Four Fates Under the Southern Sun 3.5, Session 2

Start: Midnight, Moonsday (Monday) Midsummer 7, 401 GA

Praxis, Emilia, and Ukurdiel were awoken by howls and an encroaching red mist during the night. Taking swift action, they scaled a nearby hill in the ravine they were camping in to prepare for any impending threats. They spotted their quarry before their quarry spotted them. It appeared to be a Hobgoblin sorcerer wearing fine silks, accompanied by a small entourage of Aurings - the same goat creatures from the previous night.

Wasting no time, they engaged combat from a range, with the strategic advantage of the top of the hill. The Hobgoblin sorcerer quickly went invisible and engaged with the party. Praxis focused on his training and listened carefully, squarely hitting the sorcerer while he was invisible. The Hobgoblin disabled Ukurdiel with his magic, and was tripped and downed by Emilia's wolf, Winter.

The party slew the Aurings and took the Hobgoblin prisoner. In his belongings, he had a scrap of paper that the party was unable to fully decode, along with a magical periscope and several suspicious scrolls that almost certainly could not be for his personal use.

The Hobgoblin had a tattoo of an open mouth with three-pronged teeth. He gestured at it and said "Demon... goddess... come" in broken Viszud, despite his fear.

The Hobgoblin was questioned to little avail; he did not speak much of the Viszud tongue, or any other tongue the party attempted. Binding him very well in a collaborative effort, they moved on to the northwest, to the western Rivenport docks.

Arriving at the western Rivenport docks, Ukurdiel spoke with Dothri Balni, a dwarven interpreter. They spoke in Othok-dere. Dothri expressed moderate surprise, but not shock at their captive, and quickly took him off their hands.

During the conversation, the party found out day passes to Rivenport's trade district cost 250 gold.

Dothri identified the scrolls in their possession, looted off of the sorcerer, and found them quite suspicious. He urged the party to destroy some of them that were undeniably evil, but did not intercede, leaving them to make their own choice. He remarked how it is unlikely the sorcerer could use them himself, and likely was transporting them to someone else.

The scrap of paper was written in Valnok, the ancient language of law and magic, and said this: "Spill the blood of the uncorrupt and the passage shall open. Intercept the archons, and spill their blood"

Dothri was able to translate, but found the passage confusing. He did not know what the archons were, even when Ukurdiel introduced himself and his company as the 'Archons of Humanity'. The dwarf seemed to think it was something lost in translation, and was moderately confusing to him. Upon further questioning, he did not know of any prophecy either, and directed the party to seek a scholar, sage, priest, or mystic in Rivenport.

The party partook in beet and parsnip soup in the dwarven camp, and Ukurdiel snooped around a bit. He spotted valuables in Dothri's tent, which he decided not to attempt to steal. In the northern tent, where 'undesirables' were kept, he spotted three bound and unconscious Silverglade Elves, presumably to be brought to Rivenport for processing. The hobgoblin was kept among them.

He took note of this, and spoke with the guards. During this conversation, he gleaned the cannons were produced by the Rivenport smith's guild.

Emilia anecdotally remarked later about how Silverglade elves are known for being warlike. They launch ambushes, and are very vengeful to dwarves for past misdeeds. Despite this, these dwarves appear to know she was a different kind of elf, and don't appear fault you enough to take any kind of action. How orderly.

Near sunrise, Ukurdiel roused Praxis and quickly launched a harebrained scheme to steal the rowboat rather than pay the extortionate fee for a day pass to the trade district. Once the guards were attending the prisoners and the ferryman was asleep, they launched their plan, sneaking under the docks and making off with the rowboat.

The three of them rowed across the Glimmerlake to the central Rivenport dock, which is more like an artificial island-fortress than any conventional dock.

They were greeted with confusion in the dock, and had a conversation in Othok-dere with a guardsman. They managed to convince him they were foreign emissaries from the south, who must urgently speak with a priest about a prophecy. The guardsman was baffled, but seemed thoroughly convinced. He rushed off to collect an appropriate individual, and instructed them to wait for his return.

XP: 1050

End: Godsday (Tuesday) Midsummer 8, 401 GA