They tell him they think Kilwin and Slumberjack are trying to keep it private, and Jorah questions how they know about it then, but they point out that Kilwin is just extremely obvious about hiding things. Jorah suggests heading to the tavern and getting some alcohol to forget about this. Whatever Kilwin and Slumberjack are doing, they’ll have a room! Marcyra says it can’t be anything too freaky if Kilwin is involved, since he’s vanilla. Reides gets offended about her calling Kilwin vanilla on Kilwin’s behalf, but Marcyra clarifies that she’s very proud of him actually.

Meanwhile, in an inn room, Kilwin tells Slumberjack to get settled since Ceremony takes about an hour to cast. He speaks some incantations about how Slumberjack has strayed from their path but regrets their actions and seeks atonement. He invokes Alethus to guide them in their redemption, but the ceremony fails. Slumberjack asks if they’re supposed to feel something, and Kilwin apologizes because the failure was on his end. Slumberjack takes their mask off and very genuinely tells him not to apologize because this is the most anyone’s ever tried to do for them. They thank him and tell him that he’s given them hope because someone thinks they’re worth caring about. They admit though that they won’t pay him back for the spell components because money kind of confuses them. Kilwin’s fine with that! He promises that he’s not giving up and there’s more things he can try now. He can break curses now, and while he thinks Slumberjack’s situation is more complicated than that, it’s an easy thing to try. He also tells Slumberjack that if they’re comfortable with describing their guide to him in detail, they try contacting their guide with Sending. Slumberjack would rather not though, at least not until the party is much stronger, since that would call the guide’s attention to all of them. Slumberjack says they’re willing to die in this process, but they don’t want anyone in the party to die because of them. Kilwin agrees to table that idea for now, but he’ll keep trying with other spells! Slumberjack also tells Kilwin that he’ll learn from the ceremony going wrong, and the next time he has to do an exorcism or something, he’ll have gotten this out of the way. Kilwin apologizes for making Slumberjack cheer him up when they’re the one who’s dealing with the heavy stuff, and Slumberjack just tells him not to tell anyone because it’ll ruin their reputation. He agrees to keep it their secret.

While the ceremony is progressing, the rest of the party gets some drinks. Jorah gets Reides to tell him about the hag situation in more detail. Jorah is mildly horrified that we’re such trouble magnets. Marcyra complains about Counterspell some more, and Reides tells Jorah that he’s a sharpshooter now. Reides jokes that he’s coming for Jorah’s gig. They end up agreeing to a crossbow shooting competition, and Marcyra volunteers to judge. They all go outside, and Marcyra casts Prestidigitation to make a small target appear on a tree. Reides’s shot comes closer to the bullseye than Jorah’s, and Jorah immediately requests best two out of three. Reides teases him a bit about being a sore loser, but agrees. Reides’s second shot misses the target but hits the tree, but Jorah misses the tree completely. Jorah wonders if he’s drunker than he thinks he is, while Marcyra is inconsolably shocked. Reides tries to reassure Jorah that he’s still the actual ranger and offers to do the third round just for fun, hoping to give Jorah some of his confidence back. Reides wins the third round too. Jorah is immensely distressed and says he needs to practice his aim more. Marcyra tells him it’s okay that he’s not the arrow boy anymore, because he can still be the dog and forests boy. Jorah says he’s genuinely scared to bring Julius on adventures anymore though, since she almost died in the dragon fight. Reides says that Julius can hang out with Pepega during fights, but Jorah’s not sure how well that would work. Reides wants a prize for winning the archery contest, so Marcyra gives him the onyx she picked up near the beginning of our adventures.

The group returns to the inn. Jorah wants to spy on whatever Kilwin and Slumberjack are still doing. Marcyra follows him upstairs from a distance, but Reides stays behind because he wants to respect Kilwin’s privacy in return for Kilwin not spying on his date. As Jorah approaches the door, he steps on a creaking floorboard. Inside, Kilwin hears it and figures someone is stopped outside the door, but manages to maintain his concentration. Slumberjack doesn’t notice anything. Jorah hears Slumberjack asking if they’re supposed to feel something and immediately leaves before Kilwin and Slumberjack have their heartfelt conversation. He’s absolutely convinced that Kilwin and Slumberjack are having sex and feels terrible for Kilwin. He tells Marcyra and Reides what he overheard when they ask. Marcyra and Reides still don’t think there’s anything going on between Kilwin and Slumberjack, but they have literally no idea what they think this is. Jorah buys a glass of milk to present to Kilwin as consolation. When Kilwin and Slumberjack return to the rest of the party, Jorah apologizes for eavesdropping. Kilwin is very confused by this reaction and worried that Jorah knows about Slumberjack now. He asks what Jorah overheard. He thanks Jorah for the milk, though. Jorah says he understands the experience of not being able to fulfill your obligations and that he sympathizes. Kilwin says it’s fine, and that he was just helping Slumberjack with something but it didn’t go well. Reides and Marcyra stare into their drinks, desperately wanting to know what’s going on here, but not wanting to pry. Jorah reassures Kilwin that new relationships can be rough, and Kilwin is just wordlessly confused. Reides tells Kilwin about the archery contest. Kilwin tries to reassure Jorah that we can have two arrow boys and sometimes, you just have a bad day! He and Jorah just have to keep trying! Slumberjack watches all of this unfold in muted horror.

As the party prepares to set out, Reides mentions that he needs to say goodbye to Wyrran. He approaches the guardpost (with the rest of the party watching at a distance), where Lianthorn is on duty. He’s very happy to see Reides and asks if he’s back for more. Reides says it’s nice to see Lianthorn, but he’s really here for Wyrran. Lianthorn goes inside the guardpost and comes back shoving Wyrran out. Wyrran protests that he was coming anyway! Reides tells Wyrran that he and his friends are getting ready to leave. Reides also tells him about how he won an archery contest! He points out Jorah to introduce him to Wyrran. Wyrran reflects on the fact that Reides is a mage and suspects that Jorah might not be a very good ranger and mentions that they always have training classes in Malino’re. Reides might pass that on! Wyrran tells Reides to be safe out there. Reides is sure he will be, especially with the charm that Wyrran gave him. Wyrran is very modest about this! Reides wants Wyrran to have something to remember him by, in addition to Winston. Wyrran tells him he really doesn’t have to, but Reides takes out the turquoise he’s been holding onto for ages. He gives it to Wyrran, and Wyrran gets out a string and loops it around the stone, turning it into a necklace. He puts it on and thanks Reides, saying he’ll remember him whenever he looks at it. Reides wants him to also remember to be confident and that he’s cool and strong and needs to laugh more whenever he sees it! Wyrran promises he will. Reides admits he’s really bad at goodbyes, so he tells Wyrran that he’ll see him around! Wyrran hopes he will. Wyrran and Reides tell each other to stay safe and share a big hug, and Wyrran and Lianthorn wave goodbye as we leave Malino’re behind.

