World Lore:
- Erendor is old-world Nimara (elf/tree civilization). The Hollow Dominion broke the world.
- The King took root in the New Ember Wilds, brought balance for 200 years. King is weary, rumor says he's sick. Mythical creatures appearing.
- Dal Mire region: Eredorn (higgling border) — cavalry tradition, Wardens of the Iron March, war horse breeding.
The Party (disguised as "John Reiner", a tall man in a trench coat):
- Herreborn (Dani) — Rune-bound, clockwork sorcery. Visions of past timelines: room burning, horses dead in stable, someone she trusts dead on the floor.
- Faelin (Rozbern of the Wild) — Came from Veil of Thalarahd. Received a warning letter: king is ill, line of succession unclear (3 bloodlines), "Ash and thorn seal only", "your brother's silence is not absence". Signed "R".
- Julian (alias Fen Wicket) — Flashes of the prior day.
- Zenobia — White horse with gold armor.
- Gunnar & Barry — Goblins in the coat.
- Jocelynn — Coming from Veil of Thalamus, heading north.
Tavern Events:
- 25 rooms. Pip = stable boy (half-elf, stable 13). Flicked him a gold coin.
- Sir Coldeus Ryne — Traveling knight, room 11, big bag of papers.
- Nobles buying horses quietly. Uptick in horse sales. Race horses being bred locally.
- Gruff merchant mapping trade routes and river access.
- Faelin found a letter in her coat pocket with familiar symbols.
- Three marks seen: smugglers mark (wave), 3 squiggles, tower sigil.
Morning: Innkeeper screamed — Sir Coldeus Ryne was poisoned. Party was hungover.
Speaking with the dead knight:
- Who killed you? "I don't know, many people came to my room."
- Why? "The horse — not a beast, a birthright. They cannot let it be known. The air is not safe."
- Where's your bag? "Under the bed. They knew me — everyone who visited knew me."
- What was the letter to say? "They are inside the court."
Evidence:
- Sir Coldeus slumped over papers with ink and blood. Two wine glasses (one untouched, one half-drunk).
- Bag was meticulously searched. War horse documentation inside. Floral scent — lilac.
- Cleaning lady recalled noble ladies who smelled of perfume.
- Poison: Widow's Respites — clear viscous, old-world poison, heart failure/stroke, blue lips. Favored by the Bridled Blades of High Thorn.
- Hidden door found with smuggler markings.
- Took horse trade papers and smuggler sigil.
Tunnel: Phased through like 9.75. Grimy, metallic. Water in distance. Iron rings in walls. Wet hay smell.
Discoveries:
- Crate with Midnight Circus sigil — black tent, three red flags.
- Barry confessed: They were in the circus, set it on fire, escaped with animals (16 horses, monkeys, bearded lady gnomes).
- Symbols on walls: Wave, Box, Horseshoe, Muffin.
- Wave = smuggler's mark.
Box Room:
- Black coin: "Tide pays all debts" (double-wave crest).
- Zenobia found drawing of a horse: "Not right after the change".
- Gunnar found scrap: "12 DM received, 3 unfit, 1 refused to move — marked for quiet handling" (horses being killed/resisted).
- Receipt: Payment to Dal Mire for "training stock to host Dalmire". Crown circled next to one line.
- Ledger fragment (coded): "7 veil, shipment replace before arrival".
- Sealed letter with tower sigil = mark of Dal Mire.
Horseshoe Room:
- Horses in trance — fed "bedtime oats" (alfalfa, hay, oats, elderflower — sedative).
- Combat with smugglers who answer to Jupiter. "Dal Mire, we move their stuff. I only talk to Jupiter."
- Mention of the Ringmaster.
Dal Mire revealed (Ash's info):
- From Eredorn. Masters of war horse breeding and cavalry.
- "The sickly king — peace is going to end. Dal Mire is trying to ensure power is on their side. They're not the only ones trying to control the narrative."
- A pegasus is supposed to be a unifier of the realms.
Found: A simple iron band — "Name Thief Ring". Note: "Do not attune. Identity erosion observed."
Gunnar's Action: Needed a rune-etched rock to free the animals (possibly on a guard). Caught trying to steal a key/rune from a guard at the docks. Combat immediately followed.
