Session 11: A Well-Earned Rest

The Rebel Estate Gardens

Summary

Rashemen - Tinnir

Rashemen - Taporan

The party spent several days at the Rebel Estate while waiting for news about curing Glenn's curse. During this time, Neribion and Galdren researched the Grand Sensory Stone, Octavius explored the wizard's tower (discovering a magical password with Uchu's help), and Cedani received a message from Soveliss about his journey to Evermeet.

The party also received a letter from Lureene Amblecrown in the Endless Wastes, requesting future help convincing her order to tackle Thayan injustices. Finally, word arrived from the Wychlarans agreeing to help Glenn, along with a message that the Telthor of the Monolith wished to speak with Octavius. Glenn's curse grew worse, causing him to shrink three inches and temporarily revert to the mind of a frog.

The session ended with the party flying north toward Urlingwood to meet the Wychlarans, landing near the town of Taporan after a sixteen-hour journey across Rashemen's varied landscape. Urlingwood is visible, just one sleep away.

XP Award

• 200 XP for discovering the password for the wizard's door
• 1 Belief Point per character for joining a faction.
• This was a filler episode.
• Total: 200 XP
• Current XP: 11613 XP -> 11813 XP (Level 5)
• (Required for next level: 14000 XP)

Things That Happened

Daily Routines

• Date: 8th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), 1372 DR
• The party rested and waited to receive word from the Wychlarans if they will help Glenn with his affliction.
• Neribion and Galdren began their research on the Grand Sensory Stone.
• As the party lounged in the lead-roofed reception room, Neribion brought them meals of breads and cheeses and wine.
• Neribion was lent the flying carpet, which he used to travel to Lirensk daily.
• Neribion borrowed the Mimir and Unit 137 to transcribe information about the planes.
• Screaming cats in the morning were yowled at and fed fish stew.
• Neribion went up and down the stairs from the reception room, bringing trays of food and supplies to Galdren.
• In one of the afternoons, Glenn joined Neribion in the gardens, helping clarify the differences between short swords and longswords and how they related to forms and cross strikes.
• During the nights, Unit 137 continued to educate Uchu on the common tongue, focusing on his accent.
• Listlessness set in, with Unit 137 and Smokescale jousting against the Red Wizard Scarecrow outside.
• The rest of the party soon began acting up as well.
  • Uchu asked Galdren for drugs. You read that correctly.
    • Galdren explained that some organizations would sell these illicit substances.
  • Uchu attempted to smoke a bluebell flower and coughed violently.
  • Uchu climbed to the top of the highest tower.

Peeking into the Wizard's Tower

• Octavius, joined by an invisible pixie, walked up the steps to the upper levels of the estate while Neribion was fetching bread from Lirensk.
• Using Detect Magic, he explored the second level of the estate, with its azure and gold tiled floors and wenge doors, checking by each of the ten door in a U-shaped hallway for magic items. Aside from everburning torches, he did not find anything of note.
  • One door had purpleheart accents, which is braggable.
• He then proceeded through a open archway that led to a third, domed level.
  • This led to a diplomatic meeting chamber, surrounded by books containing maps, histories, and laws of each of the major kingdoms in the area, including Thay, Mulhorand, Cormyr, and many others.
• He proceeded, trying to casually stealth to the four-story tower through an open atrium.
  • Uchu spotted him and noted his subterfuge. An invisible pixie pulled on him and prodded him.
• Octavius entered the first level of the tower, an open atrium with four fountains. One in the center, three surrounding it.
  • Each fountain's water smelled distinct -- mint, cinammon, and blood.
  • The three outer fountains churned, and the central fountain spun in a vortex.
  • He detected transmutation magic in the fountains.
  • Poking the water with a twig had no results.
• Octavius approached a doorway shaped like a sandstone carving of a woman whose hands were in an intricate arcane gesture.
  • He detected Abjuration coming from the doorway.
• Uchu looked about uselessly, then climbed to the top of the wizard's tower, peeking in through closed windows.
  • He saw Galdren writing a letter in a very disorderly wizard's chamber. Maps and tomes piled high, spilled inkwells ignored, and so on.
  • Galdren spotted him, and asked what he needed.
  • Uchu asked for a toilet. Galdren directed him to the privvy on the second level, likely the smaller door Octavius had passed.
• Octavius returned to the Mimir with an illustration of what he had seen. The Mimir had no useful information.
• When asked about Tharos Orakul, the Mimir revealed that his health was in decline, in addition to him being the High Diviner of Surthay, coming into power after 1352 DR after the previous High Diviner disappeared.
• Cedani asked Galdren if he had a way to send a message to someone. He said he would do so when Nightfeather returned.
• Diedric performed a ritual to Selune, in which he set out a bowl of water to worship her reflection. It was very demure.

Smoke on the Water

• Date: 9th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), 1372 DR
• At night on the second day, Cedani heard a harp playing Smoke on the Water, the song she had played at Ironjaw's Mirth.
  • She discovered that the sunburst from Soveliss's medallion was a sending stone.
  • Soveliss, while playing, said:
    • "Cedani... Our duet at Ironjaw's Mirth still plays in my heart. I've reached Two Stars, a village in Thesk. My path leads to Evermeet—across the Sea of Fallen Stars, through the Chiontar, and past Baldur's Gate. Two months' journey lies ahead. I'll seek truths about our... gracious host, Tharos. I offered a prayer in this village’s temple to Shaundakul tonight for our safe travels. Stay vigilant, my friend."
    • Cedani responded saying that she missed his companionship and company and that she had the item he was seeking, and that she would meet with him if she could, or when next they met.

