Session 6
A Night Of Celebrations
Section titled “A Night Of Celebrations”As the town of Rookwell celebrated the return of loved ones, friends, colleagues, and the like - the 6 heroes made their way to the Ironwood Tavern for a drink and a well deserved rest.
”The Fated Eight… But I Only Count Six Of You?!”
Section titled “”The Fated Eight… But I Only Count Six Of You?!””Their drinks were interrupted by Sam Braelon who requested a party name to place on the town’s ledgers.
“I’m so sorry to bother you whilst celebrating but there is just a small matter I need to attend to. I need a party name for your troupe here… just for the Town’s Ledgers of course.
Have you thought much about what you’d like to name yourselves?”
- Sam Braelon’s request to the party
After a bit of discussion - the party settled on the group title of The Fated Eight; to much applause and celebration from the intoxicated and jubilant customers of the Ironwood Tavern.
SHAI’s Reveal…
Section titled “SHAI’s Reveal…”The party drank and ate for a short while before SHAI admitted to the other members of The Eight that he wouldn’t likely be able to stay with them much longer, having heard word from an acquaintance that he’d have to return home sooner than expected.
The group expressed their desire to stay with SHAI; as much as would be possible, when that time came, much to the Human Wizard’s surprise.
The party all returned to their rooms; where Aurevald & Morgyn, and Lady & SHAI each shared a few extra words together, before falling into a well deserved sleep.
A Peaceful Fronmark Morning?
Section titled “A Peaceful Fronmark Morning?”The following morning - The Fated Eight awoke to the town of Rookwell swept up by an announcement from the Vaena Kingdom. They each gathered their things, sorted out some breakfast, and began discussing their plans from this point. Morgyn admitted to having business in Roan; as did Graxious based on his Uncle’s advice, and The Eight agreed to all make their way there together.
The Prince Is Dead? Seems Suspicious.
Section titled “The Prince Is Dead? Seems Suspicious.”The Eight were curious what had Rookwell swept up in discussion as Morgyn read over the royal address that had been posted all around the town:
“My Dear Royal Subjects,
It is with a pained heart I must belatedly announce the death of my younger son; Prince Kendran Vaena, who passed a number of weeks ago from an attack by Orsanae assassins.
Whilst I have and will continue to grieve his loss - our Kingdom remains ever strong, and I assure our future is bright. We will outlast these chaotic times and enter a new age of prosperity before my life is up.
King Terick Vaena II”
- The royal announcement from the King of Terick
Morgyn; a Zenytha native, educated the rest of the party on the Vaena Kingdom’s recent history before The Eight split up into separate groups in preparation for their trip to Roan.
Preparing For The Road
Section titled “Preparing For The Road”Graxious, SHAI, and Jin headed to find the party some horses for the journey; receiving a special price on horses from Emylda Stock for rescuing her husband. On their way back to the group they heard a member of the town express their support for the King’s brother; Prince Dannick Vaena, to take over as King. None of them knew anything about the man and decided to ask Morgyn about his opinions on the matter. The other members of The Eight visited the town’s general good stores to stock up on supplies.
The Fated Eight regrouped at Rookwell’s town centre before picking a horse each from Darren Stock:
- Lady chose a pure white horse that matched her colourings perfectly. She chose to name it Mirabilus.
- Aurevald chose an orangey/yellow stallion - one clearly strong enough to carry his large frame - and named him Dutch.
- SHAI chose a simple brown horse and named it Fortnite.
- Morgyn claimed a simple, greyish horse and named it Silver.
- Jin claimed a jet black horse; much the antithesis to Lady’s horse, and named it Umbra.
- Graxious chose a horse with light brown fur & a reddish mane. He named it Dusty.
The Eight left the town of Rookwell behind; as local legends and saviours, as they journeyed East towards Roan; Terick’s former capital.
The Road To Roan
Section titled “The Road To Roan”The Party planned to take between two and three days to make the journey to Roan - based on distance alone. After an hour or two into their first day - they came across some wilted flowers atop a mound on the side of the road. Graxious called out to The Bloom of Life to restore the flowers for the apparent gravesite - bringing some new colour to the seemingly forgotten memorial.