Picked up from Session 4 combat start.
The Pickpocket Fallout:
- Gunnar caught red-handed trying to lift the rune-key from the guard. Bad initiative — had to wait.
- Berry tried to save Gunnar, failed a roll, got grabbed too. Bit the guard's finger.
- Faelin (Jocelynn) swooped in with a cover story: claimed she was "training the goblins", tied Ash in as cover.
- Performance/deception checks passed. Berry ate sleepy time oats and passed out cold.
- Faelin used alias "Agatha".
- Gunnar got a slap, walked free. Party regrouped.
Loot from searching the room (investigation rolls):
Vial of Hollow Dominion Mist — stoppered glass with faint shadows. Creates magical darkness (1 min), but something from the Hollow will notice you.
→ Blood-stained Circus Mask given to Berry.
Berry:
Blood-stained Circus Mask — porcelain, crooked smile. Once per long rest: cast Disguise Self or Tasha's Hideous Laughter. Laughter echoes faintly after use.
Faelin (Jocelynn):
Smuggler's Spyglass — blue flame reveals hidden compartments, illusions, and invisible creatures in a narrow cone.
Zenobia (Tara):
Jagged Enchanted Mirror Shard — cut herself (1 damage). Can see people looking for her from the shadows. Currently only shows her guardian/mentor.
Herreborn (Dani):
Key Info from Ash:
- Treasure at the Gilded Run, accessible through the Azure Tides.
- Scarlet was Ash's mentor. Scarlet is niece of Lady Korrath of the Veil.
- Lady Korrath's family: traders, supply crystal and magiccore from Ben n Bluf. Very rich/powerful, shape parliament from behind the scenes.
- Lady Korrath is currently at the Azure Tides — party wants to avoid her.
- Important shipment needs to get back to the Veil.
- Ash claimed she was trying to retrieve a muffin (creature?) for her niece's birthday.
Plans:
- Plan A: Load Berry (in a sack) onto the boat. Ash leads through the Azure Tides.
- Plan B: Overtake a ship, pretend goblins are prisoners.
- Went with Plan A.
- Future-glimpse: Herreborn peeked ~10 min ahead instead of jumping — saw "someone directly in front of you" asking questions at the gangway. Resolved: Faelin's deception cleared everyone aboard.
Boarding:
- Faced Captain Minerva — big purple woman with a sword, captaining the longboat.
- Ash led, used forged "Jupiter's orders" as cover.
- Aliases used: Agatha (Faelin) and Arizana.
- Berry woke up in the sack, started freaking out. Gunnar reassured him it was "part of the plan."
- Ship departed the docks. Voyage begins.
Recovered from transcript (audit pass):
- The mark of Gunnar's failed pickpocketing was Scarlet herself (he was after her keys). She caught him ("little sticky fingers," intimidation 17) and called over Boris. It initiatived briefly, but Faelin's dirty-20 "I'm training these goblins" deception defused it — Gunnar got smacked for 2 dmg, Berry bit a finger (6 dmg).
- Revali origin: summoned from Faelin's feather talisman (which also records one message per long rest and grants feather fall). Bluebird: 60 ft fly, 8 HP, AC 13.
- The "muffin" is a mislabeled colt (baby horse). Investigation 13 on the files confirmed moving day was that afternoon — it ships with the rest of the cargo. Korrath intended it as a birthday gift for her niece — her ward Alara (same girl, player-confirmed).
- Ash warned: the ship Zenobia actually wants to catch is Lady Korrath's own ship — deliberately avoided.
- Boarding details: Yuri snuck aboard via Pass Without Trace + a barrel; goblins rode as sack-of-potatoes cargo; Ash led with forged Jupiter orders.
