#the other points are about various other things though. i recognise the green knight is a fascinating and beautiful movie

[rubiatinctorum]

At the same time, I think

Adaptations being unfaithful to the source material, especially long after it was first relevant, isn't inherently some great violence done to the text nor a perversion of some pure and noble goal of the original

Sometimes an adaptation of an older work will work with themes that are more contemporarily significant to its current audience, and that's not necessarily a bad thing

It can be very disappointing to ardent fans of the original work who expect to see what they love on the screen/stage/whatever in the adaptation, not only because they now might be privy to what is a completely different story, but also, because this was kind of totally the work's one shot at getting a brand new TV show/movie/stageplay/whatever any time soon, and so this is what experts call a "turbo bummer :("

Some works don't need to be derivative, but wouldn't be made in a certain media landscape if they weren't, so it's better for the story to be told and vaguely connected to a previous IP than to not be allowed to be told in the medium at all.

Ultimately the mark of whether a work of adaptation is good or not rests with its quality as its own story, and if it fucks, well sorry people who dislike it bc it's not the original, but it fucks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Holy shit, two cakes

All of this does not mean I would not be mad if some adaptation team used MY writing to build their own new story on top of in my lifetime because I already did it perfect the first time thank you very much ;)

[ardenttheories]

So, having played through Dave’s Pesterquest route this morning, I have a few interesting thoughts to mull over.

Dave is intrinsically aware of the narrative, to some degree. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen it, of course, but it’s the first time we’ve seen it when he’s this young. He’s not in the game, he’s not even a recognised Knight of Time, yet he’s somehow capable of reading, and responding to, the narrative.

Of course, Dave doesn’t realise it’s that. He thinks the Reader’s just incapable of keeping their internal monologue to themself. In his point of view, the Reader’s just constantly babbling, revealing everything they think and do, bared all out in front of him as if it were more than metaphysical text that he can’t see. 

Somehow, the text of the narrative translates to a voice that he can physically hear. 

The only other time we’ve seen this, as I suggested vaguely before, is in the Epilogues. In Meat, when Dirk is trying to overwhelm the narrative in order to make Dave kiss Karkat, he repeatedly mentions feeling as if the words he’s speaking aren’t his own (even though he shouldn’t be able to feel this), and eventually he verbally responds and tells Dirk (essentially) to fuck off. 

Even Dirk seems surprised by this. For all that Dirk is using the narrative to control people, the specific persona he uses (the 2nd) is meant to be much more internal than Dave processes it as. You aren’t supposed to realise that someone is talking to you when Dirk speaks in his text; you’re supposed to internally (and subconsciously) take in the narrative, convert it to your own voice, and act on it as if you’d always had the thought in the first place. 

When Dirk forces Jake to confess his love for him, Jake isn’t some prisoner in his own body intrinsically aware that he’s being controlled. He processes the narrative into his own thoughts and words and feelings, and can’t distinguish them from something he’d normally say or do. 

This is why Kanaya feels so violated later on in Meat, once Dirk’s influence is gone. Everything that she had thought had been her own choice was actually presented to her by Dirk, like biting into a jade-green candy only to find that the centre is coloured orange. There was nothing on the outside to distinguish the candy from the others that are jade-green all the way through. 

Dave seems to be the only character who doesn’t process the narrative this way. Whenever Dirk tries to influence the narrative, Dave makes an active choice as to whether or not he’ll listen. If not that, then he at least has the ability to hear it and fight back against its influence to make the action his own, rather than Dirk’s. 

We’ve also seen him do this before, in a much lesser sense, in Homestuck. Consider all the times Dave speaks something through the narrative, and then repeats it word for word in a pesterlog - such as his very first “it’s like Christmas up in here” line. He finds the juice, the narrative says the line, and then he repeats it to John via text. 

Whether or not he realised it there, he was perhaps minorly aware that the narrative was a thing. He does this the most out of any other character, and a lot of his most iconic lines actually start out spoken within the narrative - including his pirouette off the handle joke. 

When I said “word for word”, I really did mean “word for word”. The only difference is the pronoun shift from “you” to “I”. 

Which brings me to a very interesting point. 

Many characters throughout Homestuck note that Dave physically cannot stop talking. When he’s trying to work through his feelings for John in Pesterquest; when he’s getting coffee on the meteor and just talking to himself in Homestuck; various times within the Epilogues, to a minor extent, and the narrative tends to brush over or cut off a lot of his dialogue. 

He then associates this trait with the Reader’s narrative. The concept that the Reader has just been talking the entire time, every thought and feeling and action they’ve muddled through within Dave’s presence bared before him audibly. 

I think it’s a very fair potential to say that Dave physically cannot stop talking because he is almost always sharing his own inner narrative with the world. Even through text, when he rambles while Jade is asleep, or completely talks over someone else, he’s so openly flow of thought that there’s a lot he accidentally gives away without meaning to. 

Dave cannot stop his own narrative. He can’t ignore it. He’s so aware of it that he has to say it day in, day out, whether audibly or through text. 

Dave, somehow, is intrinsically connected to the narrative, but his awareness of it works in much the same way as his dreamself does. 

Though Dave’s awake on Derse, and likely has always been awake and is always awake even when he’s awake on Earth, he’s not aware of it. He doesn’t have any memories of Derse and doesn’t even seem to think it’s real until he physically wakes up there during the game - and even then it’s suggested by Rose that a lot of the reason he’s not aware of it is because he’s actively ignoring it. Some part of Dave knew he was awake on Derse the entire time, and suppressed it. 

Once more, we see this in the Epilogues. Going back to the DaveKat kiss - Dave has clearly been aware of Dirk’s influence the entire time, enough so that he knows to yell out at it as something that isn’t his own action. But he doesn’t try to stop Dirk at any point. He doesn’t actively fight back until he realises that his first kiss with someone he likes won’t be his own choice - and even then he still does it, but with his consent. His awareness of Dirk’s narrative is fair, but not total. 

This brings up the question, then; why is Dave, a Knight of Time, so aware of the narrative, and why does he actively try to ignore it? Is there something that stops him from being wholly aware, or does he just have some small part of himself that doesn’t want to acknowledge it? Is his ignorance of it his brain not being able to process it fully, or himself going “don’t look into it too hard, you don’t want to know”?

There is nothing specific about Time that suggests it should have anything to do with the narrative. It isn’t Light - which is about Relevance, Plot, and Truth, so is wholly encompassed by Narrative - and it isn’t Heart - which can dip into the Narrative crudely, by appropriating the internal nature of the 2nd persona. It’s one of the most grounded of all the Aspects, even; it’s firmly rooted in the physical rather than the metaphysical. There’s no reason why a Time player would ever need to have a connection with the narrative. 

Even in the instance of Heart, it’s very specific to Dirk’s Classpect and his (fractured) rise to the Ultimate Self. He isn’t influencing the narrative because it’s the narrative and he can magically control it; he’s influencing it because he’s controlling the characters and actively destroying their sense of Self in the process. It’s essentially representative of him using a sort of Charm Speak on a subconscious level. It’s related to his Aspect, and only in a very specific persona.

It’ll be interesting to see how this goes on as more updates occur. Dave’s odd narrative awareness seems to be a very prominent thing by this point, and if I’m honest, a big part of me wonders if it’s somewhat related to that Knight/Prince theory I had a while back - or if something we don’t know about Time is going to be revealed inch by inch.  

[anxiouslyfred]

Uncontrolled Daydream Mode

Summary: We’ve seen what an ideas generating ‘daydream mode’ looks like in Thomas’ videos but this is what happens when he’s actually just daydreaming and everyone in the mindscape is impacted.

Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit, spiders, brotherly anxceit

When Thomas and Roman give in to daydreams chaos usually ensues for the inhabitants of the mindscape.

With luck, all that would happen would be a few of the shorts characters or Cartoon Therapy characters manifesting and getting in the way for a while. That was a rare occurrence however and Logan could only pray for it as he saw flowers weaving around Roman’s door.

Seeing Patton hovering by the ceiling on doves wings quickly dashed those hopes however. “Pat, are you able to come down from there?” He queried, heading to get some coffee and watching out for Roman

“Not yet. He summoned spiders earlier.” His voice was steady so either the spiders had been vanished or at least scattered out of view a while ago, Logan assumed.

“Is it fright or Roman keeping you up there then?” Logan checked before freezing himself as he rounded the counter.

Virgil was sat cross legged on the floor, looking utterly entranced at several spiders over his arms and shoulders. Logan must have made some noise of concern at recognising a species or two of the spiders as Virgil glanced up. “He can’t summon anything truly harmful, L. Don’t look so worried.”

“Is this something that the daydreams have caused or do you simply have an aptitude towards arachnids?” Logan straightened his tie, taking a step backwards while trying to act like he’d had none of the concerns Virgil suggested.

“Well I do have a few of them in my room. I figure it’s just because they cause Thomas some anxiety that they originally appeared, but now they’re basically pets. If Ro keeps these around, I’ll keep them too.” Virgil muttered, glancing back into the living room. “Looks like he’s coming downstairs again regardless.”

Following Virgil’s gaze, Patton and Logan could see the banister shifting to golden spires with a woven band connecting them. The carpet had already changed to be a red velvet which rippled out to also cover the living room.

