The Fall of Port Valor

== Arc Summary==

Session 40

 * Google Document (12-3-21)

The party is still 30 minutes to an hour outside of Port Valor when the blast happens, and we see other travelers who were ahead of us turn from the gates and run away. While Slumberjack makes an effort to move stealthily, Kilwin and Reides are too frantic and don’t bother. As they pass a guard tower, Kilwin overhears some frantic whispering inside that sounds like it could be in Common. He stops (and the rest of the party waits up) and asks if anyone is in there. An old voice asks who’s out there, and Kilwin introduces himself and says that hopefully they’re friends. The door to the guard tower creaks open and a face with a small gray beard peeks out. He says that they saw the light and saw merchants running away from the gates, but have no idea what actually happened. He and his companion, another guard, are reluctant to leave the safety of the guard tower. Kilwin explains what we know about the light and the Fireaxe Clan (more or less), but the guard says that can’t be because the Count took care of the orcs with help from the forces from Falas. We briefly discuss trying to close the gates to keep any orc forces inside, but decide to leave the gates however they are currently. The guard speaking to us, who is named Bellevue, thinks the blast didn’t cover the whole city, and that since the Temple of Alethus is on a hill outside the city, anyone there might be safe. Slumberjack thinks we need to check the city for survivors, but also to see what’s dead. Reides tries to convince Bellevue and the other guard to accompany the party, saying they should try to do something about this instead of just hoping it will go away. Bellevue’s death grip on the door loosens and he agrees, saying he needs to at least check on his family. The other guard, Harvella, also leaves the guard tower even though she’s scared. She has a scarred face and short black hair. Both of the guards have spears and armor. Harvella admits that this tower is usually an easy post, since this road is one of the safer ones. She and Bellevue are here because they’re considered past their primes. Reides is still in denial that this is happening, and Slumberjack offers to pinch him. He takes them up on it and unfortunately discovers that he is not dreaming.

Bellevue suggests checking the count’s palace for survivors and to learn more about what happened. We also decide to check the temple for survivors and to visit Bellevue’s house to see what happened to his family. As we approach the main gate of Port Valor, we see two stale bodies in guard armor flanking each side of the gate. Slumberjack prepares their greataxe. The trees have all died and lost their leaves. Multiple bodies are in plain sight, seeming to have just fallen where they were. Kilwin almost vomits, but clutches his holy symbol and manages to hold it back. Slumberjack suggests that Bellevue and Harvella stick to the rear since they’re out of practice, since someone more credible-looking than us will need to survive and pass on the news of what happened, and they agree. Bellevue tells us his family lives in the Portside District. Slumberjack’s knowledge of Port Valor’s layout is a little shaky, but Reides lived here for a year and knows that’s bad news. He still says we should check just in case, but suggests that someone other than Bellevue go in first. Because the death was so recent and sudden, none of the bodies have started decomposing yet and there’s no particular smell in the city. Except for the lack of movement, everything looks the same. Reides thinks this is somehow even worse. He wants to examine one of the bodies, but is reluctant to touch it. Slumberjack offers to touch it for him if he’ll guide them on what to look for. They can’t find much though, except that no signs of death have set in. They make a small cut on a man’s hand with Reides’s dagger, and it bleeds and the wound corrodes from the dagger’s poison. It seems like the body is trying to support life that isn’t there anymore. The bodies are still warm, but there’s no pulse. Kilwin examines the body also and determines that it’s as if the souls were suddenly removed, leaving the bodies as lifeless shells. He suggests that the souls might be collected somewhere and, if so, might be able to be returned to the people. Kilwin promises the man we examined that he will heal his hand as an apology for cutting it open and as thanks for helping us figure out what’s going on if it’s something we can do. Slumberjack is unsure if that’s a good idea because there might be complications for the people whose souls are restored if that’s something we can even do, but Kilwin thinks it has to be better than this. Bellevue agrees to let one of his family members be the first test subject if we find them like this and returning souls to people ends up being an actual possibility.

We make our way to Bellevue’s house next. Slumberjack is ready to fight, while Reides is clutching his spellbook and Kilwin is clutching his holy symbol. When we reach the house, Kilwin volunteers to investigate. He knocks on the door first, but gets no response. Bellevue is visibly becoming distressed. Kilwin enters without getting a response from inside. He hears a bubbling noise, which he discovers is a cauldron on the stove. He also finds a human woman with a fresh burn on her arm lying on the floor next to it. Kilwin takes the cauldron off the fire and puts the fire out. He assumes the woman hit her arm on it when she fell, causing the burn. He also checks upstairs where he finds an old woman laying on the ground, also dead. Finding no other signs of life (former or current), Kilwin moves the bodies into more comfortable positions and comes out to report. Bellevue identifies the women as his wife and mother, but asks if there was also a young boy. Kilwin didn’t see anyone else, so Bellevue’s son might still be alive. We discuss checking the count’s palace next, and Kilwin suggests that we need to check the center of town since that seems to be where the light originated from. We decide to save that for last though, and that we should head for the Temple of Alethus next to see if Bellevue’s son is there. We head for the eastern city gates and the path to the temple. Wisps of smoke begin to rise from around the city, which we realize is probably the result of unattended cooking fires. The party spends some time debating if there’s anything we can do to put out the fires, but decide that the best thing we can do is see if there’s any survivors at the temple who could potentially help.

Kilwin knocks on the temple door and asks if Lathendria is there. She answers the door and is surprised but very happy to see us again. She confirms that there’s some survivors who made it to the temple, including a young boy. There’s only five people aside from Lathendria, though. Bellevue describes his son (including describing his son’s hair as brown like his, even though his hair is completely gray- Slumberjack and Reides get a kick out of this), but Lathendria breaks the news that it’s a different boy who made it to the temple. Kilwin asks if Bellevue’s son likes to play outside the city, and Bellevue says he’d often go to a park on the west side of town and might have been there. We decide we can check there for him too! We propose getting help with putting out the fires that are starting in town, but Lathendria says she thinks we should prioritize survivors. Slumberjack interprets this as Lathendria saying we should abandon the town in favor of the people in the temple and lashes out, saying the people aren’t actually dead, their souls are just missing. Lathendria corrects them and says that, while she thinks she should stay at the temple to receive further refugees, she meant that it might be better for us to look for more people in town than worry about the property damage. Reides apologizes on Slumberjack’s behalf and says they’re just very passionate about this. Lathendria offers to take a look at one of the bodies if we can bring one to her and see what she can determine about what happened to everyone’s souls.

We meet the survivors- a young boy who’s by himself, a woman with her daughter, and two familiar faces. Kargath sets down Zenine, comes up to us, and embraces us all. Reides hugs him back, while Slumberjack tries and fails to escape the grapple. Slumberjack threatens to start biting, but Kargath will take the bites because he is just happy to see us alive. He and Zenine were at the park on the west side of town when the blast happened, and he covered Zenine’s eyes while he carried her to the temple to spare her the knowledge of what happened. Zenine almost seems cheery and doesn’t seem to grasp what happened. While the rest of the party keeps talking with Kargath, Reides breaks off to talk to her. She remembers him and she liked him! She seems to notice something is off and admits to Reides that while her dad is never scared, she thinks he is now. Reides tells her that when Daddy is scared, she has to be brave too. She seems to understand and straightens up and forces a smile. To thank her for being so brave and strong, Reides hands her the bag of salt water taffy he bought for himself and tells her to hand it out to everyone here. Zenine is very excited to give some of the candy to the other kids, but gives the first piece to her dad. Jorah (who was here the whole time) and Kilwin notice that Kargath’s wall slightly drops for a moment and he almost starts crying, but he manages to hold it in. He thanks Zenine and eats the candy in one bite. He also tells us that the only other survivors he’s aware of were also at the park, primarily the other people at the temple.

We also introduce ourselves to the woman, whose name is Anna. She did see another boy playing at the park, but lost track of him in the chaos. We suggest this might be Bellevue’s son and finally ask Bellevue what his son’s name is. His name is Andrew. We tell the survivors about the fires, but Kargath thinks we’ll be hard-pressed trying to convince anyone to leave the temple. The other reason everyone had to clear out from the park was that an army of orcs rode in from the west as soon as the explosion happened. Kilwin very tentatively says that we can handle the orcs, and Reides jokingly compliments his confidence. Slumberjack suggests that Bellevue and Harvella stay at the temple where they’ll be safe, but Bellevue refuses to stop searching for Andrew because he can’t lose him. Harvella feels like she should with Bellevue and ultimately decides to, since she doesn’t know what else she can do. The party offers some of their weapons so that Kargath and Anna can defend themselves and the children if anything happens. Kargath takes one of Jorah’s spare shortswords since it’s the closest anyone has to one of his knives. He also asks if anyone has a dagger that Zenine can use and, with Kargath’s okay, Reides gives her the dagger of poison, which she immediately starts tossing in the air and catching. Anna takes Kilwin’s handaxe, reasoning that she’s used to cutting firewood, so using it for fighting is hopefully not that different. She tells us to stay safe, and Kilwin tells her to stay safe as well. Kilwin also approaches the young boy who’s by himself and asks his name. He mumbles that he’s Dylan. Reides notices that Kilwin is struggling to talk to this child and pats Dylan on the head. He recoils from the touches but still probably needed it. Kilwin asks some questions and learns that Dylan was also at the park when the explosion happened and that his family wasn’t with him. Dylan’s family lives in the center of town, so Kilwin says that he'll tell them that Dylan is safe if we find them because Dylan will be safe here. Dylan doesn’t seem very comforted by this. Reides creates an illusion of a sparkly fish to swim around Dylan, which catches his attention. Reides presents him with Pepega and feigns shock that Dylan has never seen Pepega before. Pepega strikes a little pose and, while Dylan pets Pepega, Reides explains that she’s a very special owl who can make people feel better. Reides decides to leave Pepega with Dylan for now and gives her instructions to find us if anything happens. He tells Dylan to take care of Pepega and keep her safe. Dylan returns to his original hunched over position, but is holding onto Pepega now.

We decide our first order of business is collecting a body to bring back to Lathendria, which we can transport using Jorah’s horse. We leave the temple but tell Lathendria we’ll be back soon. She offers the temple as a place of rest if we ever need it. Kilwin and Lathendria wish each other Alethus’s blessings. As we approach the town again, we can see that the fires are getting worse. There’s also one column of smoke that’s moving. It’s fairly close, coming toward us, and Jorah estimates that it’ll reach the city gates before we do. We decide that we don’t have much other choice than to head right for it and hope for the best. Slumberjack goes ahead and hides in the shrubbery. They spot three orcs on the city walls with javelins, two half-ogres with axes, and an orc with chainmail and a shield, kneeling down and clearly searching for something. Slumberjack does a hand signal to warn us to stop (which Reides briefly misinterprets and he waves back) and holds up six fingers. The rest of us stop where we are and also attempt to hide in the brush. The orc and half-ogres are talking to each other and the orc appears to be tracking something that went toward the temple. As he walks past Slumberjack’s hiding spot, they jump out and attack him with their greataxe. They lay into him. Harvella emerges from hiding to attack the orc with her spear, and Kilwin summons his spiritual weapon. The orc gets out of the way of the swing, but then gets hit square in the back with Sacred Flame. Jorah discerns that this orc is a Blade of Ilneval. Ilneval is Gruumsh’s compatriot and battle captain, and his Blades call on his powers to rally other orcs. Jorah tells us not to kill the Blade of Ilneval because we might need him for information. Bellevue rushes into the fray too. Reides takes a shot at the Blade with Harpoon, but misses with it for the first time ever. Slumberjack slashes the Blade across where their first strike landed before Kilwin knocks him out with his spiritual weapon. Jorah snipes one of the half-ogres. Bellevue attempts to attack the other half-ogre, but hesitates too much, and the half-ogre dodges easily. Slumberjack and Bellevue are hit with javelins thrown by the orcs on the battlements. The half-ogre decides to strike at the easiest target and cleaves Bellevue down, killing him outright.

Reides is shaken, but aims an Ice Knife at one of the orcs on the battlements. It stabs him in the chest before exploding. The orc decides to forget about tactics and throws his javelin at Reides, but misses terribly and jostles one of the ice shards lodged in his chest, killing him. Slumberjack throws themself at the half-ogre that killed Bellevue, cutting off his axe hand before cutting off his other hand and kneeing him to the ground. They tell him to tell his gods they say hi before burying their greataxe in his head. They also stab him with one of the thrown javelins after he’s dead. Harvella starts attempting to tend to Bellevue’s wounds, but gets out of the way as Kilwin rushes in to magically stabilize him. Holy light spreads through Bellevue’s body, but nothing happens. Kilwin shakes his head to Harvella before returning to the fight. Jorah snipes the one orc on the south battlement, and the remaining orc on the north tower decides it is time to hit the bricks. He ducks down out of view of the party, but Reides climbs the ridge behind and casts Misty Step to teleport to the top of the tower. Reides sees the orc rushing down the stairs, confident that he’s going to escape. Instead, Reides hits his legs with Ray of Frost. The cold starts with his feet and climbs up his legs, tripping him down the stairs before freezing him to death. Reides waves at the rest of the party from the top of the tower.

Session 41

 * Google Document (12-10-21)

Kilwin turns to Harvella and tells her that he can bring Bellevue back, but she has to promise that she can take him back to the temple and keep him there. She’s confused as to how Kilwin can do that (as is Jorah). Kilwin explains that he’s a cleric and can do it, but only once for now. Harvella and Jorah both encourage Kilwin to do it, so Kilwin casts Revivify just before the spell would no longer be able to work. A bright light emanates from Kilwin’s hands and into Bellevue just as Reides is returning from the top of the tower. Bellevue takes a deep breath as he returns to life.

Bellevue examines the gashes in his armor and isn’t sure what happened, but Jorah tells him that the half-ogre actually did kill him, but he’s back now apparently. Kilwin explains that he only had one shot at that, so he needs Bellevue to stay at the temple to make it count. Reides is extremely confused as to why Bellevue is alive again, and pokes at the gaps in his armor and the healed skin underneath. Meanwhile, Jorah places manacles on the unconscious orc. Bellevue objects to being sent back to the temple because he needs to search for Andrew, but Kilwin offers to look in his stead and insists that Bellevue can’t die again. Jorah steps in and argues that this was a small band of the orcs and it’s only going to get worse inside the city proper. He says that the best thing that Bellevue can do for Andrew right now is to stay alive so Andrew won’t grow up without a father in the middle of this chaos. Bellevue reluctantly agrees with this, and Harvella decides to accompany him. Harvella examines the unconscious Blade of Ilneval and says he seems like he’ll be out for a few hours. While we still intend to interrogate him, we’ll need to move on with our investigation of the town before we have a chance to. Bellevue offers to take the orc back to the temple, along with the corpse we told Lathendria we’d recover. Jorah examines the orcs and finds a longsword, four javelins, 63 gp, 16 sp, and 63 cp. He hands the money to Kilwin, so he can get more spell components. Kilwin reiterates that he can’t resurrect anyone else until he gets the components again, so everyone should be very careful to stay alive for now. Jorah says he’ll treat it as a one-time deal but wishes he knew Kilwin could do that before. Reides also wishes he knew this!