END OF SESSION 5
| Player | Character | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bryce (me) | Gunnar Ann | Goblin Ranger 5 |
| Avery | Berry | Gunnar's brother goblin |
| Jocelynn | Faelin | Rozbern of the Wild |
| Tara | Zenobia | White horse/gold armor |
| Dani | Herreborn | Rune-bound clockwork sorcerer |
| DM | Ash (NPC) | Smuggler, guiding party |
| Name | Info |
|---|---|
| Yuri | Allied magic-user (innate sorcery — Chromatic Orb, Command, Starry Wisp, Pass Without Trace; NOT a PC). Vanished in the S6 storm; secretly back since S7 — only Faelin knows |
| Pip | Stable boy, half-elf, acts strange |
| Ashrid "Ash" | Smuggler guide; abandoned party in a lifeboat during the pirate attack (S6). Scarlet was her mentor; wants freedom; hunting Gilded Run treasure |
| Penny Dreadful | Pirate captain "Captain Dreadful" (long curly red hair). Ex-partner of Lady Korrath, betrayed & exiled for treason (claims she was set up), has a bounty on her head, can't go ashore. Side quest: exonerate her → her old manor in the Azure Tides. Gave party a one-use Sending Stone |
| Zion | Dreadful's fortune/augury parrot (hat + eyepatch), Midnight Circus fire rescue, 5 years with her. Cast Suggestion in the S6 fight. Senses future impacts ("suggests impacts") |
| Berry/Berry | Gunnar's brother goblin (also escaped circus) |
| Herreborn (Dani) | Rune-bound clockwork sorcerer; timeline visions; can glimpse ~10 min ahead |
| Faelin (Jocelynn) | Rozbern of the Wild; received warning letter signed "R"; black-sheep relative of an heir-family in Parliament |
| Julian (Fen Wicket) | Traveler; flashes of the prior day |
| Zenobia (Tara) | White horse with gold armor; her horse is held by Korrath (bandit intel, S9) |
| Sir Coldeus Ryne | Dead knight, poisoned; was investigating horses |
| Jupiter | Middleman for Dal Mire / smuggling operations |
| The Ringmaster | Midnight Circus leader (mentioned) |
| Scarlet | Ash's former mentor; niece of Lady Korrath; benefits from smuggling |
| Lady Korrath | Head of Korrath family (Azure Tides/Veil). Crystal & magicore traders (Ben n Bluf); shapes parliament; runs smuggling; pushing ward Alara toward the throne; reportedly holds Zenobia's horse. Married into power after the king's death |
| Captain Minerva | Big purple woman with a sword; captained the longboat; ~4 yrs captaining, all-woman crew |
| Revali | Faelin's summoned bluebird (from her feather talisman — 1 message/long rest + feather fall). 60 ft fly, 8 HP, AC 13 |
| Lady Alara | Ward of the Veil; coming-of-age ceremony (21) — TONIGHT (S9) |
| Izzy | Dwarven artificer at Ceremonies & Co. (Forge district). Deal: 3 noble visitors this week → 50% off another item. Suspicious glittery orb on her desk she dodged questions about |
| Ballendor | Dwarven armorer, Ballendor's Battleaxe & Armor (spear/boots/compass). ⚠️ Not Bernard |
| Bernard | Dwarven blacksmith, Fire & Brimstone; head of the Artisans Guild; posted bandit bounty; lent bait wagon. ⚠️ Not Ballendor |
| Dr. Boxer | Alchemist running test-subject trials ("potions of unimaginable strength"). Shop = Oliveira & Associates |
| Oliveira "Ollie" | Desk clerk at Dr. Boxer's; sold Faelin poison + invisibility. A dangerous batch went to a Crown resident 2 nights ago |
| Dr. Warren | Doctor on the outskirts by the mine entrance; see him for ore/boots "weird effects" |
| Dwarf bandit | Laid-off miner who robbed weapon shipments (2 wks); grievance = Korrath's wages/mine shutdown; ~13-yr-old son; released with job flyers + bananas (S9) |
| Blue-coat broker | Unnamed ticket broker/forger at the Brazen Barrel back corner. Sold 2 forged invitations (50 gp); knows ball security; recognized Faelin's name |
| Faction | Info |
|---|---|
| Midnight Circus | Black tent, 3 red flags. Party escaped from here |
| Dal Mire | War horse breeders from Eredorn. Involved in shady horse shipments. Answer to the capital |
| Bridled Blades | Elite operatives from High Thorn. Use Widow's Respites poison |
| Smugglers | Wave sigil. "Tide pays all debts" |
| Korrath Family | Azure Tides / Veil. Crystal & magicore traders. Not in parliament but shape it. Lady Korrath currently at the Azure Tides |
| Thalara (the Veil) | Underground dwarven fortress city — 8 mountains. Layers: Crown (nobles/palace), Forge (working class), the Deep/Hollow (unmapped). Mines new, potentially corrupted ore |
| Artisans Guild | Bernard is one of its heads. Shopkeepers pooled a bounty on the bandit hitting their weapon shipments |
Recovered from transcript (audit pass):
- Pirate ship: two cannons, Jolly Roger, and a giant vibrant red/blue/yellow parrot wearing a hat and eyepatch. Gunnar's intimidation attempt on the parrot flopped ("Birds never scared me").
