Session 2 Recap (July 21, 2024)

In which Simon died but got better, Rusty made a Muppet, Akuma ate an Obwez, Frezuli made strenuous objections, and Xentia found some buttons.

You start the adventure just after graduating from the acadamy with the rank equivalent of Sub-Lieutenant. As you are nobles, this is no your actual rank, but more so a reflection of your authority in the army.

You receive orders to report to your commanding officer Captain Duul Kovier.

As you walk through the tent flap all of the noise from the outside falls quite. No sound at all, but after taking another step, the noise returns, and you can now hear the voice of man muttering as he shuffles maps on a table. This is Captain Duul Kovier

Captain Duul Kovier stands tall despite his years, his weather-beaten face a map of old scars and new worries. His salt-and-pepper hair is cut military short, and his uniform, though well-worn, is impeccable.

As he briefs you, his steel-gray eyes bore into you, assessing their readiness for the tasks ahead. Though his words are harsh and his expectations high, you’ve hear from those who serve under him that Kovier’s gruff exterior hides a leader who would walk through fire for his soldiers.

Seek out bandit/raiding camps and crush them as they find them. Any loot that can be identified as belonging to nobles should be returned, other loot shall be considered spoils and split as they wish.

These activities will be a cover for your true mission. Seek out UBL spy networks, find their leaders and communicate them back to the leadership. Whenever possible don’t let the spies you discover that they are exposed. We can use them for counter intelligence. Use this, (he hands you blue stone with a glowing rune) once per day, you can touch the rune and speak. For the next minute, the stone will reach out it’s sister stone which is constantly being monitored by our intelligence agents. The communication is one way, but we can track the location of the stone and send new orders (if necessary) via Murmuration (a flock of starlings)

As far as your cover mission goes, You will likely be delving into a lot of ruins. We have been noticing that the UBL raiders tend to hole up in those places. Some of these ruins might be haunted by undead or occupied by other ‘dangerous creatures.’ The UBL will likely be able to hold some sway over these creatures, so be cautious. Again, your goal is to clear these out of enemy infestations. Return any noble owned loot. The UBL must be getting their orders from somewhere, so going after them might give you an opportunity for insight into the spy networks.

Also you are to gather any information you can about the lost city of Ansurak. We have some information, but we are trying to put more together. We feel that rediscovering Ansurak might give us access to ancient magic that can help us turn the tide in the war.

Ultimately you will want to make your way to Kindex in an unoccupied portion of Eastern Eaxu. There you will use the information you’ve learned about Ansurak to mount an expedition to the lost city. We believe the city to be somewhere across the Rift Sea. As you know, ships don’t return from the Rift Sea. But we plan to build a fleet of ships. Ships larger have ever been build before. Is our belief that with a large enough fleet, our ships should be able to sail the Rift Sea unmolested. Or at least do some molesting ourselves

Captain Kovier tells them of some bandits (possibly UBL or UBL sponsored) targeting trade on a section of road to the north in the blasted lands.

I myself am making my way north (all the way to Kindex) with my Company of troops. As you travel North stop at the Garrison at Ruxeaum Ferry to report in. If you don’t see me there, Seek out a Major Ahbe Neotock, my superior officer.

Your orders (a summary)

-Hunt down UBL operating in the area and eradicate them.
-Seek out spies (report back daily via sending stone)
-Seek out information about the Lost city of Ansurak
-Head north, report in to him or Major Ahbe Neotock at Ruxeaum Ferry

To this end and because of your noble birth, you have all been assigned squires to aide you on your journey. Many volunteered, but the Bloodsworn Wrathborn impressed me the most. Meet your squires

As the party leaves, they encounter Sub-Lieutenant Eeveer Xaobi. You know him from officer training, and he’s always been a bit of a prick to you.

Eeveer asked if you’ve gotten your orders, brags about his own, looks down at your barbarian squires and then turns to his own soldiers (young men and women (kids really) wearing ill fitting and patched uniforms some marked with patches covering what might be blood stains. But these kids are too fresh faced for those wounds to have landed on them–likely the uniforms have been repurposed from previous owners)

Eeveer starts speaking to his soldiers, whipping them up and trying instill confidence in them. He’ll talk about how they’ll march north and drive out the Umbral Bound raiders too foolish to not have retreated with the bulk of their army. He say how proud and strong they look. So disciplined, not like those maniacs Bloodsworn Wrathborn. No we’ll work like a unit, support one another. I will be a good leader, not just someone appointed to my position because of my noble birth. Blah Blah Blah.

You travel north and reach the blasted lands.

This is a desolate wasteland. A winding path snakes its way through a landscape of blackened earth and barren hills. The ground is dry and cracked, covered with patches of withered grass and lifeless vegetation. Gnarled, twisted trees stand as silent sentinels, their branches bare and reaching out like skeletal hands. A lone, crumbling stone pillar marks the path.

The sky is a dull gray, shrouded in a perpetual haze that casts an eerie, muted light over the land. The air is heavy with the scent of ash and decay, and an unsettling silence pervades the area, broken only by the occasional whisper of the wind and your own foot falls and jostling equipment. You can see no end to this blighted area, but yet you continue forward, knowing that this blasted landscape, this remnant of a terrible battle decades past, is a major highway used by merchants travelers alike. Knowing that it is no more dangerous than any section of road between the towns and cities of the Iixian nations.

