Coulerain Campaign - Session 1 Recap

The body of Amarthen Lorr grows cold as Dorian Bridgewater cradles him back and forth. The crackling of the nearby fire fills the silence of the air.

Kai picks up John Cardinal's sword and inspects it, finding a way to nullify its magic by removing the ruby in its pommel but choosing to keep it instead. As he tries to take the scabbard from John Cardinal's corpse, he is interrupted by a female voice coming from the entrance of the cave.

The Party find themselves flanked, not by petty bandits this time but a large band of well-armored and armed men and women, some even wielding staffs of magic. At their helm is a woman with short black hair, Little Bird they call her, the Cardinal's second-in-command, who is not about to let Kai steal her late captain's weapon.

Litte Bird seems to know Dorian and she addresses him first, after calming everyone down with a spell. They talk of Amarthen and the inevitability of his death tonight, of how John Cardinal spoke of prophecy and it has now begun to be fulfilled. Dorian refuses to believe her, although he tried to deny the destiny he was told would unravel and ended at the same conclusion.

Little Bird does what she can to preserve the body of Amarthen and heal the party, after which she orders her men to burn the remaining bodies and sends out a search party for the bandits who deserted after Cardinal fell.

When confronted about this search party she defends her decision by retelling the horrors that await outside of their little torchlit cave. She is not out to save the lives of deserters, but she also does not want to bolster enemy ranks.

Little Bird takes in Valiar Breakspear, the boy John Cardinal gave his sword to, naming him the future leader of their group, the Cardinals. Little Bird takes up regency of the Cardinals in his name.

Little Bird questions the Party about the events of the night and is saddened by the state John Cardinal had devolved to. She is meanwhile periodically staring up at the sky, waiting for something.

Jotaro dons the ring for the first time and feels its potential for power and corruption. Little Bird confronts him, speaking of how Cardinal has mentioned the ring in his prophecies and how Jotaro is not fit to wear it for long.

In a few moments a white scar runs across the night sky  from the west and is followed by a blinding light and deafening boom, the sound of the fabric of the universe itself tearing apart. This removes Dorain's doubts, the prophecy has some truth to it.

Jotaro dons the ring for a second time and stares up at the sky while this is happening. He is not blinded, rather he sees something, a white and gold space with stars connected to form symbols which he uses the ring's aid to read. "Amarthen", "Youngest Son", "Blood be spilled" are all phrases he can make out, as well as the events of their fight with Cardinal, right there, written in the stars.

After the cracks has faded and the light disappeared, the Party is faced with a choice. Join Dorian south to return Amarthen or join Little Bird and young Valiar to relieve a siege up north after which they can journey east, towards someone Little Bird mentioned their fate is bound with.

While Dorian fixes Amarthen atop his horse, a letter falls from his shirt and a gentle breeze sweeps it towards Kai, who opens it only to fail to decipher its meaning.

Dorian takes the letter and reveals it was meant for Wella, Amarthen's beloved and reason for this whole journey north.

The Party decides to join Little Bird so they can travel north and give Wella the last love letter Amarthen wrote.

Dorian assures them that Amarthen was a man of his word and their reward will be waiting for them in Aros when they return.

Little Bird shows the Party the small fleet the Cardinals own, as well as their crown jewel, a flying ship which she claims John Cardinal himself designed.

The Party leave their mounts on one of the sea-bound ships as the airship is too disturbing for most animals, but Morrigan and Cammie keep Onyx and Satsumi, climbing aboard the flying vessel with them.

Jotaro talks with a crew member who is overjoyed to share a glorious story about his late captain. The airship experiences some turbulence, but Little Bird assures them it is normal. Kai's stomach seems to disagree with the normality of the situation.

After a while sailing across the air above the waves, Morrigan notices the silhouette of an island to their west. Little Bird turns to look and seems to freeze. There are no islands this close to the shore in this sea, she tells the Party as she sounds the fleet alarm.

The silhouette draws near, a battle is inevitable. Little Bird asks the Party if they can protect young Valiar and take him below deck and with their assurance she turns the fleet to face this shadow-clad foe.

As the Party shuffle below deck, a lightning bolt strikes the main mast of the flying vessel and lights up the face of their enemy, a giant tentacled monster so massive it causes whirlpools as it moves across the surface of the sea.

The Party take refuge in the captain's quarters where they see a small portrait of Little Bird on John Cardinal's desk and a larger portrait of Cardinal himself above his bed.

Canons are fired and the screeching of the beast is heard as it draws ever closer.

A second lightning strike hits the mast and the ship dips downwards, losing altitude. The ships behind have no place to escape and even though the flying ship stabilizes, the nearest mast smashes into the back of the captain's quarters, sending shards of glass flying and tilting the flying ship downwards again.

The lighting strikes continue and Kai senses they are no coincidence. The flying ship can fly no more and plummets, sending the party down a narrow corridor.

Jotaro grabs a hold of Valiar and the boy clings tight, holding on for dear life.

Kai and Morrigan manage to seal a hole in the ship's front by freezing some debris. Little Bird has instructed them to keep the boy safe and they plan on doing so, as they move back into the captain's quarters and find the emergency exit she told them about.