Scripture of Geography

• Octavius spent some time in the diplomatic meeting chamber, taking notes on maps throughout various regions nearby.

A Plea from the Wastes

• Date: 10th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), 1372 DR
• A pigeon delivered the following letter, written in an elegant, educated hand:

To my fellow survivors of Thayan cruelty,

I hope this letter finds you well and free. I've reached my enclave in the Endless Wastes, five days' hard ride east of Lirensk. The journey was arduous, but my purpose burned brighter with each league.

I came seeking aid for those still trapped in Thay's cruel grip. But I find my brethren consumed by local matters. The Fangfire tribe has razed three villages of the Windrunner clan, leaving scores dead and many more shelterless. My order seems content to focus solely on bringing the Fangfire chieftain to justice.

While I understand the need for vengeance here, I cannot help but feel we're neglecting a greater evil. The suffering in Thay continues unabated, yet we turn our backs on it for this tribal squabble! [there’s a blotch, like a quill snapped, and the writing that follows looks angrier]

I implore you, when you are able, join me here. Perhaps together we can sway the Order to a worthier cause. Or, failing that, we can strike out on our own to right the wrongs we've witnessed.

The Endless Wastes are harsh, but nothing compared to what we've already endured. Follow the eastern road from Lirensk, through the Gorge of Gauros. You'll find the enclave nestled in the foothills of the Sunrise Mountains, past Citadel Rashemar.

I grow restless here, surrounded by those who cannot see beyond their own borders. We must act soon, or the fire of vengeance that burns within me may consume me entirely.

In Hoar’s name, Lureene Amblecrown

Stalking the Wizard

• Octavius asked Galdren of High Necromancy, and what Galdren thought of death.
  • Cedani commented that as a human, he would die any day.
  • Galdren explained that death meant much to many people. For himself, he is still studying it, but would prefer not to die but would accept it.
  • He referred to death as an unbroken cycle.
  • Galdren invited Octavius to join him and Neribion the next day in the gardens, to work on the Grand Sensory Stone.
• Uchu stalked Galdren to the entryway of his tower, and while Galdren's back was turned, so he could not see his gestures, he did hear him utter "Annûn Calimannath", which caused the doorway to open, revealing a hall, before disappearing behind him.
  • He ran to tell Octavius, who translated the phrase to mean "Gifts from Calimshan".
• Octavius gave him a single banana, which Uchu expertly and instinctively inserted straight into his mouth.

Experiments in the Garden

• Date: 11th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), 1372 DR
• Octavius joined Galdren and Neribion as they experimented on the Grand Sensory Stone, in the center of the garden, surrounded by bluebell flowers, some of which had been destroyed by Uchu.
• Galdren cast snippets of incantations, sometimes causing the Grand Sensory Stone to stir. Neribion took measurements and notes.
• Much of their discussion was on the nature of memory, its transition through the Astral Plane, and reports of the ressurected not recalling their afterlife.

The Wychlaran Invitation

• Date: 12th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), 1372 DR
• A loud cawing was heard from the kitchens in the morning, Nightfeather, Imzel's dire raven, having returned.
• Neribion reported the good news: The Wychlarans were grateful for their help fighting the Red Wizards near Ironjaw's Mirth, and had agreed to cure Glenn of his affliction.
• He explained that being granted access to Urlingwood was a great privilege. He was allowed inside when he bore an injured cat, which they healed.
  • The cat was ungrateful.
• The raven cawed, and Neribion translated, much to his surprise, that the Telthor of the Monolith wished to speak with Octavius.
• He explained that Telthors are spirits in Rashemen, often taking the form of animals, and that they can be of anything -- of a trail, of a lake, of the wind, and so on.
• The Grove of Stars, which contains the Monolith of Stars, is within Urlingwood.
• It's a three day's ride by horse, but by carpet, likely just a little over a day.

A Worsening Ribbit

• Cedani suggested they head there.
• As Glenn began to speak, he instead croaked, spasmed violently, and visibly shrunk three inches.
• His thoughts briefly turned to ponds, water, and flies before he regained his cognition.
• Uchu assured him that there was nothing wrong with being frog.
• Neribion packed supplies as they prepared to leave.

Flight to Urlingwood

• As they departed, Uchu Tokyo-drifted around Galdren, then screamed out a confession about having trampled the bluebells in the garden.
  • No one gave a shit.
• Smokescale politely asked where the fuck they were going.
  • Sugarplum scolded him for using bad language, mispronouncing a word to make the rhyme work.
• The party, ascending to a height of 1000 ft, made their way north to Urlingwood, passing by two villages:
  • Tinnir, a small fishing village on the corner of Lake Tirulag
  • Thasunta, a larger, fortified town with stone walls and guard towers, a hub for trade
• The landscape transitioned from jagged icy peaks to plains and tundras.
• Toward the end of the first night, they sighted Urlingwood in the distance, looking like a green ocean of trees.
• After sixteen hours of flight, they landed at night on the outskirts of Taporan, a town bordering the river Tir, known for building boats.
• They began to walk to the town as the session was cruelly ended by a birthday.

Maps

Map - Session 11 - Rashemen

NPCs Encountered (or mentioned)

• No new NPCs.

Memes

• "I always wanted white skin." -- Uchu Buredo

DM Thoughts

• I need shorter notes while running sessions.
• Improper rhyming will be pounced upon.