After three days of travel, the treeline starts to thin and the party members without darkvision can see without using Light again. After another day, we leave the forest behind and can see plains to the north and scattered trees to the south. Another day passes, and we see a huge lake to the south, along with the mountain range that Bastion lies beyond. During our travels, Reides continues backing up his spellbook, and Jorah practices with his crossbow during the nights when everyone is resting. It doesn’t go well, even when Kilwin notices and quietly casts Bless to try to help Jorah’s aim. After a total of 12 days of travel, we arrive in Laketon! It’s roughly the same size as Quadroad. It’s a lake fishing village, so there’s tons of docks. It’s clearly not a rich town, even though it’s fairly large, but the people seem to live by their own means and help each other out. It reminds Kilwin of home! He uses Sending to let Glasny know that he and his new friends are coming and receives a response. Kilwin also realizes that he hasn’t really told the party much about Cowersby, so he sits everyone down to tell them. He explains that it’s a small place, and otherwise a lot like Laketon. He lives at the temple and grew up there, and he’s been expecting that he’ll go back to stay and become a priest. Marcyra says this makes sense! Kilwin says that he’s in the middle of traveling for a year to learn more about the world, since he had never left Cowersby before. Reides is really excited to meet Kilwin’s dad! Kilwin clarifies that Glasny isn’t technically his father, which baffles Reides. Kilwin has never met his biological father, at least not knowingly! Marcyra sagely acknowledges that it happens. Kilwin mentions he’s also never knowingly met his mother. Jorah incredulously asks if Kilwin met his mother when he was born. Kilwin assumes so, but he was a baby, so it’s not like he remembers it. He was also a baby when he was left at the temple, which is why he grew up there. Jorah says “Oh,” which is more of the response that Kilwin was anticipating. He says it’s fine though! These things happen, and he thinks he turned out fine. Jorah still doesn’t really like the idea of parents abandoning their children, though. Marcyra decides we should talk about something else and asks Kilwin how long he’s been traveling. His journey started on Winter’s Dawn 8, which is his birthday, or rather, the day Father Glasny found him, so that’s also when he’s expected back. Reides asks if there’s a lot of cows in Cowersby, and Kilwin confirms that there are and Reides can meet one. Kilwin mentioning his birthday makes Jorah realize that his own birthday passed while we were traveling to Laketon. Reides and Kilwin are distressed that we missed it without doing anything for him, but Jorah is fine because he doesn’t usually celebrate it anyway.

We approach the lake and Reides is visibly moved by the sight of a large body of water. He wades into it and discovers that there’s a lot of plant life in the lake. The bottom feels like very comfortable slime. It reminds him of things! Jorah comments that he’s never actually made it down to Laketon before, and Kilwin says that he actually hasn’t either, even though it’s so close to Cowersby. It’s weird to him now! Beyond the lake are the Barrens, a very dry, lifeless area that gets very hot, but doesn’t cool down at night. Past that is marshlands where Bastion lies, and far to the south, there’s a jungle area that’s largely uninhabited. Reides also realizes that this is the farthest he’s been from the ocean in his entire life.

In Laketon proper, there’s a lot of hawkers selling hand-caught fish and handpicked herbs. There’s not much adventuring gear or signs of blacksmiths’ stores, although there’s probably people who can do blacksmithing in town. Compared to the other cities we’ve visited, Laketon is low tech, and magic items are either extremely expensive or impossible to find at all. The guards’ equipment is fairly rundown, and the guard itself seems like a militia, comprised of regular peasants armed with pitchforks. The two guards watching the entrance to the city don’t take much notice of our approach, possibly because it’s the main way to get from Malino’re to Quadroad. As we enter Laketon, Kilwin asks the party to please be cool if any conflict comes up in Cowersby. Jorah asks him to define being cool, and Kilwin says he means not getting into fights. He expects everything to be fine, especially since most people there are fairly open-minded, but admits that some people can still be jerks, and if anyone gives them trouble, he’d really appreciate it if they tried to talk it out! Kilwin offers to talk to them, if anything! While Laketon has festivals sometimes, there’s generally not much of a crowd in the marketplace where the party shops for rations. Kilwin tells the party that there’s really only one inn that’s also a general store in Cowersby, and it’s run by someone named Laucian. He asks them to please not be mean to Laucian. The party notes that Kilwin seems very nervous about this! Kilwin admits he is, because a lot has happened since he left home! He hopes everyone still recognizes him. Reides is sure they all will! Kilwin mentions that he didn’t have a beard the last time they saw him, and Reides and Marcyra just cannot process this. The rations that the party finds in Laketon are seafood-based, which gets Reides excited. In the marketplace, Kilwin keeps an eye out for someone he knows, but he doesn’t see her. We spend the night at the inn, since it’s getting fairly late. It’s rundown, but still pretty comfortable! Jorah attempts to detect unusual entities within the city, but doesn’t sense anything.

The next morning is Bloomshower 21st, which is the 70th day of our journey. We travel for another day, and we begin to see squares that delineate farms and dots on the horizon that seem to be some kind of creature. As we get closer, we realize that they’re cows! As the sun starts setting, we pass by some fences holding in lots and lots of cows. Reides is fascinated by the cows and shocked that they’re so big. Reides wonders if he can ride one, but Kilwin and Jorah tell him it’s a bad idea. Reides will settle for being able to feed a cow, and Kilwin says he can ask around and see if there’s a farmer who’s willing. Reides is very excited! Kilwin wants to visit the Temple of Alethus first, although he tells the rest of the party that they can head over to the inn and get settled if they’d like. Slumberjack wanders off, but the rest of the party decides to go with Kilwin. The temple (and Cowersby in general) hasn’t changed much since Kilwin left, if at all. In fact, not much has changed in Cowersby since Kilwin can remember. The temple is comprised of a main hall with a few extra rooms for things like lodgings and a classroom for the village’s children. At the front of the main hall, there’s an elderly gnome standing on a stepstool. He looks up from the book he’s looking at and doesn’t initially recognize Kilwin, but when he does, he welcomes him home in a surprisingly powerful voice for someone so small. Kilwin tells Father Glasny that it’s great to see him! He introduces Reides, Marcyra, and Jorah, and Glasny tells them to be comfortable while they’re here! Glasny also suggests that Kilwin introduce his new friends to Mother Honora. She’s at the Nervous Turkey, the inn-store combination that Laucian runs, so the party should be able to meet when they’re getting rooms for the night. Kilwin plans to show his friends the Nervous Turkey and get them set up before coming back to the temple to fill Father Glasny in on his adventures and sleep in his own bed.