- Dreadful opened by swinging over on a rope + gust of wind (knocked several prone). Minerva dueled her; a pirate nat-20-lassoed Minerva onto Dreadful's deck.
- Gunnar's Hunter's Mark + longbow put ~18–19 damage into Dreadful early.
- The parrot cast Suggestion ("kill your captain") — multiple party members failed wisdom saves and had to target Minerva.
- Faelin's sacred flame at the cannon-pirate missed; Dissident Whispers dealt 2 to Dreadful.
- Yuri vanished during the storm (ethereal teleport) — she was missing during the looting; party assumed she'd turn up. (She did — see Session 7.)
- Looting extras: goblins ate through the fish sack; apples + potatoes hauled over.
- Interrogation extras: party claimed to hail from the outskirts of Mist Haven; Dreadful liked "Arizona's" spunk; mead party — Gunnar failed a CON save and puked.
KEY: Ash abandoned the party (fled in lifeboat before ship sank).
- Dreadful interrogates party:
- Arizona (Jocelynn's alias) says they're not smugglers, just needed passage.
- Dreadful's backstory: Was former partners with Lady Korath. Korath betrayed her, turned the world against her, now she has a bounty on her head. She wants vengeance.
- Party shares intel: Korath is smuggling a horse-type creature as a gift for her niece.
- Dreadful heading toward the Veil for revenge.
END OF SESSION 6
Time-Jump Consequence:
- The party has messed with time before; the DM's consequences chart triggered a jump. Party wakes at 4am having jumped forward in time onto a very different boat — it now has real sleeping quarters with bunks (before it was just storage).
- 6am: everyone rouses. Gunnar has disadvantage on his first two checks of the day (can't hold his liquor). Trauma-bonded goblins cuddled in the hammocks.
Monkeys & the Hidden Stowaway:
- Two monkeys found below deck, snatching bananas out of a cracked barrel. Nobody knows where they came from. (Possible tie to the Midnight Circus — the party escaped circus monkeys.)
- Yuri IS the hidden stowaway: she vanished during the S6 storm (ethereal teleport), then slipped back aboard during the night — woke in a barrel at 4am after the time-jump. Only Faelin knows she's back; Yuri begged her to keep it quiet ("I'm not ready to tell them yet").
- Dreadful isn't worried about the monkeys: the storm is the real problem.
The Stillness Scar:
- Rosy pink dawn sky → "Still waters in this part of the Azure Tides. Nothing good can come." Red sky in morning = sailors take warning. Gunnar vaguely recalls a nursery rhyme (History 15).
- Sky darkens; the sea freezes impossibly tall around the ship ("frozen jaws"). Thunder, lightning, heavy rain. Creature shapes take form in the sky.
- Dreadful's lore: "This is more than just a storm. These are mephits and wind elementals brought by a storm caused by the deep curse on this earth. The Rift from the Hollow Dominion creates a seeping poison in the sea, and creates storms such as these. It happened with Namara bafar and the roots; now it's happening to the skies and the sea. I've only seen one of these Stillness scars before, and it's hard to outlast." Dreadful bears a scar from the last one.
- Objective: kill every mephit/elemental AND melt the ice to free the ship.
Combat (water mephits, lightning mephits, wind elemental, water elementals):
- Water mephits: "incessant tricksters" that favor water and set traps. Death burst: 5-ft strength save or knocked prone/extinguish flames — and spawns a mini mephit.
