Coulerain Campaign - Session 5 Recap

The Party exit the treasury of the Chernit Dwarves to find devastation in their halls. The columns once bearing great carvings of kings of old have been defaced by the bronze claws of a dragon.

At the gates on a chunk of black marble sits a man, awaiting their return. He introduces himself, once he was Crimson Righthand, one of the lieutenants of the Red Hand Company, but those days are long gone. He goes by his birth name no, Doram Greyjay.

He catches the Party up to speed on what their actions have caused. The Battle of Bronze and Blood where his brother, the late Gold Lefthand, as the Party knew him, failed to take Lilith Lumerin down at the last moment due to damage in his left arm.

Of the five thousand clockwork soldiers Lilith was left with barely a thousand... At the cost of fifty thousand of the Red Hand Company's men.

He then tells of the Qa'sax campaign and how Lilith Lumerin tore down what was left of Aros after the Dark King's assault and then chewed up the territory, finishing off with the razing of the island city of Qa'sax from which the territory gets its name.

Lumerin also defeated the Dark King in his island-fortress of Udun and then turned south towards Aros. Greyjay tells of Dorian Bridgewater's bravery and prowess, how he was responsible for the city holding on for as long as it did. He was last seen taking down a Clockwork Sentinel, on his own in the ruins of Aros's walls.

Amariya Lorr, Wella Qa'sax and Little Bird of the Cardinals form a Triumvirate that unites the Lorians against this new threat but it all is too late, Lumerin's army numbers in the hundreds of thousands now.

Refugees from Aros and Rels walk their Lorian Path towards Kovacs,  the last stronghold city south of the capital itself. They are assailed along the way and Dun'Istar Tirithar, The Warden of the West, is forced to use his powers which tear open the land of the Chernit Peninsula, revealing ravines that swallow large portions of clockwork soldiers and refugees alike.

Amariya Lorr reaches the city of Kovacs with her train of refugees and there with technology that Old Baron Kujo developed in his heyday manage to fend off the threat of Lumerin's Clockwork dragon who cannot fly near enough and not get damaged.

The city is put under siege which persists until now, the month of July, the day the Party disappeared into the treasuries a year prior.

Naergon Naylor, the leader of the Red Hand, sends Greyjay and a detachment of his men east to wait for the return of the Amarthernilir. Greyjay is furious at that, he wished he and his men could have the honorable death defending what they believed in like Dorian Bridgewater, but instead they're deep behind enemy lines and waiting for the people responsible for this mess. His men have renamed themselves to the Black Company because of this.

Greyjay blames them for the three million souls of men, women and children who are no longer among the living. He tells them that after all of this is done, if it is done and if he draws breath, they will have scores to settle.

Greyjay sends them to the camp medic where the Party meet Corporal Linen Healbright who patches them up. He tells them he met Doram Greyjay in Qa'sax and that his brother died in his arms when he failed to heal the wounds Lilith Lumerin had dealt after the Battle of Bronze and Blood was over.

Healbright tells the Party more of his story as he patches them up, he came west to escape the Rauthyr Sect Wars that were tearing apart the Kharbian Empire. He mentions he was born near the border of Gaerbardor as the Lorians know it, Roimer to the locals.

The Party rest after a long day. Dreams come to them, even those who do not normally sleep.

In the morning Dio wakes up early to prepare breakfast for himself and Cammie who is sleepin outside the camp under the stars. Cammie refuses his gesture.

Morrigan wakes up and head to the mess tent where she is refused a second ration. She goes back to the tent to find Kai has woken up as well and gone off somewhere. She follows.

Jorian wakes up and heads straight to Doram Greyjay. He and his men are doing the chores necessary to keep a small squad of soldiers like themselves in shape.

Jorian is tasked with bringing back his companions by the lieutenant. When he does he tells them of their plans.

The Party must venture to the Purple Coast, north-east of here, where they will find Olorin Bronzebeard, a dwarf that Dun'Istar told them to find. Greyjay's clerics all have failed to bring back the bones of Andurin in order to ask them if there is a weakness to Lilith's existence.

The bones haven't been moved, Andurin suspects Lilith will know and so the Party must be careful, for the forest are full enough of clockworks as it stands.

Jorian whispers something to Greyjay, a promise. Greyjay nods in understanding.

Cammie tries to defuse his hatred of them by saying no scores must be settled, but Greyjay is set in his belief that the Party are responsible for this.

The Party are given horse and head to the Purple Coast. The first day goes by, the Party find a small stream where Cammie and Morrigan take turns in covering each other as they bathe. Jorian sneaks a peek at Cammie but when Jotaro and Dio catch on Satsumi herds them away by growling.

The Party speak about their dreams. Cammie says she saw a pillar of light, shadow and dark and that she stepped into the light, where she was offered back the ring she had lost and the words "destiny awaits".

Dio had a similar dream, except he saw them as gates. He also stepped into the light.

Jorian takes no part in this conversation and remains silent about his dream.

Kai says he was offered a deal, a pretty good one, by a dark, smoky figure that mentioned a time for ascension is overdue and a spot among the Arasi'Oronte stands empty.

Morrigan speaks loosely about her dream and reveals little details as the Raven Queen's ire is something she thinks only affects her.

Jotaro tells of dreaming about his grandfather. They were playing chess, Jotaro played the grey pieces and his grandfather played the whites ones. When the white bishop took the grey queen it broke and his grandfather asked him what they do when a piece breaks. "We replace them," he tells his grandson and asks him to do the honor.

The Party make camp but during the night are assailed by head-sized spider-like clockworks who dig into their flesh with sharp blades and shocks of electricity. After their encounter they go back to sleep as Cammie sets alarms around the camp.