The Eight travelled onwards for another few hours before stumbling across a travelling circus setting up for a show later tonight. They stopped to investigate and were approached by a man who introduced himself as ‘Magico’.
‘Magico’ invited The Party to wait whilst they finished setting up the show for later that night - insisting they’d be missing out if they didn’t. After some suspicion and discussion; the 6 of them agreed to rest in the refreshment tents before attending tonight’s performance.
Whilst in the refreshments tents; Jin caught a beautiful blonde haired Half-Elf woman walking around. As Jin moved to strike up a conversation, Aurevald and Graxious took notice - with the former using his magic to read into her mind and gather her thoughts.
Sabrynthia Coppertent introduced herself to Jin and expressed her joy that they would all be watching - she admitted that she was helping her mother; Davyna Coppertent - a famed illusionist, with the performance tonight. Sabrynthia Coppertent was called off by a fellow circus member; but promised to speak with Jin after the show.
As the show prepared to start; ‘Magico’ found The Party and introduced them to Davyna Coppertent whilst offering them their tickets. Davyna Coppertent & Aurevald got off on the wrong foot after the latter questioned the former about the restrictions on her Daughter. Davyna Coppertent; whilst clearly upset and caught off-guard, refused to engage with the question and hurried off to attend to any final show preparations.
The show began moments after The Fated Eight took their seats in the front; as they noticed some odd/unusual figures walk in and sit on the opposite side of the Circus to them. Each of the acts performed to applause; outside of Rickard Birch who was having a rough night it seemed, and many members of The Eight were brought up onto the stage to be part of the acts.
After a fun night on the road; The Party farewelled Magico’s Circus whilst Jin personally sought out Sabrynthia Coppertent. The two shared words for a moment and Jin left the conversation confused by the mixed-signals that Sabrynthia had expressed to him. He re-joined the other members of The Fated Eight as they made their way a bit further down the road to Roan.
First Night On The Road
Section titled “First Night On The Road”An hour or so from Magico’s Circus - The Party stopped for the night to setup camp. They agreed that Jin and SHAI would take the first watch, Morgyn and Graxious would take the second watch, and Lady & Scabb would take the final watches.
Ambushed!
Section titled “Ambushed!”During their watch, SHAI and Jin were caught off guard - failing to watch their flanks - as the four unusual individuals from the circus had followed them. One of them immediately lunged at Lady and nearly slashed her across the throat, with the Half-Elf Monk only barely able to wake up in time to dodge the attack whilst in her bedroll. She then repelled a further attack in a display of martial prowess.
Lady; following a massive blow by Aurevald, retaliated with her fire powers against the assailant - prompting a response from the figures as the assailant in front of her crushed a pendant from around her neck into a pile of ash - she seemed to repel part of Lady’s fire damage for the remainder of the fight.
“Confirm the intel! She can wield fire.”
- The assailant’s response to Lady’s fire powers.
Graxious attacked another of the foes and dealt a swift thundering blow that weakened them significantly. Morgyn had a moment of creativity and used a Catapult spell to explode the head of one of the lesser foes whilst Ryujin Cheon deftly dealt with the other amidst darkness of his own creation.
The assailant failed to find purchase with most of her strikes and resorted to fleeing the battle instead - taunting Lady as she did so.
“The Boss can’t wait to see you… Snowblood!”
- The assailant’s taunts to Lady
Lady smirked with her response as she was felled by Aurevald.
“I think you can see that I am very well prepared for him…”
- Lady’s response to the assailant
The Aftermath
Section titled “The Aftermath”The Party noticed the corpse & belongings of the assailant woman turn to dust in front of their eyes. They investigated the other corpses and noticed the familiar attire of The Snatchers on one of the lesser foes.
Throwing Off Their Tail
Section titled “Throwing Off Their Tail”It was apparent; from the enchantments on the communication devices used by the foes, that they were being tracked by whoever the “Boss” was, leading the party to put distance between themselves and the devices, in case more assailants arrived.
The Party moved their camp a short while up the road before Jin and SHAI ended their watch. Neither Graxious & Morgyn, or Lady & Scabb noticed anything as the sun began to rise over the horizon - marking the start of the second Gormark in Vaelorn..