Day 6: Miloh comes by with a gift for Blu to present to the river
elves, and Blu takes off overland with an escort, swims into the canal alone and
has success presenting the gift (river elves seem interested in cultivating
friendship), and the party heads to Pavis.
En route they run into a band of centaurs who
were looking for women (Idylla was of interest to them), fighting, and
drink. You directed them toward the
trolls and they rode off seeking some tussles. In town, you wheel a few deals and see
that Krogar Wolfhelm the Wind Lord and Govoran the Magnificent the Storm Voice
have reopened the Air Temple to much celebration. Meanwhile back at the fort, Flintnail
Rubble Trackers show up to meet Groloday, giving him a gift of a new crossbow
with iron bolts, plus a code to the "forbidden" door in the caverns
below, and they detonate a disorder keg by the tunnel to the Jolanti, revealing
that there was a nice smooth dwarf corridor behind the tunnel walls, and now
it's easy to get in. They use some
rod to control the Jolanti and start it digging through rubble blocking another
tunnel, which they say leads to New Pavis!
Idylla and Ji, who have a budding friendship, ride off to Waterby and
find that the 4 nice bison you bought with the gold lump are now gone. Groloday goes with the Mostali to the
New Flintnail Temple as an emissary for a day or so.
Day 7: Folks head back to town to run errands. Brygga and the Ingilli family announce
that they have made a grand deal with the Pavis, Zola Fel, and Sun domer cults
to trade arms, armor, and other Lunar spoils for Domer grain and other food,
and the river will transport it all.
A big coup for Brygga. Ettir announces that the New Teeth have
prepared an enchantment around the New Pavis walls that will help protect them
(they were busy pounding nomad/beast bones into the ground like stakes for a
fence earlier). Morganeth Runestar
and her unicorn-riding Shield Maidens of Yelorna come out of hiding and ride
gloriously into town, pledging their assistance to the city and their friend
Brygga. Bendrath and Nervon
announce that the Pavis Royal Guard will be reformed, including former members
from Nervon's Real City Armed Escorts as well as Hargran the Dirty (now
preferring to call himself Hargran the Clean) from Zebra Fort, who had
previously led the PRG under Lunar rule, but turned on the Lunars at the
end.
En
route home from the city, the party runs into a giant named Crag Cliffclimber
who assaults them, killing Blu before he is hurt by Idylla's impaling rapier to
his leg, and shambles off with it.
Later, Elohwyn leads a band to recover it from him, and Idylla invokes
the magic of the Toomalee (sparking lights and music soothe the giant, and she
forces her will on him). He becomes
your best friend, and returns the rapier as well as coming to the fort to say
hello. Tison tries interrogating
him about what he mumbled about "Lost One" and
"truthbonders" but he didn't seem to know. He is from Balastor's Barracks but
didn't say much about it except that there were trolls there. He left for home and didn't come back. Kortan's band of adventurers (your
neighbors) came by to welcome you home to your fort and oggle the dragon,
inquire about the giant, etc. They
seemed to be doing fine, but weren't interested in trading or helping fight
trolls. Tison resurrects Blu with
the silver rose matrix.
Day 8: Dorgon awakes!
Wow, is he ever spunky now!
Trades are done. Some
remaining plate armor and beasts are sent by Ji through the Ingilli family to
be traded for lots of food and donated to Pavis's people. You're still quite rich in money, arms,
and armor. More folks go to town
again; Chingua finally gets Regrow Limb cast on his hand. Talk about town focuses on the upcoming
Garhound festival starting in 2 days, where cults who are husband-protectors of
Ernalda (Orlanth, Storm Bull, Yelmalio, etc.) compete individually to win the
hand of the harvest bride, and hopefully signal a bountiful harvest next year
with omens from the festival.
Che'en tells visiting party members that it's a good idea to do
something about the River Daughter in the canal, but is spectacularly unhelpful
with ideas on how to do that; delegating authority to the Cleansed One subcult
(Brighteye/Caernak). That night,
Geo's inn in Oldtown hosts a "Moonscoffers" party of anti-Lunar
Orlanthi; big celebration in town for the 1 week anniversary of Free
Pavis. A few onlookers that night
in the town square who get too close to the seething coals of the Seven Mothers
Temple ruins are stricken mad, and the Pavis Royal Guard has its first
challenge quelling the ensuing fracas.
Day 9: The party enters the Puzzle Canal with Dorgon and Groloday
as replacements for Blu's emissary role to the river elves. Dorgon makes a side trip along the way
but doesn't seem pleased with it.
The meeting with the river elves goes very well; they are surprisingly
enthusiastic about re-opening the canal and trading with the city/river folk,
but, citing old legends, demand that only River Voices will be trusted to come
through the Elven regions of the maze, with a token escort but no prior
arrangement or permission required.
The war leader Spear Lily pledges to help you investigate the River
Daughter, and to help fight trolls near the water. In return, the city and
river pledge to bring trade to the river elves, respect their boundaries, and
bring warriors to protect the elves' boundaries against land invaders or other
foes. Spear Lily notes that people
in white robes came into the canal earlier today; evidently the White Moonies
are here paying their respects to Lacuna Morada.