We discuss our possible next moves. Kilwin suggests checking the palace if it’s on the way to the park where Andrew might have been. He asks Bellevue more about what he meant when he said he thought the orcs had been taken care of. He explains that the count and the reinforcements from Falas raided a camp a while back, and everyone thought that was the end of it. Evidently, they were wrong. Reides wants to check the port district because he spent a lot of time there when he was living in Port Valor, but admits it’s a low priority compared to rescuing survivors. We briefly discuss getting outside help, but the closest settlement is at least a week away, so it would take too long to reach anyone. Kilwin mentions that he has a spell that would allow him to contact someone from a distance, but it would still take too long for someone to get here to help us right now. We decide that our priority list is getting the body for Lathendria (we can do that right now), searching the park and the stretch between the park and Bellevue’s house for Andrew, possibly checking to see what’s happening at the palace, and then searching the port district if it’s feasible. Jorah suspects that the Upper District (where the count’s palace is) will have a heavy orc presence, so it might be best to avoid it if we want to live. He also speculates that any survivors there would be in bunkers or otherwise heavily fortified and wouldn’t need our help as much. Kilwin wonders if the Blade of Ilneval was tracking us or the survivors from the park, but Jorah is pretty sure he was after us. We decide to try to move stealthily through the city and send Bellevue, Harvella, and the unconscious orc back with Gin. Jorah gives all the orcs’ weapons to Bellevue to carry. He ties the orc to the horse to make sure he can’t cause too much trouble if he wakes up on the way and checks his saddlebag to make sure nothing important is inside. Jorah decides the bottle of fire whiskey should probably not be in there and gives it to Bellevue to carry. Bellevue is nonplussed. He admits it could be a good bludgeon or, having tried fire whiskey before, a possible torture method. Kilwin remembers the one time he was very hungover and agrees.

We search our surroundings for corpses and unfortunately have plenty of options. There’s a middle-aged human man, a young human woman, an elderly human woman, a young half-elven man, and a dwarven man. The two human women seem the lightest, so Jorah carries the younger woman to Gin and secures her on his back as respectfully as he can. Bellevue thanks Kilwin for giving him his life back and wishes there were some way he could repay us. Kilwin says he doesn’t need any kind of payment except for Bellevue to keep living and be a good father, and everyone agrees. Bellevue and Harvella wish us luck and head back to the temple with Gin and his cargo.

The party briefly discusses strategy after their assistance is gone. Jorah is doubtful that Andrew will still be at the park, but thinks that if he really was there, he might have tried to head home. Reides wonders if using his Hat of Disguise to appear as an orc, but worries that any survivors we encounter might think he’s an enemy. Jorah also points out that Reides doesn’t speak Orc. Reides offers to loan Jorah the hat, but it requires attunement, so it would need to wait for a short rest. Reides would also want his hat back afterward. The party attempts to move stealthily through the city, but Kilwin and Jorah are not very successful. While the smoke is getting worse, it isn’t impeding our progress at this point. We do notice just how many dead bodies there are. Port Valor was a fairly large town, with a population of about 7000 people. While Jorah isn’t especially well-versed in magic, he lived in Atemcester for a long time, so he’s aware that there’s some really terrible things you can do with people’s deaths. He’s hoping that this wasn’t a ritual sacrifice of some kind, and Reides and Kilwin hope the same.

As we approach the city square at the center of Port Valor through various back allies, Reides and Kilwin overhear some raucous laughter and a groan of pain. Alarmed, Kilwin goes ahead to check what’s happening in the square, while Reides clues Jorah in that something is up. Closer to the square, Kilwin hears more groaning, more laughing, and a voice saying “Hit him again” in Common. He peeks around the corner and sees a number of orcs and ogres gathered around a smaller figure. Kilwin steps out a little more and recognizes the figure as Count Corvus, alive but not looking very good. One of the orcs stabs Corvus with a javelin, and the others laugh as he screams. Reides also takes a look as the party gathers around the side of the building, and he does not like what he sees. Jorah listens in to see if he can pick up any Orc, but they seem to be speaking in Common since that’s the only language orcs and ogres have in common. He also recognizes one of the orcs as an Eye of Gruumsh and another as a Claw of Luthic. We take a moment to strategize. Kilwin can use Calm Emotions to make the orcs indifferent to us and the Count, letting us take him away without risking a fight. It’s possible, though, that some of the orcs could resist the spell and fight us, and fighting back would break the spell on the remaining orcs. Reides considers making an illusion to scare the orcs or at least distract them while we take the count and flee. While we’re talking, the Eye of Gruumsh points at Corvus and commands him to grovel. The count falls to his knees and cowers. Kilwin isn’t sure what we should do, but doesn’t think he can watch this happen much longer. Jorah thinks it might be too easy to cut off our escape, but that if no one’s around to report that the count was rescued, it will just go unreported! We’ll need to leave the orcs and ogres dead or unconscious, which Kilwin and Reides agree with. Slumberjack volunteers their Necrotic Shroud as a distraction while the rest of us surprise them. We decide to give it a shot! Jorah is afraid of Slumberjack’s wings, so he decides to hang back. He does volunteer to run in and heal the count if things start looking bad for him, but Kilwin points out he can do that from a distance, so Jorah doesn’t really need to. Jorah briefly attempts to teach Slumberjack how to say “I’m gonna fuck your face” in Orc, while Reides offers to use Minor Illusion to make them unnaturally loud, but we decide to keep a lower profile.

Kilwin gets ready to shoot a spell at the one orc he can see from behind our cover. The orc who’s been stabbing Corvus gets his javelin ready to do it again. Slumberjack runs in and lets their wings out. They only manage to frighten one of the orcs, and Kilwin fires his spell but misses. Unfortunately, only one ogre wielding a chain didn’t already notice our presence. The plan has already gone sideways! Reides manages to hit an orc with Ray of Frost from around the corner, but quickly retreats. Jorah decides to focus his efforts on the Eye of Gruumsh for now. The count takes advantage of the confusion to get up, hands still bound, and breaks away from the group. The Claw of Luthic attempts to cast spells at Jorah, but doesn’t have much success. The frightened orc swings blindly at Slumberjack, but misses and runs away. Kilwin manages to hit the same orc that Reides did, immersing him in a mixture of ice and holy flame, killing him. He also summons his Spiritual Weapon again and strikes at the Claw of Luthic. Slumberjack cuts off an orc’s head as the count rounds the corner to where Reides is. Reides lands Acid Arrow on the Claw of Luthic, melting some of her skin. The previously frightened orc charges at Kilwin, still hesitant to re-engage Slumberjack, and tosses a javelin at him, but it’s easy to see coming. The Claw of Luthic runs from the Spiritual Weapon, so Kilwin tries to help Jorah with the Eye of Gruumsh instead. The ogre with the chain, finally beginning to realize what’s going on, closes in on Jorah. Reides gives the count a little wave and receives the slightest nod of acknowledgement in return. He steps in front of the count and ends up freezing some of the Claw’s exposed internal organs. Faced with an extremely large ogre, Jorah drops his crossbow and draws Quickbrand. He has more success with it than he was having with his crossbow. The ogre is angry that something so small and puny could hurt him. Corvus continues to cower against the wall. The Claw runs up to the Eye of Gruumsh, who isn’t looking too hot, and starts to heal him. Kilwin hits her again with his Spiritual Weapon in the same spot he first did, killing him. The ogre sweeps his chain around, knocking Jorah, Kilwin, and the orc who attacked Kilwin to the ground. Slumberjack finishes carving an x into the Eye of Gruumsh, killing him. Reides darts out from his sheltered location to unleash a lightning bolt at the ogre. It severely wounds the ogre, kills the prone orc behind him, and sets several trees and a wagon on fire. Jorah gets up and finishes off the ogre with Quickbrand, using his other hand to fire a bolt from his hand crossbow at the one remaining half-ogre. That half-ogre turns its attention to Jorah and injures him badly, but falls to Kilwin’s Spiritual Weapon soon afterward.

Reides uses Gust of Wind to try to put out the fires he set. He gets most of them, but a few trees are still on fire. The count emerges from his hiding spot and assures him that the one fire will be okay. He thanks us for saving his life a second time. Jorah uses Quickbrand to cut the ropes binding Corvus’s hands. Corvus explains that when they raided the orcs’ camp, some of the orcs must have slipped through their fingers, which was all it took. Jorah tells Corvus that there’s more survivors at the temple, if he’d like to join them there. First, though, we ask what happened at the palace. Corvus explains that he only survived the blast because he happened to be in a corner of his office that it didn’t reach. His entire staff died in the blast. The orcs stormed the manor afterward and seemed to know exactly where to go. Jorah speculates that they did. Corvus suspects that this was actually the main group of orcs who invaded. They slaughtered most of the survivors they encountered. Corvus identifies the main perpetrator as Thorak Fireaxe. He also asks to recover an item that Thorak took from the palace, although he acknowledges that finding any survivors who escaped is more important. It’s a blue cloth robe with purple trim, entrusted to Corvus by the royal family many years ago. They asked him to keep it safe in his vault, and he agreed without questioning what it does or why it’s important. If we follow Thorak, we should recover the robe if we’re able. Corvus knows that Thorak has left the Upper District behind and thinks that he would have retreated to the abbey in the mountains where the Fireaxe clan has made their base. He also confirms that any survivors in the Upper District would be in bunkers of some kind and not in desperate need of our help. The party prepares to escort Corvus back to the temple, but Kilwin doesn’t want to go back before checking the park for Andrew. Jorah agrees that we need to check before going to the abbey and doesn’t want to make a liar out of Kilwin, but Kilwin is being stubborn about it and doesn’t want to leave Andrew out there alone for an extra hour. We end up agreeing that it’s most important for the count to get away from here and away from us. He takes a spear from one of the dead orcs and uses it as a walking stick. Since we didn’t encounter anything on our way from the temple, we hope that the way is clear for him. Corvus hopes so too since he doesn’t want to need saving a third time. He doesn’t have much to thank us with, but takes out a potion of healing and offers it to us. Reides asks if the count wouldn’t rather drink it himself, but the count insists. Jorah is in significantly worse shape than any of the rest of us, so he drinks the potion. Reides examines the bodies for clues. None of the orcs or ogres have anything of note on them, but it’s obvious that they’ve been looting the surrounding houses. Reides sees a torn teddy bear among an orc’s belongings and is upset. He takes the bear, which Kilwin asks to see for a minute so he can cast Mending on it. The count tells us more about the abbey, which is closest to the Exeter, on a cliffside off the beaten path. He says it will be obvious when we see it, especially at night, since there’s a large glowing tree there. The tree was why the abbey was built in the first place. Reides asks if it’s normal for trees to glow and is assured that it is not. He writes all of this down in his journal, underlining the part about the glowing tree and writing a question mark next to it. Kilwin tells the count that he has questions about something unrelated to the orcs, but will save them for a safer time. Corvus takes his leave, hopefully to talk with us another time.

Jorah searches the orcs, but doesn’t find much aside from some ritual implements. These weren’t high-ranking members of the horde. He recovers as many of his crossbow bolts as he can, and we move on. As we make our way to the park, Reides suggests that Kilwin ask for Alethus’s help in protecting the count. He agrees that it’s a good idea. He prays for Alethus to guide and protect Count Corvus on his way to her sanctuary, and to ensure that no one who means him harm follows him. Reides is sure it will help! Kilwin is too, and thanks Reides.

Session 42

 * Google Document (12-17-21)

As the afternoon goes on, Kilwin remembers that he told Dylan that we’d look for his parents. We decide that they’re unlikely to still be here if they’re alive, but we’ll spend a little bit of time trying to find them. It’s a little harder to find them since Kilwin didn’t press Dylan for more information like their names or what they look like. While the remaining fire that Reides (accidentally) set is isolated from everything else, other fires are spreading. Jorah suspects that the band of orcs we just killed were probably the highest ranking ones still in Port Valor, assuming Thorak is gone. Slumberjack suggests that we call out Dylan’s name along with Andrew’s, to try to catch Dylan’s parents’ attention if they’re around and capable of responding.

As we keep moving, the smoke from the fire keeps getting thicker. While most of the buildings are made of stone, the roofs are flammable. All of us want to put out the fires, but we don’t really have the resources to do that at this point, so we agree to focus on survivors (even though we don’t necessarily like needing to make the choice). From a distance, Kilwin and Jorah overhear voices chanting in one of the more heavily burning areas. Jorah makes out five voices, uttering Orcish war chants. He clues the rest of the party in and suggests trying to negotiate. He doesn’t think it will necessarily work, but it couldn’t hurt to try! If anything, we can use an attempt at negotiating as a distraction and then ambush the orcs. Kilwin wonders if we’re really in a position to negotiate considering we just killed a bunch of orcs, but Jorah thinks that might actually strengthen our bargaining position. We decide that Slumberjack is best suited to convince the orcs to stand down, while Jorah should go with them for translating purposes. Kilwin and Reides will follow from a distance and jump in if things go south. Reides suggests we have a codeword for that situation and suggests “seaweed.” Slumberjack agrees to the idea, but doesn’t want to use “seaweed,” suggesting “We surrender” as an alternative.

The roofs of the houses around the orcs are burning heavily, and some of them have caved in completely. Slumberjack asks Jorah to take the lead because he knows more about orcs, but Jorah thought Slumberjack was taking the lead because they’re the more charismatic one and he doesn’t think his knowledge about orcs is really that deep. Slumberjack asks him for a brief rundown at least before they introduce themself. Jorah says they just destroyed a whole city and probably aren’t very nice people. Slumberjack asks if they should compliment them on that. Jorah thinks scaring them would be a better tactic, and that Slumberjack is a good example of what would potentially scare an orc war band. Slumberjack is a little concerned that they promised Kilwin they would turn over a new leaf and this sounds like the opposite of that. Jorah points out it’s to help save a town! Slumberjack admits they don’t actually care about the town! Nevertheless, Slumberjack and Jorah approach the orcs.

Like Jorah thought, there are five orcs. They heft their weapons as Slumberjack and Jorah approach, and an orc woman with a longsword who appears to be the leader steps forward. Two orcs stand with her, while the two others hold the chains on what appears to be a suit of armor. Something is off about it, though. Jorah recognizes it from his years living in Atemcester as enchanted to resist certain spells, be immune to others, and have some degree of sentience. He doesn’t like it, especially considering it’s chained up, meaning it’s either hostile to the orcs or, with our luck, hostile to everyone. Slumberjack asks Jorah how to say “Pretty good for amateur hour” in Orc. The orc leader points out that she does speak Common, but Slumberjack says the other orcs didn’t and that’s why they’re dead. She’s shaken by this and asks if all the other orcs are really dead. Apparently, they’re all throughout the city. Jorah says they can join the ones we’ve already encountered or we can handle this nicely. They answer our questions and we let them go in peace. Jorah asks if they work for Thorak and says the Fireaxe Clan has done enough here. Port Valor really doesn’t need anyone else coming in with barely controlled magic items mucking around in the ruins. Slumberjack continues to explain how we killed the other orcs and says we’ll send back what’s left of them to their loved ones if they don’t tell us what we need to know, and one orc, who is extremely shaken, tells the leader to give us whatever we want. Slumberjack promises we will let them go if they cooperate, knight’s honor.