When Roman emerged onto the stairs, his outfit was utterly different to his usual one; chain mail armour was covered with a red cotton embroidered with his insignia in gold.

“Ah, Court Adviser Logan, you have arrived.” Roman decreed upon spotting him. “Have you managed to find any information on the beast plaguing the kingdom?”

Logan blinked, making sure to keep the table between them in a futile hope it would prevent the daydream from affecting him. “Can you remind me of what type of creature it is, please Sire?”

“Well, one of the villagers said it had two heads, another insisted on far too many legs, while all of them reported it flying.” Roman mused, his absent expression, ever present for daydreams growing stronger if it could as he focused on the daydreams story.

Alarm however was growing in Logan and Virgil’s expressions as their eyes darted between the spiders, Patton’s wings and each other. Virgil’s final glance at Roman had him slumping a little and gently folding his hands around his neck, trying to disturb his spiders as little as possible.

“Was there any mention of what the heads looked like? It would assist me in locating the mythology it originates from.” Logan tried, hoping they could learn with more evidence who might find themselves with an extra head.

So focused were the trio on Roman that Deceits entrance and frenzied looks around the room went unnoticed as the Prince began to speak. “Well, it had dark eyes on one head, bright yellow-green on the other. The dark eyes were in a serpents head as well, I’ve been told.”

“I’m right here and my eyes are the other way round!” The snapped words made everyone jump and an even more worried gaze from Virgil as they turned to Deceit.

“He wasn’t talking about you. Welcome to daydream central, Deceit.” Virgil snarked back, murmuring to Logan and Patton at their bewildered glances, “We don’t get affected by this when Thomas is denying us or doesn’t know about us.”

As Virgil stood, still moving slowly to keep the spiders calm, Patton backed into the living room, finally landing and Deceit crouched, curling into a corner of the room as though to get away from everyone while staying with them, shrinking into himself. “You really might be best just hiding in your room, Dee. If you think it cause I don’t want you around, would I say that, when it just makes you stick around more? Roman’s influence is weaker in our rooms so it’s less likely to affect you there.”

“I don’t recall you being this upset when Thomas went into daydream mode after you joined us.” Logan observed, recognising that Deceit was beginning to hyperventilate but unsure how to react to the dark side to help.

Virgil however, barely spared him a glance, heading towards Deceit. “You wouldn’t have. I’m good at hiding it, or myself when I want to.”

As he honed his focus in on the Deceitful side, Dee started clutching the right of his neck and the side of his face. “Deceit, I need you to breathe for me, just follow my pattern.” Virgil’s voice was steady as he took the others chin in one hand so their eyes would meet, a spider crawling over it to Deceits left shoulder as he did so.

“My neck! What’s happening to my neck?” Deceit gasped out, clawing at it until Virgil managed to pull both hands away with his free one, though no more of the spiders on him moved more than needed to stay in their spaces.

“Thomas and Roman are daydreaming, which means a lot of strange things are happening here, including transformations. It looks like you’re growing a serpents head. No, keep breathing with me. It will only be temporary. Come, on, breathe in for four counts.” Virgil’s voice remained calm and patient as he talked Deceit through his breathing techniques, confusing Logan and Patton further since they rarely saw this side of Virgil and never in regards to any dark side.

Deceit was gazing at Anxiety like he was his saviour. “But it hurts.” he muttered, like a lost child would.

“Unfortunately I can’t help that. It seems to work based on how liked you are. I’m sorry Dee.” Virgil’s voice quieted to soothing indiscernible whispers after that, only a dark flicker of his eyes to Roman showing the memories and history they usually ignored.

By the time the serpents head had fully formed, Virgil was cradling Deceit in his lap, looking more like a father than Patton ever had, even with the spiders still climbing over the pair of them. Patton and Logan had left them and Roman in the living room, supposedly to make lunch since they all knew the creative side would only acknowledge them if they fit a role in his dream and be hungry when he came out of it.

At the sound of a sword being drawn though, Virgil could only pray they’d intervene and help him. “Villain, you’ve plagued my kingdom for the last time!” Roman declared, weapon pointed directly at Deceit, even as Anxiety moved them to be between them in a crouch, hissing back.

“Don’t talk to be of villainy, Prince, unless you’ve finally routed it from your ranks.” He snarled back, ignoring the hands now clutching the back of his hoodie and heads on his shoulders.

His opposition was unexpected enough to have Roman blinking, torn between carrying the daydream on and coming out of it from confusion. “There’s never been any villainy amongst my knights.” He tried arguing, even as Logan and Patton dashed in, having heard the exchange start.

“Perhaps, my Liege, we might solve what has been plaguing the kingdom by discussing what’s ailing the aggressor instead of fighting it.” Logan suggested, only the title offered to Roman really acknowledging he still saw it as daydream mode. They all knew  the consequences could be dire if Roman came to blows against Virgil while one was daydreaming and the other quite visibly in his original mindset of Anxiety and needed to avoid it.

Roman scoffed again, though his expression was beginning to clear even more. “The fiend should have done that before attacking my people.”

“Perhaps you’ve not given him a chance to do so. You seldom meet with your people, Prince Roman.” Patton tried to soothe, looking torn between offering comfort to the pair he most often thought of as his children and avoiding the creepy crawley death dealers on them.

Them all reasoning against his daydream seemed to be enough to finally end it and Roman’s sword dropping followed his expression clearing to curiously look at how the room and people in it had been changed this time. “Why do you look like you’re protecting Deceit, Virgil?” He asked, frowning at the only thing he couldn’t understand happening from the story he’d lived, while almost everyone else let out relieved sighs.

“Because I don’t plan on letting him go through the same crap I did alone. Any clue on how long the daydreams are going to stick around?” Virgil explained, his tone sharp, though he was taking a few deep breaths, reminding himself that he’s friends with them all now and doesn’t need to be on guard and scary constantly.

“You’re literally being cuddled by someone you normally can’t stand, but my daydreams are what concerns you?” Roman bristled before concentrating again. “Probably an hour or two.”

The mention of how disliked he was had Deceit’s serpent’s head hissing softly before he finally spoke up, “Totally feeling safe around you three. Wouldn’t you prefer your brother to be supported than alone?” 

“We don’t really work family ties here quite like we did in the subconscious, Dee, just Patton trying to be everyone’s Dad.” Virgil murmured, turning enough that he could wrap an arm around Deceit and subtly check his temperature. “There’s not really the need when we’re trying to work together for Thomas’s best interests.”

The light sides were all in various states of confusion and growing understanding of the pair before them. “We used to argue over the most ridiculous things with Shai when we were teenagers.” Patton mused aloud.

“Or just stop talking to each other for no reason sometimes.” Roman added, “You were so hurt and confused a few times that happened.”

“Perhaps I should do some research into negative brotherly or sibling relationships.” Logan pondered, still thoroughly confused by the current change in the usually hostile pair, still latched to each other on the floor.

Virgil just snickered a little at their comments, tightening his arm and wrapping the other around Deceit too. “We class each other as brothers who hate each others views of the world. For now I’m going to get Dee to his heating rock. This daydream has decreased his already lowered ability to regulate body heat.”

Moving both of them must have taken his concentration since spiders scattered as they sunk out. Logan and Roman jumped and started reaching for either weapons or a way to contain them as Patton shot to the ceiling all over again.

“How long did Virgil have these on him?” Roman exclaimed, trying to herd them together, since creatures dying upset Patton nearly as much as spiders do.

“You’d summoned them before I came downstairs so I’m uncertain. Deceit came down about 5 minutes after me, just as we were trying to learn what else might happen.” Logan called, fetching a large bowl from the kitchen as he spoke.

Roman let out a humm as he finally gathered the spiders close together enough for the bowl to be placed over them all. “That was a new way to be brought out of a daydream though; one of you derailing it and the others suggesting different ways the dream could go. It might help if you need to end one in the future.”

[darkelfshadow]

Session Summary - 37

AKA “The Northern Trade Route”

Adventures in Taggeriell

Session 37 (Date: 16th December 2017)

Players Present:

- Rob (Known as “Oloma”) Human Female.

- Sean (Known as “Seanicus”) Elf Male.

- Travis (Known as “Trenchant”) Human Male.

Absent Players

- Arthur (Known as “Gim”) Dwarf Male. <Played by Sean>

- Phil (Known as “Nac”) Half-elf Male. <Played by Rob>

- Paul (Known as “Labarett”) Elf Male.  <Played by Travis>

NPC

- (Known as “Naillae”) Elf Female. <Controlled by DM>

Summary

- Starday, 13th of Kuthona in the year 814 (Second Era). Late Winter.

- The party begin this session, in the early morning, at the compound of the Red Scale Transport Company in the city of Earthcloak.

- Last minute preparations are being conducted by Brumohn, the Dwarf Wagon Master, and the party are introduced to the rest of the security that they will be working with. In charge of security is a capable looking female warrior called Leda.

- With her are a female Dwarf called Eldkin, a female human called Orvustia, a male human called Sulesdeg “The Pole” and another female Dwarf called Tyjit.