The Nervous Turkey is an interesting building, with multiple signs hanging out front, some of which are in pretty bad shape. Some are barely hanging on, while others have been hastily repaired. Like the inn in Laketon, it’s rundown, but in a comfortable way. As we enter, the elf behind the counter looks up and welcomes Kilwin back, noting that he has a beard now. Laucian is an extremely nervous man and he stammers a lot. Kilwin asks where Mother Honora is, and Laucian tells him she’s still in the general store section. Kilwin also tells Laucian that his friends will need to stay for the night, and Laucian says it’s one silver per night. Reides asks Laucian if he has milk, which he does for 5 copper per glass. Reides buys a glass, but he’s never had milk before and suspiciously examines it for a bit. Kilwin reassures him! Reides is sufficiently reassured and drinks the milk! Honora, a human woman in her late 60s, finishes her shopping and approaches the party. She welcomes Kilwin back, although she openly hates the beard and wishes he’d shave it off. She briefly pinches his cheek as he suddenly has a little crisis. She approaches Laucian’s counter with bags of foodstuffs and tells Kilwin that she’ll see him back at the temple and they’ll talk more. As she places a bag of coins on the counter and leaves, Laucian watches Reides drink the milk. His stomach gurgles, but otherwise he suffers no ill effects. He mentions that it makes his stomach feel fuzzy, though! Jorah checks the milk for poison, but it’s clean. Kilwin and Laucian try to explain that some people can’t drink milk without getting sick, and Reides might be one of them. Tritons don’t really drink things underwater, though, so Reides’s body just isn’t prepared to process milk at all.

While the temple has a training area and stables for the paladins, the paladins themselves have their own homes. The clerics and priests, on the hand, live at the temple. Kilwin walks back to the temple on his own, reflecting on how little has changed. He sees some farmers returning to their homes. When he arrives at the temple, Glasny and Honora are waiting for him. Kilwin tells them that his friends have settled in, although Reides tried some milk and didn’t seem to take to it. He seemed like he’d be okay, though! Glasny says that the tritons he’s met before were also very curious about milk. Kilwin is surprised that Glasny has actually met a triton before Reides, and Glasny explains that a few came to the temple in Falas while he was training there. Kilwin tells him he’s been to Falas now, and Glasny asks what he thought of it. Kilwin admits he was overwhelmed, but he thought it was very nice. Glasny says that it’s a little ostentatious, which can be nice, but doesn’t really serve a purpose to Alethus. Otherwise, Kilwin admits a lot has happened! He asks if Glasny received his letters, which he did. Kilwin says the revenant situation is technically under control, since Tyrian is kind of in his backpack. Glasny needs a little bit of time to process this before asking Kilwin to explain it a bit more thoroughly. Kilwin briefly explains what happened with the Broken Crown, starting with Slumberjack getting attacked at the pub, defending Reides’s killing of Tyrian and blaming Tyrian’s return on some kind of dark force, and ending with Tyrian being placed in the Bag of Holding. Glasny still needs some time to process this, and Kilwin admits that it’s hard to take in and sometimes the whole situation doesn’t feel quite real to him. Glasny admits that he’s been worried about Kilwin, especially with what he’s heard from the north. There’s tales about more and more orcs gathering near Port Valor, and the situation is becoming dire. Kilwin tells Glasny about Keras and how the party was hoping to head back to Port Valor to try to get the orcs to knock it off, but he says he’ll let the party know what Glasny’s heard. Glasny admits all he’s heard is rumors, but that the merchants passing through have definitely been talking. Apparently, Honora almost dropped the dishes when she heard what’s been happening in Port Valor, not to mention the murders that have been happening. Kilwin is maybe a little suspiciously quiet about these murders! Glasny and Honora are just worried about him, though. Glasny admits that sometimes when he looks at Kilwin, he can’t help but see the little boy left on the temple doorstep, but that Kilwin has grown into a fine man. Glasny also tells him that the beard suits him and that Kilwin should ignore Honora. He assures Kilwin that they won’t let her do anything, which makes Kilwin nervous, but Glasny is just kidding. He also tells Kilwin that he’ll support any decision he makes. Kilwin says he still has more adventuring left in him, and Glasny tells him he wouldn’t expect him to make a decision any earlier. He offers Kilwin his library, so Kilwin takes a book from Glasny’s study and does some reading before going to bed.

Session 37
It’s a beautiful Cowersby morning and the sound of cows mooing wake up Kilwin in his room at the temple. Honora is making breakfast and gives Kilwin a glass of milk, telling him he looks like skin and bones. He thanks her for the milk! Kilwin says good morning to everyone and everyone responds except Evin, a teenaged half-elf currently in the temple’s care. She ignores him. Everyone at the temple sits down to eat breakfast, including a priestess named Ellana and Evin, and chats about the day, except for Evin, who just quietly picks at her food. Kilwin asks how everyone is, and Honora says it’s been the same old, same old. There’s been no new arrivals, which everyone is happy about. The food is good, more or less as Kilwin remembers it. Eleanor, one of the people Kilwin would want to see, is at the paladins’ training grounds, so Kilwin heads over there after finishing breakfast.
 * Google Document (2-29-20)

The training grounds are right around the corner from the temple. There’s two people there, Crys, an older paladin who’s in charge of the paladins in Cowersby, and Eleanor, a younger paladin around Kilwin’s age, who wears armor very similar to the armor that Kilwin wore originally. Her face brightens when she sees him and she pulls him into a big hug, staggering him slightly. Their armor clangs together pretty loudly. Eleanor tells Kilwin he looks great and wants to hear all about his adventures. Kilwin says a lot has happened and there was a dragon and some orcs, and also he made some new friends! Eleanor is very excited to meet them, but a little nervous to ask Crys for permission to leave. She gives them a nervous glance, and Kilwin just asks them directly. They look up from sharpening a sword and say Eleanor can have the day off since Kilwin is back. Eleanor is excited! Kilwin also takes the opportunity to return his old chainmail and shield to Crys, since they loaned them to him. Crys asks if he’s outgrown them already, and Kilwin wouldn’t call it that! Crys is just kidding around, though. They appreciate Kilwin returning his equipment, and Kilwin tells them it kept him safe. Kilwin asks if Crys wants to meet his new friends too, but they say it’s best if they stay here just in case something happens. They’d be interested in meeting the party if they come by the training grounds, though.