The scared orc takes some steps back away from Slumberjack and bumps into one of the orcs holding the chains, freeing the suit of armor, which is apparently called a helmed horror. The other orc standing with the leader rushes back and tries to attack the helmed horror, saying that we can talk after we take care of this. Kilwin and Reides overhear this and approach the clearing. Kilwin sees the helmed horror first and has no idea what it is. He fires a Sacred Flame at it, but the magic holding it together holds its chestpiece aside and the bolt flies right through. The helmed horror takes note of the orc who attacked it and Kilwin, and Kilwin and Jorah realize that it seems to be thinking over its options. It decides to attack the orc who struck it, killing it instantly. It shakes off the rest of its chains and then turns its gaze to Kilwin. Jorah notices a crest emblazoned on the helmed horror’s chest that looks familiar, but he can’t place where he’s seen it before. Jorah marks the horror and fires two crossbow bolts at it. The first one jams in his crossbow and breaks, and the second just glances off the armor. Jorah warns Kilwin and Reides that most magic won’t work on it, but something like Spiritual Weapon might. Slumberjack thinks Jorah might be being a bit presumptuous calling his crossbow bolts magic! They can’t get close enough to strike at the horror with their axe, so they throw two javelins, which both miss. The orc who was previously terrified of Slumberjack attempts to cut and run, away from the horror and past Slumberjack. The horror strikes at him, leaving a large gash, and Slumberjack decides to just finish him off as he passes them, cutting off his head. While we’re cooperating with the orcs otherwise, none of us have much luck damaging the helmed horror. Kilwin takes Jorah’s advice and casts Spiritual Weapon. While the weapon strikes true, the sound of the impact is strangely muffled, and a sigil appears behind the helmed horror, blocking the weapon completely. Kilwin swallows the urge to say something uncharitable to Jorah. The horror kills another orc before a sigil appears beneath it and it jumps into the air. It hovers in the air about 15 feet above Slumberjack. Jorah takes some more shots at it, but they seem to do less damage than expected. He says that magic weapons are the only way to really damage it. Slumberjack remembers that they actually do have a magic weapon and draws the sword that they took from the graveyard here. They jump for the horror and manage to strike it. Something about the sword in their hand feels right, and they enjoy holding it. Probably nothing to worry about! After failing to identify the crest, Kilwin decides to try casting Sacred Flame again because there’s nothing else he can do here. The armor tries to contort around it again, but this time, the flame twists and strikes true. The arcane connections holding the armor together loosen and the horror needs a moment to compose itself. Kilwin also takes a moment to commune with Alethus and replenish some of his magic reserves. The horror decides to land right next to Kilwin and hits him. He doesn’t look great! Jorah takes the opportunity to draw Quickbrand and thrusts it under the armor, striking the magical construct inside. The horror falls apart!

Jorah immediately turns Quickbrand on the orc leader and asks where she got that. He also tells her and the other surviving orc to drop their weapons, which they do. The leader explains that Thorak told them where to go and who to kill, and that it usually involved ambushing mages and taking their stuff. One of the mages they killed had the armor, which woke up and became aggressive once its owner was killed. The orcs brought it here to wreak havoc. Reides is furious about all of this, feeling for the mages and also the helmed horror. Slumberjack stabs the orc with their greatsword, saying that wasn’t a good enough answer. They feel very good about it and feel strong. Again, probably nothing to worry about! Jorah pulls the orc off the sword and away from Slumberjack, saying that she already surrendered. He tries to staunch her bleeding. Reides approves of the stabbing though. He starts examining the armor and determines that the sigils gave it immunity to force, necrotic, and poison damage. He thinks it was just trying to survive in the end. Jorah pulls Slumberjack aside and asks them to restrain themself a little, since the orcs might not be as forthcoming if they think we’re just going to kill them no matter what. Slumberjack was fully intending to kill the orcs anyway, but Jorah points out that the orcs don’t know that! Slumberjack sheathes their sword, but their hand doesn’t leave the pommel. They return to the orc leader, and Jorah explains that he doesn’t want her to die necessarily, but he might not be able to stop Slumberjack from doing that again if she doesn’t give more helpful answers. The orc leader explains that Thorak knows someone who told him to get the scrolls and these other magical items. They’ll be at the abbey, which is well-defended. She has a difficult time speaking due to her injuries, so Slumberjack heals her so they don’t have to listen to that. At the abbey, there’s at least two ogres, Thorak, and one of their own mages. Reides and Slumberjack are both furious, questioning why any mage would be working with Thorak under the circumstances. Reides says there can’t be any glory or honor in slaughtering innocent people like this. The orc leader says it’s a matter of perspective if the people of Port Valor were innocent or not. Slumberjack spits on her. Kilwin thinks there might be some remorse in the orcs, but they’re certainly not letting it show now. The orc leader tells Slumberjack to go ahead and kill her if they’re going to. Reides still think it’s messed up that they brought the helmed horror here just to kill people. The orc smirks and says that they didn’t bring it here to kill people, because there’s no one left to kill. Slumberjack tells her that they’ll see them in whatever hell she goes to soon, and that they’ll do this again and again through as many afterlives as there are. Slumberjack will hunt her down. They cut off her head, although they feel compelled to use their magic sword to do so. Slumberjack knows she had to have been afraid.

Jorah turns to the last surviving orc from this group. He offers to let him go, suggesting that he head south and forget all about Thorak and the Fireaxe Clan. He promises that if he ever hears about him again, he will hunt him down and kill him. The orc agrees to these terms and flees in terror, heading directly south. Reides draws the crest on the helmed horror in his journal, in case we ever need to refer to it later. Jorah searches the bodies and finds 27 silver between them, along with a small slip of paper with orders for the leader. It’s written in Orc, so Jorah reads it to us. It says to let the helmed horror loose in the town and to gather any survivors they find and bring them to the abbey. While that’s bad news, it does imply that there could be survivors and that if we can’t find Andrew at the park, he could still be alive. We head directly for the park, though, just to be sure.

About forty minutes later, we reach the edge of town, and there’s an obvious demarcation between the plants that were affected by the blast and those that are still alive. The party goes forward calling for Andrew and looking for places he might be hiding. Slumberjack lags behind though, worried that they might not be the best welcoming committee for a child. As we search, Kilwin and Jorah hear a strange metallic grinding sound. Kilwin immediately rushes in to see what it is, in case Andrew is in trouble. Jorah casts Cure Wounds on him before he gets too far, and Reides offers him a potion that he forgot he had. Kilwin thanks Reides for the thought, but thinks that we should see what the sound is first. As the grinding sound gets louder, we see blood on the ground and get the sense that something’s not right. We spot three mechanical canine forms surrounded by two dead orcs. One of the hounds looks at us and lets out a mechanical howl. Reides recognizes them as iron defenders, which are similar to the helmed horror in nature but more common and less difficult to deal with. They seem to have already been damaged in the process of killing the orcs. Jorah gets his crossbow and fires two bolts, putting one out of commission and further damaging a second. Slumberjack tosses some of their javelins at them and shuts down the second one. The last remaining iron defender runs at us, barking mechanically. Kilwin steps in between it and Reides and tries telling it to sit, seeing if it might react like a normal dog. Reides and Slumberjack hold back to see what the iron defender will do, but Jorah slashes at it with Quickbrand. The iron defender attempts to tilt its head at Kilwin, but it gets stuck, and it sits just before its eyes go black, no longer functional. Kilwin is very mad at Jorah because he was hoping to use the iron defender to help track Andrew if it seemed to respond to commands! He immediately returns to searching for Andrew. Jorah searches the orcs for clues but doesn’t find much, while Reides searches the surroundings and finds tracks from a medium-sized creature person who appears to be dragging someone smaller away from town and toward the abbey’s location. We think there’s a good chance that Andrew was taken by the orcs.

Slumberjack suggests trying to find a store where we can get supplies and possibly another diamond to fuel Kilwin’s resurrection spells. It’s looting, but since the owners are dead and we’re using it for a good cause, they don’t think there’s really anything wrong with it. They tell Kilwin and anyone else who has objections to cover their ears. Reides honestly think it’s a good idea under the current circumstances. Kilwin sees the logic but feels really weird about it! He’d like to either give back what we took or pay the shopkeeper back if we do manage to restore life to Port Valor. With that agreement, we head back into town and find our way to Finnan’s General Store. The people inside are dead, but the store itself is untouched. Slumberjack finds a diamond large enough to serve as a Revivify offering in a glass display case. They break it open and give the diamond to Kilwin. He’s honestly surprised that it’s there, but Slumberjack tells him not to be because it’s not anymore. They offer to take it instead if he’s not going to use it, but he’s afraid he will end up using it and takes it. We also collect 15 rations, a healing potion, and an assortment of other items that Slumberjack crams into their bag. As badly as we want to head directly to the abbey, we’re not in any shape to continue fighting and should probably report back to the temple first. The port district is unfortunately out of the way, so Reides agrees to hold off on checking there for the immediate future. He says there’s two people he’s really concerned about, and one of them was probably at the port, but the other probably wasn’t. He can hope that they both survived though, and we might find the one who would be there at the abbey.

We make our way back to the temple around sundown. Bellevue and Harvella answer the door, spears at the ready, but they let their guard down as soon as they see it’s us. They confirm that the count made it to the temple and that Lathendria quickly began attending to his wounds. Jorah tells Bellevue that the good news is that Andrew is most likely alive, but the bad news is that the orcs have taken any survivors to their abbey. We missed him, but weren’t in good enough shape to follow directly and have to head there tomorrow. Bellevue is worried, but says that we saved him so he just has to have faith that we can save Andrew too. Jorah says as long as Kilwin is here, the gods seem to be looking out for us. He pats Kilwin on the back, and Kilwin is startled. Everyone who was at the temple before is still here. Lathendria is leaning over a cot, casting healing magic on Count Corvus, who seems to be unconscious. Kargath and Zenine are sitting on a pew together. Kilwin approaches Lathendria and asks if she needs any help tending to the count. She remarks that he looks like the hells and should probably look after himself first. She’s got this under control! Kilwin suggests using Sending to try to contact the emperor, or anyone who could coordinate some kind of rescue or relief effort for the survivors at the temple. Lathendria thinks that sounds promising and says they can’t really afford to turn away potential help right now. Kilwin’s not sure if he would be able to contact the emperor directly, or if there’s someone else he can target, so he’ll discuss it with Corvus once he’s awake. Lathendria asks if Kilwin is in need of healing or any other assistance, but he thinks a good night’s sleep will fix him up. He thanks Lathendria and casts Healing Word on Corvus before leaving her to her work. He’s sorry, but he couldn’t help himself! Lathendria is startled, but admits that it really is true that they can’t afford to turn away potential help.

Reides checks in with Pepega and Dylan. Dylan is asleep and hugging Pepega, who looks uncomfortable but is dutifully staying with the child. Reides gently takes Pepega and cuddles with her, because it’s his turn now. Slumberjack takes any morale-boosting items they grabbed from Finnan’s store and leaves them out for the survivors. They also take the 15 rations and give them to Kilwin to distribute. He admits that we took them from a store and that he feels weird about it, but it is food and it is for the people here! Kargath asks what’s weird about the food, and Kilwin tries to explain that the food itself is normal, he just feels weird about how we got it, but Slumberjack has to step back in. All of the survivors take a ration, although Harvella is a bit reluctant and needs to be encouraged by Bellevue. Reides sets one aside for Dylan. He also gives Dylan the mended teddy bear. Dylan nestles up to it and thanks Pepega in his sleep. Reides remarks to Pepega that they have a son now. Slumberjack thinks on their experiences with the magic sword today, but is pretty sure they just really like their new sword. Kilwin casts Sending to inform Father Glasny that there’s bad news from Port Valor, but he and his friends are safe. Glasny responds with some words of encouragement and love, which visibly set Kilwin’s mind at ease.

Some time passes, and we hear rustling from Count Corvus’s cot. He wakes up and is glad to see that we all survived. We get him a ration and fill him in on what we learned about the orcs’ goals, as well as Kilwin’s plan to use Sending for help. While Corvus says it’s not a bad plan, he points out that the palace in Falas has anti-magic wards embedded in the walls. Kilwin is disappointed but not surprised. While the count knows other people who could get word to the emperor, he’s not sure if we would have met them, or if he would be able to describe them sufficiently for the spell to find its mark. Kilwin admits he’s not sure if the spell can work off a description since he’s only used it to contact Glasny so far, and while he’s hypothetically willing to try it, he’d rather not experiment with this right now. We discuss who we can contact who could get news to the emperor quickly. Reides suggests Grinlief because he misses that guy, and Kilwin admits he misses him too and thinks about him a lot, but the travel time between Vila’s Watch and Falas might be too much. Kilwin is also reluctant to contact Grinlief with Sending because it might scare him. We decide that the only person in Falas we have any significant connection to is Urli, the dwarven innkeeper whose family heirloom we recovered. Although he’s tapped out for the night, Kilwin drafts a message to send to him in the morning. Corvus says that his letter was about the orcs, so the news should be believable, even if it comes from Urli instead of someone actually here.

Reides suggests that Kilwin ask Corvus his questions while we’re here. Kilwin asks what happened with Tyrian’s body after we left. The count explains that it was left under guard when we left it with him, but it disappeared the very next day. He also mentions that it was missing a finger and asks if we had anything to do with that. Kilwin is pretty sure we didn’t intentionally! Kilwin lets Corvus know that, while it’s totally safe right now, Tyrian is technically inside his bag. Corvus is shocked, and the revelation kind of ruins his dinner. Reides explains that Tyrian became a revenant, but that he’s pretty sure that Tyrian’s manner of death didn’t warrant a cosmic punishment for Reides, so someone else is behind it. Corvus agrees with this assessment, but doesn’t really have any information that could enlighten us. He doesn’t have any non-Thorak enemies he’s aware of. There is a chance that Tyrian’s resurrection is connected to Thorak’s interest in weird magical items. It seems unlikely that Thorak would destroy a town just to get a cool magic robe if there was no other motivation.

We also remember that we took a Blade of Ilneval hostage earlier in the day. He’s been locked inside one of the crypts so he can’t escape. Reides takes one of the remaining rations we left for the survivors to bring to him. Jorah and Kilwin go out with him, but Slumberjack stays in the temple because they thought over what Jorah said about stabbing first being a bad interrogation tactic. Bellevue and Harvella unlock the crypt for us and wait outside. Reides casts Light so the humans can see more easily. The orc is still manacled, since Jorah still has the key, and leaning uncomfortably against the wall. Reides presents him with the rations, which he clearly wants, but he doesn’t take his eyes off Reides for long. Reides takes a bite of the rations to show they’re not poisoned, and leaves them. The orc asks if he’s meant to have them. Reides says he is, so he digs in. He’s starving and doesn’t have a clear idea of how long he was unconscious. Reides tells him we want information about Thorak, and he asks why he should share. Reides points out that we did spare his life when we didn’t have to! Jorah switches over to speaking in Orc and asks who Thorak works for, since he doubts that collecting magical artifacts and unleashing them on Port Valor was his idea originally. Jorah lies and says that the Blade of Ilneval that Slumberjack killed had attacked them first while we interrogated her, but promises that we’ll spare him if he cooperates. The Blade is sad that another Blade of Ilneval was lost and agrees to talk. He works under Thorak directly, so he knows who Thorak is working with, but admits we won’t like the answer. Thorak is working with a creature from the abyss, which is honestly about what Jorah expected. The reason that the Fireaxe Clan took survivors back to the abbey was to use them as sacrifices. Thorak stabs hostages with a burning blade in order to commune with the abyssal creature. Jorah warns the orc that he’s going to switch back to speaking in Common, but that since his companions are pretty nice people, the orc might want to swap back to Orc if he has any other really bad news so that Jorah can soften the blow for them. Jorah tells Reides and Kilwin what the orc said and quietly emphasizes that Andrew is in danger. The orc says the Fireaxe Clan is probably partying and not doing any sacrifices tonight, but we only have tonight to safely regroup.