- The party are given one wagon, with a single horse, and will be the rear guard of the wagon train, which now numbers twenty three wagons with a few seperate horse riders joining too. Labarett performs his ritual and speaks to their horse, forming a bond of understanding and trust that will see him able to get more out of the beast (Advantage on any Animal Handling checks in the future that may require it) and as such Labarett will be the driver for the party’s wagon.

- Whilst the final preparations are under way, Captain Kison the Sherif of Earthcloak, and Sir Gonad the Lord Protector of Earthcloak and head of the Templars of Arvoreen, walk over to the party and head straight for Sir Krondor.

- Captain Kison shakes Sir Krondor’s hand in greeting and then begins, “Sir Krondor, I have been speaking to Sir Gonad here about the news one of your party brought him.”

- Captain Kison nods towards Oloma and then continues, “Regarding the threat of the Dragon Cult and their efforts to bring forth another Dragon War with Tiamat leading it. We are both convinced that the Kingdom of Singbury can not afford to stay out of this fight. We have both spoken to Lord Conlan, ruler of Earthcloak, to urge him to send urgent word of this news to King Rimgeth Brightsun the Second in the capital Worthwold to convince the King to join the alliance but Lord Conlan states he will consider it and think it over for a while.”

- Captain Kison appears to be finding it hard to speak the following words but presses on, “Lord Conlan is a good man, but slow to take action, and overly cautious, and I do not believe we can risk the delay. From previous experience by the time Lord Conlan decides to take action I fear it will be too late.”

- Sir Gonad adds, “Unfortunately no one from Earthcloak, including Captain Kison or myself, can now attempt to contact the King until Lord Conlan makes a decision, or else be seen to undermine or pre-empt our own lord decision.”

- Captain Kison nods in agreement and then continues, “You however Sir Krondor are not bound by this restraint. You are an outsider, a Knight of the Anvil, a Marcheon of the Gauntlet, but more than that you are a Royal Banner for the Kingdom of Fanur. With your titles and rank, you would be granted permission to enter the inner court of the Palace to speak to the King and his advisors. You must go to Worthwold immediately and implore the King to rally the Fang Army of the Singbury lands. It will not be easy, nor a quick thing. You will need to use tact and wit to win the King’s confidence against those who would council him against this cause of action.”

- Trenchant interrupts, “But we need to go on this wagon train now. I can’t explain but the mission is vital for success against the Dragon Cult and we need Sir Krondor with us.”

- Sir Gonad answers calmly, “Though I am certain the quest your party is about to embark on must be important, I do not think one more or less from your party would change the chance of your success. But if Sir Krondor can convince the King to join the fight and bring thirty five thousand trained Halfling soldiers, to fight against the Dragon Cult, that I believe would make a difference.”

- Captain Kison places a hand on Sir Krondor’s shoulder, “I, Captain Kison of Earthcloak, Whitehawk of the Gauntlet, beseech you Sir Krondor, Marcheon of the Gauntlet, to heed my words and answer the call. I ask you to leave your friends and do your duty for the greater good.”

- Sir Gonad places his hand onto Sir Krondor’s other shoulder, “Yes, if Tiamat succeeds in coming, no where will be safe, including the green hills of Singbury. You do your friends a greater duty by leaving them now.”

- Sir Krondor informs the party he will travel to the capital of Singbury, the city of Worthwold, and will attempt to convince the King to join the cause. The Dwarf Knight walks over to Gim and gives his cousin a brief hug saying with a smile, “Look after yourself cousin. Try to avoid loose women and strong drink.”

- Gim smiles back, “You too cousin. Try to avoid talking shields.”

- Sir Krondor then turns to Trenchant and shakes his hand, “Take care Bard, try to keep this lot in check.”

- Trenchant smiles, “I’ll try. Take care my friend. I shall sing tales of your deeds.”

- Lastly, Sir Krondor turns to Labarett to shake his hand but as he nears him Labarett launches into a bear hug, just about squeezing the life out of the Dwarf. The two seperate and Sir Krondor speaks, “Farewell Labarett. I can’t believe it has been a year since I first meet you at your village. We have seen a lot since then. Travelled the demi-humans lands, then making our way to Edamor where we meet up with Trenchant and the others in our first group. We cleared out the mess with the Wardens in the capital and then …. then ” but Sir Krondor’s voice falters.

- Labarett finishes for the Dwarf, “Then half our group were killed by the Cult. Yes and now we have joined a new group to seek vengeance upon the Cult for the death of our friends. The Cult will pay my friend. We will prevail.”

- Sir Krondor nods and hands over the enchanted battle axe Snaidh he recently took possession of to Labarett saying, “Here, take this. The party needs this now more than me.”

- Nac speaks up, “Well, if you’re giving away magic items, how about your cloak too?”

- Sir Krondor looks at Nac with a sour expression but does not answer. The Dwarf Knight turns and leaves with Captain Kison and Sir Gonad. Gim, Trenchant and Labarett wave him farewell and Trenchant calls out to him to send word via Valthrun if he succeeds in convincing the King; which Sir Krondor yells back he will.

<At this point in the campaign, Sir Krondor is retired from play, as unfortunately Bob no longer wishes to play>

- The wagon train is now ready to leave Earthcloak. The convoy leaves the compound and takes a winding but level route, to avoid having to use any of the step stairs that litter the city, to make their way to leave the city via the Harborwatch Castle on the western side of the city.

- Labarett sits on the front of the wagon and takes control of the horse. Nac and Gim remain inside the canvas covered wagon and relax, out of the cold winds, whilst Seanicus and Oloma take a seated position on a ledge on the rear of their wagon. Naillae and Trenchant take a rear position to the wagon train, travelling about 200’ behind and making sure no one is following them.

- The wagon train takes the western road, that follows the Tufford river for a short while, before it breaks away from the river and starts to head north west into the large and ancient Cadwood Forest. The first day is uneventful, as Brumohn had informed them previously it most likely would be. The Dwarf Wagon Master had told the party that he didn’t expect any trouble from bandits until they hit the open plains and the only trouble to be expected from the Forest would be animals and vermin.

- With the coming of evening the wagon train pulls to a stop and the twenty three wagons remain in line off the side of the road. The occupants of the wagons prepare for the evening and camp. Most set up tents either to the side or underneath their wagon or else they sleep within their covered wagon if room is available.

- Leda, the head of the security detail, speaks to the party and her other charges. A roster for the first stage of the journey, from Earthcloak to Lightfingers is made. For each of the nights for this first stage, the watches will be two at a time, in the following order of Leda with Trenchant, then Orvustia with Oloma, then Seanicus with Labarett and for the final night watch will be Nac with Gim.

- During the early evening, whilst everyone is still up and going about various tasks around multiple camp fires, Oloma heads over to one of the wagons (Wagon 7) and once again speaks to Enom the Halfling male. Enom is glad of the company and to talk to someone. They share stories of their respective travels and when Oloma enquires about who Enom recognises in the convoy, the Halfling informs Oloma that he has travelled before with most of the Red Scale Company people (Brumohn, Leda, Eldkin and Sulesdeg) and Losviius (Wagon 10) who is also a paid courier.

- Oloma thanks Enom for the information and leaves to head over to another wagon (Wagon 13) where she meets a male called Oyn who is a trader in exotic birds which Oyn opens up his wagon to proudly show the range and quality of his animals. Oyn appears to be fairly well off, wearing expensive clothes and the quality of his wagon, indicates that it is very well made. Oyn is a bit loud and seems to like the sound of his own voice. Oloma doesn’t learn anything new and eventually leaves.

- During this time, Labarett has also been meeting some of the convoy and speaks to the driver of a passenger wagon (Wagon 22), a male called Allen, who appears to be a friendly sort and enjoys a chat. Labarett learns that this is a general passenger wagon that anyone can jump on and off for payment. At the moment, there are four travellers on the wagon. Allen tells Labarett some of the details of his passengers, a female called Imsa who keeps to herself, a male Gnome called Radecere who doesn’t say much but likes to play cards with anyone who has coin, a male called Aldor who keeps to himself and comes off as quite annoying, and lastly a male called Arond who is apparently a well to do merchant looking to source supplies in the west.

- Labarett thanks Allen and then leaves.

- Meanwhile, Trenchant has also been looking into the convoy. The Bard approaches one wagon (Wagon 21) that is also a passenger wagon. This wagon has one driver and eight passengers. All the members are human and male, except one of the passengers is a male Half-elf and another passenger is a female. All are dressed in travelling robes covering unknown gear.

- Trenchant moves up to the group, whilst they are preparing a meal around a camp fire, and the Bard starts to strum on his lute, whilst speaking, “Welcome friends, I am one of your trusty and hansom guards. Let me entertain you with a song …”

- But the Bard looks up suddenly when the sounds of his lute strings are muffled. Holding onto the end of the neck of the lute is one of the group from the passenger wagon. This tall, solid looking male, with bad breath and untidy hair leans towards Trenchant and in a low snarl says, “Fuck off with your music! You’re not welcome.”

- Trenchant coughs, “Not a music lover? Very well, I’ll leave you be” and then walks away from the group. As he does so, Trenchant notices that every single pair of eyes from the group watches him leave. Most of them, rest their hands on a dagger hilt, hung from the side of the belt.

