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Aphonion Tales: Adventures in the Spice Lands and the War in Hanal, a tween and teen D&D game (edited notes, posts Tuesdays, most recent 3/7/23)
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<blockquote data-quote="CPaladin" data-source="post: 8410202" data-attributes="member: 7030144"><p>Session 24 (April 25, 2021)</p><p></p><p>9 Ta-Ghast</p><p>In the morning, Noah suggests that they not get diverted from the main mission of destroying the bone dust, because that will weaken the cultists more than trying to ferret out a small group of cultists here. The rest of the group agrees, and they leave promptly in the morning while heading in towards the capital.</p><p></p><p>The day and night pass in peace.</p><p></p><p>10 Ta-Ghast</p><p>The villages are becoming more common and more densely located at this point. Most of them seem largely abandoned, however, and some of them have considerable signs of damage.</p><p></p><p>The path they are following begins to rhythmically shake. They’re fairly sure this is a large group of horses.</p><p></p><p>Men in green uniforms break cover as forward scouts.</p><p></p><p>Elyn shouts, “Hail the Queen-Empress!”</p><p></p><p>Whole regiments of troops start to walk by, all infantry, but with very large numbers of support wagons.</p><p></p><p>Noah tells them that he is coming to the citadel to strengthen Arundale’s connections to supporting the Queen-Empress. They look up Arundale in a record, and then tell him that he should continue on, and will surely receive a military position of honor.</p><p></p><p>As the army marches past, they identify it as three field armies, plus auxiliaries and support—so some 15,000 soldiers, and the rest.</p><p></p><p>They don’t quite make the next village, because of the delay in waiting for the army to pass, so they camp in the field.</p><p></p><p>11 Ta-Ghast</p><p>They reach a crossroads, where they turn onto a more major road, flagged with heavy stones. Along this road, the villages are all intact. After a short journey, they enter a fortified town that is preparing for something. They are boarding up shops; priests are spreading incense. At the edge of the town, a mendicant monk offers them talismans to protect against the Lesser Festival of Mists, dominated by “She Who Must Not Be Named,” lest they succumb to madness.</p><p></p><p>The group continues on, and the farms they pass—though some are ravaged—are being closed up frantically. The sky is clear, so the moons will rise visibly.</p><p></p><p>As nightfall approaches, the group camps. As traditional, Noah gets tied up while he works to control his transformation. Noah’s transformation happens, but he seems shinier and larger. As the violet light washes over the land, a group of giant mushrooms spring up, in a trail leading away from the group, with singing at the far end. Various other lycanthropes gather around their camp, singing and chanting to the violet moon—werebears, weresquirrels, a werechipmunk, and the like. (Ravokris receives the blessing of Whimsey, and gets 2 bonus points of Intelligence until the next full violet moon.)</p><p></p><p>12 Ta-Ghast</p><p>As they continue on, they see various farmers opening up their farms.</p><p></p><p>They begin to see earthwork fortifications here and there, with various odd structures protruding out of them.</p><p></p><p>Their travel is uneventful. There are now even more abandoned farmsteads, even some abandoned thorps. They also notice that there is less voller cover than they had seen further out.</p><p></p><p>13 Ta-Ghast</p><p>There are some fortifications with power-bows and ballistae aimed at the sky.</p><p></p><p>They see small units of mounted troops, one of which hails them. He again checks the same list of houses, confirming that Arundale is marked as loyal, and then checks a separate list of individual nobles from the loyal house who have been placed on a kill-on-sight list.</p><p></p><p>They pass several fortifications, again mostly aimed at the sky. They also pass one that has been entirely blasted out from the sky. A large group of troops are working to clear it, in heavy not quite armor. An officer tells them to stay clear of the blast site, because of lingering radiance.</p><p></p><p>14 Ta-Ghast</p><p>That evening, they can see the lights of the capital ahead.</p><p></p><p>15 Ta-Ghast</p><p>They head into the city, planning on reaching out to na-Vad Fellin Zitrian (known to friends as Fell), Noah’s friend who they met when last in the city. They approach the Vad Zitrian manor house, which has been heavily fortified since last they saw it. The guards are now dressed in field armor, not just colors.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, na-Strom.” The guards recognize him.</p><p></p><p>“I would much desire to speak with Fellin.”</p><p></p><p>“He is in the palace, now—he has been pressed into military service, though his mother hoped he might not. Please, come in. You will receive the hospitality of the house.”</p><p></p><p>“I hope to join him in service to the Queen-Empress.”</p><p></p><p>“You will have to wait for him or his mother to return from the palace, but I’m sure she would be glad to have you accompany him. You must all stay indoors at night. Three of the blood-driven hounds have escaped, surely because of the elven bombardment or possibly traitors.”</p><p></p><p>“What are the blood-driven hounds?”</p><p></p><p>“The blood-driven hounds—undead that drink blood—were traditionally released into the streets during the Blood Fete each year. A few of the ne’er-do-wells were killed, but no one of consequence, and it was considered part of the offering. They were then restored to their imprisonments. Now three of them are loose in the city and hunting its residents.”