Reides asks the orc why he even works for Thorak, since he doesn’t really seem that evil. The orc admits he doesn’t know anymore and that the whole clan was aimless before Thorak came on the scene. Thorak seemed to have a strong sense of direction, and he followed in hopes that it was correct. While he was hoping for honorable battle, he thinks it broke him in the end. He only kept fighting because it was all he knew. Jorah points out that the magical artifacts that the orcs brought killed more orcs than we could have and asks if there’s anything else they brought back. He wants to save people if we can, and that includes orc, but the orc doesn’t know much about it. Reides thinks that the orc should search for his own path, since Thorak obviously doesn’t care about the people under him and life is something that should be cherished. While the orc points out that bonds forged in battle are powerful and we all have experience with that at this point, Reides still thinks that the orc could do better. The orc does request that we save one specific orc at the abbey if we can. His name is Orthurk and he’s possibly the last good orc in the Fireaxe Clan. He always fought against Thorak and opposed attacking defenseless mages and setting ambushes. The orc wanted to follow Orthurk but was too afraid of Thorak in the end. We agree to keep an eye out for Orthurk and ask for a description. The sides of Orthurk’s head are shaved and the rest of his hair is worn in a long ponytail. He also has a gold ring around one tusk. The orc also tells us that Thorak always gives Orthurk the ass end of possible jobs in the clan, so we should keep an eye out for someone shoveling shit. Reides chuckles a little. He then realizes that he doesn’t know the orc’s name and introduces himself. The orc tells us his name is Torshul.

Jorah knows that there’s an orc city in the mountains and suggests that it’s a better place to be than with the Fireaxe Clan. He offers to take Torshul with us when we leave in the morning and let him out to go there if he’d like. Assuming we can find and save Orthurk, we can send him there after him. Torshul recognizes the city Jorah is describing as Gron-Gammar. Jorah admits that he doesn’t know much about Gron-Gammar but it has to be better than this! It’s possible that if Orthurk can rally other members of the Fireaxe Clan, they can seek refuge there together. We ask Torshul if he wants anything like a bedroll or a blanket, but he just asks for water. Kilwin offers his waterskin, and Torshul drinks eagerly. We can see a smear of blood on the wall where he was resting his head. Reides takes a look and sees that he has some bad axe wounds and probably a mild concussion. Kilwin goes ahead and heals him. Torshul is wary of the touch and surprised when his pain improves. He’s not sure he really deserves healing, but Jorah says we try not to be monsters. It stings a little more than Jorah intended!

Reides really wants to read Torshul a story, even though Torshul says that’s okay, and pulls out his copy of Fish Tales and Fish Tails. Jorah heads back to the temple, but assures Torshul in Orc that he doesn’t have to make his decision tonight and we’ll all talk in the morning. Kilwin stays to hear the story. Reides picks the story of The Great Wishing Fish. North of Cemouth, there was a fisherman who would fish up the same fish year in and year out. On the eve of his 60th year, a big storm approached as he was out fishing and a great rainbow fish swam right to his boat. It spoke to him in Common and congratulated him on his diligence and bravery in the face of the storm (which he hadn’t noticed was quite so close). As a reward, the fish offered him one wish. All of the fisherman’s ancestors had trolled these waters, and he was a simple man but not a fool. He spat on the rainbow fish and said he recognizes the lies of devils. He cut the line he had on the rainbow fish. The fish laughed and circled the boat, saying he was a smart one but had given up a gift, and it would not be forgotten. As the fish disappeared beneath the waves, the fisherman noticed that the storm was much closer than before. He never made it home. Reides says huh! Torshul admits he thought the fisherman was going to eat the fish. Reides and Torshul get on a brief tangent about spicy foods, and Reides admits that he can’t really handle spicy food, which is a lot of orcish cuisine. Reides says that some tritons who came to the surface before him tried spicy surfacer food and thought that they were being poisoned. Torshul points out that that was them, but Reides is own person. Reides considers this! He confides in Torshul that he tried milk once but it made his stomach feel fuzzy. Torshul has this information now, whether he wants it or not. Reides asks Kilwin what he thought of the ending. Kilwin admits he wasn’t expecting it either, and he normally prefers a happy ending. Reides agrees! He thinks that the fisherman was probably neglecting other areas in his life though, which might be the moral of the story.

Back in the temple, Jorah asks Slumberjack if they’re okay. He thinks they seem a little off today. He notes that Slumberjack hasn’t let go of their sword since they first unsheathed it. Slumberjack doesn’t think that’s that strange and if it is, that’s their business. Jorah tries to get a read on them, but they seem guarded as usual. He decides to let the matter of the sword rest for now, but says that they should try not to stab first so often. They claim there was nothing redeemable about those people, and Jorah points out that he didn’t say there was. Reides checks on Dylan before heading to bed. He’s still asleep and clutching the teddy. Reides leaves Pepega with Dylan for the night before we all turn in.

Session 43
We wake up a bit before sunrise the next day, functionally rested. Corvus is still asleep, but Lathendria is awake and distributing rations to the other awake survivors. We discuss Kilwin sending a message to Urli, but since he might still be asleep, we decide to wait and send the message on the way to the abbey, when he’s probably up for the day and might be able to do something about it. Kilwin asks Lathendria if she knows anyone named Keras, but the name isn’t familiar to her. Kilwin briefly explains that he looked vaguely familiar to all of us, but there were only a few people who we had all met at that point. She’s fine with kind of a weird question! We tell everyone that we’re heading for the abbey and Torshul may or may not be coming with us. Kilwin tells the survivors that Torshul has been very cooperative! It’s Torshul’s decision if he wants to wait here for Othurk or leave, though. Kilwin suggests we head straight for the abbey, but offers to go with Reides to check the port district once we’re back from the abbey. Reides readily agrees and is holding out hope that maybe one of the people he’s looking for has been taken to the abbey.
 * Google Document (12-18-21)

Lathendria tells us she had a chance to examine the body and that she’s never seen anything like it. While the body was trying to sustain life, there was no force making it breathe. Unfortunately, the body has started decaying. While usually there’s a thread between the body and soul that Lathendria can use to connect them for a while, she wasn’t able to do that, meaning that the soul is somehow unreachable. We decide that could be good or bad. If it’s good, that means the souls are contained somewhere and we might be able to at least free them to go to the appropriate afterlife. The bad option is something none of us really want to think about!

Reides decides to leave Pepega at the temple with Dylan, who is still asleep. We decide that we’ve done all we can here for now, and it’s time to head to the abbey. We tell everyone that we’re leaving, but hopefully we’ll be back soon and this will be as over as it can be. Lathendria hopes that Alethus guides our paths and Kargath tells us to give them hell. Slumberjack is a little uncomfortable because people are acting like this is a permanent goodbye. Jorah is pretty sure we’ll be fine since we’ve killed a dragon, and Thorak won’t have a dragon. He knocks on the (wood) temple wall though! We stop by the crypt to check on Torshul before we leave. Jorah warns him to cover his eyes before he lets in the light. Torshul comments that it’s really early, but Jorah says saving people doesn’t sleep. He asks if Torshul has made his decision yet. He can leave for Gron-Gammar now if he’d like, or, as Reides points out, he can wait here and we can try to bring Othurk to him. Torshul says he would prefer to wait for Othurk because he’d like a chance to speak to him. Jorah gives Torshul one of his own rations, which Torshul eats readily. Jorah also tells him that he can’t unlock Torshul’s manacles yet. He says he’s leaving the key with Kargath, but never actually does that. Torshul wishes us luck, and Jorah hopes we see him later today. Before we leave, Torshul tells us that Thorak fights with an enchanted axe that catches fire when he touches the gem on it, hence the clan’s name. Slumberjack asks if it’s a greataxe, and Torshul says it’s one of the best. Slumberjack and Reides both laugh a little. We will keep that in mind! Slumberjack thinks for a moment that could use a new axe, but decides that they’d rather stick with their new greatsword. As we leave, Jorah decides not to lock the crypt’s door. Reides asks if that’s a good idea, but Jorah trusts Torshul not to do anything stupid. Reides points out that he’s less worried about what Torshul will do than one of the survivors deciding to avenge Port Valor on him. Jorah thinks that Torshul can and will flee if he has to, though, and leaves the door unlocked in the end.

Jorah retrieves Gin, who tied to a tree outside, and we head across the city. It’s quiet, and, while they got worse, the fires seem to have burned themselves out for the most part. There was also a light rain overnight that helped put some out. There’s a lot of burned out buildings and half-charred bodies, but some buildings still stand and some corpses are still untouched. We make it across the city without incident and get on the road west to Hwen and the abbey. It’s about 3 hours to reach the abbey. Around 8 in the morning, Kilwin sends a message to Urli asking him to tell the emperor that Port Valor was destroyed and the survivors will need assistance. Urli responds immediately, agreeing to do what he can and telling us to be careful. As we’re two and a half hours away from the abbey, we start to wonder if we have a plan. Slumberjack wants to stab first and ask questions later. Jorah would rather try stealthily approaching the abbey and seeing if we can find Othurk. Any assistance he can get for us would help a lot, in addition to preventing unnecessary deaths. Slumberjack doubts we’ll be able to get many orcs on our side though. They point out that they’re plane-touched, which they assume everyone has figured by now because of their wings, and that once you start down that path, it’s almost impossible to come back.

On the way, Slumberjack asks Kilwin if he would be interested in learning Celestial. He says he would love to, and they offer to teach him. They’re pretty sure they took some paper and ink from Finnan’s store that they could use for studying. Slumberjack also suspects that Kilwin might be able to make better use of the language than they have, since he’s connected to the gods. Kilwin also takes a moment to confess that he told Glasny about their situation to ask for advice, but that Glasny raised him and he trusts him more than anyone. He also says he would’ve asked Slumberjack’s permission first if they had been around! Slumberjack is okay with it and admits that while they’re very guarded about themself, they’re willing to trust Kilwin’s judgment. They hope they’re able to meet Glasny later and thank him for his help. Kilwin would also like for Slumberjack to meet Glasny and says they can talk about what he said later.

Jorah casts Pass Without Trace to cover the party’s (and Gin’s) approach to the abbey about half an hour before we arrive. The rest of the path is uphill. The shoreline eventually gives way to a cliff face. When we reach the abbey itself, we can see that it’s in poor repair, and part of the roof is gone, leaving it exposed to the elements. From a distance, we can see two large, lumbering figures standing outside the front door. Slumberjack recognizes one as an ogre. The other looks like an ogre to them, but they can tell something is off about it. Kilwin takes a closer look and realizes that the other one is holding a different weapon in each hand and, more importantly, has two heads. He tells the rest of the party this. Jorah thinks we might be able to find Othurk outside, if what Torshul told us is right. Jorah can’t find an outhouse anyway, but he does find a trough around the left side of the abbey, away from the cliff, that seems to be filled with mud. There’s also footprints by it leading to the back of the abbey. Jorah ties Gin to a tree to stay safe, and we head around the abbey, following the footsteps from a distance to stay concealed. The pit extends around the entire length of the abbey. We pass a collapsed area leading inside around the corner, and then see another entrance around the back of the building, along with more collapsed sections that lead inside. We also see a disgruntled orc shoveling mud. He wears his hair in a long braid with the sides shaved, but we can’t make out his tusks from this distance. Jorah goes ahead to get closer, being careful to keep the rest of the party in range of Pass Without Trace. He has his crossbow but isn’t actively wielding it, and tries to stay out of sight of the collapsed sections of the abbey. He can overhear the orc muttering swears to himself in Orcish. He whisper-shouts Othurk’s name to get his attention. While Othurk hears and looks around, he can’t tell where Jorah is until he peeks out from behind a tree. Jorah tells Othurk not to say anything, but that Torshul sent him. We’re just here to talk! Othurk thinks it over for a second and throws his shovel into the dung. He approaches Jorah, who explains that we heard from Torshul that he isn’t happy with the way the clan is being run. Jorah respects that! He explains that Torshul was injured and is still resting at the temple in Port Valor, but we’d like Othurk’s help in saving whoever we can from the Fireaxe Clan. Othurk is interested! He hates Thorak and thinks there’s no honor in anything the clan has done since he took over. Jorah says that he’s not here alone and wants the clan to survive- if we go in by ourselves, the orcs will try to kill us and we’ll try to kill them back. Cooperating with Othurk will help avert casualties on both sides. Othurk thinks he might get a few orcs on our side, but most will be too indoctrinated. Othurk thinks he can get four orcs to join him. Jorah asks if Othurk can get us into the abbey and get the orcs he trusts separate from the rest of the clan. He also gives him the option to stay and help or leave. Jorah suggests the Temple of Alethus as a destination for the orcs, but warns Othurk not to go there without us, since the survivors might not react well to him and his friends. Othurk says he’ll come with us because he’s no coward. Jorah admits we won’t say no to some extra axes! Othurk assumes Jorah understands as an Orcish speaker that orcs crave good battle, and deposing Thorak will be the best of battles.

Jorah warns Othurk before gesturing to the rest of the party. Everyone else introduces themselves to Othurk and gets a better look around, although we’re still fairly hidden. The abbey has stained glass windows that we can’t really see into, but anyone looking through them probably couldn’t see us either. Kilwin recognizes iconography of Cysebelle and Kiyala on the two windows he can clearly see. Reides asks Othurk if he knows about any survivors. Othurk tells us there were only two originally, but one has already been used as a sacrifice. The last survivor is a child, but the now deceased one wasn’t. Othurk tells us that through the main wall opening there’s two doors- one leads to the pulpit, where Thorak preaches, and the other goes to the atrium. The child is being kept in the pulpit. Kilwin is eager to save the kid, but we need to gather Othurk’s reinforcements first. We need to move quickly though, because Thorak plans to commune with the demon again at noon, and it’s currently just before 11:30. Othurk is sure that the chef will be on his side and goes over to an open door off to the side. We follow him over and hear him speaking with another orc inside, saying that’s time to take this tyrant down. The chef agrees, and Othurk beckons us in. The chef is a large orc with a dirty chef’s hat and apron. He’s using a battleaxe to stir a stew with diced onions and vegetables. Reides asks if he can have a sample, and the chef holds out his axe. Reides takes a lick directly off the axe, which gives the stew a metallic taste. Reides likes that, though! Reides really enjoys the stew and the experience of licking it off an axe! Then, the spices kick in. Reides panics for a moment, but in the end, he discovers he can handle it! He suspects that triton beliefs about surfacers’ spicy food might just be superstition because he doesn’t feel poisoned and his stomach isn’t even fuzzy. A win for the gays!