- The party all come back together at their campfire which has been set up in the middle of their assorted tents next to their wagon and share what they have learnt. From their initial enquiries it looks like they can rule out wagons 7 and 10 as being part of the Cult as they are both paid regular couriers and likewise wagon 13 appears to be a legit trader. Wagon 22 will need further attention paid to the passengers but the most likely candidate for being connected to the Cult is wagon 21 with the suspicious and unfriendly group there.

- The party decide that the occupants of this passenger wagon (wagon 21) need further examination. When Trenchant is doing a patrol of the wagon train with Leda, he casts Detect Thoughts and moves towards the group of nine people near the wagon, as if he was simply walking past on patrol, and begins to pick up their surface thoughts: “Dam cold weather!”, “stupid singing guard!” and “this job is boring!”

- Trenchant slows down as he passes by the group and concentrates to probe further. Some of the minds are hard to probe but the Bard manages to penetrate the deeper thoughts of some (Wisdom save). Trenchant concentrates and picks out from one mind, “We better get our 250 gold coins when we finish the job or else! If anyone tries to see the cargo I’ll slit their throats!” and from another mind, “We should just rob everyone on the wagon train but we were told to keep a low profile.” and from a third mind, “I hate doing a job blind. Wish I knew were our destination was but apparently no one in the group does. We’ll find out later.”

- Trenchant and Leda keep walking past and then proceed up to Brumohn the Wagon Master. Trenchant tells Brumohn that he has overheard some of the passengers talking about murder and robbery. When Brumohn asks Trenchant for specifics and details, or any evidence of wrong doing, Trenchant not wishing to give away how he came by the information, has to admit that he only has a vague accusation against the group. Brumohn says he can’t kick people off the wagon train without evidence or proof but says he and Leda will keep an eye on the group for possible trouble.

- The rest of the evening proceeds normally, with the many people heading off to sleep one by one, leaving the rest of the peaceful night to be monitored by the passing of each pair of guards on duty.

- Sunday, 14th of Kuthona in the year 814 (Second Era). Late Winter.

- This morning brings with it a light rain and medium winds. It is another cold day which forces everyone to huddle under heavy cloaks to keep warm.

- This second day sees the party sticking to the road, which winds through the large forest. With the rain and limited light coming from the gap in the forest only where the road lays, sees the spirits of most in the convoy low.

- During the travel days, the wagon train stops every few hours for a short break for the horses and to let people relieve themselves. On one such brake, around noon, Trenchant sees two of the members of the passenger wagon they have suspicions on (wagon 21), one a male and the other a female, leave the wagon and head off into the forest for a toilet break.

- Trenchant grabs Naillae quickly, “Here’s our chance. Quick.”

- Naillae blushes as she follows him, “Well, Trenchant, I’m not sure we have time to …”

- But just as the pair enter the forest Naillae sees Trenchant pull up his Elven Cloak, the colours of the cloak changing to match the trees around him, making him blend into the forest. Trenchant’s voice, a low whisper speaks, “We have to follow those two.”

- Naillae sighs disappointedly, “Oh. That’s what you meant.”

- She instinctively lowers herself and begins to move with cat like reflexes that only a trained Rogue and Thief can do, moving from tree to tree silently. Both follow the suspicious pair, keeping them in sight, but not too close to alert them (Successful Stealth checks).

- The pair in front of them then split up, the male moving off to the left and the female off to the right.

- Without speaking Trenchant points to the female and they move to follow her. They move for about a minute and then see her find a large tree and begin to unbuckle her belt. Trenchant points his hand at her and casts a Sleep spell upon the female. The cloaked female starts to yawn and then slowly collapses onto the leaf covered forest floor, her chest rising and falling in deep sleep.

- Quickly Trenchant and Naillae move over to the sleeping female and Trenchant wraps a cloth around the closed eyes of the sleeping female. He then casts Zone of Truth around the area.

- Naillae takes out one of her knives and presses it against the neck of the sleeper. Trenchant grabs the shoulder of the sleeping female and squeezes hard and speaks, “Wake up!”

- As the female starts to stir, Naillae presses the sharp tip of the blade into her throat, a small trickle of blood appears, as Trenchant speaks in a voice, which he changes to disguise his true voice, “Shout out and you die. Understand?”

- The female stops moving immediately and nods her head slowly in agreement.

- Trenchant says, “Tell us what the cargo is your transporting for 250 gold coins. And tell us who you’re working for.”

- Initially the female is reluctant to speak but when she feels the tip of dagger press harder she changes her mind. In a angry voice she answers, “Enough! I’ll talk though I don’t know anything. I don’t know what the cargo is. I just follow Baryeon’s orders, he’s the driver, and before you ask I don’t know where we’re going either!”

- Naillae is searching the female with her free hand and as she pulls apart some of the clothing both she and Trenchant see a tattoo of the mark of the Dragon Cult on her.

- Trenchant speaks, “So you’re part of the Dragon Cult. Another true believer I take it.”

- The female replies, “I believe that I will get paid if I do what I am told to. That’s about the extent of my belief.”

- Just then a male voice calls out from the trees, sounding about eighty feet away, “Palena! Hurry up! You finished yet or what?”

- Trenchant whispers, “Tell him to go as you’re not finished yet or else.”

- The female shouts out, “Go back. I’ll be a while.”

- The male voice laughs out loud, “Told you not to eat all those beans last night!” and the laughter fades off as the male walks away.

- After a moment Trenchant continues, “So, Palena is it? Where is the cargo you’re transporting and what exactly are your orders?”

- Palena, still blind folded, answers truthfully, “There are three other wagons. The ones in front of our wagon. They each carry cargo but I don’t know what it is. Our orders are to make sure no one gets too noisy about the cargo, else they need to get dealt with, permanently. We have to wait until someone else joins the wagon train that is known to Baryeon and a few others. This new person will know where we are supposed to take the cargo. I’ll get paid once the cargo is handed over.”

- Trenchant asks, “Where did you come from?”

- Palena answers, “I joined up with the wagon train in Ulsbrook, at least what’s left of Ulsbrook. The village was pretty much destroyed when I got there. All the buildings destroyed and dead bodies every where. We joined up with the three cargo wagons and the passenger wagon and made our way up to Earthcloak to join this convoy. What’s going to happen now? Suppose you’re going to kill me?”

- Trenchant replies, “No, stand up and walk this way.”

- Trenchant and Naillae lead Palena further into the forest and then Naillae starts to bind the hands and feet of Palena. She also places a gag on her too. As she is doing this Trenchant speaks, “We’re going to leave you here. The knots aren’t that tight. It will take you a few hours to loosen them enough to get free but by then the wagon train will be gone. We’ll leave you your dagger too. I would recommend heading back east to Earthcloak, you could get there in a day and a half. You should last with no food or water for that long.”

- As Trenchant and Naillae walk back towards the road they try to cover their tracks as best as they can but luckily the light rain clears away their tracks as they don’t do a very good job (Failed Survival check).

- Walking back from the trees and towards the wagon train, some of the people on the wagons turn and look at the pair exiting the forest. Trenchant whispers, “We need to avert suspicion.”

- Naillae smiles and then presses herself hard into Trenchant, one hand wrapping around his neck and stoking him affectionately and her other hand slapping his ass loudly. In a loud enough voice that the people at the wagon train could her, Naillae says, “You bad boy! You’ve had your fun for now. We’ll play again later.”

- She turns and walks away, blowing a kiss towards Trenchant, who’s face is turning red.

- The people watching from the wagons, smile knowingly, and then turn their attention back to what activities they were doing ignoring the private doings of the pair.

- Returning back to the rest of the party, Trenchant and Naillae fill them in with what has happened and what they have learnt about the Cultists having one passenger wagon and three cargo wagons in the convoy. After about half an hour a loud disturbance can be heard coming from the passenger wagon the party now know are Cultists. The party move over and can see Brumohn and Leda speaking to the disguised Cultists. The Cultists appear quite angry and are shouting.

- Brumohn comes over to the party and informs them that one of the passengers on the passenger wagon has gone missing, a female by the name of Palena, and they will need to organise a search party.

- The party split up along with Leda’s other guards and begin a search, all the while Trenchant and Naillae make sure that none of the searchers go anywhere near where they left Palena. After three quarters of an hour Brumohn calls off the search and says they can not wait any longer.

- The party see the wagon driver of the Cultists wagon, Baryeon slapping his hand across the face of the male Cultist that had gone to the forest with Palena, “You both go into the forest and only you come back. I’ve got my eye on you Numen! We’re down one person now and I blame you!”

- Everyone else on the wagon train goes back to their respective wagons and once again the convoy takes off, heading west along the road. The rest of the afternoon goes uneventfully except for a couple of more toilet stops. The party notice that when any of the Cultists from the convoy head off into the forest they are always at least three of them now, obviously under new orders from Baryeon.

- With the coming of the evening once again the wagon train parks off in a long line, off the side of the road, and people start preparing for camp, setting up tents and getting multiple camp fires going. Trenchant and Leda wander around the tents and wagons, conducting a patrol, when they hear shouting coming from the group of Cultists. As they approach they see the Cultist called Numen standing in the middle of the group, holding his jaw. Blood comes out from his mouth and it looks like he has been punched to the face a few times as he also has a black eye.