- Lightning mephits: unknown to party. Death burst: arcing lightning (dex save).
- Wind elemental: whirlwind (force), can slip into any creature's space.
- Water elemental: water-breath whirlpool (strength save, pushed/prone).
- Gunnar: Hunter's Mark + longbow crit (29 to hit) drops a water mephit; took 2 from wind.
- Berry: raging barbarian, reckless slashes, drops a lightning mephit (death burst killed a pirate).
- Yuri: Innate Sorcery (advantage on spell attacks, 1 min), Starry Wisp, Command (halt) on a water mephit, Chromatic Orb (fire) to melt ice; took 9 lightning (saved).
- Faelin: Mass Healing Word (+9 to everyone), Starry Wisp drops a lightning mephit. Bird flute grants inspiration (d8).
- Zenobia: knocked prone, then pushed by wind (took an opportunity attack).
- Penny Dreadful: fire whip + swashbuckling slash (22) cuts a water elemental in half; her cheek was slashed (4).
- DM's "man the decks!" gaffe on the all-woman crew → bargain inspiration (d8) for Yuri. (Callback: "can't have men overboard if there are no men on the ship.")
Resolution:
- All enemies dead. Fire spells (Chromatic Orb) melt the ice past halfway; Yuri lands a 20 and finishes melting it. The ship is freed and back in the water.
- Session ends — long rest happens next time.
END OF SESSION 7
Setup: Party has been at sea 6 days. Reaching shore of the Veil of Thalara the next morning. All spell slots/HP restored (long rest at sea).
Captain Dreadful's Parrot (Zion):
- Gunnar asked about the bird. It's a rescue from the Midnight Circus — found after the great fire. Dreadful has had it 5 years.
- It's a fortune/augury bird — senses/foreshadows future impacts ("suggests impacts").
- Joke/cursed: "Why are you hitting yourself?" suggestion — a party member (Berry) punched himself in the face (3 dmg, rolled options).
Departure / New Quest from Penny Dreadful:
- Full alias: Penny Dreadful. She cannot step foot on shore (exiled/outcast from the region). No one must know the party was on her ship.
- Gives party a Sending Stone (one use) — "only call if you absolutely need me."
- Penny Dreadful's personal side quest: She was accused of treason as an agent of the crown — had dealings with another kingdom and trades with Lady Fowler [sp?]. Swears she was set up. If the party untangles the lies and finds evidence to exonerate her, she'll reward them with her old manor house in the Azure Tides that she hasn't been able to return to.
The City — Thalara (Veil), a fortress buried in mountains:
- Subterranean city carved into 8 mountains. Castle sits in the central mountain, with the river the Iron Flow running through its heart — carries ore runoff and feeds down to the Azure Tides. (Potential back entrance — Zenobia suggested the river route.)
- Ore bounty: 3 types of ore/metal; crystals come from the two mountains closest to the castle.
- Three layers:
1. The Crown (surface) — wealthy & politically powerful. Lady Korath's administrative palace is here, at the tip of the mountain. Grand gates, heavily guarded.
2. The Forge / Industrial City (middle) — the working class. Weapon forges, armor workshops, clockwork labs, arcane engineering, mining guilds, smelters, magical elevators, underground railways, blacksmithing districts, experimental weapons. This is where the whispers of corruption live.
3. The Deep / the Hollow (bottom) — oldest mines. Official maps don't acknowledge it. Whisper: the pegasus is down there.
- Famous motto: "If it breaks, we build it stronger. If it doesn't break, we make it sharper."
Plan to enter the Crown:
- Penny's advice: go in as merchant representatives, entertainers hired for the festivities, or bodyguards of noble ladies; forge an invitation. Trials: getting into the crown/ball is the hard part; the Forge district is traveler-friendly.
- Party plan: Lady Faelin + bodyguards, or forge invites. Faelin revealed: she's related to an heir-family in Parliament (black sheep; "I want to leave that life"). Her real name could be used as backup — she'd rather disguise (she may be recognized; she has the mask for Disguise Self). Plan: forge first, use the name only if needed.
- Also discussed: go as dwarves (goblins in Disguise Self), John Reiner, Yuri the magician.