Kilwin and Eleanor head to the Nervous Turkey and meet with the party just as they’re finishing breakfast. Kilwin handles introductions, although he notes that Jorah must be sleeping in or have wandered off somewhere, and that Erak isn’t there either. Marcyra lets the hell word slip and then asks if it’s okay to do that. Kilwin tells her that Eleanor probably doesn’t mind because she’s said worse. Eleanor admits she doesn’t mind! She asks if anyone in the party has ever heard Kilwin say curse words, and Reides and Marcyra immediately lie and say he swears all the time. Kilwin gets very distressed because that’s not true, and Reides immediately admits he’s just kidding. Slumberjack says he breaks curses though, but Kilwin admits he hasn’t really done that either yet. Still, they respect the attempt! Eleanor whispers to Kilwin that his friends must be driving Laucian crazy, and Kilwin whispers back that he specifically told them not to be mean to him. Marcyra is offended that Reides ended the Kilwin swearing ruse so quickly and insists that she’s the most trustworthy person here, and then immediately tries to change the subject by asking Eleanor what she does and what’s the most exciting thing she’s killed. Kilwin thinks that’s a rude question! Eleanor tells Marcyra about a ghoul attack. Kilwin is extremely worried, but it turns out it was just one ghoul a few months ago. Marcyra is still satisfied with this story! Eleanor tells Kilwin she can take care of herself and offers to prove it in a sparring match, for old time’s sake. Kilwin knows she’ll be fine and that he just worries, but he agrees since it might be fun. He admits that she’ll probably beat him again though.

The party follows Kilwin and Eleanor to the training grounds, where Kilwin and Eleanor swap out their regular weapons for wooden practice ones. The rest of the party cheers Kilwin on. At first, neither of them can land a hit on the other, but Kilwin eventually manages to bonk Eleanor on the head. She sticks her tongue out at him. She gets him in the ribs and her weapons shines with divine light as she smites him. She tells Kilwin that she hopes he didn’t expect they were doing this without magic. Kilwin has no response! As the fight continues, Eleanor keeps gaining ground. Kilwin notices that she hasn’t really learned how to hold back still, but her fighting style is more refined from Crys’s lessons. The spar ends, as it usually does, with Kilwin getting knocked on his ass. Eleanor helps him back up and asks what he wants to do next. He tells her that he told Reides that he could probably pet a cow and asks if her sister would be willing. Eleanor is pretty sure she would! She still has the day off, so she goes with the party.

Kilwin leads the way to Roslyn’s farm, but Eleanor is the one who knocks on the door. Roslyn hugs her and Kilwin, once she sees him. She asks what he’s doing here and he explains that Reides would like to pet a cow, since he’s never seen one before yesterday. He’s from underwater! Roslyn takes a moment to process that Reides is blue, and Reides is a little offended. He mentions that some tritons are green, and Roslyn has met a green person before. Reides shows her his gills and offers to let her touch them, but Roslyn passes. She says that her husband, Stuart, is tending the cows, but it’s fine if we go around the back and pet some. Reides asks if he can ride one, but Roslyn says that’s not good for them. Reides is a little disappointed, but accepts this. As we walk back to the cows, Reides gently fumes about his interaction with Roslyn. He wishes Erak was here because he’d touch Reides’s gills. Once we approach a cow, Reides is intimidated by how big it is. Marcyra suggests looking for a baby cow and almost immediately spots one. It’s with its parents, but the cows are pretty docile, so Kilwin doesn’t have much trouble convincing them that we’re not here to hurt the baby. Reides pets the baby’s head and is instantly charmed. He asks if it has a name, but Eleanor isn’t sure what it is, so she goes to get Stuart. When she comes back, Stuart remarks that we found Baskets. Everyone loves Baskets very much. Kilwin asks Stuart how things have been, and he says the cows have been healthy and he and Roslyn have both been good. Kilwin is glad to hear it! Reides asks what the cows eat. Stuart says it’s mostly grass and that Reides can feed Baskets if he grabs some and holds it out to him. He demonstrates, and Reides gives a try. Baskets sniffs his hand before munching on the grass. He moos and Reides moos back. Stuart finally notices that Reides is blue. Reides is a little nonplussed because of his interaction with Roslyn. Stuart asks if it’s a problem, and Reides immediately admits it isn’t! Reides says he would die for Baskets and wants to bring him with us, but Baskets is not cut out for the adventuring life and has to stay here. Reides gives him a little kiss between his eyes, and Baskets wags his tail. Stuart invites everyone to stay for lunch if they want. Reides wants to, but explains that the last time he drank milk, it made him feel fuzzy. Stuart tells him he might be lactose intolerant, as Glasny calls it. Eleanor is still shocked that she has the day off, but Kilwin convinces her it’s fine and she stays too.

Inside the house, Roslyn acts slightly miffed that she has to make five extra meals now. She’s just teasing Stuart, though. She gives everyone a serving of vegetable stew and breaks out the fancy bread for company. As Kilwin thinks about what to do for the rest of the day, he admits there’s something that he’s not sure he really wants to do. He asks how someone named Len is doing anyway. The table immediately falls silent. Reides and Marcyra are very confused, but keep eating that fancy bread. Kilwin learns that Len left Cowersby after one night when he had too much to drink and got kicked off his family’s farm. Kilwin is very concerned and asks if he’s okay. Apparently, Len was last seen in the company of some bandits. No one really wanted to tell Kilwin about it because they knew he’d worry. Glasny also took it really hard. Kilwin says he’ll keep an eye out for Len on his travels. He asks about Harry, one of Len’s friends. Eleanor says he’s getting by, but he was upset when he found out about Len and tried to go after him with Crys, but they didn’t succeed. Eleanor and Crys can’t really leave the village for long, so Eleanor really appreciates Kilwin saying he’ll look for Len and try to convince him to stop the banditry. He was last seen to the north of Cowersby, which is the direction the party was going to head anyway. Eleanor pats Kilwin on the hand and he thanks her. She thinks he’s sounding very solemn! Reides thinks it’s a solemn moment and doesn’t really totally get what’s going on, but he thinks it sounds sad. Kilwin confirms that it is sad.