- Trenchant and Leda move closer and as they do so all the Cultists, except a male Half-elf, move closer together, with Baryeon moving forward.

- Trenchant looks over at Numen who is bleeding, “Do we have a problem here? We don’t want trouble on the trip.”

- Baryeon steps in front of Trenchant, “Nothing we can’t handle our selves.”

- Trenchant steps around him, “Really? What does he say? You’re name is Numen isn’t it? Do you need assistance?”

- Numen wipes the blood off his chin and replies, “No. I just tripped and hit my head on the ground.”

- All of the Cultists laugh at this and Baryeon says, “Yeah, he’s real clumsy he is. Fell over and hit his head.”

- Trenchant notices that the only one of the Cultists not laughing at Numen’s trouble is the male Half-elf, who is standing by himself off to the side. The Half-elf seems to be looking at Trenchant intently. On a hunch Trenchant does a discrete hand single to the Half-Elf, a subtle Harper code, that asks if he is a Harper agent but there is no response back.

- Trenchant and Leda move off and continue their patrol, the sound of the laughter fading behind them.

- Later during the evening the party are once again discussing what may be in the three cargo wagons that the Cultists have. Seanicus tells the party that he’ll find out. The Warlock speaks, “Come.”

- A shadow of pure darkness appears to the side of the Warlock but only the eyes of Seanicus can see the Shadow Hound. The Warlock looks at the shadow, “Enter those wagons and see what lays within.”

- The darkness rushes forward, unseen, and approaches the first cargo wagon and slips in between the cracks of the wooden slats that make up the wagon. Seanicus closes his eyes and looks through the eyes of his Shadow Hound, speaking to the party what he can see within, “The wagon is full. Wooden crates, barrels, tied sacks. I can not see within the barrels or sacks, they are sealed tight and no shadow can pass but the wooden crates have room enough for me to pass within. Each of the crates is filled with jewellery, rings, pendants, chains, brooches. All of it of different appearance and some of it has blood on it.”

- The party guess that this must be part of the stolen goods taken from Ulsbrook when the Cult attacked. The other two cargo wagons are examined by Seanicus’s Shadow Hound and they are similar in their contents, except that one of the wagons also has a few locked chests inside too but are sealed tight so can not be examined within.

- The rest of the evening goes quietly, as people go off to sleep until only the single pair of guards on duty walk around the convoy to keep watch during the cold night.

- Moonday, 15th of Kuthona in the year 814 (Second Era). Late Winter.

- With the coming dawn the convoy awake to a thick layer of snow on the ground. Heavy snow falls from the dark heavens and the air is bitterly cold.

- The cold and snow sees the convoy have a quick morning meal before setting off on the road again to the west. Not much happens during this day as they continue moving through the forest. The convoy stops frequently for toilet breaks, once again the Cultists now only move off into the forest into groups of at least three.

- At around midday the convoy comes to a junction in the road. A sign post indicates that the west road leads to Worthwold and the north road leads to Lightfingers. As the convoy turns to head north, the party look at signpost to Worthwold and some of them wonder how Sir Krondor will do when he arrives in Worthwold and whether he will be successful.

- When evening arrives the convoy stops off to the side of the road and once again tents and camp fires are set up. The camp fires are made bigger this night as the cold is fierce.

- Trenchant tries to approach the Cultists to covertly get the attention of the mysterious Half-Elf loner within the Cultists to speak to him but fails to do so (Failed Performance check).

- Meanwhile, Oloma decides to look around the convoy and she moves towards a simple wooden wagon. From the side of the wagon there are three thick canvas sheets, tied securely, that go down to the ground and are pegged in to make an attached tent. Oloma can see a family seated by the tent, around a small fire, trying to keep warm. There is a male and female and three small children. They all have thin, blankets, wrapped around them.

- Oloma introduces herself and finds the family are friendly and welcoming. The father, Geppert is a teacher of art and history, and the mother Oli is a skilled craftsman with needle and thread and their three young children are Gery, Tomas and Mary. Whilst the conversation is going, Oli is hand sowing a new thick blanket, explaining that they did not expect it to be this cold. The family are from the warmer lands of south Tyriba, from the city of Cheldale near the base of the Deley Hills. Oloma can see that Geppert is eager to talk to someone but Oloma tells him she’ll be back shortly to talk. She heads back over to grab some food from Flarmia the Company cook and a spare thick blanket from the Company supplies and then returns to the family to sit, eat and talk. She gives the thick blanket to the three young children to help keep them warm, to the grateful thanks of Oli.

- When Oloma asks why they are on the convoy wagon, Geppert explains that they are leaving to make a new life in the far north as they do not believe that southern Taggriell will be safe anymore. Geppert explains, “Tar-Fri ships have been sighted again on the southern seas. The last time the Tar-Fri arrived, about two hundred years ago, they invaded the south of Taggriell, it was a bloody war that lasted twenty years. The armies of men from the south, Tyriba and Asalea, had to put aside their normal hostility and join up with the armies of the demi-humans, the Dwarves of Fanur, the Centaurs of Pararas, the Elves of Elanion and even the Halflings of Singbury here. They all joined up, and only together, did they eventually manage to defeat the Tar-Fri but at a great cost. Many lives were lost in that war.”

- Oloma asks, “So, if they defeated them once, they can defeat them again?”

- Geppert shakes his head, “Not this time. Asalea is dealing with a civil uprising lead by a terrorist group called The Disciples of Ingras and won’t be able to repeal an external invader. Apparently this terrorist group came to prominence about six years ago and is lead by someone called The Small Hand. Tyriba is dealing with the Dragon Cult in the north and wouldn’t be able to raise a proper defence to a southern invasion either. The Dwarves of Fanur still remember the great loss their Knights Of The Anvil suffered in the battle for the Agas Islands and the Dwarves have taken offence at the lack of respect and acknowledgement from the men of the south over that sacrifice. Not to mention that the Dwarves are dealing with another major Drow uprising in their own lands and they could not afford to leave their strong holds undefended against the Drow. The Elves and Halflings have become complacent with their new safe Kingdoms. They would not leave their lands to join a fight so far away unless they could be convinced it affected them directly now. The Centaurs, always strong allies of Tyriba, would be the only ally to answer the rally call of the south. The Tar-Fri are coming and when they do the southern Kingdoms, unprepared and divided, will fall one by one.”

- Oloma can see that the talk of the south falling has upset Oli somewhat and tries to turn the conversation around and begins to tell Geppert about where she is from. Oloma speaks, “I am a stranger to these lands and only newly arrived. I am still learning to adjust to the way of it here. I am from lands of Eridona.”

- Geppert speaks in wonder, “Eridona but … but I thought that was a myth. All the books I have read of that place say it was a place of wonder and magic but was lost long ago.”

- Oloma replies, “It is real. It isn’t lost, just hidden. Eridona is very different from this land. Most of the people there are strong in magic of one kind or another. The land itself emits magic. The cities have many wonders. Floating lights illuminate all the streets at night and come on automatically when the sun sets. Flying boats that sail the skies take people around the land and from city to city. Tall towers made of gold and glass, that glint from the light of the sun, stand so tall within the cities that it’s hard to see the top of them as they extend into the clouds above. The houses have enchanted stones that keep the temperature at a constant pleasant level. Enchanted doors open by themselves whenever someone approaches them. The first time I came to a door in this land, I waited for five minutes for the door to open, before I was told that I had to open the door myself, by hand! We have sentient metal constructs that work for us and protect our cities. And we have different species there that I do not see here and likewise you have species here, like Dwarves, that until I came here I had never seen.”

- Geppert is enthralled by what Oloma is telling him and the teacher is rapidly writing notes about this on a parchment. The conversation continues for some time, Geppert asking many questions and Oloma happy to talk about and reminisce about her home land. Eventually, Oloma takes her leave with the family waving goodbye and inviting her to come back when ever she wishes. Each of the three young children come up and give Oloma a hug before she leaves.

- When the party are all back together, seated around a large fire, Lai the male Dwarf, from one of the merchant wagons (wagon 8) comes up to the party and talks to them about the trip. Lai seems to like to talk about treasures and expensive things and places the party have seen.

- During the conversation, a cold wind blows back Oloma’s cloak and Lai gets a brief glimpse of the metal wolf whistle she has attached to a chain that hangs from within the inside of her cloak.

- When Lai enquires what the item is, Oloma holds out the wolf whistle and shows it to Lai. The Dwarf wants to buy it and tries to haggle a price with Oloma but won’t go above offering only 20 gold coins.

- Oloma speaks in a loud voice, that carries some distance across the convoy, some heads turn to listen in to the conversation, “I could not possibly sell this whistle. It is unique, a one of a kind. It has been within my family for generations. It is worth a fortune, so much more than what you offer. Even if you were to offer me many hundreds of gold coins, it still would not be enough.”

- After the failed negotiations, Lai bids farewell to the party and leaves.

- The rest of the night goes peacefully. All the members of the convoy go to sleep and once again, the party and Leda’s guards, take up the burden of patrolling the convoy at night.

- Toilday, 16th of Kuthona in the year 814 (Second Era). Late Winter.