Othurk says we’ll probably need to get into some fights to secure the loyalties of the other orcs he has in mind. Since the orcs partied so hard last night, a lot of them are asleep in the barracks and the atrium. Othurk doubts either of the orcs in the barracks will be on his side, so we’ll ignore them if possible. He also warns us to stay away from the two sleeping in the atrium. When we ask why, he just says that we’ll see. The chef stays behind in the kitchen while the rest of the party enters the atrium. Jorah extends his stealth magic to Othurk. Othurk thinks he can convince some of the orcs in the cards room to help us, but the others will have to be killed. As we enter the atrium, we see two sleeping lumps of flesh under the tree. While their skin looks orcish where it’s normal, they have huge green pustules growing on multiple parts of their bodies. Jorah has heard of this type of guy before, but doesn’t remember the exact name. They’re plague victims who the orcish priests could save but not cure. They’re usually kept around in a group of orcs to send into a group of enemies as a biological weapon. None of us like that! Reides tries to take a look at the tree from a safe distance. He can feel a faint holy power radiating from it. Kilwin says a little prayer for sick orcs, as Othurk asks if we see what he meant. We do! He asks us to wait outside the cards room and let him talk, but it might end up getting ugly inside. We decide that Othurk will use a codeword to tell us when we should jump in. Reides suggests “seaweed” again, and Othurk agrees to it. As we wait outside, Jorah eavesdrops and hears orcs talking about their card games in Orcish. Othurk asks to be dealt in, and soon the other orcs are complaining that he always gets the best hands. Eventually, Othurk turns the conversation to how the clan’s being run. The orcs talk amongst themselves too quietly for Jorah to hear, but eventually Othurk loudly announces in Common that some of the orcs in the room have seaweed for brains.

Kilwin enters the room and sees one orc next to Othurk and another across the room bearing their axes at Othurk. There’s two other orcs in the room who seem to be watching to see what happens next. Kilwin attacks the armed orc closest to Othurk with Sacred Flame, which startles him, but he recovers quickly enough to avoid Othurk’s axe. Reides manages to freeze him to death, though. Jorah unloads two crossbow bolts into the orc across the room. They both connect, leaving him gurgling with blood dripping from his lips, but still standing. One of the orcs who was standing by rushes at the injured orc and finishes him off, wrenching his head from his shoulders. We’re glad that was over so quickly until the people still in the atrium hear a gurgling sound. One of the diseased orcs has woken up and is looking directly at Reides. The orc’s pustules are popping, and the pus that falls from him corrodes the ground. The diseased orc also has claws that are curling and covered in crust and pus. He digs them into Reides, and pus seeps into Reides’s wounds, but his body is able to resist the worst of the effects. One of the friendly orcs rushes out and tells Reides to get away from the diseased orc. He hits the diseased orc with his axe, and the pus burns into the scenery. Slumberjack stabs the diseased orc, rendering him unstable. He explodes into a shower of pus, hitting Slumberjack, Reides, Jorah, and the orc who came out to help, although none of them are affected as badly as they could have been. The other diseased orc wakes up and rushes at Reides, but he puts up a magic shield that deflects his attack. Kilwin leaves the cards room and manages to figure out that one of the diseased orcs exploded. He doesn’t like that, but hits the other one with a Sacred Flame anyway! Othurk joins the atrium crowd and steps on the remains of the exploded orc, telling us we need to push the surviving diseased orc back. He doesn’t succeed in doing so, however. Reides finally gets to cast Mage Armor. The diseased orc gets pushed back by Jorah (who quickly retreats back to the cards room) and the orc in the atrium, who says it’s time to strike. The orc who’s still in the cards room throws a javelin at the diseased orc through a gap in the wall. Slumberjack runs in front of Kilwin and finishes off the orc, which explodes and covers Slumberjack and Kilwin in goo. Still not as bad as it could have been!

Othurk comments that he hates that the Fireaxe Clan uses those and tells us this is all the help we’re going to get. We go back for the chef orc and group up in a back room. Kilwin heals Reides’s wounds from the diseased orc. We have about 15 minutes left before the sacrifice, so we need to do this quick and fast. Othurk tells us that, with Thorak, there’s an orc mage, two orcs who have sworn fealty to Thorak no matter what, and Thorak’s personal aurochs, Brakk in the pulpit. Brakk is the producer of the dung Othurk is told to shovel. Other than that, Othurk’s not sure what demonic help Thorak might have at the moment, since Thorak summoned the demon last night to give him something, which might have gotten him a reward. Jorah asks if they have any particular weaknesses. Unfortunately, the best answer Othurk has is “killing them.” It’s a plan we can work with, though! Othurk will direct us to a hole in the pulpit’s wall that’s big enough for all of us to fit through. We’ll try to be as quiet as possible and ambush them. Reides tells them that they have a friend waiting for them in Port Valor, though, so he doesn’t want any of them doing self-sacrificial nonsense. We will be a team and make it out together! The orcs look at each other and seem to be having a silent conversation, which ends with Othurk saying that they’ll do their best.

Jorah extends Pass Without Trace to our new friends, and we enter the pulpit through the hole in the wall. We all duck behind the pews as stealthily as we can. The roof in the pulpit is completely caved in, and wooden debris and shattered stained glass covers the floor. There’s also two rows of columns placed every ten feet or so. There’s a short flight of stairs leading up to the end of the pulpit, where there’s a dais with an altar on it. On the altar, there’s a small figure. The wall behind the altar is caved in and leads to the cliffside and open ocean. There’s two orcs in the half-ruined pews and a Claw of Luthic standing near the dais. There’s also a large beast resting near the dais, presumably Brakk. Reides whispers a prayer to his god. There’s also a strange gaunt creature with a horn, claws, and leathery skin. It also has no lips, leaving its fangs exposed. Also by the altar is an orc hefting a large axe over his shoulder, wearing an eyepatch on his right eye, chain armor, and a hefty fur coat. He notices us as one of our orc companions steps on a piece of broken glass. Thorak comes down the steps and asks if we’re the last survivors of Port Valor coming here to die. He calls the destruction of Port Valor “trivial” and thanks the mages of Atemcester for their contribution. He asks if we have any last words, and Reides says “Fuck you!” One of us is going to the abyss soon, and it won’t be Reides! Thorak calls Othurk a pitiful traitor, but Slumberjack says that we have something from a worse plane on our side than Thorak does. They claim themself as living proof and point out that they don’t need to kill innocent children to claim its favor. Dark forces simply like them more than him and interfere with their life more. They call Thorak a servant. He asks what they’ve accomplished, and they produce the head of the Blade of Ilneval that they killed yesterday. They also throw an assortment of body part trophies from their other kills at him and a wanted poster of themself. They tell him they’ll say hi to his demon friend when they’re drinking his blood.

Jorah finally uses Quickbrand’s magic and takes a few crossbow shots at Thorak. They hit him, but Thorak just smiles. Jorah tells him in Orc that he hopes Gruumsh kicks his ass. The demon scrambles up to the orc who stepped on the glass and rips out his still-beating heart. It licks its teeth at it. It misses an attack on another orc and gazes at Slumberjack. They feel it trying to sap their strength but resist it. Slumberjack shoves it to the ground and walks over it to get to Thorak, although it attacks them on the way. Slumberjack unleashes their wings, frightening the Claw of Luthic and stirring the aurochs into a frenzy. Thorak holds his ground, however. He seems to let Slumberjack hit him, and laughs in response. The chef orc attacks the Thorak supporter closest to him, but his axe slips because of the residual stew on it. The other orc does hit him in return. The Claw places a bane on Slumberjack, Othurk, and Jorah, weakening them. Reides casts Chill Touch on the Claw, and a cold watery hand appears on her shoulder. The hand starts to freeze and spread before turning green. The Claw starts to cough. One of Thorak’s followers tries to attack our ally orc, but trips over a pew instead. Othurk runs to help the chef orc and lets out a roar that empowers all of us through his charismatic leadership. He cleaves down the other orc immediately. Thorak touches the gem on his axe and it lights aflame. He starts attacking Slumberjack. Brakk the aurochs tries to flee from Slumberjack and runs away from the altar, letting Othurk and Slumberjack hit it. Brakk tries to attack Jorah, but he manages to sidestep it. He’s less lucky when he tries to get some distance from it, and he loses his Hunter’s Mark on Thorak. He decides to shift his attention to the demon, which he identifies as a babau. Babaus are fairly common demons who serve as foot soldiers in the war between demons and devils. They can also weaken creatures with their gaze. Jorah marks it and attacks it twice with Quickbrand. The babau gets back up and attacks Jorah, making him lose Hunter’s Mark again. It also claws into the back of our orc ally. As Slumberjack continues to attack Thorak, he’s starting to turn a sickly green. They say he’ll end up being his own sacrifice in the end. Thorak just grins.

The chef orc scores a hit on the Thorak’s ally, and the spice from the stew isn’t doing his wound any favors. Kilwin heals Slumberjack, Jorah (who is doing badly), and two of our orc allies. The Claw of Luthik then fires a radiant beam at Jorah, knocking him unconscious. Reides retaliates by firing a big blast of ice at the Claw, cracking her ribs open. Blood spills from her mouth as she falls over, dead. Reides yells at her not to fuck with Jorah! The orcs are also very upset and close ranks around Jorah’s unconscious body. One of them takes out Thorak’s other supporter with an axe to the head. Othurk closes in on Thorak and hits him. Thorak clutches at the wounds on his chest as a black substance seeps out from his armor, hardening it. He says he’s not defeated yet. Slumberjack is badly injured at this point, and looks back at Kilwin in fear, but covers it up again as they turn back to Thorak and spit blood at him. The aurochs also gores Reides, who stays conscious but looks bad. The babau attacks a friendly orc and tries to strike at Jorah, but he’s protected by the magic of the cloak he took from Tyrian’s body. The babau also finally manages to affect someone with its gaze, and the chef orc’s arms fall limp at his sides. Slumberjack keeps attacking Thorak, but their attacks glance off his new strange black armor. The chef orc manages to hit the babau through his enervation, but he’s clearly not at his full potential. Kilwin casts Mass Healing Word on everyone but Othurk, reviving Jorah, and fires at a Sacred Flame at the aurochs. He hates to do it to a cow, but it’s a mean cow who hurt his friends! Reides also fires an Acid Arrow it, absolutely destroying it and quickly realizing he may have overdone it. The babau is still looking hungrily at Jorah, but the orcs try to protect him. Othurk hears the commotion and runs over to help with the babau. Thorak slashes him with his flaming axe, instantly cauterizing the wound, but Othurk doesn’t even react because he’s a chad. Othurk strikes the babau with his axe and tells it to return to the abyss. It does! Thorak, now alone, points at Slumberjack and says that they might be right that he should be the next sacrifice. He grabs the sword from the altar, lights it aflame, stabs himself in the chest, and keels over dead.

The room is silent for a moment as we all realize what just happened. Slumberjack tells Kilwin to grab the boy from the altar, take everyone else, and go. He says that they’re not doing and he’s not leaving them behind. Jorah also refuses not to see this all the way through. Jorah heals himself, and Kilwin runs up to Slumberjack’s side and casts Sanctuary on the unconscious child to protect him from whatever’s about to happen. A circle of flame appears over the altar, and a dark figure manifests. It lurches forward and crawls out, one onyx gauntlet at a time. Soon, the entire being emerges. It’s enormous, armored in plate, and has spiral umber horns and goat hooves. We all recognize these as the marks of a demon. He draws an onyx blade and commands us all to kneel for him. He says we have some things that he wants. Everyone except Reides feels compelled to kneel and is unable to move. The knight looks directly at Reides and summons a moat of fire around the room. Reides doesn’t recognize the exact spell, but he does realize that it’s something he definitely doesn’t want to mess with. The knight then turns to Slumberjack, calling them a warrior and saying that he recognizes the mark of a fallen god on them. He offers to let them join him because they serve the same master. Slumberjack agrees, over Kilwin and Reides’s protests. They say that this is just something they have to do. They thank Kilwin for everything he’s done for them, but he says it wasn’t enough. They also tell Jorah and Reides that they wish they could have been closer, but ask the rest of us to remember the good times. They step through the portal. As they leave, Kilwin keeps yelling for them not to go and calls them “Slumberjack” instead of their alias “Rilineth.” The infernal knight then looks at Kilwin and reaches into his backpack to retrieve the Bag of Holding. He dispels Reides’s Arcane Lock and empties out the contents, dumping Tyrian onto the floor. He has black hair now and it is unfortunately a good look on him. The knight tosses the empty bag aside. The knight addresses him as “Vordt” and comments that he was wondering where he went. Tyrian kneels and apologies, calling the knight “my lord,” and says that we’ve been a thorn in his side for some time. He seems to have a sore neck from being cramped in there. He gets up and takes an axe from one of the dead orcs, turning to face Reides. The knight tells him to stop, though, because he has need of Tyrian. He promises Tyrian will get his chance later. The knight brought him back for another reason though, and only because of their pact. For now, though, the abyssal crest has been secured, and Tyrian needs to come with him. The knight and Tyrian go through the portal together, which closes behind them.

Reides swears to Persana before picking up the Bag of Holding, which is slightly singed, but otherwise unharmed. Kilwin throws his mace on the ground in frustration. Jorah, for his part, approaches Thorak’s corpse and starts kicking his head, talking about how he hates magic. Thorak’s head gets squished. Kilwin gathers his mace and puts it away before approaching the child on the altar. He’s still unconscious, but breathing. Kilwin examines him and finds a bump on the back of his head, but otherwise, he appears to be unharmed. The child also has brown hair, which is another point in favor of him being Andrew. Kilwin takes him off the altar. Jorah picks up Thorak’s axe and presents it to Othurk. He says it belongs to him now. Othurk supposes it does, although he doesn’t feel right accepting it like this. He gives Jorah a traditional orcish bow. The sword is also still flaming in Thorak’s chest. Jorah pulls it out and says he doesn’t want it getting out there. Kilwin suggests tossing it in the ocean to rust, although he admits Reides might object to that plan so we don’t have to. Reides does object, so we don’t do that. Jorah would rather the sword be broken anyway. Kilwin asks who’s around to break it now, but Jorah thinks the empire will send someone. Jorah wonders if we should take Thorak’s body back, but Othurk doesn’t think anyone will recognize him now. Jorah also asks for help in getting past the two ogres who are still guarding the front entrance. Othurk points out that they haven’t been very observant guards so far, so we can probably all leave the way we came in and not bother them.

Othurk also points out a sarcophagus to us, telling us that it’s where Thorak kept things that he stole from the mages. It’s magically sealed, though, and Othurk doesn’t know how to open it. Reides examines it, and finds carvings of numbers 1 through 9 and a poem that reads:

"Count on the gods to meet me once again, my love.

When next I see you my dear, celebrations be in store.

Every time I see your vibrant smile, the joy continues evermore.

We'll go around and round the glade, prancing through the trees

Even though we both may know we'll get bruises to our knees."