As the party and Eleanor leave Roslyn and Stuart’s farm, Reides and Marcyra ask for more details about Len, since they have no idea who this guy is. Kilwin hesitates to say anything bad about Len considering what happened, but explains that Len grew up with him and Eleanor. He had a tendency to cause trouble and was kind of a jerk! He had problems at home that Kilwin admits he doesn’t know the full details of. Eleanor is also a little reluctant to say her opinions about Len, but she says he was a bully when they were growing up, and he never really changed up until the point where he left. He had one lesson in swordplay with Crys, and he’s been using what he learned there to rob travelers. Kilwin clarifies that the reason Len only had one lesson was because Crys wouldn’t let him come back. He admits to being a little glad that he and Eleanor didn’t have to spar with him. Eleanor wouldn’t have minded beating him senseless though! She tells Kilwin that he might have to do that for her now. Kilwin doesn’t really want to, but tells her that if it comes to that, he’ll tell Len she says hi. She’ll take it! She also mentions that Len already hates Kilwin anyway.

Kilwin returns to the temple to privately ask Glasny for advice. Trying his best to not actually identify Slumberjack, he explains that he’s met a fallen aasimar in his travels whose guide compels them to kill. He thinks that helping them either cope with or banish their guide is the best way to stop them from committing more murders, and he’s hoping that Glasny might have some insight as a more experienced cleric. Glasny suggests that Slumberjack’s guide might not be a true guide, especially since fallen aasimar usually lack them entirely, but is likely some other entity posing as their guide and misleading them. He’s not sure what it could be, but its power must rival a deva’s. He thinks he’ll need to get more information and do more research to figure out what it is if it’s not a deva. Glasny agrees and asks Kilwin to keep him informed. Kilwin says he will. Glasny also says that the only way to free this aasimar from the false guide will probably be fighting and subduing it. Kilwin mentions that he’s heard this false guide is terrifying from someone who’s seen a lot of terrifying things, so he doesn’t feel prepared to fight it just yet. He hopes that he and the rest of the party will be ready someday, though. Kilwin also tells Glasny that he heard about Len and asks if he knows anything else. Glasny regretfully doesn’t know much more than Kilwin’s already heard, but he feels that he should have seen the signs that something was wrong much earlier and done more to help Len. He blames himself for what happened and says his teachings failed Len. Kilwin doesn’t think Glasny should blame himself, and he’s determined to find Len and, if not bring him back to Cowersby, at least convince him to stop doing this. He learns that the bandits that Len is with tend to hang around about a day’s travel away from Cowersby, robbing travelers. Since Kilwin is a traveler now, he thinks maybe Len will even just come to him! Glasny says that Kilwin can do it if anyone can. Kilwin is a little less sure, but he has to at least try his best! Glasny tells Kilwin he’s a good man, and Kilwin just says he learned from Glasny. Glasny jokes that Kilwin doesn’t need to stroke his ego. He asks if there was anything else Kilwin wanted to discuss privately, but Kilwin thinks that’s it for now. He’ll be in touch, though!

Session 38
Back at the Nervous Turkey, Kilwin is eager to get back on the road to see what can be done about Len. Jorah walks out with a bottle in hand, not really sure what’s going on. Kilwin explains that he met up with some old friends, Reides got to pet a cow, and that we learned that someone Kilwin grew up with left the village and is currently hanging out with bandits. Jorah complains that we pet a cow without him, so Kilwin offers to go back, but Jorah says he’s good. Reides wonders if Jorah would be more interested in seeing a giant cow, which he’s pretty sure would exist somewhere on the surface. The party agrees that we can leave to find Len right away. Reides calls him Kilwin’s friend, and Kilwin gently corrects him. Marcyra suggests that he’s Kilwin’s ex-lover then, which Kilwin emphatically denies. Jorah is surprised that Kilwin would put Slumberjack aside so quickly. Kilwin is very confused, until Jorah tells him that he’s sure Kilwin and Slumberjack are having sex. At that point, Kilwin is mortified. He denies it, but gets very flustered and has trouble finding the words for what they weren’t doing. He explains that when they disappeared for a while in Malino’re, he was helping Slumberjack with something private that he doesn’t think they’d want him to share with the rest of the party right now. This convinces no one of anything. Jorah’s not sure why he’s trying to hide it, because he thinks it’s kind of cute! Kilwin desperately wishes Slumberjack was there to back him up.
 * Google Document (3-7-20)

The party moves on to discussing how to approach the bandits. Kilwin asks the rest of the party to avoid killing any of the bandits, and they pretty much instantly agree, with varying levels of enthusiasm. Reides asks if they can maim the bandits. Kilwin would prefer they didn’t! He’s sure they’ll have to fight at least some bandits and do some hits, but he says killing or maiming might cause some problems here! Jorah offers to play bait by dressing up in the fancy clothes he wore for the audience with the emperor so that he looks like a useless noble. Marcyra considers wearing her fancy clothes, but thinks that obviously being a tiefling might give the game away. Reides says she could’ve worn the fancy clothes for the cows. Marcyra can’t believe she didn’t do that! Jorah leaves to get changed, and Kilwin decides to head back to the temple to let Glasny know he’s heading back on the road. Reides tags along, but Marcyra would rather not go to a temple of Alethus if she doesn’t have to.

As Kilwin and Reides arrive, Glasny and Honora are finishing a sermon. After the sermon ends, the villagers begin to file out (many of them exchanging greetings with Kilwin), and Kilwin approaches the pulpit. He tells Glasny that he’s checking in before he heads out again to look for Len. He’s not sure if he’ll be able to actually bring him back, but he’ll definitely at least find a way to let Glasny know what happens. Glasny thought he would be leaving again soon and has faith that Kilwin can bring Len back. Kilwin hopes he’s worthy of that faith, and Glasny says “Always, my son.”

Back at the tavern, the party hashes out how they’ll attract the bandits’ attention. Kilwin is concerned that Len might recognize him immediately and decides to use the Cloak of Elvenkind to try to camouflage himself. Since the road to the north mostly goes through plains and becomes less verdant as it approaches Quadroad, the party won’t be able to hide and make it seem like Jorah is traveling alone. Reides and Marcyra consider playing his bodyguards, but Reides really wants to use his Hat of Disguise. He considers disguising himself as a really useless-seeming bodyguard, but he’s worried that the bandits will attack him up close then. He suggests disguising himself as Jorah’s wife, but Jorah doesn’t seem to like the idea, so Reides backs off. Kilwin suggests that Reides could pretend to be Jorah’s sibling, but Jorah is mostly concerned that Gin is too old to carry two people. Reides is very light, though, so Jorah gives him. Reides has never ridden a horse before, and Jorah hopes Gin doesn’t kick him, but Reides is confident he can take it! Marcyra casts herself as an aloof bodyguard who’s just in it for the money, while Reides develops the character of Sabrina, a blonde noblewoman who loves fancy things and jewelry and is just married to Jorah for the divorce money. He hates her! Jorah says he’ll need to act like an idiot, so he’ll just do what he normally does.