- This new day is cold with light snow and a strong cold wind blowing through the convoy.

- Oloma wakes up and discovers that her wolf whistle is missing. She wakes up the rest of the party. The party search the ground for tracks in the snow but no one except Nac can find anything. Nac points out some very faint marks in the snow, barely noticeable, but they don’t appear to be foot prints (Successful Survival check) and he is not sure what the marks are.

- Oloma is furious and starts to walk over to one of the wagons where Lai the Dwarf is standing preparing a morning meal over a fire.

- Whilst Oloma is gone, Nac points out the weird faint marks in the snow to the party and Naillae bends closer to examine them, “These patterns, I recognise them. I was taught these as a Rogue, to cover my tracks, who ever took Oloma’s whistle is a trained and very skilled Thief. You’re lucky to have even seen these they’re so faint.”

- Labarett moves over to the their horse, which was tied to the wagon overnight, a thick padded blanket over the horse to keep it warm, and begins the ritual of Speak To Animals.

- From the near by wagon, shouting can be heard.

- Oloma points a hand at the Dwarf and shouts, “You! You stole my whistle!”

- Lai looks surprised, “Oh really? Is this some scam? You accidentally show me a whistle, then tell me is unique and priceless, just about shouted it to the entire convoy and now it’s missing. And you demand that I pay you, an outrageous price, for something I never took, nor even examined to see the quality myself!”

- Oloma wants to keep shouting at the Dwarf or even lash out but something inside her realises the Dwarf is being sincere (Successful Insight check).

- Brumohn has arrived now, “Is there a problem?”

- Oloma snaps, “Yes, my whistle was stolen last night. The whistle that this Dwarf took so much attention of last night and tried to buy it off me. And now it’s missing!”

- Brumohn asks, “Do you have proof against any person of the theft?”

- Oloma begins, “No but …”

- Nac has arrived to stand next to Oloma and places a hand on her shoulder, “We’ll sort this business out ourselves Brumohn. Come on Oloma.”

- Oloma looks at Lai one last time but without another word walks back to their tents with Nac.

- Naillae speaks to Oloma, “I don’t think the Dwarf stole your whistle. A trained Thief did this and he’s a merchant.”

- Trenchant speaks, “Yes, and everyone in the convoy would have heard you talking about the whistle last night. It could be anyone.”

- Labarett moves to the group, “I have spoken to our horse. He says he saw a large shadow, a tall figure, moving in the night towards your tent Oloma. The figure made no sound and was hard to see. It can’t be the Dwarf, he’s too small.”

- The convoy sets off for the day and falls into the same routine as before; stopping at regular intervals to rest the horses and give people an opportunity to relieve themselves and with one large break at noon for a meal. During the breaks Oloma walks up and down the convoy trying to find out anything about her missing whistle but finds out nothing (Failed Investigation check).

- During the lunch break Trenchant goes near the Cultists again and casts Detect Thoughts, directing his attention to the Half-Elf in the group that was looking intently at Trenchant before. He can sense the Half-Elf is unhappy and feeling alone. Trenchant probes further and penetrates the deeper thoughts (Failed Wisdom save). Trenchant can see the Half-Elf was intrigued by Trenchant, a human wearing an Elven Cloak, a rare item even within the Elven lands. He sensed thoughts of longing, of wishing to have another life, to be someone else that didn’t need to do bad things to survive, to be someone like Trenchant. Trenchant probed deeper and got the name of the Half-Elf, Larion Keenblade, and could see the Half-Elf thinking about needing to check his weapons and Thief’s Tools later to make sure the snow wasn’t damaging them. Trenchant probed further and older memories came forward and then Trenchant saw the flash of a memory that took his breath away. A black dragon flying over head, a rider on the back wearing purple robes and with a black Dragon Mask covering their face. The riders hands held onto leather reins that guided the Dragon, the hands of the rider were black and scaled and had claws. The seen changed to a village within a forest that had been destroyed. Smoke filled the air from the many buildings that were burnt and destroyed. Many dead bodies, adults and children, lay all over the ground. A broken sign read “Ulsbrook.”

- So unexpected and tragic was the memory that Trenchant snapped out of the spell. The Bard immediately walked back to the rest of the party and informed them what he had seen from the memory.

- Oloma spoke excitedly, “He’s a Thief? He may have stolen my whistle!”

- Trenchant shakes his head, “I don’t think so. I didn’t get any memories of him being out last night or anything to do with your whistle.”

- Nac spoke, “Trenchant, you need to speak to this Larion Keenblade. He may be useful.”

- The convoy once again sets off after the noon break and continues on it’s way. Trenchant keeps an eye on the Cultists each time they stop during the afternoon for a short rest. On one such occasion Trenchant sees that Larion has moved off towards the forest to relieve himself; unlike all the other Cultists that only travel in groups now, Larion is by himself.

- Trenchant has no time to grab anyone else in the party and decides to take the opportunity and the Bard heads straight into the forest where he saw Larion go. Trenchant walks forward through the trees trying to see where Larion went but can’t see him. The Bard slowly walks forward, trying to be quiet, and then leans out to look for Larion but can’t see him.

- Just then a voice from behind startles the Bard, “You looking for me?”

- Trenchant turns and see Larion standing there with his arms crossed. Trenchant replies, “Yes, I didn’t hear you at all. How did you get behind me?”

- Larion smiles, “It’s what I do. What do you want?”

- Trenchant regains his composure and begins, “Larion, I know you long for another life. You have found yourself in the company of evil men, the Cult, and find yourself trapped by circumstance to do things you would rather not.”

- Larion appears visibly shaken, “How do you know who I am? How do you know about the Cult?”

- Trenchant speaks calmly, “I know a great many things. I know you transport stolen treasure for the Cult. I know at heart you are not like the others, you are not an evil man but someone who has been forced to do evil things to survive. You have a choice Larion, it is not too late.”

- Larion sits down on the base of a broken tree stump, “Isn’t it? I have done many bad things. I have broken many laws. What choice do I have but to continue where life has placed me? I did not have the chances nor the riches in life you did human” and Larion points to the Elven Cloak around Trenchant’s broad shoulders.

- Trenchant smiles and replies, “I too knew hard ship. I grew up the bastard son of a lord, pushed to the side. When my father was killed by a corrupt and evil villain who then took charge and treated the village poorly, I had a choice. I chose to stay and fight. I rallied the people against him and drove him off. I helped my older step brother regain his rightful position as ruler of the village. I had a choice. I chose to do the right thing not the easy thing. This cloak was given to me, by an Elf maiden, who I fought along side to fight injustices across the land. I chose to join her cause because it was the right thing to do. During that time we grew closer and fell in love. She gave me the cloak when we parted for our love could never be. If I am lucky I will grow old and die in less than a hundred years. She, like all Elves, will live on for many, many hundreds of years. We all make choices and direct the path our life will take. You can too. It’s not too late Larion. Help us stop the Cult.”

- Larion pauses for a moment, Trenchant gives him the time to think, and then the Half-Elf speaks, “What you ask is dangerous. It will not be easy.”

- Trenchant, “Nothing in life that is of any worth ever is. Have you heard of the Harpers?”

- Larion replies, “I have heard the name mentioned once of twice by some of the leaders within the Cult but I do not know much about them.”

- Trenchant puts out his hand towards Larion, “We Harpers are always looking for those who wish to do the right thing. Keep yourself within the Cult and listen. If you find out where the cargo is headed or any plans let me know. There can be a better life for you after this Larion, you just need to make the choice and seize it. The Harpers are always looking for people of skill and talent, no matter their past.”

- Larion looks down at the offered hand, intently, his face showing his conflicted thoughts. Slowly he reaches out and shakes the hand, “I will help but I do not even know your name.”

- Trenchant introduces himself and the pair arrange for Larion to signal Trenchant if he needs to speak to him or needs assistance. Larion shows Trenchant two hand signals, one for “Talk” and one for “Help”.

- Trenchant walks back to the party and informs them what has happened. Naillae sees the hand signals and advises they are Thief’s Cant gestures, secret codes taught to Rogues.

- Oloma asks, “Did you ask him about my whistle? Did he steal it?”

- Trenchant sighs, “It wasn’t him Oloma.”

- The party are feeling confident and happy with the turn of events as the convoy once again sets off, except for Oloma who is still fuming over the theft of her whistle. When evening approaches the convoy once again stops. Brumohn tells the party that they are half a day away from Lightfingers and should be there just before noon tomorrow.

- During the evening, Oloma once again walks along the wagons in the hope she might learn where her whistle has gone. She comes across a wagon with fine engraving work on the sides. Two male Elves are setting up two tents near a campfire next to the wagon. Each of the Elves has a thick, plush fur wrapped around them to stop the cold.

- Oloma learns that the pair are brothers trading in exotic furs, called Noohar and Selvek. Noohar is very friendly and very talkative. Selvek is also friendly, smiling a lot but does not speak as he is a mute. Selvek communicates by tapping on the hand of his brother.