- Alias kept: John Reiner.
New intel / succession thread:
- Lady Alara (A-L-A-R-A) — the Ward of the Veil, is having her coming of age ceremony (21st birthday) tomorrow night. Traditional rite: she transitions from "the Ward of the Veil" into her full independent name/title.
- Rumor: "I heard she may be with the heirs." — whispers about bloodlines get shut down fast ("Don't ask questions about bloodlines in the Rose City. It leads to nothing but no good." — bartender rang last call to kill the rumor mill).
- Miners' take: "Lady K is just gonna be all up in that celebration tomorrow... in line for that throne for the taking."
- Faelin's read: Lady Korath is trying to get the Ward (Alara) in line for the throne, which impacts Faelin's family directly. Also Korath = circus-related (everything seen with Jupiter points to her).
Shopping — The Forge district (afternoon; 4-hr walk from the shore):
- The Brazen Barrel tavern = regroup point. Rooms 1 gold/night (2 rooms paid + 1 gp bribe to the keeper → pointed to a man in the dark blue coat in the back corner for info; warned them to stop speaking Undercommon in the tavern — it's looked down upon).
- Ceremonies & Co. (dwarven magic shop; artificer Izzy, huge goggles):
- Ring of Stone Walking — 1/day pass through 5 ft of nonmagical stone. Haggled 75 → 25 gp (poor performance at first, then smooth-talking; "25/25" split). Goes to Yuri (the performer).
- Amulet that stores/echoes the last 10 seconds of sound — replay 1/day; erase button (on a 1 something's lost). Got 20% off; deal: if 3 nobles visit Izzy's shop within the week → 50% off another item. (Espionage item.)
- Izzy's shop is tied into the working-class/artificer angle (dwarven, practical).
- Ballendor's Battleaxe & Armor (armorer):
- Clockwork Spear — head unfolds into three blades; bonus action to switch between piercing and slashing; +3 damage with blades. 50 gp. Berry's, funded by Faelin (he only had 16 gp on him).
- Silent-step Boots — silent stride (adv. Stealth), absorb footsteps/armor sound (no Stealth disadvantage in armor), soft landing (reduce fall dmg), Forge Spring 1/short rest silent leap (15 ft horiz / 10 ft vert, no opportunity attack). Soles glow faintly orange. 100 gp. Made for miners crossing caverns.
- Deal: 3 items for 150 gp (spear + boots + 1 free random item). Rolled: Clockwork Spider (scouts up to 100 ft, shares simple visual impressions — declined) and a natural 19 → Hollow Steel Compass: points north normally, but spins violently toward the source of Hollow Dominion corruption when near it. Chose the compass.
- New Ore rumor (Ballendor's): The deep mines have hit a new layer of ore — orange & red, almost purple, veined. Miners touching it get dark veining on their hands / adverse reactions (varies by person). Ballendor uses special gloves. Weapons forged from it glow — party spotted the orange/red glow on several blades and on the new boots/spear. (Likely Hollow Dominion corruption — ties to the Stillness Scar.)
Evening:
- Miners (new friends from the tavern) got drunk; one asked after the Ward's bloodline and got shut down by a voice from the shadows. Bartender called last call.
- Gunnar tagged along to a second tavern — 3 drinks (each miner paying back the round), no hangover the next morning.
- Party rest at the Brazen Barrel. Ball is tomorrow night.
END OF SESSION 8
Morning — Job Board:
- Party broke; grabbed flyers off the board:
1. Creature making noise in a sewer behind someone's house (reward: bottle of wine)
2. Woman's son missing — last seen heading south to explore ruins near the lake
3. Feast of the Last Blade — food, friendly competition, festivities (next week)
4. Trapped miners — tunnel floor collapsed, 3 miners fell into a deep cavern, screaming heard
5. Bandit making deliveries difficult (shopkeepers' bounty)
6. Dr. Boxer seeking test subjects — "potions of unimaginable strength... results may vary. But you do get paid."
- Chose Dr. Boxer first.
Dr. Boxer's Alchemy Shop (Oliveira & Associates):
- Desk clerk: Oliveira ("Ollie") — long stark hair, goggles pushed up on head, buried in order paperwork.
