View source for Session 23: Vengeance Flies East

[[File:The Endless Wastes.png|right|600px|thumb|The Endless Wastes]]

== Summary ==
[[File:Dooomwatch Hold.png|right|600px|thumb|Dooomwatch Hold]]
[[File:Khan Temuj.png|right|600px|thumb|Khan Temuj]]
[[File:Hayato no Kaze.png|right|600px|thumb|Hayato no Kaze]]

The party received provisions from B'ian and departed on their flying carpet, spending two days flying northeast over the Sunrise Mountains and golden steppes toward the Endless Wastes. They took shelter at Doomwatch Hold during a storm, arriving during paladin Lantil's funeral rite where divine fire turned his body to ash.

Lureene Amblecrown tasked them with investigating Lantil's death during a merchant caravan attack, seeking proportional vengeance per Hoar's doctrine—"a limb for a limb, a life for a life"—while promising to shift the Order's attention to Thayan injustices afterward. Quartermaster Velgrin revealed a sahuagin arrow from the attack; the Mimir identified that sahuagin had fled underground to the Lake of Mists from an ocean conflict.

Octavius successfully planewalked the party 300 miles to the Tuigan Loyalist camp, where Khan Temuj explained the escalating conflict: they had executed Laash, nephew of Fankiang Khan Borcha, for horse theft, triggering retaliatory caravan raids including the one that killed Lantil. Temuj revealed the political divide—his faction embracing Hubadai's reforms of trade and permanent settlements versus Borcha's traditionalists clinging to nomadic blood-vengeance customs.

The party agreed to accompany dawn riders as neutral mediators to parlay with Borcha's camp. A tense moment arose when a Tuigan warrior challenged Glenn over King Azoun's "cowardly" defeat of Yamun Khahan, but Khan Temuj and the party defused the situation before violence erupted.

== XP Award ==

* 1500 XP for defeating the githyanki assault team
* 2000 XP for '''curing Glenn's curse'''
* -1 XP for meeting B'ian Ch'k Ch'k
* '''Total: 3500 XP'''
* '''Current XP: 34113 XP -> 37612 XP ''' (Level 8)
* ''(Required for next level: 48000 XP)''

== Things That Happened ==

=== Questions and Messages ===
* '''Date:''' 19th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), late afternoon, 1372 DR
** Lilia approached Galdren, warning him about B'ian and the upcoming talks.
** Galdren chuckled, assuaging her that he's long been a diplomatic envoy and that much of their success in their cause has hinged on B'ian's ability to undermine behind the scenes.
* The party asked him for his knowledge of the githyanki. He did not know anything, or than to suggest that [[Ember]] likely did, and that they should try to parley.
* The party considered reaching out to [[Xarannos]], the Slaad Advocate working out of Ribcage.
* The party retired to the sitting room for the evening.
* Octavius reflected on his encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the Endless Wastes, which included:
** '''1360 DR:''' Yamun Khahan's Tuigan Horde invades Faerûn; King Azoun IV of Cormyr kills Yamun, ending the war.
** '''1363–1372 DR:''' His son Hubadai founds '''Yaïmmunahar''' and the tent-city '''Kourmira''' (named for Cormyr), bans slavery, invites foreign trade.
** Two major factions formed:
*** '''Tuigan Loyalists''' – Led by [[Khan Temuj]], back Hubadai, adopt some western ways, guard caravans.
*** '''Fankiang Traditionalists''' – Led by [[Khan Borcha]], reject Hubadai, cling to old nomad customs, demand blood-revenge for past slights.
* A dwarven woman delivered a tray of hummus, flatbread, and grapes, courtesy of B'ian.
* Octavius identified the Periapt of Wound Closure.
* At night, Lilia exited the sitting room briefly, calling on a crow to deliver a message to her order, updating them on her travels and to ask if they needed anything.