- Oloma uses her Telepathy to speak to Selvek and both the brothers are over the moon that Selvek can join in the conversation. Oloma spends some time with the two brothers enquiring about their life and what they know of the convoy. Neither brother knows anything about what happened to Oloma’s whistle but do remember hearing the loud voice of Oloma talking about the whistle the other night. When Oloma turns to leave, Selvek goes into the wagon and takes a thick fur pelt to give to Oloma as a gift.

- Meanwhile, Trenchant and Nac have gone over to the passenger wagon (wagon 22), to see if they can find out anything about Oloma’s whistle. Trenchant casts Detect Thoughts on the group there he starts off with the female, Imsa, who hides her face behind a low hood, and senses thoughts that are self-conscious, embarrassed and feelings of anxiety over herself. Trenchant probes deeper and senses her need to find a cure for something that affects her.

- Next Trenchant moves his attention to the male dressed in nice clothes, Arond, but can not sense any thoughts. Trenchant tries to probe deeper but can sense anything at all.

- Trenchant speaks to Nac, “Weird. I can’t sense his thoughts. Nothing at all. It’s like he’s not there.”

- Nac’s eyes open and he immediately says, “Take out your lute and play a song.”

- Trenchant does so and begins, “Friends! You all look tired and in need of some entertainment. Let me regale you.”

- The Bard starts to play and sing an impressive song, his fingers dancing over the lute and his voice soaring on the air like an angel (Performance check of 29!). The group assembled is obviously enjoying the song. Imsa is nodding her head and tapping her feet, occasionally her hood falls back to reveal green skin before she self consciously pulls the hood back down again. Radecere the Gnome is smiling and swaying to the music. Aldor tries to ignore the song, but occasionally finds his feet are sub-consciously tapping the rhythm and has to keep stopping them from doing so. Arond smiles and nods his head to the music.

- Nac pulls out his special gold coin and starts to twirl the coin back and forth along his knuckles in time with the music. Arond looks over at Nac and then at his coin. His eyes narrow in concentration and for a brief second his expression changes from casual and plain, to intent and focused. But the change is fleeting and his casual, plain expression returns. Arond stands up, as if enjoying the music, and makes his way over to Nac, making it look like he’s dancing, so as not to draw attention to himself.

- With an obvious smile on his face, Arond says in a low voice that only Nac could hear, “Put that away and come with me now.”

- Nac follows Arond away and behind one of the wagons to a place out of view of everyone else, watching Arond dance and smile at people as he passes, as if nothing was wrong or unusual and as such no one pays any attention to the pair leaving.

- As soon as Nac and Arond are out of sight Arond turns sharply on Nac, the smile on his face gone and in fact his whole persona seems different. No longer is a simple merchant standing before Nac, the stance and look on the eyes is one of pure determination, the look of a killer. The sound of Trenchant’s singing drifting over to the pair as Arond leans in closer, “Are you insane? You must have been told not to show that coin in public or to anyone!”

- Nac smiles and replies, “I wanted to grab your attention, seemed to work.”

- Arond speaks, “I was not told another Zhentarim agent would be here. What’s your rank and who’s your handler?”

- Nac answers, “Wolf. Bazstili is my handler.”

- Arond nods, “Yeah I know him. Ugly Dwarf with a scar down one side of his face? He’s not part of this operation. Looks like this is a chance meeting. I am called Arond, for now. I’m a Viper.”

- Nac asks, “Who’s your handler?”

- Arond snaps, “Mind you rank Wolf. I out rank you, as such, you don’t need to know my handler.”

- Nac begins, “Ok. Bazstili tasked me with following …”

- Arond snaps, “Don’t tell me fool! We Zhentarim operate in seperate cells. If any cell is captured and interrogated they can only divulge a small portion of information. I don’t want to know what you’re doing just the same as I won’t tell you what I’m doing.”

- Nac nods and Arond continues, “Your friend back there is obviously a trained Bard, of the College of Valour, unless I’m mistaken. So what’s up with the Bard’s little performance?”

- Nac replies, “Oh that. We’re just trying to work out who took our friends wolf whistle.”

- Arond sighs and puts his hand into a pocket, pulling out the whistle, “This piece of shit. I stole it as supposedly it was a unique, one of kind, expensive item! It’s a cheap peace of junk. Here take it!”

- Nac takes it and Arond starts to leave, “And remember Wolf,” and then Arond turns around in a circle and as he does so he expression and demeanour changes. The tone and accent in his voice changes too, “Tell no one about me.”

- Arond smiles, his face now a broad welcoming expression, completely different to the intense look of a killer he had before. He once again starts to dance and weaves himself back into the group of people around the camp fire, oblivious to his coming or going.

- Trenchant has stopped his song now and the group erupts into applause, including Arond who bows before Trenchant, waving his arms in a comical manner, and speaks in an accent of someone who is high born, “Oh marvellous. Simply marvellous. Bravo. Bravo!!”

- Nac, who has come back, sees Arond and can’t believe that that is the same person who only a moment ago had the speech and mannerism of a cold assassin. Trenchant moves over to Imsa and speaks to her about what her condition is. At first she is very shy and hesitant to show Trenchant but eventually she pulls her gloves off and hood back to show that even though she is obviously human, her skin is a vivid luminance green colour. She explains to Trenchant how she was cursed by a Hag and has been trying to find a cure for it, as all the Clerics she has tried have failed to cure it.

- Trenchant excuses himself from Imsa and moves over to Nac, “Any luck finding who took the whistle?”

- Nac holds up the whistle which glints in the yellow light of the camp fire. They pair walk back to the rest of the party and they give Oloma the whistle. Oloma inspects the item for damage and asks, “Who took it? How did you find it?”

- Trenchant asks, “Yes, who did take the whistle Nac? You’ve been very cagey with information of how you came by it.”

- Nac simply replies, “That’s my business, you don’t need to know. But it wasn’t that Dwarf Lai you shouted accusations at Oloma.”

- Oloma, looking embarrassed walks away and heads over to the wagon where Lai has set up camp. When the Dwarf merchant sees Oloma he raises up a hand, “Hang on! I don’t have your blasted whistle!”

- Oloma steps up to him and says, “I know. I found it. I’m sorry for accusing you. Let me buy a bottle of one of your perfumes to apologise.”

- Lai smiles and opens up a side door of his wagon. He pulls out a drawer with many small marked glass bottles. He selects a few for Oloma to try and she eventually selects one to purchase. When she leaves Lai smiles to her in a friendly manner, their quarrel now behind them.

- As late evening approaches the members of the convoy begin to retire to their tents or wagons to sleep. The assigned watches for this first stage of the journey are done. First Leda and Trenchant patrol the convey for two hours, carrying a lantern each. They hand over watch to Orvustia and Oloma to take over the next two hours, Orvustia carrying a lantern. Seanicus and Labarett arrive to take their watch, and the two girls are grateful to be heading for their respective tents to stay out of the cold.

- Seanicus and Labarett walk around the convoy, their boots leaving marks in the thin layer of snow that covers the ground. Seanicus’s head turns around, his metal Goggles Of The Night enhancing his already excellent night version and Labarett keeping his hands free and using his Dark Vision with the limited amount of light coming from the twin moons to see.

- Labarett is talking softly to Seanicus, “I wonder how Sir Krondor is going? Do you think he’ll be able to convince the King?”

- But Seanicus is not listening to Labarett. The Warlock is looking up into the trees near him, something in the branches seems to be moving. Before he can warn Labarett, seven giant spiders leap down towards the pair from the tree tops and at the same time come bursting out from between the tree trunks four Ettercaps, the strange intelligent bipedal spiders that the party has faced before.

- Labarett is not ready for the attack (Surprised - Failed Perception check) where as Seanicus crouches low and pulls out his Hex war hammer, Nedumlin. Four of the giant spiders leap down at Labarett and start to swipe at the Elf Barbarian with claws and poison fang but luckily the Barbarian shrugs off the effects of the poison (Successful Constitution save). At the same time three of the giant spiders jump and surround Seanicus, one of them plunging its fang into the leg of Seanicus. Poison seeps into his blood and the Warlock can feel his joints seizing up with a burning pain (Failed Constitution save).

- Seanicus, badly injured and feeling the poison in his blood, reaches his hand out to touch Labarett and imbues both of them with a Fly spell. The Warlock then launches himself up into the air at full speed, the giant spiders try to swipe at him but he’s too fast, and he flies up into the air to hover over one of the wagons. From his vantage point above, Seanicus can see that the four Ettercaps have all moved towards the line of the tents along the convoy. Each Ettercap has entered a different tent and can be seen pulling a body out. Seanicus can see that the four victims are Gim, Imsa, one of the Cultists, and Selvek. Imsa is screaming loudly as the strange creature drags her figure through the snow. The Cultists looks like he is unconscious, blood coming from a head wound. Selvek is conscious but he can’t call for help as the Elf is mute. Gim, only wearing an undershirt, is being slowly dragged as the Dwarf fighter is using his Strength to grab onto the ground to stop being dragged. The Dwarf is yelling swear words at the creature in Dwarvish.

- Oloma, the scream from Imsa having woken her up, launches out of bed and exits her tent. She sees Imsa being dragged away by the Ettercap and the Mystic races forward. Soul Blades of bright light appear from her hands. With Soul Blades and psionics, Oloma blasts repeatedly at the Ettercap, which drops Imsa and starts to emit a high pitch wail. Imsa, sobbing with fear, begins to crawl out of the combat and towards the wagons.