Reides doesn’t recognize the poem and is pretty sure it’s an original work. Kilwin also examines the poem and tries to tie it to the symbols of the gods, identifying the smile as a symbol of Kiyala and trees as a symbol of Cysebelle. Reides asks Kilwin why he called Rilineth Slumberjack, and Kilwin promises to explain it to him later. He admits that he has a lot to explain to Reides and Jorah. Reides is still very upset about everything that just happened! Reides and Jorah examine the stained glass windows, which are easier to see from inside the pulpit. There’s the depictions of Cysebelle and Kiyala that Kilwin saw from the outside, along with a window depicting Bacchanal and one depicting a fourth god that Reides doesn’t quite recognize. Kilwin identifies her as Ioun, the goddess of knowledge. We match each deity to a line of the poem: Bacchanal, Kiyala, Cysebelle, then Ioun. Jorah examines the windows for clues as to what we’re supposed to do with this order of deities. He notices that Cysebelle is in a glade with trees, Kiyala is at a table with revelers, Bacchanal is seated at a tavern counter with flagons of ale, and Ioun is carrying a stack of books. Kilwin suggests counting the trees, revelers, flagons, and books. Jorah does and comes up with the answer 9436. He presses the numbers on the sarcophagus, which light up at his touch. The numbers turn green and the lid kicks up a small cloud of dust as it slides open.

Inside, we find 90 platinum, 2400 gold, 9000 silver, and 700 copper. There’s also a gold locket with a portrait inside, a black velvet mask stitched with silver thread, two vestments stitched with gold cloth, four vials, and a wand. Reides spends some time identifying the objects and discovers that we found a Wand of the War Mage (which Reides wants and gets), a Potion of Animal Friendship, a vial of Oil of Slipperiness, a Potion of Hill Giant Strength, and a Potion of Fire Breathing. The rest of the items aren’t magical. The vestments are also not blue or purple. Kilwin takes a look inside the lock and sees a portrait of a drow with short hair coming down to their ears. Othurk says we’ve earned the contents of the sarcophagus and that no one else here is really worthy of this stuff, in memory of the original owners. He also thanks Kilwin for keeping his allies alive. The other orcs are going about preparing the dead bodies for burial. Kilwin accepts Othurk’s thanks but is sorry for Othurk’s friend who didn’t make it. Othurk admits that it was a risk all of them accepted and probably just desserts in the end. Reides doesn’t want anyone to be too hung up on the past. Othurk is reluctant to take power that could corrupt him in the end and would rather head for Gron-Gammar than lead the Fireaxe Clan in his own name. Reides gives the child, who is still being held by Kilwin, a gentle pat. Kilwin wonders if there’s anywhere else the count’s robe could be hidden. Othurk doesn’t know of another hiding place, and Jorah grimly points out that we probably do know where it went. A lot of things are starting to make sense to Kilwin, and he doesn’t like any of them!

Reides takes another look around the pulpit and spots a small piece of paper under some soot. He picks it up and discovers it’s a list of cities. Aquos, Atemcester, Falas, and The Exeter are circled, along with Port Valor and Malino’re, which are also crossed out. Arc-Delia and Seaton have question marks next to them. Jorah wonders what on earth they think they could do in Atemcester. Kilwin asks how Malino’re could be crossed out when we were there not too long ago. Jorah says Malino’re might be a hole in the ground now for all we know, and Kilwin snaps at him. Reides, however, is visibly distressed at the presence of Aquos on the list. Kilwin tries to think of where Aquos is because he can’t quite place it on the map. Reides knows where it is, though. It’s underwater and also happens to be Reides’s hometown.

Session 44

 * Google Document (12-26-21)

Othurk confirms he’s coming with us with the other orcs and agrees to help us by carrying the child. One of us will stay close to him, though, in case the child wakes up and is scared. He also offers Krogash the chef’s cooking skills to help sustain Port Valor’s survivors, as well as volunteering Thar-Vor, the other orc, to help with guard duty. Krogash holds his axe lovingly, thinking about the stew from earlier. Othurk also gives us some words of encouragement, saying to take heart in spite of Slumberjack’s loss, because we defeated a tyrant and prevented the situation from becoming even worse. We just hope there’s not more Thoraks out there! Reides comments that it feels like a hollow victory, but hopes that feeling will fade in time.

We officially divvy up the loot we found in the sarcophagus. Kilwin agrees that Reides should have the Wand of the War Mage. Kilwin takes the locket in hopes of returning it to someone who knew its rightful owner. While the Potion of Animal Friendship seems up Jorah’s alley, he admits he doesn’t really need it, so Kilwin takes it because he wants to be friends with animals. Reides takes the Potion of Fire Breathing, so Jorah takes the Potion of Hill Giant Strength to keep things even. Jorah admits he would be anxious to have the Oil of Slipperiness on his person, in case someone he just put in manacles takes it off him and uses it to escape. Reides thinks it sounds fun, so he takes it! Thar-Vor seems intrigued by Reides’s interest. Reides figures he’ll just hang onto the vestments and mask until Kilwin realizes the vestments are very fancy vestments of Alethus. Kilwin ends up holding onto both items, even though the mask isn’t related to the vestments.

Othurk leads us out the back of the abbey, carrying the child. We sneak past the two orcs still sleeping in the barracks, but as we make our way around the front, the two-headed ogre spots us and approaches. Thar-Vor approaches the guard, telling Othurk to stay back since he has the child. Kilwin asks Othurk if there’s a way to make the guards stand down before also approaching the two-headed ogre, preparing to cast a spell if he attacks. The two-headed ogre confers with himself and expresses confusion as to why Othurk is out front instead of behind the abbey. They’re also confused why he’s carrying a child. Reides steps back, as does Krogash, who’s trying to defend Othurk and the child. Jorah aims his crossbow at the ettin, but doesn’t fire. Othurk explains that we’re all going into Port Valor to search for more survivors on Thorak’s order, with the non-orcs being forced into helping. The ettin thinks about this for a moment before declaring that sounds about right! They both wish us a good trip! We just take it and run to where Gin is tied up so we can leave.

Jorah rides Gin on the way back, along with the still-unconscious child. For the most part, the party is very stiff and uncomfortable, dreading the conversations they’re going to need to have soon. Jorah visibly empties out his waterskin and refills it from his bottle of firewhiskey. Reides takes a swig or two from his own bottle. As we start to approach Port Valor proper, the child starts to stir. Jorah starts trying to comfort him, telling him he’s safe now. Kilwin asks the child if his name is Andrew. Andrew asks how we know his name. Everyone cheers, while Kilwin explains that his dad told us, and he’s at the temple, which is where we’re going. Once Andrew notices Krogash and Thar-Vor, however, he gets scared. Kilwin tries to explain that the orcs are friendly, but Andrew relaxes on his own once he sees Othurk. Apparently, Othurk was kind to him while the orcs were partying last night. Although he’s more trusting of the other orcs now that he knows Othurk is with them, he clings to Jorah on the horse.

Back in Port Valor, there’s still a few plumes of smoke, but the fires are continuing to burn themselves out. Jorah does his best to block Andrew’s view of the bodies as we pass through. As we approach the center of town, we encounter a short figure moving north. As we approach, we see that she’s a frail, lilac-skinned elf, wearing a burned white robe that’s in tatters and covered in patches of blood. Her pack, however, appears to be in good condition. She seems malnourished. She has ghostly white hair past her shoulders, and one of her arms seems to be encased in steel. We realize, though, that it’s strapped onto her shoulder and is actually a prosthetic. She’s also wearing some strange glasses with dark lenses, covering her deep red irises. Kilwin is immediately concerned and asks if she’s okay. Reides asks if she’s from here. She says that she’s fine and not from here, but came here more or less for tourism purposes. Kilwin says it’s a bad time for that. Jorah offers her some spare clothes he has in his pack, but she says it’s okay. She also tells Kilwin that she doesn’t think she’s bleeding anyway. He casts Healing Word on her anyway. She feels better and thanks him. She says she hasn’t seen destruction like this in a very long time and asks what happened. We explain briefly that most of the fires were caused by unattended cooking fires, but the deaths were from a magical blast that was somehow developed in Atemcester. Kilwin also points out that a demon was involved. He invites the elf to come with us to the temple, where there’s more survivors, and introduces himself. She introduces herself as Ashara. Reides also introduces himself, while Jorah says to call him Jorah. Kilwin is alarmed by that phrasing and wonders if Jorah has been hiding something about his real name. Jorah is baffled, but Kilwin says it wouldn’t be the first time! Jorah is even more baffled by this, but Kilwin promises to explain later. Reides sweats. Ashara attempts to curtsey to us with the remains of her robes. She joins us, intentionally keeping her side with the prosthetic arm to us.

As we pass by the fountain, we see a flash of light, making most of us very nervous. Nine figures appear from nowhere, and we recognize one of them as Emperor Eurystheos. She’s now wearing her hair in a bun and dressed in armor. She also has a nasty-looking longsword and a shield. Seven of the people accompanying her are members of the imperial guard, the Drake Guard. There’s also an adult human man with tan skin and dark brown hair with a lighter streak. He’s wearing a deep blue robe over his tunic and pants. He tells Eurystheos (calling her Eury) that he told her that they should have installed a permanent circle in Port Valor and she’s lucky he already had the spell prepared. Kilwin gives an awkward bow/curtsey combo as the emperor approaches, but she tells him it’s not the time to stand on ceremony. Eurystheos asks for a brief summary of the situation, which Kilwin and Reides attempt to provide. She has to tell them to talk one at a time because it’s hard to follow both of them at once (queen of auditory processing disorder). Afterward, Eurystheos commands the Drake Guard to spread out and search for survivors and provide them with food and healing, then bring them to the temple if possible. She tells the mage, Kain, to come with her to the temple to talk to Corvus. She admits she doesn’t like the look of this town. They almost leave us behind.

Night is approaching as we reach the Temple of Alethus. Jorah says he’ll show Othurk and the other orcs to the crypt to meet up with Torshul. The orcs offer to go out to scavenge for food that Krogash can cook, so the survivors can actually get a real meal. Jorah hands Gin’s reins over to Kilwin, who has to figure out how to tie Gin to a tree. Inside the temple, Andrew runs over to Bellevue, who immediately notices him and hugs him, starting to cry. Ashara asks if anyone has any food. Reides offers one of his rations, although he mentions that there will be stew later. Ashara says it’s been days since she last ate, so another hour or so for stew will be fine! She’s still alive, so she’s okay actually. Reides and Kilwin become much more insistent that she take a ration to tie her over. Reides gives her one of his bread-based rations, and Ashara is thrilled. She loves bread! Reides absolutely understands! Ashara shoves an entire piece of bread into her mouth at once. Reides offers her some firewhiskey, but Ashara’s never heard of firewhiskey. She admits you could say she’s been living under a rock. Reides thinks it’s like looking into a mirror. Ashara takes the firewhiskey and gives Reides a rock as thanks. She casts Faerie Fire on it to make it glow blue. She tells him that she tried to make it match his blue skin and hopes that isn’t weird. Reides loves it! Ashara tells him that the rock is also named Rocky. Reides loves it even more! He will treasure Rocky. Ashara takes four sips of firewhiskey, and the last sip starts to burn. She asks for water, which Kilwin offers, and drains his waterskin completely. She asks where Reides got the firewhiskey, and he tells her it was in Vila’s Watch. She notes Vila’s Watch in her journal so she can remember to never go there. Reides and Kilwin try to convince her that it’s actually a very nice place! Ashara would rather drink from a puddle than drink firewhiskey again and admits that she has. Kilwin whispers to Reides that he loves their new friend, but is also very concerned about her. Ashara says she’ll eat more next time though, more than a bread. Kilwin wonders if they should check on Jorah and the orcs. He says that they have a lot to discuss as a group. Ashara is welcome to join if she’d like!

Outside, Jorah asks Othurk what his plans are. Othurk wants to help the survivors of Port Valor before leaving for Grom-Gammar. He might attempt to recruit the last two orcs we left behind at the abbey on the way. He was sure they wouldn’t be on his side before, but now that there’s nothing left for them at the abbey, they might change their minds. He asks Jorah what his plans are. For the moment, Jorah would like to avoid whatever’s going on inside the temple for as long as he can. In the long run, though, he’d like to survive and hopefully stop more towns from getting destroyed like Port Valor was. He has no intentions of going out quietly. Othurk agrees that he didn’t like seeing the knight. He had never personally witnessed Thorak communing with the demon, and he wasn’t expecting anything quite that powerful. Jorah just hopes the knight is at the top of the ladder. He admits it’s a weird thing to hope, but he doesn’t want to imagine that there’s something even worse we might need to deal with. Jorah sets aside the chains from the crypt door and announces to Torshul that he has visitors. Inside, Torshul tries to cover his eyes with his still-manacled hands before realizing it’s dark outside. Othurk tells Torshul that they need to go to Grom-Gammar to answer for their crimes. Jorah finally unlocks Torshul’s manacles, as Othurk says that they should help the remaining people of Port Valor first. Torshul isn’t sure that there’s any way they can answer for what happened, but Othurk says they still need to try. The orcs decide to go hunting for meat for Krogash’s stew. Jorah admits that he tries to avoid emperors and court mages as much as he can, but doesn’t think his friends will let him avoid them for much longer. He’s just not a fan of important people! Othurk points out that he just helped kill the most important person he knows, so he understands.

As Kilwin is starting to wonder about Jorah, Jorah comes back into the temple. Kilwin realizes he forgot to announce that we brought back orcs with us and starts to explain that they’re our allies. Jorah steps in as Kilwin flounders. Kargath and Zenine readily accept that nice orcs exist, considering that they’re half-orcs themselves, and many of the people who know them quickly come around. Dylan, however, clutches Pepega a little tighter. Corvus and Kain are discussing something by the pulpit’s lectern. Corvus beckons us all over. He gives us a once over before telling us that he’s filled in the emperor on the details of the situation. He admits to being apprehensive about our orc allies, but is willing to trust us on it. Kilwin remembers to tell the count that we didn’t recover the robe, mentioning that we think the knight referred to it as an abyssal crest. Kain and Eurythesos don’t like that one bit! We all beg to know what an abyssal crest is, especially since we lost one of our companions and now have an even bigger stake in this. The count had noticed that Slumberjack was missing, but assumed they had fallen in the battle. Jorah explains that they went with the demon Thorak had been summoning, presumably to save the rest of us. Reides also describes the fire spell that it used. Kain thinks the spell sounds familiar and starts flipping through his notes. Ashara asks if the demon delivered its warning by entering Reides’s mind, but he explains that it was more intuition than anything else. Kain finally realizes the spell was Delayed Blast Fireball and says it’s a very powerful spell, especially coming from a demon. Jorah is also still holding the burning sword, and he explains what it was used for and that he didn’t want to leave it behind in case summoning a demon with it was as simple as stabbing something with it. The emperor wonders what the onyx knight could have been, and Kain asks for more details to help identify it. Kilwin mentions that it can cause things to become undead and tells Corvus that Tyrian is no longer in his backpack. Corvus hates it! He knows that the abyssal crests are items of great power that were once used to seal a great evil. He once owned a book about them, but hasn’t read up on them in some time. The book went missing, however, soon after Tyrian first saw it, and he suspects that Tyrian took it. Although the count didn’t even realize he had an abyssal crest, Tyrian must have learned about it after becoming his advisor and agreed to sell his soul and the crest in exchange for power. He points out that Tyrian didn’t get the power he wanted and seems proud of us for a moment. Still, it doesn’t last long as he reflects on the fact that this all happened without him catching on. He blames his failings as a ruler for the fall of Port Valor.