After half a day’s march the party noticed a bunch of bandit types waiting to ambush them. Turns out they were a group of Umbral Bound skirmishers made up of Obwez and Undead Husks.

Much fighting and forgetting of the rules followed. Eventually the party mightily defeated the Obwez and undead ambushers, while a few managed to make a break for it. The party tracked the fleeing Obwez to their hideout.

As they moved through desolate wasteland following the trail of the Umbral Bound, they came to a hill atop which stood some Broken walls framing a ruined tower, battered by time and the elements. Dead vegetation and scattered rubble cover the ground. A gray sky filled with dark, foreboding clouds, cast an eerie pallor over the ruins. The party climbed the hill to find that what was once the tower’s entrance was now little more than a gaping hole.

The party found that in the center of the tower was huge hole. Looking down through the massive hole in the floor, allowed a shaft of daylight pierces the darkness of a shadowy basement. The beam of light illuminated the scattered rubble and debris that littered the floor, casting long shadows on the damp stone walls. The air is thick with the scent of earth and decay, and faint sounds of the outside world filtered through the opening above. A large number of Obwez argued about the possibility of an enemy force approaching. During their argument, they neglected to set a watch, and the party took advantage of this to surprise them.

The fight was intense with magical spells and unboxed undead. The party was battered to within an inch of their lives, and poor Simon suffered death, but he got better. After the fight the party found a crate marked “Undead Husks”

When the player the basement a bit, they saw a dark, narrow passageway, its stone walls slick with moisture and age. The rough-hewn floor, littered with broken rocks and debris. Faint light filtered through cracks and gaps, casting eerie shadows that dance along the corridor’s length. The distant sound of dripping of water, hinted at unseen dangers lurking in the darkness. This forbidding tunnel ended in a pile of collapsed rubble. From the other side of the collapse, you could make out moans of despair complemented by the guttural sounds of Obwez chattering to one another.

Obwez: “Whiney man smells good. Fry his feet in animal fat. Crunchy. Bones good for you.”

Authoritative Voice: “Leave crazy human along. We makes plans for him later. Button man come back tell us what to do with him”

Obwez: “Ha button man funny. He drop buttons but too ‘fraid of us to pick them up. You see his eyes? Looks at buttons like tasty food to eat. Too scared to come get them. Me try to eat buttons. Not taste good. Me gonna get lots of buttons when he comes back.”

Authoritative Voice: “You no take button man’s buttons. He drop buttons you keep. Button man bring message. We need message. Leave stupid buttons in button man’s pockets.”

You hear the rattling of bones and laughter.

Obwez: I bet three buttons.
Other Obwez: I bet sharp tooth and three dried ear.

The party interrogates one of the Obwez who seemed very confused but willing to spill the beans to save his life. He tells them of the button man and tells them that copper coins are buttons.

The party murders the Obwez and Rusty makes a muppet out of its head.

The party discovers a not so secret door and Inside the room are three decaying books and a key. The books mostly crumble at the touch, but in one, they can read the following line of text:

“One who’s voice awakening oaths of old, Forgotten promises once more take hold.”
As vanguards of the light, the night they scorn.”

The party decides that the other Obwez must be behind the cave in, so they start to look for a way in above. There they find a well.

At the bottom of the deep well a mystical pool of water emitted a faint, greenish-blue glow, casting ethereal light upon the surrounding stone walls. This was the first standing water they had seen in these wastelands, and to their surprise, it was clean and clear. The wells walls were built from smooth and worn, moss-covered stones. They glistened with moisture, adding to the otherworldly ambiance. The shimmering water appeared almost alive, its light dancing on the surface and illuminating the chamber with an eerie, mesmerizing radiance. A lip of stone encircled the pool serving as a walkway leading to an opening.

The party climbed down the well and noticed that the light seems to be coming from the center of the flagstones that make up the well’s floor. Once at the bottom of the well, They are heard by the villains occupying the under layers of the tower. With some performance, they manage to convince the other that they are Obwez come down accidentally. They lie and convince the villains they are just stupid Obwez.

The bottom of the well is 10 foot in diameter with a two foot wide lip surrounding it (for a total of a 12 foot diameter. The well is 3 feet deep. A short stair leads out of the well to reveal a 5×5 space terminating in an oaken door. These dimensions are important for how many people can fit in this space.

After some discussion via mental link, the group decides it’s time to draw out the bad guys.

They drag a rope from the water meant to serve as an alarm, or doorbell. They are prompted for the password. Various passwords suggesting the consumption of dicks in a bag are tried to no avail. After the second attempt those evil folks inside fall silent. and you can hear heavy things being dragged across the floor.

The characters decide it’s time to smoke them out. They leave the well area and peek around the corner to find a small 5×5 hallway ending in an oaken iron bound door.

They try to burn the door with oil. It starts to smolder and burn. They continue to throw magical at the door until it collapses off of it’s hinges in a burn pile of wood. This reveals a large room with several occupants. Of note: To spectral figures leaning over a curled up man in chains at the far end of the room. An injured looking Obwezic, several Obwez, and a strange skinny gray skinned Obwez wearing a head dress.

The party is politely asked to roll for initiative, but cowards that they are they flee the game room claiming it’s too late to start another fight and some such.