- Labarett, having weathered the initial attacks from the giant spiders is now angry (Rage Ability). The Barbarian lets out a loud battle cry, filled with rage, and grabs the enchanted battle axe Snaidh from his back. Labarett begins to swing the axe in a wide arc, green flames wiping off the weapon as he does so. The axe swing into the closest spider, the green flames exploding onto it and leaping onto the other two spiders next to it. Without pausing Labarett continues the swing, spins and plunges the axe into the same spider again killing it.

- Trenchant can hear the sounds of battle, the screams of Imsa and the battle cry of Labarett. The sounds of the spiders and Ettercaps are coming from all over. The Bard pulls out the small Hero’s Heart from it’s protective box and places the small petrified heart into his mouth and closes his eyes to concentrate. The Bard thinks of an image, a memory, of his helping the people, and the spirit of the Hero’s Heart surges within him. The Spirit speaks, “You are worthy. Go Hero, save these people” (Successful Wisdom save to appease the spirit). Trenchant can feel the strength flowing through him. He places the petrified heart back into its box and then grabs his Glass Staff of Defence and rapier, jumping out of the tent to join the battle.

- Two of the giant spiders leap towards Oloma and towards the shrieking Ettercap. The first spider claws at Oloma and nearly strikes her except she winks out of sight and teleports 10’ away to a new location. The other spider, now out of range turn towards other targets, and fires sticky webs.

- Seanicus quickly looks around the battle. He can see that Gim has no weapon and is desperately clawing at the ground and kicking at the Ettercap to stop being dragged away. Oloma is standing her ground against one Ettercap and two of the giant spiders, her Soul Blades flashing red arcs in the night air, giving time for Imsa to crawl to safety. Labarett, his face contorted in a rage, is lashing out at three spiders whilst the spiders in return are finding most of their attacks are doing little to the Barbarian. Seanicus, still hovering in the air above the wagons, makes his decision and dives down towards Gim’s tent. The Warlock flies through the open tent flap and picks up one of the great axes laying on the ground and in one fluid arc, curves his flight to shoot straight out the tent flap again to fly towards and above Gim. As he does so, the Warlock lets lose the great axe and yells, “Gim catch!”

- Gim looks up and with an easy grace grabs the falling great axe. Before the Ettercap can react Gim swings the blade into the underbelly of the Ettercap and then the Dwarf Fighter raises to one knee, bringing his weapon towards the Ettercap again.

- Just then Naillae and Nac burst forth from their tents. Naillae is still in her leather armour but Nac is only in his undershirt holding a shield and his enchanted Talon longsword that glows yellow in the night air. Naillae sees Gim just ahead of her, still down on one knee, as he swings his axe at the Ettercap. Without hesitation she throws two daggers at the Ettercap, one plunging deep into the chest of the beast.

- Nac too sees Gim just ahead and runs forward towards the Ettercap and bashes his shield into the creature, forcing it to let go of Gim and fall down into the snowy ground. The Death Cleric follows up with a over head swing with his Talon longsword, calling forth the power of his goddess into the weapon, as purple divine energy glows around the blade. Just as the sword comes down the Ettercap rolls to the side and the glowing blade misses (missed with advantage on the roll - wasting one Divine Channel). But before the Ettercap can get up Gim swings his great axe into the beast twice using all his strength and cuts the beast in two (total damage 44 points!).

- From the many wagons and tents, faces can be seen looking out, the sounds of battle having woken everyone. Some of the Cultists are holding crossbows and swords but they do not leave their tents or engage, instead leaving the fight to the party. The Cultists also don’t seem very concerned about trying to save one of their own who has been dragged into the forest.

- From the far front of the convoy comes the sound of more battle and some moving points of light can be seen.

- The two other Ettercaps, one with the unconscious Cultist and one with the mute Selvek, have rushed into the forest dragging their prizes. Seanicus flies fast up into the air above the forest and calls forth a series of small coloured lights (Dancing Lights) to start swiping through the forest to help him find the two escaping Ettercaps. He eventually finds one Ettercap but it is the one dragging the Cultist. Not concerned about saving him, Seanicus moves across and sends his small coloured lights again sweeping through the forest to help him look for the other Ettercap.

- Labarett goes to swing his battle axe but suddenly finds himself covered in thick sticky webs from one of the giant spiders. Gim, Trenchant and Nac move forward to help the stuck Labarett but Labarett swings his battleaxe against the web and ignites it in green flames. The web rips apart and are engulfed in green flame, freeing the Barbarian. Gim, Trenchant and Nac now join Labarett and swing their weapons at the giant spiders. Trenchant gets a bad swing and bends his rapier, which will need minor repairs (Fumble attack roll). The spiders are desperate too to defend themselves against this group of seasoned fighters and one of the spiders injures itself (Fumble attack roll).

- Naillae moves over to Imsa to help her get to cover and then she looks up over to the other end of the convoy. At the front of the convoy it appears that Leda, Brumohn, Eldkin, Orvustia, Sulesdeg and Tyjit are fighting are similar sized force of Ettercaps and giant spiders that are trying to drag away bodies from the front. She can see Flarmia, the cook, leaning out of a wagon firing a crossbow at some of the spiders. Naillae shouts out, “The front of the convoy is under attack too!”

- Oloma looks towards the front of the convey, well lit now by multiple lanterns and torches, and says “I’ll take care of that.” With a rush of air Oloma is suddenly gone, teleported the 120 feet towards the front of the convoy. The mystic tries to move towards a Ettercap that is dragging a crying female Elf but is stopped as two giant spiders leap towards her to get in the way. Oloma can see that the Ettercap is about to get away so calls forth a blast of psionic energy towards the mind of the Ettercap. The creature starts to shriek and drops the female Elf.

- Oloma is swinging her Soul Blades at the two giant spiders, frantic to just get past them in a hurry to get to the captured Elf female and in doing so accidentally winds herself (Fumble attack roll - reduced attack rolls). The other Ettercaps are now being forced back from the front of the wagons, as the combined effort of Leda and her guards are proving too much of a match. The Ettercaps reconsider the risk of getting these meals and start to shriek. They then begin to retreat, the giant spiders leaping to join them. At the rear end of the convoy the party have slain the last of the foes there. Oloma rushes over to the Elf female and helps her back from the forest to the wagons.

- Seanicus is still flying above the forest and thinks he has found the location of the Ettercap dragging away the mute Selvek, as he sees some movement below him (Successful Perception check). The Warlock sends his Shadow Hound to that spot and his loyal hound finds the Ettercap and joins his shadow. Now the Warlock can sense exactly where the Ettercap is and starts sending forth Eldritch Blasts at the Ettercap. As he does so, Seanicus yells below, “Labarett fly up here and follow my lights. You have to save Selvek!”

- Labarett, still under the power of the Fly spell from earlier launches himself high up into the air. The cold air rushes past the Elf and he can see the small dancing lights within the forest and the glowing beams of energy firing from Seanicus towards that spot in the forest. Without hesitation or fear, Labarett dives down, his battle axe held in front of him like an arrow, as the rushing wind pulls his hair and cloak back. With the enhanced speed of the Elk Totem flowing through him, the Barbarian does an aerial dive bomb at the Ettercap (Feat Charge - Dash and attack plus extra damage). Labarett dives into the forest with a loud battle cry, tree trunks and branches wiping past him, and plunges the battle axe into the chest of the beast. The head of the battle axe slices cleanly through the chest of the beast, killing it outright, in a single blow as Labarett continues to fly straight through the two severed halves of the Ettercap (Critical Hit - double damage - with additional damage from the Charge).

- The battle is over. All the captured passengers, except one Cultist have been saved, and the foes are either dead or driven off.

<And as the party stand victorious in the Cadwood Forest, that is the end of the session.>

XP Allocation

Group - Combined (This is equally divided by the number of players who were involved)

Quests (Only quests that are completed or rendered undoable, during this session, are shown here)

- Join The Northern Trade Wagon = 250 XP

- Identify Cult Wagon (Wagon 18) = 400

- Identify Cult Wagon (Wagon 19) = 400

- Identify Cult Wagon (Wagon 20) = 400

- Identify Cult Wagon (Wagon 21) = 400

- Save Passengers (Wagon 17 and Wagon 22 and Wagon 6) = 900

- Save Passenger (Wagon 18) = FAIL

Creatures Overcome

- Ettercaps = 1350 XP

- Giant Spiders = 1400 XP

- Ettercaps (Assist Forward Guards) = 675 XP

- Giant Spiders (Assist Forward Guards)  = 700 XP

Individual (This is only given to that person and is not divided amongst all players)

Special Bonus (Outstanding Role Playing)

Nil

XP Levels and Player Allocations

Player : Start +  Received = Total  (Notes)

Phil : 27825 + 726 = 28551

Rob : 34623 + 1210 = 35833

Arthur : 24152 + 726 = 24878

Travis : 21891 + 1210 = 23101 (Level up to Level 7)

Paul : 19444 + 726 = 20170

Sean : 19281 + 1210 = 20491

NPC (Naillae) : + (484)