# Session 2 - 14OCT2023 ### Attendees - Tim ✅ - Walter ✅ - Erica ✅ - Jin ✅ - Nick ✅ - Alex ❌ Copy/Paste Source: ✅ ❌ ### Recap to Current Situation - Group finished quest and got on retainer with the Council of Few - Figuring out what to do from here - Group leveled up to Level 2 ### Session Notes - The group has decided to go to Rizz's Provisions to follow up on Cloc following them on the previous quest - Once at Rizz''s Provisions, the group asks Rizz about why Cloc was following us - Rizz claims that Cloc was being a bit over-exuberant in his pursuit of the group - Rizz actually has a proposition for work for the group - There is a shipment she is expecting that is a couple weeks late - It was coming from the west, the village of Wudu - It was a shipment of arms - Should have taken 7 days to get here, it is now 15 days later - It was packed in several large wooden crates marked with Rizz's Provisions - The group decides to take on the quest and sets out in the Western direction - The group also decides to check in with the inn to see if there is anything Rory wants in the western direction - Rory wants cool artifacts to use as display pieces in the inn - He is aware of several burial mounds that may contain artifacts - The group lets him know that if they find anything, they will bring it back - The weather is a slight drizzle - We encounter several other caravans of goods traveling the trade route - Nick asks travelers about Eknon the Vex - He learns that there are rumors of hobgoblins causing problems in the far western region of Acium - We notice that some plant growth along the road was smashed down and is starting to grow back - The track is heading south toward the river - We follow the tracks, Nick is taking point - We reach the river and find a sandbar that is fordable by a wagon - After crossing the river, we hear some clamoring and yelling - We see four humans in leather armor that appear quite desperate and they attack! - ROLL FOR INITIATIVE! - Erica kneecaps the first bandit - Nick tries to trick them into giving up using a disguise, but it doesn't work because it was a ridiculous and bad plan - Walter one-hit KOs a bandit - Jin kills a bandit and his body begins floating away in the river - Nick knocks out the last bandit - Two dead, two alive (one unconscious, one kneecapped) - END COMBAT - The group questions the kneecapped guy for information about the missing shipment - Jin persuades the guy to be helpful - The bandit claims that our party is with "the others" - The Others here sound like a group of mercenaries that had attacked their bandit group and killed almost everybody - We find out that this bandit group did steal from Rizz's Provisions - A group of mercenaries showed up and slaughtered the bandits to take back the shipment - These bandits managed to escape - He will help show us back to his camp, but won't take us farther - The bandit camp is tucked between some hills, and there is the scent of a recent campfire in the air - 15 dead bandit bodies are in the remains of the camp - We find some partially emptied boxes marked with Rizz's Provisions - Our arcana investigation revealed that one of the mercenaries cast the spell Fireball - The investigation of the battle scene revealed that the attackers were highly skilled and dispatched the bandits extremely efficiently - We manage to find 10 gp each and load up four crates on a cart - Nick decides to talk to a nearby bush and see if he can find out if there are any horses nearby - The holly shrub he is talking to shakes a little bit, leans to the northeast, shakes, and then releases a sulfuric smell - We decide to take the crates back to Rizz - However, we decide to omit the details about the other mercenary party - Rizz is happy to see us and gives us 20 GP each - We also get a 10% discount on future purchases at Rizz's - We return back to the inn - The next day, we see, at the inn, a new mercenary party - A guy in a green cloak and bow - A dude in a robe (wizard?) - A woman in full plate armor (Triginta) - A possible artificer - All humans - these guys match the description from the bandit that attacked the bandit camp - Rory, the innkeeper, is intimidated by them and wants us to stick around a little bit to help keep him safe - We split the party: - Nick and Erica report to the council of the few, telling them about the potential link between the ruins and the party at the inn - The master sends out a message and thanks them - A reply is received at the Council of the Few - The master is being told to close up shop by leadership of the council of the few and that he needs to leave town immediately - The master is low-key freaking out, this is highly unusual and he doesn't know what to make of it - Nick pens another message asking for more information - A message is received in return that only has 6 words - The order of the red omen - This doesn't really give any additional information, and Gosnald (the master) doesn't really know anything else either, he pulls a scroll that he says might have more information and gives it to Nick/Erica - They then leave to return to the inn - Walter and Jin are acting as bodyguards for Rory (Walter is getting drunk) - The wizard from the other party approaches Walter - Walter and the wizard begin drinking together - Walter gives fake name of Albert - The other mercenary party leaves on good terms with Walter - Innkeeper is safe! - The group reunites back at the inn - Jin saw the other mercenary group heading North out of the town - Jin takes out the scroll received by Nick/Erica and starts to read it - The scroll is a story about those who chase after power and the consequences of doing so - Scroll is probably several thousand years old - Story tell about those that seek power, comes with a price that is too high to be paid - There were six individuals that called themselves the order of the red omen that sought such power - They all met untimely ends - We decide to go to Rizz and tell her everything we know and see if she knows anything about what is going on - She doesn't know anything about them and has never heard of them - She promises a 30% discount if the information leads to her surviving a bad event - We decide to go seek an audience with the local ruler (Vicadium) - We explain things to the Vicacadium (Malhorta al Maz) - He is concerned about the council of the few packing up and leaving - He is going to try to get more information from Gosnald - Otherwise, he will just keep an elevated alert level - The group sets off to the North on some horses to follow the group to try to get information - There is heavy rain and it is unseasonably cold (we get disadvantage on perception checks) - We manage to find the trail that the other mercenary group has left - The trail seems to be appearing and disappearing randomly at intervals (~30 ft) - Nick uses detect magic - He notices that where the tracks disappear, it glows with yellow conjuration magic - We figure out that this is probably the work of misty step - We decide to continue pursuing the other party and make our way to the entrance of the ruins - We decide to stakeout the entrance and Nick+Jin build a hunter's hide - As we are staking out the entrance, the ground starts to shake - At the entrance, 50 animated skeletons rush out and are rushing south towards the city - Their arms are actually fused with weapons and they look quite mean