DF Soaring Phoenix, Session 107 - First Game of 2025

      This session was the first game of the year. We picked up and the end of a week of downtime, during which time the PCs had been recovering from their recent adventure and talking to the locals in order to gather information.

Session Date:    Tuesday 7 January 2025

Party roster:

Erizax Ofaris, human wizard, 343 points (PC) 
Ben, half-ogre barbarian, 255 points (PC) 
Merrill Tangled Tail, cat-folk monk (martial artist), 314 points (PC) 
- Dagne Timar, human priestess of Metallys (cleric), 221 points (NPC Ally) 
Maximilian "Stout" Grupher III, goblin cleric of Ishtanna, 231 points (PC) 
Violetta, human warrior (barbarian), 238 points (PC) 
Hartwin Bertelot, human monster-hunter (knight), 169 points (PC) 
Randall, human veteran (knight), 215 points (NPC Ally) 

From the 24th Feb: 
Lannet, halfling adventurer (thief), unknown points (NPC) 
Fendrin, human farmer, unknown points (NPC)

Campaign Date:    22 to 24 February, Year 647 of the Vycenaean Empire. 

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-- During the downtime, Merrill was able to convince Dagne (former hireling, turned ally of Eleanor) to stay with the group permanently after Eleanor's retirement from adventuring. Dagne has now become Merrill's ally. By comparison, Randall was one of the founding members of the party, so he is functionally a campaign switch (a "free" Ally of the whole party), rather than an advantage on any one PC's character sheet; the plan is that Randall will stick around until he retires.

-- The PCs spoke to various villagers during the downtime. The primary purpose was to learn more information regarding the manticore attack which cost the farmer Fendrin his family, and the absent daughter of the blacksmith Voril, in order to decide which to do first. There seems to be an expectation within some members of the village that the heroes will take on both quests; it is merely a matter of priorities, with not all NPCs agreeing as to which is more important. 

-- Some party members also had personal interests to ask about, and many of them heard rumours not directly related to the two immediate quest opportunities.

-- Ben asked around the villagers for adventurers (what adventuring thieves tend to call themselves in polite company), and learned that the only adventurer currently in the village was a halfling named Lannet, since the dwarves of the Shattered Axe had recently left. Ben spoke to Lannet, who was friendly and indicated his interest in joining the group for a while.

-- In other news, Ben heard that what was a mild winter was now going to turn cold: "They say winter wolves have been seen in the northern hills between Fairhill and Cribble."

-- Erizax spoke to the blacksmith, and enquired about his daughter and her companions, and following that made wider enquires around the village. He concludes that the daughter Arialle was old enough to leave of her own will.

-- From the guard captain, Erizax also learned that the wizard "Jendrill" whom the party had rescued from the castle and then disappeared shortly afterwards, had previously stayed in the village under the name "Feriblan". Baran would like to question the wizard in connection with the murder of Corian*.

-- Violetta heard that orcs used to live in the big rock valley. They have apparently been spotted on the Strider Barrens west of Fairhill. 

-- While enquiring about the favour of gods**, Violetta heard about a magical pool in a ruined town, somewhere to the south of the village. Rumour has it that this water may give blessings, and/or may be cursed.

-- Wanting to learn about magic doors to other worlds, Violetta was also told that she is not the first person to have appeared from another place. She was advised to seek out sages or magicians, or the priests of Ptah, if she wants to learn about magic doors.

-- Hartwin asked about the manticore to learn specific details, but almost no-one in the village has actually seen one up close. He did not learn anything beyond the common stories he already knew.

-- The farmer Fendrin told both Hartwin and Merrill of his experience of the monster, and how he lost both his wife and child in the attack. 

-- Hartwin heard that there are a lot of strangers in Bridgegate (town to the south) these days, apparently. "People say it's because of the silver." 

-- Merrill heard that there is a grove of druids somewhere in the forest to the northwest, led by a group of evil werewolves. They apparently worship the moons.

-- Stout heard an old legend of a pair of heroes who got so rich from their adventures, that they built a complex to hold their treasure. Their names were Rogahn the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown.

-- Stout also heard about Bridgegate, that there is now an increased Gate Tax to pay for the expansion of the Town Watch. Apparently some Lord named Nerfalgus is behind it.

-- The party sought out Lannet and interviewed him. Based upon their conversations, they decided to invite Lannet to join them. He accepted. 

-- They had received an invite to a meal at the magistrate's house at the end of the week. In addition to the magistrate, Shandril the priestess and Baran the guard captain were present. After the polite meal, and once the family members had left, the NPCs asked the heroes what they had decided. The PCs informed them that they would first hunt the manticore. This answer was accepted, but the reaction was somewhat muted. 

-- The next morning after breakfast, the party collected Lannet, and then went to speak to Fendrin. The farmer told them what he could, and showed them the field where it had happened. Some of the PCs were suspicious of his answers; perhaps they had not asked the right questions. When they told Fendrin that they would hunt the manticore, he said he would go with them. He came out carrying a bag and a bow, and tied a sword to his belt.

-- The tracks in the field were inconclusive for Ben; too much time had elapsed since the event. Fendrin pointed the direction in which the manticore had flown away. Ben judged the direction to be north-west, and off they headed.

-- The old track heading NW through the hills was not heavily used. The party speed was slow due to the weight of their packs, and they were taking their time to explore as they went, in case there were any clues to the manticore on the way. 

-- Where the hills gave way to the flat plains of the Strider Barrens, the party could just make out some buildings ahead of them. They had heard that there used to be farms out this way, abandoned since an orc attack about a decade ago. These were probably those. 

-- They approached the farms cautiously, and as they got closer the buildings were seen to be less intact than they had first appeared. Several had been burnt to the ground, and those that remained were badly damaged. Stout spotted humanoid movement in the shadow of a building ahead, and the party stopped to discuss what to do.

-- Merrill called out to the strangers, and was told to f-off and keep walking. No face could be seen and the voice did not identify itself. He did confirm to Merrill that there was no manticore there. 

-- Merrill decided that it was not necessary to force a conflict, and the party moved on past the buildings. Stout estimated that there were at least 2 people hiding in the ruins, possibly more. Erizax speculated that these were the half-orc cleric and archer whom they had encountered twice before in Eralion's Keep.

-- A mile or two past the farms, and a line of trees was spotted due north. It was discussed whether to go in there and look for the manticore. Ben said that firstly the manticore would likely prefer mountainous or hilly terrain to forest, and secondly that it had apparently been flying more or less north-west, towards the mountains. So NW it was. 

They continued on a bit further, until they stopped to make camp...

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* The PCs had previously been charged with the murder of Corian, in session 94.

** Luck is a metagame advantage. This trait cannot be trained, in the conventional sense. I require a diegetic explanation for gaining such a blessing. Some gods will accept a wodge of cash, but certainly not all.