DF Soaring Phoenix, Sessions 110 through 125 - A lot to catch up

    Tap-tap-tap. Ummm... Is this thing still working?

    Heck it's been a while. Let's see... We've had sixteen sessions of this campaign in the last six months. We paused in June for a downtime break, during which time character training and advancement could happen, along with other solo activities. A real-world break of a couple weeks ended up stretching a bit longer due to health issues, but we should hopefully be regrouping again next week. 

    I don't recall all of the details from the sessions of the last six months, and in any case all I have is brief notes. So below is a very broad overview of the past 16 sessions.

Session Dates:    Tuesday 28 January 2025 through to Tuesday 17 June 2025

Party roster:

Erizax Ofaris, human wizard, 366 points (PC) 
Ben, half-ogre barbarian, 266 points (PC) 
Merrill Tangled Tail, cat-folk monk (martial artist), 326 points (PC) 
- Dagne Timar, human priestess of Metallys (cleric), 227 points (NPC Ally) 
Maximilian "Stout" Grupher III, goblin cleric of Ishtanna, 248 points (PC) 
Violetta, human warrior (barbarian), 274 points (PC) 
Hartwin Bertelot, human monster-hunter (knight), 197 points (PC) 
Randall, human veteran (knight), 215 points (NPC Ally) 
Lannet, halfling adventurer (thief), unknown points (NPC) 
Fendrin, human farmer, unknown points (NPC)

Campaign Date:    27 February to 22 March, Year 647 of the Vycenaean Empire. 

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-- See session 109 summary for the preceding manticore encounter and the post-session epilogue.

-- While the party were counting and sorting the treasure in the manticore lair, a nearby fifteen-foot tall giant encountered the group at the cave.

-- Attempts at dialogue failed and the giant angrily threw a rock, which was ineffective. A fight ensued and the poor outnumbered and outgunned giant was soon dispatched, without injury to the party.

-- The group returned to Fairhill with their loot. They rested in the village for a week of R&R (and players used this opportunity to spend some XP on a small level-up; the character point values in the party roster above reflect that increase.)

-- After their R&R the group headed north from Fairhill to search for the missing Fairhill Free Company (and specifically the blacksmith's daughter Arialle, who had run off with those adventurers).

-- While camping in the foothills the party was attacked during the night by a lone troll. The troll was defeated, however in the morning they found that the corpse had apparently crawled away after being killed.

-- They tracked down the injured troll and killed it a second time. Then they followed further troll tracks through the hills until they found a troll cave.

-- The group entered the cave and into a gruelling battle with multiple trolls, which ran over several sessions. 

-- During the battle in the troll cave, two critical events happened to the party's detriment. Firstly, the halfling Lannet snuck ahead and got himself very nearly killed. Secondly, an unfortunate swing by Ben into close combat, missed the troll and accidentally hacked off Fendrin's leg below the knee. 

-- The party retreated during a lull in the fighting, pausing only for Erizax to search for and recover the body of Lannet. 

-- Outside the cave entrance, Dagne was able to save the mortally wounded Lannet with a Great Healing spell. Then the party retreated away from the cave as they were being slowly pursued by an unnatural fog of unknown effect.

-- With the farmer Fendrin stabilised but still crippled, the group felt that they had no choice but to return to Fairhill.

-- On the return journey, while passing through Stoneheart Forest, the party encountered an elf who seemed to live in that part of the forest. Merrill got into polite conversation with the elf, who's name was Herl, and Herl took Merrill to visit a very old human woman, Gethrame, who lived alone in a cave. 

-- Merrill learned from Gethrame that she was blind, and had lost the staff which helped mitigate her condition. Merrill pledged to find Gethrame's staff and return it to her. Gethrame was it seemed some sort of seer, and with her staff she may have been able to help the PCs find the missing girl.

-- Upon returning to Fairhill the party took Fendrin to see the priestess Shandril in the hope that she could restore his leg. Shandril informed that she probably could, but it would take some time to regenerate. The party left Fendrin in the village to be healed and recover, and the next day they returned to the forest where they again meet Herl.

-- Herl took the party through the forest to an area inhabited by ratlings, whom he believed has stolen Gathrame's staff. 

-- The party entered into a back and forth negotiation with the ratlings to try and recover the staff without slaughter. Unfortunately it turned out that the ratlings themselves have what seems to be a valid moral claim to the staff, and so they were extremely unwilling to surrender it, even temporarily. Merrill made a very good attempt to negotiate, however the two sides were ultimately unable to agree an equitable price. 

-- The PCs decided to leave the ratlings be, and return to their original quest of looking for the blacksmith's missing daughter. They headed north through the forest, avoiding a nest of giant spiders, and into the foothills, past a huge lake, and on towards the mountains.

-- Following the remnants of an ancient paved road, the party saw a crumbling tower; presumably the same watchtower which the Fairhill Free Company had also been seeking. As they approached the tower they heard beautiful singing, but before they could spot the source of the voice, on the ridge ahead of them appeared a two-headed giant.

-- The party do need head the warnings to retreat without trying any tricks, and Merrill stepping slowly sideways triggers the giant's anger, and the giant attacks. The giant is reinforced by his herd of large goats, but even with this support he is no match for the party. The giant is defeated and the remaining goats scatter.

-- The PCs find Arialle chained to a rock beside the tower and free her. Inside the crumbling structure Erizax and Lannet find the giant's camp, which includes countless copper pieces and a selection of more valuable coins.

-- With the blacksmith's daughter anxious to return home, Erizax and Lannet worked to sort the best treasure from the pile as quickly as possible; they took all the valuable coins and gems they could find, and then loaded up their remaining capacity with as many copper pieces as they could carry.

-- The group returned to Fairhill hungry and exhausted but otherwise well. Erizax worked to divide out the shares of coins, both from the ettin and the manticores' hoards. The PCs agreed to return to the town of Bridgegate to spend their coin and sell the other loot. They also agreed that in Bridgegate they would take a break for training*, and would reconvene in about 3 months time. At this point Lannet revealed that he would not be going to Bridgegate, so he took his share and wished the party luck. Stout also stayed behind in Fairhill to pursue his own training at the temple there; he would come back to Bridgegate and meet the others once he was ready. The PCs rested in Fairhill a week before they made the journey to Bridgegate, which was otherwise uneventful.

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* The training/downtime happens between sessions. Once the amount of time required is finalised/calculated, I move the campaign calendar forward the requisite number of weeks. In that time, as well as PC training, other events can happen (both PC driven and not). Some of which the PCs may only find out about later, via news, rumour, or however. NPCs and factions with their own agendas do not all remain inactive during the downtime...