The next day the Party travel without stopping for a night camp. Dio seems exhausted by this decision on the next morning.

In the dark Morrigan's horse loses its footing and falls, breaking its leg. Morrigan manages to jump out of the way and remain unhurt, she then approaches her mount and heals it while calming it down. The Party are more careful with their night riding afterwards.

On the next morning the Party come across a ravine. They see a bridge below on the highest of the step-like platforms the the ravine has torn open.

The horses are left behind and the Party climb down and cross the bridge without much of a problem thanks to Jotaro's quick usage of his Blink Dagger which secures them the ropes they use.

As the Party head forwards again they hear the leaves rustling but choose to hide instead of preemptively attack what is heading their way. It turns out to be a little half-elven girl followed by a group of Lorians. They're running from something, they ask the Party if they can help and before they can explain what is coming the Clockwork Sentinel tears down a couple of trees and steps out of the foliage.

The Party's battle with the sentinel is long and arduous, the sentinel sends out a blast of electricity. Morrigan swoops down to take Kai upwards with her conjured wings but fails to lift him which allows the sentinel to attack. It grabs hold of the warlock and slams her down into the ground before Kai, rendering her unconscious.

The sentinel is resistant to the arrows which Cammie and Jorian loose but Jorian notices how it is hiding the two large tesla coils on its back and tells the Party to aim for them.

Kai gives Morrigan a healing potion as Dio climbs up on the sentinel and attacks its weak point. The Party tear down one of the coils but Dio gets overconfident, trying to back-flip off the sentinel and shoot him mid-air, only managing to slip and fall on top of Morrigan who hasn't had the chance to stand up yet.

The sentinel then attacks Dio and breaks some ribs as he digs his metal fingers into his flesh.

Kai tries to lift Dio off with his conjured tentacles but fails.

Jorian runs behind the sentinel and searches for a weak spot between the plates but only manages to get his rapier stuck.

Jotaro fires off a fireball that catches the back of the sentinel and melts it into non-function. Jorian is caught in the same flames though and fall unconscious, his back burned to his clothes.

Morrigan rushes over and heals him, using her dagger to separate his flesh from his burned up clothing. He thanks her, she tells him to not expect it to happen again.

The Lorian refugees ask if the Party can take them but Jorian tells them to head back to the camp where the Party started from and tell Doram that Jorian sent them. They thank the Party and leave but not before Cammie lets the little half-elven girl named Lora pet Satsumi.

Jorian gives the deck of cards he found in the treasury to Kai and he inspects it. It is a deck of illusions, as Kai explains how it works to Jorian he is swept away by Morrigan.

Jorian throws a card on the ground, a Queen of Spades. A Medusa appears above the card and acts as a Medusa would, snarling and snapping at the Party but she can do no harm, she is but an illusion.

The Party head towards the coast and after a time Kai and Morrigan rejoin them.

The Party can hear seagulls and taste salt in the air, they're close to the Purple Coast. Just as they leave the forest a small fist-sized spider jumps at them but Morrigan's quick blind makes it miss and explode without hitting anyone.

In a frantic rush the Party try to save the bones of Andurin and dodge the exploding robots which fall down from the trees and leap at them. Jorian runs forwards, taking priority of the bone's safety while Cammie and Satsumi bravely throw themselves at the drones.

In the end they manage to keep the remains of Andurin whole while not taking too much damage themselves. It was a good decision by the Party to not accept the Lorian refugees, they couldn't have possibly saved every single one of them from these clockworks.

The Party reach the warm sand of the coast and Morrigan removes her boots in order to feel the smooth grains of sand beneath her feet. The sky is clear and the sun shines down on them, for a moment there is peace but what the Party have done still weighs upon most of their shoulders.

They locate the cave which Olorin Bronzebeard is said to inhabit and do find sign of habitation in it but are met with a giant crocodile who rears its jaws from the small pond in the center of the cave and slowly makes its way towards the Party.

The Party realize it is only territorial and do not attack it, when they mention the name of Olorin Bronzebeard the crocodile turns its head, recognizing the name, and the dwarf appears brandishing a firearm.

He asks what brings them here but does not recognize the name of Doram Greyjay. Bronzebeard helps them call back the soul of Andurin which forms a dwarven face above the water of the pond in a brilliant display of magical light and form.

While the ritual is taking place Jotaro asks where the dwarf got his firearm and Bronzebeard recognizes him as the grandson of Old Baron Kujo. He takes a look at Jotaro's pistol and says he might be able to make it fire if he had access to the scrolls of his grandfather.

Andurin awakes in the floating face and warns the Party that Lilith knows where they are and has sent a detachment. The Party must leave at once.

The Party ask if Lilith has some weakness and Andurin tells them that the Ring of Lorian does not belong to her, not while they are living, and that might allow them to take it back if they were to defeat her.

He also tells them the nature of his being, those whom Lilith kills or captures she seals away into her clockwork soldiers to serve as slaves and power-sources in her army. He pleads with the Party to end their suffering if they defeat her.

When Bronzebeard realizes the scope of what has happened he punches the rocky ground so hard it shatters beneath his fist. He buries the bones of Andurin with a spell that fuses them with the stones of the cave and takes his farewell with his crocodile Steve, telling him that they might meet again if all goes well.

The forest the Party traversed shakes with movement. Something is coming after them and in the distance they see a winged creature rise into the sky.

Bronzebeard tells them he knows another way and leads them to it, as they walk he clenches a fist again and sheds a tear. "I guess we're all responsible for this..." he mournfully says.

The first task that Dun'Istar left for the Party is completed with no hindrance. There seems to be hope in this battle against the Clockwork Queen. Now they must head back to the camp and climb a mountain from which Doram Greyjay believes Dun'Istar can be brought back to aid them once again.