The party travels for a day before anything significant happens, passing a few well-guarded trading caravans. Kilwin travels behind the party, moving fairly stealthily for once, and Marcyra walks in front of the horse. We enter a section of the road that’s free of travelers, where the path is rocky and there’s cliffs on both sides that would make it difficult to escape to the east or west. No one is surprised when we hear a gruff voice say “Get ‘em” and two bandits jump out. Kilwin also spots a third figure sitting up on the cliffs who looks familiar. The figure draws his sword and Kilwin recognizes Len. Len’s focused on the rest of the party like the other bandits, so Kilwin sneaks up an incline to stand behind him and tells him they need to talk about his career aspirations. A fourth bandit appears from the other side of the path. Reides throws off his hat and yells “Fuck you, Sabrina!” before casting Mage Armor. Marcyra starts regretting taking the role of bodyguard as the bandits focus their attacks on her. Len says there’s nothing to talk about and calls Kilwin a choir boy, but only lands one of his two attacks. Kilwin quickly heals Marcyra before admitting that he doesn’t know what Len’s really been through, but he knows he’s better than this. He refuses to attack. Len says Kilwin could never understand him, and starts to get frustrated that he’s having trouble hitting Kilwin. Kilwin says he knows that Len’s parents have been jerks and that Len’s been a jerk because of that, and admits that that made him not want to understand more at the time! He doesn’t think that means they can’t start talking now, though. One of the other bandits tells Len to finish Kilwin up already and throws a dagger that hits Kilwin. Meanwhile, Marcyra intentionally kills the bandit she’s fighting with her magic. Len apologizes that the time for talking has passed and fails to hit Kilwin again. He puts his sword in the ground and leans on it for a moment since he’s starting to get winded. Kilwin is upset and alarmed about the dead bandit, but decides he should keep his focus on Len. He apologizes for not talking earlier and tells Len that Glasny is beating himself up about this. People are worried about him! Jorah, starting to get badly injured, shoots another bandit in the head at close range, killing him. Len doesn’t think anyone in Cowersby will want him back after what he’s done, and also admits to being mad that even when Kilwin’s parents abandoned him, he just got set up to be a perfect cleric. He doesn’t think he can go back anymore, and doesn’t really want to spend the rest of his life surrounded by cows anyway. As Kilwin thinks about what to say to him, Len says he’s confused why Kilwin is still trying to save him after everything that’s happened. He starts to tear up. Kilwin puts his hand on Len’s shoulder and tells Len he cares because Len’s still a person. He’s a little concerned at this point though that his friends are killing Len’s friends (and he is now very much hoping that the bandits aren’t really Len’s friends now because two of them are dead). Kilwin was hoping this wouldn’t happen and thinks he should probably intervene now! He offers to come back up the cliff to talk more, if Len’s okay with that. Reides stares in shock at the dead bandits and can’t collect himself to attack. The last bandit tells Len to get off his ass before knocking Jorah off his horse, unconscious, and also taking out Marcyra. Len tells Kilwin that ever since that night at the Nervous Turkey (and Kilwin knows which one he means), he’s felt awful, and the fact that he’s just been getting drunk and sleeping on carts while Kilwin has been traveling the world and helping people makes him feel worse. He didn’t even want to join the bandits really, but it happened really quickly. He’s determined to do something right, though, and offers to help Kilwin save his friends. He jumps down the cliff and rushes at the last bandit, but misses both of his attacks. Kilwin says that he was more worried about Len’s hypothetically friends when he said that, but they can do things this way too! He follows Len down the cliff, heals Marcyra and Jorah, and also fails to hit the bandit. The bandit calls Len a rat and hits him, but Len manages to hit back harder. Eventually, Jorah, who’s more or less flailing Quickbrand at this point, hits the bandit in the gut, knocking him out and accidentally sparing him. Kilwin attends to the bandit’s injuries to make sure he doesn’t die from them.

Len explains that when he left Cowersby, he was ambushed by the bandits and joined them to try to save himself. The whole time he was just deluding himself that he wasn’t making a mistake and that he’d make a fortune off his sword. The sword is kind of rusty and Len admits he doesn’t even really remember where he picked it up. Jorah locks the surviving bandit in manacles, which he has because he is a bounty hunter. Jorah doubts there’s a bounty on him, and there’s no jail in Cowersby, but there’s probably one in Laketon. Kilwin apologizes to Len in case he bonded with the bandits, though, and says he didn’t want this to end so bloodily. He is pretty upset with Marcyra and Jorah! He’s glad that killing the bandits didn’t make Len refuse to listen to him, but he tells them they will talk about this later! Jorah claims it’s too hard to shoot someone close up and not hit them in the head. He wasn’t really committed to sparing or killing the bandits though, and Kilwin can tell this. Marcyra just does finger crossbows and smiles. She claims this as “not making excuses.” Kilwin is still upset with them.

Reides asks Len if he got to see him pretending to be a fancy lady. Len admits that once he saw Kilwin, he kind of blocked out everything else. Reides puts the Hat of Disguise back on to show off Sabrina again. Len is taken aback and asks if this is Kilwin’s magic. Kilwin explains that Reides is a wizard! Marcyra is a sorcerer! Actually, now that Kilwin thinks about it, everyone he travels with can use magic. Len thought that magic attracting magic was just a saying, but apparently it’s true! Len’s not really sure what he can do now. Kilwin offers his room at the temple while he’s not using it, although he’s not sure Len would be comfortable there and suggests seeing if Harry will let Len stay with him while he figures stuff out. Len doesn’t think the Alethus life is right for him, but admits that asking Harry might not be a bad idea. Reides suggests moving to Stardew Farm and finding work there, and Len’s not sure about that but he’ll think about it. Len asks Kilwin if he knows what happened the night he got kicked off his parents’ farm, and Kilwin admits he doesn’t have the details- just that Len got drunk and got kicked out. Len explains that he drank a lot one night and fell asleep on his family’s cart. When he woke up, the cart was overturned and all of the stock had been taken by looters. He doesn’t think anyone will want him working for them after that. Kilwin admits that’s not ideal, but it could have been worse! He’s not going to try to push Len into staying in Cowersby forever, but says that people there are worried about him and will be relieved to see that he’s safe and no longer living a life of crime. Jorah chimes in that he had to leave his home and couldn’t go back, and that you always wonder. He doesn’t recommend it. Reides thinks it’s Len’s life and none of us can really make a decision for him. Ultimately, Len agrees to go back to Cowersby with the party for now. Kilwin asks if he’s ready to go, and Reides answers instead, but it’s very charming.