Kai takes a moment to gather some notes that have sprawled across the floor of the now wrecked room as well as some golden items, among which is a small locket that opens up, but he has not the time to view its inside.

The Party board a lifeboat but Jotaro is unsure of his descent, as he is still carrying Valiar. The sorcerer dons the ring again and with its aid brings the child down safely.

The Party row away but they are followed by the eye of the monstrosity, which seems to focus on Jotaro. A lightning strike tilts the boat and throws the half-elf sorcerer overboard but he is pulled back up by Kai.

As they draw near to the coast, the Party witness Little Bird on top of the flagship's crow's nest. She wields a rapier which shimmers with the glow of the storm. Little Bird points to one of the monster's tentacles and a lightning bolt severs it. She then gathers all her might into a single concentrated strike into the creature's eye, which blinds it to the escape of Valiar and the Party.

The giant beast, enraged, swings and takes down the main mast on top of which Little Bird is standing. But the new captain of the Cardinals is no pushover. Little Bird jumps over the guard rails of the crow's nest and runs across the falling mast, towards the beast. Then she leaps. The Party hear the cheers of her crew and witness the beast sink into the sea moments later, as Little Bird appears victorious.

The Party reach the shore as the battle in the distance quiets down. They notice the reflections of some stars in the surface of the sea do not match those in the sky. A small group of Kuo-toa are after them, followed by an unknown aquatic humanoid, wielding a glowing staff.

The party try to make a run for it, but are unsuccessful, as Valiar slows them down. They then turn to fight these Kuo-toa and notice they feel no fear, no pain, nothing. They are cursed with undeath.

Kai stops them with a well-placed grease which Jotaro ignites, burning most of them.

But they are not safe yet, the aquatic humanoid approaches and with his staff makes the Kuo-toa who are still whole stand up and chase after the Party in their continued undeath.

Kai and Morrigan then manage to disarm the necromancer from his staff, causing the undead Kuo-toa to stop in their tracks. Morrigan runs to grab it, as Jotaro covers her with spells. Morrigan wrestles the staff out of the nercomancer's hands and swiftly finds its weakness and breaks it, causing the Kuo-toa to fall down, lifeless, and the necromancer to shatter into pieces.

Following a Mind Spike, Kai senses more of these creatures coming, as well as the giant squid which they thought slain. What controls these creatures is still unclear to him. The Party makes a run for it and escape, but in the distance they see the tentacles of the beast grab onto the sand and pull, dragging itself on land. The sea is not their enemy's only domain.

The Party rest on the savanna terrain of the Neutral Lorian Territories and head north.

Kai looks over the letter from Amarthen and manages to decipher it. It is short and sweet, holding no more words than "Wella, I love you, yours, Amarthen".

Morrigan is separated from her mount Onyx, which she last caressed on the deck of the flying ship. She can only hope Little Bird will take good care of her steed in her absence.

The next morning they reach the outpost which they were meant to aid Little Bird in relieving a siege from. It has been decimated, ruined by the tracks of the now known to them squid monster and the undead army that follows it.

The only bodies they find are those of some Cardinals. Morrigan notices a flag planted near the shore bearing the writing of Little Bird. Keep the child safe, she pleads, and follow your destiny east, find Dun'Istar. Little Bird has sailed away to fight this new enemy, and has entrusted the future of Valiar to the Party.

Jotaro takes care of Valiar, feeding him and calming him down whenever necessary.

The Party travel up north and cross into the Qa'sax territory. The festival is still going on, but it is late and they make camp on a cliff overlooking the city of Rels where the festival is held.

In the morning Morrigan meets some guards approaching their camp. One of them, Wel, takes a liking to the tiefling warlock and offers her and her party an escort to the city, mentioning how they're lucky, as the Lady of Qa'sax has extended the festival for one last day.

Jotaro's noble heritage has taught him that the Lady of Qa'sax is in fact Amarthen's Wella and he shares this with the Party.

Along the way, Wel annoys Morrigan with his attempts at flirting and an invitation to a date on a wooden swan-ship on the city's main river. When inside the city, Kai lies about being romantically involved with Morrigan and Wel is forced to back off.

The Party ask around for the Lady of Qa'sax and find a couple of guards willing to cooperate, for a price. One of the guard's cousins agrees to let the Party near the Lady before the scheduled parade on the main street begins. Kai makes him sign a contract and the guard does not break it.

When they find the carriage of Wella Qa'sax they are disarmed by her guards before they are allowed to approach. Jotaro knocks on her carriage's door and the Party witness an excited Wella climb down and look around. But she does not find what she is hoping for, as Amarthen is absent.

She asks the Party why they have requested her audience. Kai hands over the letter from Amarthen and eventually Wella is told of his demise. She had expected this, after the lightning and boom of a few days past when the sky itself cracked open, but she wished it were not true.

Wella goes back to her carriage and takes out a small dagger, which she throws at the feet of the party. She then takes a deep breath and tears up the letter, after which she calls her guards to arrest the Party.

As the Party are taken away, they see Wella consult another noble, the parade will go on, but with the Bayfrontian and Qa'sax flags raised at half-mast...

The guards seize the belongings of the Party, including John Cardinal's notes and the golden locket.