</p><p></p><p>Noah spends some time training with the guards. Meanwhile, a servant signals to Iados in thieves’ cant, asking if he is the courier.</p><p></p><p>He signals back uncertainty. She stops signaling, and stands waiting at the door.</p><p></p><p>Elyn notices that the plant life in the formal garden of the manor is dying. It’s not obvious, but it looks like something is sucking the life energy out of the plants day-by-day. It’s being maintained, but it looks like it is dying nonetheless.</p><p></p><p>Sister Agnes asks if they have the proscription list. They do, and provide it to her. She checks, and finds that her name is not on it. But she recognizes some names—there are entire houses that are proscribed, plus various individuals, though not anyone from Noah’s house. There are also some surprising absences from the list, especially in the House of Magdag.</p><p></p><p>After nightfall, the na-Vad and Vadess return. The na-Vad meets with them in private. He mentions that he offered to lead troops personally to hunt the blood-driven hounds and was refused; he is very concerned.</p><p></p><p>Noah tells him that they spoke with dead with some cultists, and they said that they and the Queen-Empress serve the same entity. The na-Vad screems, his eyes roll back and he collapses, apparently having a fit. Sister Agnes casts protection from evil on him, which seems to help. Noah keeps trying to reason with him. Ravokris can see magical energy expelled from him after the protection from evil. As Noah continues to talk with the na-Vad and mentions bone dust and ascension, the energy begins to coalesce, and Ravokris thinks it will materialize. He points and says that a demon is materializing.</p><p></p><p>Elyn also begins treating the na-Vad, and manages to stabilize him. Iados can see it materializing, and prepares to stab it with his rapier. As it materializes and the word “consume” is heard through the room, Iados stabs it, but misses with both attacks. Noah rages, and hits it with his axe twice. It has damage resistance, but Noah still hurts it. Elyn attacks with her sickle, hitting it twice for minor damage after the resistance. Ravokris blasts it with a fire bolt.</p><p></p><p>The demon reaches two tendrils out to hit Noah, and both hit, while the word “consume” rings out again. Noah loses 3 points of Con and 13 hit points.</p><p></p><p>Sister Agnes does not recognize the demon at all. It looks like a huge heap of ichorous dirty fluid suspended in a membrane -- but there is an odd sense that you watch different human features swim up and then vanish.</p><p></p><p>Noah switches to his silver axe and cleaves it apart.</p><p></p><p>A guard rushes in, having heard the scream. We send him to fetch the chaplain.</p><p></p><p>The na-Vad regains consciousness, and he can remember what he was told and thinks it’s true.</p><p></p><p>The chaplain warns us not to tell anyone but the Vadess about the demon. He thinks that the na-Vad can tell the Vadess, but says he should do so gently. From the na-Vad, she will hear it. He says she is also worried about things, as the chaos of the court has increased.</p><p>[End session 24]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CPaladin, post: 8410202, member: 7030144"] Session 24 (April 25, 2021) 9 Ta-Ghast In the morning, Noah suggests that they not get diverted from the main mission of destroying the bone dust, because that will weaken the cultists more than trying to ferret out a small group of cultists here. The rest of the group agrees, and they leave promptly in the morning while heading in towards the capital. The day and night pass in peace. 10 Ta-Ghast The villages are becoming more common and more densely located at this point. Most of them seem largely abandoned, however, and some of them have considerable signs of damage. The path they are following begins to rhythmically shake. They’re fairly sure this is a large group of horses. Men in green uniforms break cover as forward scouts. Elyn shouts, “Hail the Queen-Empress!” Whole regiments of troops start to walk by, all infantry, but with very large numbers of support wagons. Noah tells them that he is coming to the citadel to strengthen Arundale’s connections to supporting the Queen-Empress. They look up Arundale in a record, and then tell him that he should continue on, and will surely receive a military position of honor. As the army marches past, they identify it as three field armies, plus auxiliaries and support—so some 15,000 soldiers, and the rest. They don’t quite make the next village, because of the delay in waiting for the army to pass, so they camp in the field. 11 Ta-Ghast They reach a crossroads, where they turn onto a more major road, flagged with heavy stones. Along this road, the villages are all intact. After a short journey, they enter a fortified town that is preparing for something. They are boarding up shops; priests are spreading incense. At the edge of the town, a mendicant monk offers them talismans to protect against the Lesser Festival of Mists, dominated by “She Who Must Not Be Named,” lest they succumb to madness. The group continues on, and the farms they pass—though some are ravaged—are being closed up frantically. The sky is clear, so the moons will rise visibly. As nightfall approaches, the group camps. As traditional, Noah gets tied up while he works to control his transformation. Noah’s transformation happens, but he seems shinier and larger. As the violet light washes over the land, a group of giant mushrooms spring up, in a trail leading away from the group, with singing at the far end. Various