- Wall of potions: speed, healing, greater restoration, fire resistance. Investigation (25!) spotted a potion of mind control and a potion of invisibility.
- Cured-meat jerky wall: some grant advantage on initiative. Gunnar bought one for 5 sp and ate it on the spot.
- Gunnar + Berry signed up as strength-potion test subjects; Tara wanted the healing-potion trial but was told subjects must be injured first ("You, sir, would burn down my shop at the moment, so no").
- Control tests (Berry): karate-chop a board (slight dent), shotput a stone (two-thirds down the lane), 22 squats holding liquid-filled buckets. Gunnar matched the squats (beat him by one).
- Berry's potion result: became flammable — anyone ending their turn within 5 ft takes 1d6 fire damage. Lasts 9 hours. Doctor took notes and tweaked the formula.
- Gunnar's potion result: advantage on all STR checks, +2 damage on melee attacks for 1 day (~22.5 hrs left as of evening). May flex hard enough to tear clothes. (Ripped the shirt.)
- Reward: 10 gp for testing (Gunnar's).
Faelin's shopping (with Ollie):
- Asked how they're licensed to sell this stuff: "mostly for educational purposes" — supplies a school alchemist program; buyers get background/wanted-list checks.
- Learned a dangerous batch was delivered again two nights ago to a resident of the Crown.
- Bought black widow poison + antidote (3 gp; antidote alone 1.5 gp — two drops cures).
- Bought potion of invisibility — duration varies 2 min–2 hr ("results may vary") — for 2 gp.
Bernard's shop (Fire & Brimstone) — the bandit bounty:
- NOTE: Bernard ≠ Ballendor. Bernard is the dwarven blacksmith of Fire & Brimstone and one of the heads of the Artisans Guild.
- Bounty posted by 3 initial shopkeepers, 2 more joined. Weapon shipments intercepted for the past 2 weeks — most were bound for the Crown.
- Escalation: first raids just tied people up; lately victims come back battered.
- Lent the party an uncovered wagon + old discount weapons as bait. Plan: pose as merchants hauling goods, let the bandit hit them, catch him in the act.
- Setup: goblins hidden in the wagon bed, Yuri driving with Faelin, Zenobia walking guard.
Ambush & the Dwarf Bandit:
- Ambushed on the west road. Short fight: Berry raged out of the (accidentally burning) canvas, dropped the attacker twice (clockwork spear + fire-aura chip damage). Faelin's Command failed (19 save).
- The attacker: a dwarf — a laid-off miner whose fight is with Lady Korrath: "That lady don't pay me a fair wage... the mines have been shut down for the last week and I gotta feed my family" (anniversary next month). His ~13-year-old son emerged from the trees, unarmed.
- Miners / ore intel (KEY):
- Diamond mines shut down ~1 week ago — tunnels destabilizing from over-production above the new ore layer.
- The new ore layer lies below the diamond mines ("above my pay grade").
- Miners breathe ore dust and get sick — "the miners get the worst of it." Only some people sicken; families' health at risk too.
- He refuses to work the deep layer because of the sickness.
- Korrath's response: keep mining regardless.
- A dwarf actually runs the mining operation, not Korrath — workers would never take orders from a non-dwarf. Another big-bad candidate.
- Advised: if the Silent-step Boots cause "weird effects," see Dr. Warren — clinic on the outskirts, right by the mine entrance (medical staging for mining dangers).
- Party let him and his son go. Gave him the job flyers; Yuri performed banana magic. No bounty collected; XP earned.
Walk back — new leads:
- Flyer nailed to a tree outside town: "Good people hear my words. This land has become tainted, and you must flee. Don't believe me? Watch the rooftops at night."
- Party debrief on Korrath: married into power after the king's death; "she was not meant to remove the veil"; not the true leader of the Veil; pushing her ward toward the throne; circus connection (Jupiter).
- Timing: Alara's coming-of-age ceremony is TONIGHT.
The Blue-Coat Man (Brazen Barrel, evening):
- Party returned to the Brazen Barrel to finally meet the info contact. Comedy: Gunnar is canonically colorblind (failed to spot anything blue; "officially, canonically"). The man was sitting directly behind them the whole time.