Food
shipments begin from the Sun Dome temple along the river. Ettir hosts a debate, or more a bitter
shouting match, with Brygga and the city council in town, leaving much
unresolved. Bendrath's contingent
is notably absent from the meeting.
Arlaten the White, Magus of the Arm of Pavis defense tower in the
rubble, announces that he will work with Bendrath and the Real City to renew
the ancient magics of his and other sorcerous defense towers there.
Day 10: People spend more time in town. Bendrath sent his adventurers the Grey
Company into Balastor's Barracks in search of the axe, armor, mask, or body of
Balastor, but later report that they had no luck and these items are surely not
there. Ettir announces that the New
Teeth have found the trove of stored Lunar tax monies,
and with some of it have hired a large force of Sun Dome Templars to protect
Free Pavis, and these templars arrive today in grand ceremony to the relief of
the people of Pavis. Popular
opinion continues to support Ettir, although Brygga has a sizeable minority
behind her. Bendrath is fairly
silent and doesn't seem to be pushing as hard politically as the savvy Brygga.
That
night, Groloday gives Ji a message that he must come to the Real Inn in the
Real City immediately to meet Nervon, so a few party members ride off at night
to escort him thru the rubble. En
route, they are demoralized by ghoul howling and try to flee on sableback, but
Groloday (?) falls off his sable and is taken away by Ji in time to avoid the
approaching ghouls. At the city,
the watch lets you in and Nervon tells the party that only Ji can come into the
Inn ("private party"); the others go with Groloday to stay with
friends in town while Ji meets some old friends.
Day 11: You make a
quick trip to deliver a copy of your canal map to the elves, and all goes well
there. Miloh starts moving some
goods through the fort into/from the Rubble using his business
connections. In town, Daemon
Mooncleaver of the Cold Wind announces proudly and defiantly that the Cold Wind
blows again, and he will be leading strikes against the Lunars in Sartar using
Free Pavis as a base. People flock
to him and the cruel Wind Lord Korlo Frosthand, although many are shocked when
they crucify a hapless Lunar noble on top of the Air Temple!
Day 12: In town,
there is a great joyous celebration when scores of elves from the Garden carry
a fabulous bounty of food to Pavis and present it to Ettir, who throws a big
party in honor of the elves. The
Fivewinds rubble gang comes out of hiding and offers its services to protect
the city in Brygga's name.
The tunnel to Pavis from the fort is still being cleared by the Jolanti
and dwarves.
Day 13: The main wall
of New Pavis (which Jaldon Goldentooth's magic chewed down earlier) is fixed
with a preliminary retaining wall by the dwarves, arranged by Brygga. Bendrath leads a select group of Old
Pavic house heads to a hidden field in the Rubble, where magic has concealed a
crop of food until now. The Storm
Bull temple is reopened by an odd band of warriors from far-off Dorastor,
called the Mad Dog Templars. They
are led by a joker named Peacock, and will welcome any Storm Bulls to the
temple if they will join Peacock's templars. They say that the war in Dorastor is
over, the Ralzakarks are dead, and they come here seeking new glory and
laughter.
Day 14: Ettir
arranged to have the dwarves wheel in a noisy, rickety metal contraption to the
center of the town square, and as it is cranked by a stout dwarf it processes
tins of dwarf food, which spill onto the square and are met with a lukewarm
reception even when "sporks" (hooked dwarf metal tools) are distributed
to open and eat the rations. At the
fort, Windwhister and three intelligent griffins who you met before arrive and
have a private talk with Tison.
Day 15: Elohwyn
finishes praying for her rune spells and plans to go reopen the Vinga Temple in
town soon. Ettir announces that he
has made a deal with Sarkan's Gang, a brutal bandit clan who has long ruled the
Pavis Old Mint in the rubble, to use a new template to make Free Pavic
Guilders, the new official coinage of the city! Lunar coins will still be accepted but
should be called "Guilders" or "Frees" even then. A caravan of refugees from Sartar
arrives in Pavis and is greeted by Brygga, who convinces some warriors and
other skilled workers in the band to help the city. They bring news from Sartar's civil war:
King
Moirades of Tarsh has seized Aldachur (key northwestern Sartar city near Tarsh)
and formed a great army that moves toward Boldhome, the capital of Sartar. Kallyr Starbrow the Vingan and King
Broyan of Whitewall have raised their own armies against the Tarshites and
Lunars, and have moved on Boldhome, but there are conflicting reports whether
Boldhome has fallen, is under siege, or what. Battle rages throughout Sartar as
rebellions erupt against Lunar garrisons, and Lunars
call on mercenaries from the Grazelands and Black Horse County to help
them. It is not yet clear where
this is going, although general opinion is that it looks bad for the Lunars;
they seem to have little or no hope of maintaining hold on Sartar.
Day 16: (last day of Earth Season)
Groloday
says that he has received an obscure message asking if anyone knows about two
giants sighted in the rubble, one running amok mad, and another singing a song
"Lost one, where are you? I
have come to carry through. Lost
Child, who buried you?" [add requisite
bum-did-dee-bum drum beat]. You
recognize the latter one's description as Punt, a giant whom some party members
had met many years ago in the Rubble, and considered investigating it. Elohwyn is very keen on finding out what
her pal Punt is up to, so anyone is welcome to join her. Next time.