Session 39
The party sets up camp away from the site of the fight with the bandits. Kilwin is notably a little colder to Marcyra and Jorah than he normally is. Len sits by the campfire with his arms wrapped around his knees, watching everyone. Marcyra is eating very nervously, and Reides is just drinking some soup. Jorah approaches Len and offers him a drink from his canteen. It’s whiskey, so Len hesitates before saying he’d better not, but he’ll take water if Jorah has that. Jorah needs to get the water from his saddlebag, but he brings it back. He admits he doesn’t really know what’s going on with Len, but he wishes him luck in explaining this whole thing to his family. Len thinks that ship might have sailed and that they probably wouldn’t want to see him, even before all this. Jorah says absence makes the heart grow fonder! Also, he tries to warn Len away from life on the road, because it’s not a fun place to be. Kilwin sits next to Len and tells him that he’s not going to force Len to stay in Cowersby (and gets on a tangent worrying about if he already said that or not). It might not be the best place for him! Len admits that there could still be something for him in Cowersby that he hasn’t thought of. Kilwin reassures Len that people were mostly worried about him, so people will be glad he’s back. He does admit that Eleanor wanted him to beat Len up, though. She’s concerned, but not happy! Len says he could lie and say Kilwin gave it to him, but he doesn’t think Eleanor really expected Kilwin to beat him up. Len admits he’d have many reasons to punch him though! Kilwin admits that there’s about twenty years worth of reasons, but he’s met worse at this point! He’s willing to move on! Len is both alarmed and concerned at the prospect of someone worse than him.
 * Google Document (3-28-20)

Reides begs us to discuss the elephant in the room, what’s the deal with all the murder! Kilwin says he didn’t really want to do it in front of Len, but he’ll do it now. He’s very upset with Marcyra and Jorah because he specifically asked them not to murder these people, and then they did! They both claim it wasn’t intentional, they just were worried about dying and stopped trying to hold back. Marcyra says she wasn’t trying to kill the guy, but she wasn’t trying not to kill him. Kilwin is not reassured by this statement coming from the person who throws fire at people, which tends to default to deadly. She says she was panicked, and Kilwin confront both of them on their panic mode reaction being murder. Marcyra points out that she’s been solving problems by killing people for a long time. She brings up that time she tried to stab a guy, no questions asked, when we didn’t know each other very well. She thinks she’s making progress! Kilwin says he had reasons for asking them to refrain from killing anyone, but it’s not like anyone bothered to ask him what those reasons were and just agreed. He assumed that was enough! Kilwin would like to travel with people he can trust to not do murder when they say they won’t do murder! Marcyra and Jorah bring up their concerns about being killed first, and Kilwin asks if they don’t trust him to heal them then. Marcyra says logically she does, but in the heat of the moment, she wasn’t really thinking about it. Reides was mostly worried about how this would impact Kilwin and Len. Jorah tries to interrupt, but Reides tells him to shut up. What if Kilwin got so mad that he left the party! What if Len was friends with the bandits and would refuse to come back peacefully! Kilwin chimes in that this was the concern. Things worked out, so Kilwin will be able to move on from this at some point, but he’s still upset. He asks when the last time was that we fought without killing anyone. Marcyra brings up the night we stayed at the Traveler’s Boon, but Kilwin points out that Jorah shot Festus in the eye with a crossbow bolt and killed him, even if Donatello did escape. Marcyra concedes this point. Reides points out that Kilwin has spent his whole life training to be a priest and that he’s willing to compromise his morals from time to time for the sake of the party, whether it’s actually doing things he’d normally hate or just looking the other way. Reides says that the rest of the party should be more willing to try to behave for Kilwin’s sake (and that Marcyra especially needs to be willing to be more flexible), especially since he heals them and is also very strong and buff. He squeezes Kilwin’s arm to prove the point. He also says that maybe Marcyra and Jorah could apologize at the very least. They both do, and Marcyra says she’ll keep trying harder to be a better person. Kilwin admits that that’s probably the most he can really ask of them, although he also says that the next time he asks them to not murder someone, if they’re confused on why, they should just ask him. Marcyra says she can do that!

Kilwin apologizes that Len had to listen to all of that, but Len says it’s fine. Kilwin asks him what he thinks should happen to the surviving bandit. Len says that Eleanor could probably take him to the authorities in Laketon. Jorah asks how long the bandits have been at it. Len admits he’s not sure. He didn’t really try to make friends, and mostly sat by the campfire by himself and listened to the other bandits talk about the awful things they’d done. He didn’t like them! He thinks they probably have decent bounties on them, even accounting for the probable exaggeration. Jorah mutters that he’s not really making him feel bad about the murder thing here. Kilwin says he can live with the results, but it’s really about the principle of it. Jorah can respect that! We divide up the watch order: Jorah, since he doesn’t think he’ll sleep anytime soon anyway, then Reides, then Kilwin, then Marcyra. Kilwin says it’s best that Len get to sleep through the night, since he’s had a very weird day, but Len is already passed out.

In the morning, Len sleeps later than the rest of the party, but the other bandit is starting to stir. Marcyra gently pokes him with her foot. He complains about the pain in his head and asks where Felix is. Marcyra taunts that Felix is dead. Kilwin is very mad at her! Jorah is a little taken aback too. Marcyra tries to phrase it more nicely, but Jorah is pretty sure you don’t get to just redo that. The bandit asks if we took Len’s body with us, but Marcyra and Kilwin clarify that Len is fine and just sleeping. The bandit passes out again, and Marcyra calls him rude, but Kilwin points out that he was not the rude one in that exchange. Marcyra admits this is a fair point. Kilwin checks on the bandit and determines he’s probably picked up some brain damage, but should pull through okay. Reides wants to keep him, but no one else thinks that’s a good idea or even legal. Reides also asks Kilwin to never leave, or least take him with him, and Kilwin says he won’t leave. Len wakes up half an hour after everyone else and comments that they got up early. It’s kind of the regular time for everyone else, but Kilwin says it’s fine and Len didn’t really sleep in too much! Len admits that his sleep schedule has been kind of weird since living with the bandits. Jorah ties the bandit on top of Gin to stop him from hurting himself more than Jorah already has. Marcyra gives Julius some pets, and the party heads back to Cowersby.