Kain, who wasn’t listening to any of that, chimes in. He identifies the demon as the Burning Knight. He asks if anyone else recognizes it, but we all just kind of stare at him. The Burning Knight is connected to the demon lord Alzrius, whose symbol is a dancing tongue of flame with white radiance. He now suspects that Alzrius is the great evil that the abyssal crests originally sealed. Reides also shows the list of cities he found to the count, emperor, and court mage. They comment that it’s basically a list of every major population center in Alethustria. Kain says that demons are great tourists, if not great guests! We express concern about Malino’re, since it’s crossed off and we know people there. Kain thinks he can help and starts flipping through his spellbook, which is bound in red leather. He wonders aloud who he knows in Malino’re before casting Sending. A moment passes and Kain reports that Malino’re is still there! Ashara also mentions that she’s traveled from far in the south and hasn’t seen any other towns like this. We’re all a little relieved! Reides feels a little threatened by Kain’s magic, but manages to smile back at him. Reides takes the flaming sword from Jorah and attempts to cast Identify on it. Kain slips the note back into Reides’s bag while he can’t respond because he’s focusing on the ritual. Kain says he’s been there! Kilwin wonders aloud if it’s weird for hags and demons to work together, since they were in Malino’re. Ashara knows that it is fairly uncommon. If Kilwin is correct, the hags were in league with the Burning Knight and gave Malino’re’s abyssal crest to him before we stopped them. While it’s bad that the Knight has two crests, at least it means that Malino’re is about as safe as anywhere else for now.

The emperor is troubled that the Knight is aware that there’s a crest in Falas, since that’s a closely guarded secret. Ashara thinks it doesn’t matter how they know, just that they do, in fact, know. The emperor thinks there must be a mole within the court, who will need to be rooted out. Ashara offers to help with that, admitting to having some special abilities. She telepathically tells Kain that even he’s not as well-protected as he thinks. She admits that she can be more aggressive with it if needed. Kain thinks that’s very useful, but he has it covered. Eurystheos doesn’t follow what’s happening, so Ashara reaches into her mind too to demonstrate. Ashara explains that she tries not to use it, since it can be a little invasive. Jorah, realizing that Ashara can reach into people’s minds, takes a step back from her, but she assures him that she hasn’t touched his mind and wouldn’t do so without cause. She thinks it’s best if she’s honest with us about her abilities. Jorah forces himself to relax. Still, Eurystheos and Kain plan to deal with the mole in the Falasian court themselves. Reides, who has been struggling not to chime in, gives up and ends the Identify ritual prematurely. Kain, once again, expresses sympathy because he’s been there. Reides asks the emperor and Kain if they know anything about Aquos, although he’s not making eye contact with them and was clearly conflicted about asking. Eurystheos knows about it from an old note written by her father, Emperor Karseidon II, and knew there was an abyssal crest there. No one really knows much about what the current situation in Aquos is, though. Reides expresses some frustration with other tritons and how they never share anything about themselves. He says that it’s frankly impressive that the previous emperor was even able to write a note. Karseidon was widely considered a calm, compassionate ruler and died about ten years ago, leaving his 15-year-old daughter to ascend to the throne. The circumstances of his death weren’t widely advertised, however.

We start to discuss our next moves. While the Exeter might be the closest city on the list that’s on the map, Reides thinks Aquos might technically be closer. He points out its location on a map. It’s in the far northern ocean, west of Cemouth. There’s still the matter of getting a ship to sail out there, though, especially since merchants are unlikely to dock in Port Valor for a while. Kain compliments Reides’s spellbook, especially its binding. Reides lies and says he likes Kain’s spellbook binding too. He’s mostly just jealous though. Kilwin offers to do what he can to help preserve the bodies while we hopefully find a way to release their souls. Ashara suggests bringing in more priests from around the empire. Although the emperor thinks there will be logistical problems with this, Ashara thinks most people (especially priests) will want to help. The emperor agrees to try to work something out with the Temple of Alethus in Falas, but isn’t confident it will be enough. Eurystheos has a limited command over the kind of magic Kilwin has in mind, though, so she can also assist. Ashara is uncomfortable for a moment because she wants to show something from her journal but isn’t sure about it. Reides encourages her, offering to show her things from his journal too. Ashara is excited about the exchange of knowledge and shows everyone a schematic with a lot of ovals. She explains that she was a scholar and an arcanist in her old home and these are plans for building a stasis pod. Kilwin asks what a stasis pod is, and she explains. She offers to copy the schematic for Kain. Kain thinks it could be a very useful invention if it works, and Ashara assures him that it does. He observes that it seems like something that would even be beyond the mages of Atemcester. Ashara has built one before, however, and could leave detailed instructions to be replicated. She admits that finding more priests to help would be faster, but this might be worth it as a backup plan. Kain promises to look into it if she gives him notes! She absolutely refuses to tear anything out of her journal, though, and will make a copy of it. Kilwin mentions again that the party has a lot to discuss amongst themselves, including Ashara if she’s interested in helping them. Ashara agrees, saying that it’s the custom of her people. When we broke bread and accepted and helped her, she will do the same. Reides comments that her people sound very nice! Ashara says they were, before quickly correcting herself to present tense. She suddenly comments that it’s warm inside the temple and hurries outside to work.

Kain, who noticed that Reides is interested in Sending, offers to teach him the spell. Kilwin offers to help how he can, even though his magic works differently from wizards’. Reides begrudgingly agrees to accept Kain’s help. Kain suggests making a wizardly trade, as is the tradition in Atemcester, where Reides teaches Kain one of his spells in exchange for learning Sending from Kain. Jorah overhears and, assuming Kain is an Atemcester mage now, decides he does not care for the man. Reides will think about it! Kilwin would like to sit in on the study group, even though he can’t really contribute much.

Kilwin is worried about how abruptly Ashara left the temple, so the party goes outside to check on her. She’s just sketching and attempting to write with her prosthetic hand. Apparently, she’s on step 42 of the instructions for the stasis pod. She admits that it’s difficult to write with her metal hand, but she’s getting better at it. Kilwin asks if it’s rude to ask what happened. Ashara says that her arm was cut off, but she has a new one now. She clarifies that she’s not a thief, however. It’s a byproduct of her upbringing, among other things. Reides asks if they’re common where she’s from, but her situation was unusual and, as far as she knows, she’s the only one. She admits that she just got overwhelmed by the number of people in the temple and needed a moment. She hasn’t seen this many people in a long time, and those she has seen have not been as kind as us. We discuss going to Aquos. Ashara says she would love to go and already knows how to swim! She’s a bit worried about breathing underwater, though, and would rather not jump in without knowing she’ll be able to breathe. Reides admits that could be a problem. Ashara says she’s read about tritons, although this is her first firsthand experience with one. She’s heard they’re very advanced and knowledgeable! Reides says thanks! Ashara asks if she said something wrong, but Reides lets it go.

The party brings Ashara up to speed on the destruction of Port Valor, Thorak’s summoning ritual, and Slumberjack’s departure. Kilwin also tells the rest of the party what he knows about Slumberjack. He confirms that their real name is Slumberjack and not Rilineth, and that he’s known this since the party was in Falas. He briefly explains what aasimar are and how Slumberjack is one, but instead of having a helpful or compassionate guide, theirs was bloodthirsty and told them to kill people, so they did. Jorah is surprised to learn that Slumberjack was the one who desecrated the Nameless God’s shrine in Vila’s Watch, because he wasn’t present for their confession to that crime. Kilwin was trying to help them be free of their guide, but thought he would have much more time to find a way to do that. One of his failed efforts was the ceremony of atonement he tried to perform for them in the inn in Malino’re. Kilwin very pointedly explains that that’s what Jorah overheard him and Slumberjack doing there. Jorah says he actually knew they weren’t having sex and was just joking. Kilwin didn’t realize that! Reides also says he was joking, but wasn’t sure that Jorah was! Jorah figures that Kilwin, being a cleric, wouldn’t be doing something like that. Reides thinks that he could, just not with Slumberjack! Kilwin turns a bit red. At any rate, everyone else thinks Kilwin did the most he reasonably could, and it was definitely the Burning Knight’s fault instead. Jorah credits Slumberjack with saving his life more than once, so he feels like he owes them. Reides also considers Slumberjack his friend and is sad that he didn’t get to have a lot of experiences with them, like teaching them how to swim. Ashara offers to pretend to not know how to swim. Kilwin is relieved that Jorah and Reides are on the same page as him, and everyone is intent on meeting Slumberjack again and bringing them back. At least pursuing the Burning Knight is likely to bring us back together again! Kilwin then remembers that Slumberjack wanted him to kill them if he couldn’t sever their connection to their guide and shares this with the party. He thought he would have much more time to learn how to help them and admits that he never intended to follow through on actually killing them. He just doesn’t want anyone to be surprised if they bring it up.

Ashara admits that she has some secrets of her own, even if they aren’t as serious as what she’s gathered about Slumberjack. Still, she wants to be upfront with us. She taps her paper and tells us that she was in one of these pods for a long time. She doesn’t know much about the present day, even though she studied with the best scholars of her time. We ask how long she was in the stasis pod, and she asks what year it is. She does some math and estimates that she was in stasis for 1000 years, but quickly revises her estimate to 2000-3000 years. Everyone is astounded. Jorah observes that she pre-dates the Falasian Empire. Ashara’s homeland is the Vrinian Empire, which no longer exists. She explains that her arm came from a warforged. When none of us know what a warforged is, she hopes that means they aren’t around anymore. Ashara is the last of her kind, as far as she knows, and her people were wiped out by the warforged. She took one’s arm after it took hers. They’re metal beings with sentience. Jorah figures the dragons probably took care of them. Ashara does remember seeing a warforged banging on the door to her pod before losing consciousness. She’s not quite sure how long she’s been awake, but she’s traveled from the badlands around Bastion all the way here. Kilwin asks if she stopped in Cowersby, but she doesn’t remember. He admits it’s not really that important, but that’s where he’s from. Ashara would love to visit someday! Kilwin would love to have her, although we were just there and we probably don’t have time for another visit. Jorah observes we must have just missed Ashara on the road. He asks if she’s looking for more warforged. She would actually prefer to never see one again! She came to Port Valor because she heard it was a place of opportunity. When she arrived, however, it reminded her of when she first woke up. Ashara once again asserts that she doesn’t like to look into people’s minds. However, she can tell we all have a lot of things we’d like to protect and she’d like to help us. Reides sympathizes with Ashara a lot because he’s also fairly new to this world and came to Port Valor because he heard it was a place of opportunity. He’d love to support her and learn alongside her. Ashara observes that most of the people she met since waking up have been really mean! Reides says everyone is mean on the surface! It’s great! Ashara loves sharing knowledge, and Reides is excited to have a new reading buddy! Ashara asks us to keep what she’s told us private, and we readily agree.

Reides also wants to talk to us about something. He says he understands keeping secrets and that Slumberjack kept their secrets to protect the rest of us. We’ve been through a lot together, though, and Reides has no desire to hurt any of us because he couldn’t face his past. He admits that he hasn’t been totally truthful with us and reintroduces himself as Reides Aurelian Yon-Zinthos Kien-Khavas Laverath of Aquos, Prince of Laverathia and second in line to the throne. He doesn’t want the throne though, and has always felt unsuited to his role as royalty. He’s not even sure if he has a claim or his full name anymore, since he left Aquos on bad terms. Kilwin and Jorah are shocked. Jorah asks Kilwin if he’s secretly a prince too or something. Kilwin doubts it but admits he can’t totally rule it out! Jorah is suffering. Kilwin briefly explains to Ashara that he was abandoned as an infant and doesn’t know who his “real” parents are, although he knows who he is and knows who raised him. Reides explains that he left Aquos in secrecy. His little sister, who’s named Lotlyn, helped him escape after their father locked him in a room for saying he wanted to explore the surface. Tritons generally hate the surface, and Reides hates that they hate it! After Lotlyn freed him, Reides made for the surface and met a sailor who helped him and got him to Port Valor. This is the friend Reides has mentioned a few times, but Reides still doesn’t know his name. He also doesn’t know Reides’s name! Like Ashara, he was told Port Valor was a place of opportunity and for him, it was. Unfortunately, Port Valor isn’t that anymore. Reides doesn’t think he was ever fit to be a prince. He wasn’t a terrible noble, but he was distant from his people and came to represent something tumultuous to them. His interest in the surface made people think he was strange, and he didn’t want to pretend to be like his brothers. He just wanted to be himself! Reides hated everyone’s assumptions about him and wanted to be free of everything. He thought of the surface as a source of freedom and for him, it truly is. However, Reides now thinks that freedom needs some kind of direction and that, lacking that direction, his search for freedom has been selfishly motivated. Reides doesn’t want to be selfish anymore. He cares about us and Aquos too much for that. Kilwin doesn’t think Reides has been selfish and, while he doesn’t know anything about being royalty, he thinks what Reides felt made sense. Reides still thinks that he could have caused us so much trouble if, for example, people from Laverathia had followed him and accused us of kidnapping him. He also regrets that Slumberjack didn’t even get to fully meet him. Ashara thanks Reides for sharing all of this. Reides tells us that he loves this world, the sea, the surface, and all of the people in it, even when they’re terrible! He’s not willing to turn his back on it just because of a demon or a revenant. Aquos being on that list terrified him, and even though he’s not on the best terms with his parents, he could never forgive himself if Aquos went the same way as Port Valor. He bows to us, touching his forehead to the ground, and entreats us as a Guardian of the Depths to help him save his homeland from this darkness. Ashara immediately agrees. Kilwin tells Reides that even if Reides asked him not to come, Kilwin would be going with him to Aquos. Jorah also assures Reides that he’ll have a ranger with him when he returns to Aquos.

We all look at Jorah, but he swears he has nothing. Kilwin does ask who Julia is though. Jorah explains that she’s an orphanage matron in Atemcester who raised him after his parents passed. Jorah just doesn’t have that many people who are looking out for him. The last time he wrote to her was when the party was in Cowersby. Kilwin asks if Jorah is worried about her. He says it’s okay to be worried! He offers to try to cast Sending to reach her based on a description, if Jorah would like, but he’s not sure if it would actually work. Jorah admits he’s worried about Julia, but isn’t so worried that he needs to contact her immediately. Out of all the places on that list, Atemcester is the place Jorah is the least worried about. The rulers of Atemcester are a lot more powerful than we are! Jorah says he’ll tell us more about it later. He’s more concerned about Aquos at the moment. We roughly plan to travel to Atemcester, stopping in The Exeter on the way, hoping to pick up some way for the surfacers to sustain themselves underwater. Then we’ll head for Aquos. Reides admits he doesn’t have many contacts left in Aquos and can’t bother Lotlyn with it, since she’s too young. He decides he’ll swallow his pride and use Sending to contact his older brother Viglis tomorrow, after he learns the spell. He thinks Viglis will be angry with him and yell, but Reides has to endure it for Aquos! Kilwin considers using Sending to contact Erak, since he’s a little worried about him. Reides tells Ashara that Erak is someone who used to travel with the party, and he’s very fun and she would love him. Jorah says that Erak was close with Slumberjack and deserves to know what happened with them. Kilwin’s not sure he can fit everything into Sending’s word limit. Jorah suggests writing a letter. Kilwin isn’t sure where Erak is, though, so he’s not sure a letter would find its way to Erak. Jorah suggests using Sending to tell Erak where to go for the letter. We all think this is a very clever idea! Then Kilwin remembers that Erak cannot read.