other lycanthropes gather around their camp, singing and chanting to the violet moon—werebears, weresquirrels, a werechipmunk, and the like. (Ravokris receives the blessing of Whimsey, and gets 2 bonus points of Intelligence until the next full violet moon.) 12 Ta-Ghast As they continue on, they see various farmers opening up their farms. They begin to see earthwork fortifications here and there, with various odd structures protruding out of them. Their travel is uneventful. There are now even more abandoned farmsteads, even some abandoned thorps. They also notice that there is less voller cover than they had seen further out. 13 Ta-Ghast There are some fortifications with power-bows and ballistae aimed at the sky. They see small units of mounted troops, one of which hails them. He again checks the same list of houses, confirming that Arundale is marked as loyal, and then checks a separate list of individual nobles from the loyal house who have been placed on a kill-on-sight list. They pass several fortifications, again mostly aimed at the sky. They also pass one that has been entirely blasted out from the sky. A large group of troops are working to clear it, in heavy not quite armor. An officer tells them to stay clear of the blast site, because of lingering radiance. 14 Ta-Ghast That evening, they can see the lights of the capital ahead. 15 Ta-Ghast They head into the city, planning on reaching out to na-Vad Fellin Zitrian (known to friends as Fell), Noah’s friend who they met when last in the city. They approach the Vad Zitrian manor house, which has been heavily fortified since last they saw it. The guards are now dressed in field armor, not just colors. “Ah, na-Strom.” The guards recognize him. “I would much desire to speak with Fellin.” “He is in the palace, now—he has been pressed into military service, though his mother hoped he might not. Please, come in. You will receive the hospitality of the house.” “I hope to join him in service to the Queen-Empress.” “You will have to wait for him or his mother to return from the palace, but I’m sure she would be glad to have you accompany him. You must all stay indoors at night. Three of the blood-driven hounds have escaped, surely because of the elven bombardment or possibly traitors.” “What are the blood-driven hounds?” “The blood-driven hounds—undead that drink blood—were traditionally released into the streets during the Blood Fete each year. A few of the ne’er-do-wells were killed, but no one of consequence, and it was considered part of the offering. They were then restored to their imprisonments. Now three of them are loose in the city and hunting its residents.” Noah spends some time training with the guards. Meanwhile, a servant signals to Iados in thieves’ cant, asking if he is the courier. He signals back uncertainty. She stops signaling, and stands waiting at the door. Elyn notices that the plant life in the formal garden of the manor is dying. It’s not obvious, but it looks like something is sucking the life energy out of the plants day-by-day. It’s being maintained, but it looks like it is dying nonetheless. Sister Agnes asks if they have the proscription list. They do, and provide it to her. She checks, and finds that her name is not on it. But she recognizes some names—there are entire houses that are proscribed, plus various individuals, though not anyone from Noah’s house. There are also some surprising absences from the list, especially in the House of Magdag. After nightfall, the na-Vad and Vadess return. The na-Vad meets with them in private. He mentions that he offered to lead troops personally to hunt the blood-driven hounds and was refused; he is very concerned. Noah tells him that they spoke with dead with some cultists, and they said that they and the Queen-Empress serve the same entity. The na-Vad screems, his eyes roll back and he collapses, apparently having a fit. Sister Agnes casts protection from evil on him, which seems to help. Noah keeps trying to reason with him. Ravokris can see magical energy expelled from him after the protection from evil. As Noah continues to talk with the na-Vad and mentions bone dust and ascension, the energy begins to coalesce, and Ravokris thinks it will materialize. He points and says that a demon is materializing. Elyn also begins treating the na-Vad, and manages to stabilize him. Iados can see it materializing, and prepares to stab it with his rapier. As it materializes and the word “consume” is heard through the room, Iados stabs it, but misses with both attacks. Noah rages, and hits it with his axe twice. It has damage resistance, but Noah still hurts it. Elyn attacks with her sickle, hitting it twice for minor damage after the resistance. Ravokris blasts it with a fire bolt. The demon reaches two tendrils out to hit Noah, and both hit, while the word “consume” rings out again. Noah loses 3 points of Con and 13 hit points. Sister Agnes does not recognize the demon at all. It looks like a huge heap of ichorous dirty fluid suspended in a membrane -- but there is an odd sense that you watch different human features swim up and then vanish. Noah switches to his silver axe and cleaves it apart. A guard rushes in, having heard the scream. We send him to fetch the chaplain. The na-Vad regains consciousness, and he can remember what he was told and thinks it’s true. The chaplain warns us not to tell anyone but the Vadess about the demon. He thinks that the na-Vad can tell the Vadess, but says he should do so gently. From the na-Vad, she will hear it. He says she is also worried about things, as the chaos of the court has increased. [End session 24] [/QUOTE]
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