The next day, as the party approaches Cowersby proper, Len starts getting more visibly nervous, wringing his hands. Kilwin tries to reassure him that he will be fine and people were worried, so they’ll be happy to have him back. Literally a minute later, we hear a shout and a flash of metal runs past us. Len is on the ground, and Eleanor is standing over him, with her fist smoking slightly. Kilwin incredulously asks if she smited him. Eleanor is very startled and swears it wasn’t intentional, as she notices the smoke coming from her hand and tries to shake it off. Jorah and Eleanor help Len up (Eleanor out of remorse). A welt is already forming on Len’s face and he’s caked in dirt, but he admits he deserved that. Eleanor comments on the bandit we brought back with us. Kilwin explains that we captured him, and Len thought he should be taken to the authorities in Laketon, so that’s the plan there. Eleanor asks what Kilwin thinks should be done with Len. Kilwin starts detailing the plans he had for Len either staying with Harry or even borrowing his room while he figures out what to do, and begins to realize that he had not contemplated Len facing consequences for banditry. Eleanor suggests bringing Len to Glasny and Crys because he needs to get some form of punishment for this. Kilwin brings up that Len helped us with the bandits by the end and that, while he did do it, he didn’t necessarily want to. He suggests getting Glasny and Crys together so that Len only has to have this conversation once. Eleanor leaves to get Crys, while the rest of the party walks to the temple. Kilwin asks Len if he wants him to heal the welt Eleanor left, but Len says he’ll keep it.

At the temple, Glasny is shocked to see all of us and rushes over as fast as his legs will take him. He’s very glad to see everyone safe, noting that Len seems to have come here willingly, and asks what happened. Kilwin gives him the short version, admitting that there’s only one bandit with us because things got messier than he hoped. Glasny remarks that the rumors are true. Eleanor brings Crys, and Kilwin gives them the same rundown of what happened. They say this can’t go unpunished. Len did banditry, even though it seems that it was coerced. Kilwin vouches that he was. It’s determined that Len will spend a year serving at the temple with Glasny, in an attempt to make things right. Eleanor will take the other bandit to the prison in Laketon. Len is fine with this and wants to do whatever he can to make up for everything he’s done over the years, not just this. He pointedly looks at Kilwin when he says this. Jorah makes a joke about Len getting sentenced to execution, and Kilwin is not happy about it. He tells Len that this sounds good though, since it’ll give Len some time to work out what he wants to do after this. Len knows he might not be able to fix all the connections he’s broken over the years, but he wants to try now, like someone else he knows. Kilwin thinks he’s making a good start! Reides points out that Len can make new connections to, like how he knows Reides now! Jorah mentions that, once Len’s year at the temple is up, the orphanage in Atemcester always needs hands, as does Stardew Farm north of Quadroad. Kilwin mentions that it’s not safe to go north right now, because of the orcs, but guesses that’s a moot point since that should be resolved by the time Len would be traveling anywhere. Jorah tells Len to find Julia in Atemcester or Pandora in Quadroad if he’s interested. Len thanks him for the tip before he’s sent off with Honora to be fitted for vestments.

As Crys and Eleanor take the other bandit away, Kilwin asks for a moment to talk with him alone. He apologizes to the bandit for the death of his companions and says that he didn’t intend for any of them to die. He’d like to have talked with all of them like he did with Len, and he’s sorry that things happened like they did. The bandit spits on the floor and tells Kilwin to bring them back if he’s really sorry. Kilwin admits he’s not really powerful enough as a cleric for that yet. The bandit just wants to get out of this place, so Eleanor and Crys take him away again. Kilwin doesn’t feel great about this interaction, but he’s glad he started it anyway. He admits that he could have brought one of the bandits back from death, but he was worried he might end up needing the spell components for one of his friends. He also asks Marcyra to use her magic to clean up the spit. She’s got him! Glasny approaches the party, since he couldn’t help but overhear. He tells Kilwin he doesn’t need to be so hard on himself, since we don’t always have control over the things that happen. What matters is what we do in spite of those situations and who we are in the face of them. Kilwin thanks him and promises to keep those words in mind moving forward. Glasny takes the opportunity to ask when Kilwin is planning to head north, so he can say his goodbyes. Kilwin asks the rest of the party what they think, and they leave it up to him. He admits we should probably head out as soon as we can and not leave the orc situation alone any longer than we already have. Glasny says he’ll miss Kilwin, even though he knows he’s coming back. Kilwin will miss Glasny and the rest of Cowersby too, but he’ll be back for sure. Glasny pulls Kilwin into a hug, which Kilwin bends down to return. Glasny pulls back slightly, and he’s beaming but there’s hints of tears in his eyes. He pulls Kilwin back in and tells him that he’ll always be proud of him, and Kilwin thanks him for everything he’s done for him so far. They hug for a while longer before Glasny steps away and starts heading back to the pulpit. Reides shouts after him that he’ll take good care of Kilwin in the meantime! Glasny turns back around and the party sees that he’s openly crying now, but still smiling. Kilwin promises he’ll be back!

The trip to Quadroad will take 7 days, and it’ll be an additional 12 days before we reach Port Valor, so we stock up on supplies at the Nervous Turkey before we head out. The trip to Quadroad is uneventful, since the bandits have been cleared out. We reach Quadroad on Sunpeak 2 and stock up on supplies again. Jorah realizes that we forgot to collect the bounty on the bandits. Kilwin asks if he’s having money trouble, but Jorah is fine, he’s just mad we forgot about it. On the way to Port Valor, we keep our eyes out for orcs or their tracks. Jorah finds some traces of them, but none of us see the actual orcs. We do pass by a number of travelers and caravans heading south, though. We learn that a lot of refugees from Port Valor headed north to Hwen and Davenport, but lots of people are still there. One day, we start rounding the hill to start traveling downward and we can see Port Valor from a distance. Then, it happens. We all feel a sudden, deep sense of dread and stop in our tracks. We see a pulse move through Port Valor with a bright light in the center of the city. No one is sure exactly what happened for a moment, until we notice leaves falling from the trees in heaps and remember the sight of Keras falling from the cliffside and the face of his corpse. After a moment, Kilwin starts running toward Port Valor, with Marcyra close behind him. Soon, we’re all making our way downhill as fast as we can.