=== The Flight to the Wastes ===
* '''Date:''' 20th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), early morning, 1372 DR
* The party awoke to a gift -- four traveler's pack filled with a variety of provisions, belted with potions of healing and invisibility, with a note from B'ian that they can always ask Galdren for provisions.
* The party cleaned up the sitting room out of politeness.
* They inquired from a groundskeeper servant about B'ian and Galdren. He indicated they were probably not awake yet, so the party departed on their flying carpet.
* The first twelve hours saw the party flying northeast, passing over the Sunrise Mountains, but keeping a respectful distance away from the icy peaks that are home to the wyrm Kissethkashaan.
* They also sighted Citadel Rashemar, a ruined circular fortress, overrun by goblinoids and giant spiders and worse. They decided not to get sidetracked.
* The terrain became tall golden grasses, with the Golden Way leading to Kara-Tur visible in the afternoon sun.
* They landed on a small hill, erecting Diedric's Tiny Hut for the night.
* '''Date:''' 21st of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), early morning, 1372 DR
* The second day of flight was uneventful, the Golden Way disappearing as it curved to the south.
* During the flight, they remembered Cyrus's statue still in the Bag of Holding.
** "He'll keep."
* They spotted ''steppe'' ponies galloping in a large group.
* Making better time than they anticipated, they sighted Doomwatch Hold and an approaching storm, and decided to make way for shelter before it arrived.

=== Doomwatch Hold ===
* The party landed and approached Doomwatch Hold as night fell, a stone keep from the time of the Tuigan war, partially destroyed and rebuilt recently.
** It bore the two faces of Hoar on its stonework, and three bells on its portcullis. A brazier burned next to a gallows.
* They were greeted by a young squire ([[Jarrod]]) with reddish hair, capped by a pointed helm, wearing breastplate and holding a spear.
** He recognized the owlin, and bid that Lureene's mercenaries enter, but to remain silent as the rite was still being performed in the armory.
* He awkwardly wound a crank as the party waited for the porcullis to open.
* Smokescale politely remained outside and invisible.

=== Lantil's Funeral ===
* The party walked through a dim hall into the armory, where they beheld a dead paladin of their order, in bright silver plate, lying on an anvil.
* He was surrounded by [[Lureene Amblecrown]], along with other paladins of her order:
** [[Sir Valthor]], a Calishite elf, silver-haired and stern.
** [[Temara Stonesworn]], a dwarven veteran with helmet in her hand.
** [[Brother Orun]], Rashemi, braided hair and robed in gray, eyes closed in prayer.
** [[Myrren]], a gray tiefling initiate, trying not to tremble.
* Nearby, [[Quartermaster Velgrin]], a one-armed blacksmith, watched.
* They hymned for a while, then channeled divine fire down on to the body, turning it to ashes as the armor darkened to gunmetal gray.
* Most then departed, with [[Sir Valthor]] sparing the party a glance. The quartermaster gathered the armor as Lureene seized her maul and bid the party follow.

=== Lureene's Request ===
* Lureene led them to her quarters: a small bed, stone walls, a rack of arms, and a weathered map spread beneath a single flickering lantern.
* She explained that Lantil died guarding a merchant train from Thesk on the Golden Path. A Tuigan tribe, loyal to Hubadai Khakan, rode with them as escorts.
** An opposition tribe had attacked the merchant train, slaying Lantil in the process.
** "The Order wants vengeance. These untamed lands will know Hoar's wrath. But it cannot be us."
** "Seek out the truth. Find those responsible. Then bring down the hammer. Proportional. Unflinching. Right. A limb for a limb, a life for a life."
** "I am not blind to the injustices plaguing Thay, as we all experienced at the hands of the Reds in their wheeled pens. Should we succeed here, I will implore that Sir Valthor shift his gaze westward once more."
** "You are welcome to stay at our barracks, and our quartermaster can see to supplies. The squire can see to your steeds."
* She indicated on the map approximately where the loyalist tribe had an encampment, about 300 miles deeper into the Endless Wastes.
* The party explained they did not have steeds, so they showed off their flying carpet. Lureene marveled at it and their travels.
* The party departed to speak with the quartermaster.

=== The Sahuagin Arrow ===
* [[Quartermaster Velgrin]] offered the armory's contents to the party.
* He then revealed a strange arrow, its shaft covered in small fish scales, its head made of bronze.
* It was pulled out of a Theskan merchant's leg, a survivor from the assault that had killed Lantil.
** It was fired from the Lake of Mists, the assailant unknown.
* The party asked the [[Mimir]] for lore on the Lake of Mists, and it revealed that a Sahuagin tribe had swum in underground, fleeing a conflict they lost in their ocean home.
** With the mystery pre-emptively solved, the party was offered the arrow, and asked to warn the Tuigans about the situation with the lake.
* The party took residence in some empty quarters and slept through the storm.