Ashara asks if there’s libraries in Aquos. Reides tells her there are many libraries, and he learned magic down there. Ashara is very excited! She wonders if she might be able to learn more about what became of her homeland there. Jorah also points out that we’ve saved Count Corvus’s life multiple times now, so he owes us multiple favors. Jorah intends to cash in on that to get whatever information we need. Reides reminds us that his family probably has no idea where he is, so he’d appreciate us making sure it stays that way. We all agree to keep Reides’s secret. We hear some rustling from the bushes. Ashara and Jorah can make out some figures moving toward us in the dark, who turn out to be Othurk and the other orcs carrying a large deer. They’re going to use it in the stew! Jorah leads the way back to the temple, using the flaming sword to light our way to insult the sword.

Inside, Ashara hands the schematic copy to Kain, warning him that some of the materials, like mithril and adamantine might be difficult to come by. The materials list breaks Kain’s brain and he admits that not even the emperor can afford all this. No one can! She thinks she might be able to come up with some substitute materials, but the prototype has unfortunately been destroyed by looters. Kain also doesn’t understand all the squiggles in Ashara’s design. Ashara says they’re very important squiggles that connect to other squiggles! Kain hands the schematic to Reides and pleadingly asks if he can understand it. Reides is determined to pretend that he does, even if he doesn’t. He doesn’t! Ashara explains that the squiggles balance the life force and you’d rot without them. They’re meant to be engraved in the adamantine. Kain understands a little better, but he’s still overwhelmed by the materials list. Jorah is just shocked at the materials list; he can’t even imagine the amount of precious metals Ashara is talking about. Ashara offers to try to come up with revised schematics if Kain gives her some contact information. She’s beginning to realize that her empire might be part of the reason why these resources are no longer plentiful.

Eurystheos and Corvus approach and sit next to Kain. They plan to secure things here, then secure the abyssal crest in Falas. They might need our help to check on the other abyssal crests, however. The Exeter is in the neighboring empire, which isn’t on Bad terms with the Falasian Empire, but they may be reluctant to let us through the gates. Eurystheos laments that city guards always want to turn you away when you’re traveling, which is why she makes sure that doesn’t happen in Falas. Ashara asks for a writ of passage from the emperor. She agrees to write one, but isn’t sure how helpful it will actually be, especially if word about Port Valor’s destruction spreads before we get there. Jorah makes a few requests. He doesn’t know much about demons, so he’d like us to have access to the libraries of Falas and Port Valor to research them. He also feels very mortal after today, so he’d like access to some better armor. Kain would be able to teleport anyone who wants to do research to Falas, so that’s an easy ask. Eurystheos points out that magical armor is hard to come by in Falas, especially with the markup on imports from Atemcester, even before the Falasian Empire’s biggest port city was destroyed. She can help us get mundane armor and other supplies, however, which Jorah is more than satisfied with. While we could get a ship from Davenport and sail to Atemcester, we still think it’s worth seeing what we can do in the Exeter. Jorah jokes about buying an airship. Ashara doesn’t know what an airship is, or how much a king’s ransom is. She asks if there’s still dragons, and is excited to learn that there are. She suggests we find one who will let us ride them! Kilwin quietly warns Ashara that the Falasian Empire is not on good terms with dragons generally. She’s also surprised to learn we killed a dragon, although she’s impressed. Reides points out that he has a friend who works on a boat. He’s even lived on a boat for a few weeks! Ashara agrees to join the study group with Reides, Kain, and Kilwin. It sounds fun!

We also tell everyone that the orcs have brought meat for the stew they’ll make. Eurystheos asks Kain to keep an eye on them, just in case. The orcs come in, having left their weapons in a neat pile outside the temple doors. Krogash asks who’s hungry! People are generally a little apprehensive. Jorah gets out his mess kit for Krogash to use. Kilwin asks if he’s cleaned out the shadow goo from there. Ashara is intrigued by the mention of goo. Jorah swears he did ages ago and had almost forgotten about that. He now notices, though, that the shadow residue has left a dark stain on part of the mess kit. Reides also offers his own mess kit that was never used to transport shadow residue. Kilwin guesses it must be fine, since Jorah hasn’t been poisoned by shadow goo in the intervening weeks. Jorah laughs a bit and promises that he of all people would know if his food were poisoned. People watch Krogash make the stew, while Reides does his best to hype him up. Reides’s enthusiasm for Krogash’s stew puts Dylan at ease, and he’s actually one of the first people to get food. Dylan takes a bite and loves it! As people relax a bit and start to eat, we get the feeling that this is the best it’s been in days. Thorak is dead, the emperor is here, and just a little hope is coming back to the people of Port Valor.

Jorah gets a little drunk and approaches Kilwin while he’s alone. He offers Kilwin his waterskin, which is still filled with firewhiskey. After today, Kilwin gratefully takes a hearty swig. He takes it just fine though. Jorah admits it was a rough day. He felt his own mortality a bit more than usual, and the Burning Knight was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. On the way back to the temple, he realized he never apologized for what happened outside Cowersby. He concedes that Kilwin had a perfectly good reason for asking him not to kill any of the bandits, but Jorah just panicked in the moment. Kilwin tries to tell him that it all worked out in the end, but Jorah tells him that he doesn’t need to pretend it’s okay. Kilwin admits that he was angry with Jorah at the time, but has let go of it in the face of bigger things. He also wonders if he did the right thing by breaking off on his own to confront Len, but Jorah says it was his own fault he got surrounded. With Slumberjack gone, Jorah wonders if there’s a chance he’s next, but Kilwin tries to assure him he won’t be. Kilwin also apologizes for snapping at Jorah a few times throughout the past few days, but Jorah claims he didn’t even notice. The sharing session outside also made Jorah think about how Kilwin never knew his parents, and Jorah lost his when he was fairly young. He admits that he feels some kinship with Kilwin based on that. Jorah also thinks about how they’ll probably visit Hommlin on their way to Atemcester. He hasn’t been there since he was 14. Kilwin assures him that we’ll be there with him this time. Jorah hands his now-empty waterskin to Kilwin and announces that he’s going to bed. Kilwin takes the waterskin and lets him know he can talk to him whenever he wants. Jorah attempts to find his bedroll and is sure he did as he lies down on a pew. Kilwin puts his blanket over Jorah.

Reides finally gets to cast Identify on the burning sword. It’s called an Everburn Longsword, which is a normal longsword enchanted with Alzrius’s fire that never goes out. Also, killing something with it summons a demon who serves Alzrius. Reides writes this on a note that he leaves next to Jorah. Reides certainly doesn’t want to hold onto it, and giving it to Jorah seems like a terrible idea right now, so Kilwin offers to guard it for the night. Reides is letting Dylan keep Pepega for the night, but visits her to pet her and let her know he hasn’t abandoned her. She knows, but still enjoys the pets. Dylan is using the teddy that Reides left with him as a pillow.

Reides and Kilwin approach Kain for the study session, and see that he’s just been arguing with Ashara. She keeps listing off alternative metals for the stasis pod, which are also impossible to obtain in sufficient quantities. She tells Kain to try harder and asks if he’s living in squalor. He says that apparently he is! He has no doubt that the pod would work if someone could build it, but the materials are just impossible. No one has them! Kain turns his attention to Reides and asks if he’s still interested in doing a spell trade, offering to just teach him Sending on his own if Reides would rather do that. Reides agrees to do a trade! He’s not sure if he has any spells that Kain doesn’t already have in his spellbook, though. Reides is a little jealous because it’s a very impressive spellbook! Kain admits that he only learned so many spells by studying in Atemcester for ten years, and that he was very lucky that Emperor Karseidon was able and willing to fund his studies. He’s very impressed when he learns that Reides is self-taught! He thinks that magic of self-taught wizards is a lot more interesting and dynamic than the musty old spells he learned by rote in Atemcester. Reides is warming up to this guy a little! The study session begins. Kilwin demonstrates the cleric’s version of Sending by sending a message to Erak, telling him that Port Valor was destroyed and asking him to be careful. Erak responds, telling Kilwin to stay safe and that his visions are tough to follow, but it sounds like they’re both doing their best. Erak also tries to say something else, but gets cut off by Sending’s limitations. Kilwin laughs and tells Reides that Erak seems to be doing all right. Reides asks if you need to know someone’s name to contact them with Sending. Kain explains that you need to have a very good visual description of the person in mind, as well as knowledge of their personality and background. A name isn’t strictly necessary, but helps a lot if the other components are lacking somehow. Reides lets Kain go through his spellbook, and Kain decides that he’d like to learn Tidal Wave from Reides. He takes down some basic notes from Reides’s spellbook so he can fill in the rest later. He feels that it’s not really a fair trade, though, and offers to let Reides take notes on another spell from his book. Reides won’t say no to that! Kain gives him the options of a spell that can bind people in place, one that can help locate a familiar object, and another that can convince someone to do what the caster says. Reides doesn’t like messing with people’s free will, especially after the party’s experience with the Burning Knight, so Reides receives notes on casting Locate Object.

The next day, we start making plans for the next two weeks, since we need some time to research and stock up on supplies. Kilwin would also like to spend some time helping with Port Valor’s recovery and the preservation of the bodies. Jorah intends to go shopping with funds provided by the emperor. Ashara wants to spend some time sewing some new robes, but Kilwin offers to fix up her old ones with Mending, freeing her up to research methods of breathing underwater. First, however, Reides needs to contact Viglis to make sure Aquos isn’t in immediate danger. He stares at the water and pictures his dearly detested older brother. He casts Sending and tells Viglis that he’s on the surface and things aren’t good. There’s demons and cities are dying. He asks if everyone is okay and tells Viglis to be alert. He also tries to tell Viglis that he cares about him and everyone else, but just couldn’t stay there, but the spell cuts him off. He’s new at this! After a moment, he gets a reply. Viglis tells Reides that he needs to come home, since it’s safer in Aquos than on the surface with those attacks. He starts to say they can talk, but also gets cut off. Reides reports that it went better than he thought it would go. Aquos is safe for now and Viglis seemed more worried about him than angry. Reides tells us that Viglis is a good judge of the state of the kingdom, since he’s the ideal prince and excelled everywhere Reides failed. Not much passes by him! Reides feels a bit better about taking a little time to secure other places before heading to Aquos. Reides also tries to cast Sending to contact his first friend from the surface. He thinks about how the surfacer is kind but also strange and silly, and how he’s funny in his own way. The surfacer also has a long scar on his left cheek, pointed ears, freckled brown skin, and green eyes. Reides tells the surfacer that he’s the blue person he helped in the net. He finally tells the surfacer his name and asks if he’s okay. The world is scary! Reides gets a response! The surfacer tells Reides that he’s in Atemcester, where all is well. He sailed there from Davenport! As he’s about to tell Reides his name, the spell cuts him off. Reides is relieved that he seems to be okay!

Kain is able to teleport us to Falas once a day, although he needs to rest before making a return trip, so anyone who goes will have to spend the night. (Kain has an emergency teleportation method, but it’s risky and he’s not going to use it for this.) Ashara and Reides want to hit the libraries. Ashara will research breathing underwater and also keep an eye out for possible substitute materials for the stasis pod, because she’s stubborn. Reides wants to focus on demons, but will also help with researching water breathing once he’s tapped that well. Jorah asks if we’re interested in getting our own horses, since they would make traveling over land much faster. The emperor has agreed to give him a fund of 2000 gp to spend on gear and supplies. Kilwin doesn’t have much experience with horses, but admits that we might need all the traveling speed we can get! Reides admits he was terrible at learning to ride hippocampi, so he thinks he will be terrible with horses. We agree to use the emperor’s funds to buy a carriage and a draft horse to help Gin carry it. Kilwin is excited to name a horse, so Jorah says it can be his, but we decide to have a naming committee when Ashara is less preoccupied by her research. Reides says we should get a cow to help pull the carriage, but it’s unfortunately dismissed as a bad idea. Kilwin appreciates it though! Reides finishes backing up his spellbook, along with his new spells, and gives the completed copy to Kilwin to put into the bag of holding. Kilwin also offers the cloak of elvenkind to any of his companions who he suspects would make better use of it. Jorah passes because he already has a cloak that’s saved his life multiple times, so Reides takes it. Kilwin stays behind in Port Valor for the duration, recovering bodies and casting Gentle Repose on them. He also tries to figure out if the survivors are intending to stay and rebuild, or leave for elsewhere. Port Valor is Kargath’s home, so he wants to rebuild. Some of the survivors, however, like Anna and her daughter Allura, are considering going with Kain on one of his trips back to Falas and starting over. Regardless, Kilwin gives 60 gp to each survivor (giving the children’s shares to their parents), so that they won’t need to worry about basic living expenses for a while. He gives Dylan’s share to Lathendria. He tells her that he also grew up in a temple and doesn’t think it’s a bad place to grow up at all, but he suspects it might be harder for a child who knew something before that. He trusts Lathendria to send Dylan’s share with him if he goes somewhere else, and she agrees. Reides decides to let Zenine keep the dagger of poison, because she wants it and she deserves it.

Jorah spends the entire week shopping and tracking down stores where he can find things. He buys a second hand crossbow for himself, a carriage, a draft horse, a military saddle and studded leather barding for Gin, a breastplate and armored bracers for himself, 100 crossbow bolts, an owl (Reides wants to give one to Dylan so he can remember Pepega after we leave- he likes the idea of giving him something to take care of instead of giving him an owl-themed toy), a regular dagger to replace Reides’s dagger of poison, two hooded lanterns with oil, two bags of caltrops, 20 days worth of rations for each of us, a bottle of firewhiskey to replace the one Jorah just finished, two journals (one for Jorah to take notes for when he researches fiends next week, one for Kilwin because he’s the only one who doesn’t have a journal now and he feels left out), 10 gp worth of feed for the horses (although they’ll most eat grass along the way- Kilwin wonders if grass is plentiful in the mountains, although they don’t Seem inhospitable to life), 25 gp of powdered silver (the material components for Kilwin’s Ceremony spell), a grappling hook, three hunting traps, a set of fishing tackle (Reides simply wants it- the person approving Jorah’s line of credit is skeptical, but signs off on it), a world map, a map of Falas, a map of Seaton, a map case, and component pouches for Reides and Kilwin. He’s unable to find drow poison, or maps for Aquos, The Exeter, or Arc-Delia. He also doesn’t think we really need a map of Atemcester, since he can just guide us. He’s also pretty sure the emperor won’t approve a purchase for precious gemstones, even if they truly are components for Kilwin’s resurrection spells. We also discuss getting some kind of sheathe for the Everburn Longsword because we don’t want to carry it out all the time, but we’re not sure if we can entrust it to the emperor with the mole in Falas at large. We don’t want to just stick in the bag of holding, though, since we plan to actually use that now!

Reides buries himself in the library and receives three pieces of lore on water breathing, and two pieces of lore about demons. During the second week, Jorah is also hurriedly pulling books on demons as Reides and Ashara do their own research. He pours 250 gp of his own money into obtaining materials, bribing his way into restricted areas, and reaching out to all of his old bounty hunting contacts. In return, he receives One piece of lore about demons. More importantly, though, Jorah teaches himself Abyssal. Kain teleports a group of builders to Port Valor and, with the bodies recovered and preserved as best as they can be for now, Kilwin spends half of the second week helping them out. He does a great job, and the foreman gives him 31 gp for his help. Kilwin then returns to the grim work of refreshing Gentle Repose on the bodies.