- Berry initially confused him with Dr. Boxer — clarified: separate person. He speaks Common; called Undercommon "crude... thieves' speak."
- He is a ticket broker / forger for Alara's coming-of-age event:
- Real tickets: 75 gp each — entourage included; gates are "fairly lenient" toward event staff and bodyguards.
- Forgeries: 25 gp each — admits bearer +1 guest + a guard.
- Security intel: with Alara being declared heir ("she's not the only plausible heir"), expect many guards, especially at the gates.
- When Berry named Faelin, he reacted — "Faelin? You're outing royalty. Why is that name familiar?" Faelin deception 19 deflected it.
- Faelin's history check (21, advantage for royal knowledge): noble houses attend en masse; her name + crest alone could get her in; most normal houses receive open invitations.
- Purchased 2 forged invitations for 50 gp. Inspection (24) vs a real invitation: nearly perfect — slightly weaker shimmer/iridescence, stamp marginally off.
- Plan set: goblins use Disguise Self to pose as guard/staff outfits; need a cover story.
END OF SESSION 9
| Enemy | HP Remaining | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Water mephit x2 | Dead | Death burst spawned mini mephits; both killed |
| Lightning mephit x2 | Dead | Death bursts arced lightning; killed 2 pirates |
| Wind elemental | Dead | Whirlwind (force) |
| Water elemental x2 | Dead | One cut in half by Dreadful |
| Dwarf bandit (S9) | Alive — released | Let go after sympathizing; given job flyers + bananas. His ~13-yr-old son was with him |
Hit Dice: 5d10 (full)
HP: 34 / 34 (Gunnar — fully healed after long rest)
Spell Slots: 1st: OOOO | 2nd: OO (full after long rest)
Hunter's Mark: 3 / Long Rest
Fury of the Small: 1 / Short Rest
Session 9 (complete): No damage taken. Gunnar drank a strength potion — advantage on all STR checks, +2 melee dmg for 1 day from evening — still active tonight at the ball; flexing tears clothes. Ate initiative jerky (5 sp). +10 gp testing reward. Berry's fire aura (1d6 to anyone ending their turn within 5 ft) lasts 9 hours — expires early morning, mid-ball. Faelin spent 5 gp at Dr. Boxer's (see Inventory). Party bought 2 forged ball invitations (50 gp) from the blue-coat broker.
Gold: Gunnar ~25.5 GP own (16 + 10 reward − 0.5 jerky). Party pool: ~185 gp after the forgery purchase (other PCs carry personal gold beyond this ledger — Faelin had ~500 before fronting S8 shopping; settle party debt).
Weight Carried: 77 / 210 lb.
New gear (Session 8):
- Clockwork Spear — Berry. Three blades, switches piercing/slashing as bonus action, +3 dmg.
- Silent-step Boots — silent stride (adv. Stealth), no armor Stealth penalty, soft landing, Forge Spring leap (1/short rest). Soles glow faintly orange.
- Hollow Steel Compass — points north normally; spins violently toward Hollow Dominion corruption source.
- Ring of Stone Walking — Yuri. 1/day pass through 5 ft nonmagical stone (press the ring to activate).
- Sound Echo Amulet — stores/replays last 10s of sound, 1/day. Erase button: roll d20 on erase — nat 1 = that recording is lost forever.
- Sending Stone (one use) from Penny Dreadful.
Session 9 additions:
- 2 forged invitations to Alara's ball — 50 gp. Near-perfect: slightly weaker shimmer, stamp marginally off vs real. Each admits bearer +1 guest + a guard.
- Potion of Invisibility — Faelin. 2 gp. Duration varies 2 min–2 hr, "results may vary."
- Black widow poison + antidote — Faelin. 3 gp. Two drops of antidote cures.
- Initiative jerky — Gunnar. Consumed (5 sp): advantage on initiative.
- Berry's fire aura (potion side effect) — active 9 hrs from evening; anyone ending turn within 5 ft takes 1d6 fire.
- Bait wagon + old discount weapons borrowed from Bernard (Fire & Brimstone).