=== Planar Bullseye ===
* '''Date:''' 22nd of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), early morning, 1372 DR
* The party met up with Smokescale outside, who had been sleeping in one of the three bells.
* Realizing that their journey would take 48 hours of flight time, the party decided to experiment with Octavius's ability to planeswalk.
** He reached out to the lands of Rashemen, which responded back and filled him with power.
** He expertly led the party through the Blind Eternities, each landing in a thunderclap precisely at their intended destination, 300 miles away.

=== The Tuigan Loyalists ===
* The party beheld an ocean of blue and green tents.
* Riders in steppe ponies spotted the party, galloping to approach.
* Their leader, [[Khan Temuj]], surprisingly in Cormyrian-style breastplate, halted the approach, questioning the party.
* Once they explained they were sent by Order of Hoar, bid them follow him into his ''yurt''.

=== The Khan's Yurt ===
* Inside the long blue tent, a communal feast warmed the evening air: salted horse‑milk cheese, flatbread, and rich wild‑onion stew. Several Tuigan men were seated on blankets, eating with their hands.
** One man ([[Hayato no Kaze]]) in particular didn't seem like the others. Slender, pale skinned features under a topknot; charcoal-gray robes spotless. He kneltto pour charcoal-brewed tea, every gesture measured and respectful.
** Khan Temuj explained: "This monk from Kara-Tur was bound in chains under the old ways -- bought and sold by Fankiang clans -- until Khakan Hubadai, declared freedom for all. He walked from slavery that day, but willingly stays with us."
* As the party ate, the Khan gave some exposition:
** "We rode under Yamun's banner until King Azoun IV faced him on the Golden Way -- and shattered the Horde in single combat."
** "Hubadai, Yamun's son, gave us new paths -- trade, an end to roaming, farming, kinship with foreign houses. This camp is temporary, but we've established permanent villages. Our seat of power is in Kourmira, by the Lake of Mists. But the Fankiang clan still cling to the old ways -- blood for blood, death for insult."
** "Not long ago, Fankiang raiders attacked a merchant train, taking their horses. We spotted engaged them on patrol, and as a mercy, we executed only one for horsetheft, sending the others off as a warning to respect the Tuigan side of the Taan."
* The party sensed he was leaving something out.
** "The lad we executed was Laash  --  nephew to [[Borcha]], Khan of the Fankiang clan."
** "This has emboldened the Fankiang. They've struck more caravans, including the one with the paladin of Hoar in tow."
** "Stealing horses is death, no matter the bloodline. Mercy would've made us weak."
** "Borcha -- she clings to old ways and older grudges. She calls it vengeance. I call it war."
** "At dawn, I send riders to speak with Borcha's camp. To parlay -- if she'll listen."
** "You should ride with them. You're outsiders -- neutral, or close enough. Maybe your words can do what ours can't."
* The party agreed.

=== Conflict Averted ===
* Diedric noted a man was glaring at Glenn.
* When inquiring, the man accused Glenn's king of being a coward who hide behind plate and magic to slay the former leader of the Tuigan.
* He challenged Glenn to a duel.
* Khan Temuj bid for peace, as did most of the party.
* The man backed down.
* Octavius called him a coward, making most of the party chide him.
* The man was unwilling to further the conflict, and the session came to an end.

== Maps ==
* Nothing new

== NPCs Encountered (or mentioned) ==
* [[Xarannos]], the Slaad Advocate
* [[Ember]], the Crimson Sensate
* [[Jarrod]], the Young Squire
* [[Lureene Amblecrown]], the Vengeance Paladin
* [[Sir Valthor]], the Silvered Elf Paladin
* [[Temara Stonesworn]], the Dwarven Veteran
* [[Brother Orun]], the Rashemi Priest
* [[Myrren]], the Gray Tiefling Initiate
* [[Quartermaster Velgrin]], the One-Armed Blacksmith
* [[Lantil]], the Fallen Paladin
* [[Khan Temuj]], the Tuigan Loyalist Leader
* [[Khan Borcha]], the Fankiang Traditionalist
* [[Laash]], Borcha's Nephew
* [[Hayato no Kaze]], the Kara-Tur Monk

== Memes ==
* "Steppe" ponies

== DM Thoughts ==
* My players need better sleep.