Summary
As the party traveled toward the Vel’Therin Expanse, they defeated a group of Silent Fist bandits trying to bully Cal into paying them. At a nearby tavern, they learned that the creator of the Scary Frankenstein Guy is a Drow named Ned Grindledark, who is reportedly traveling to the Kingdom of Caer Thalar. After Roz successfully stole an invisibility amulet from a local gambler, the group discovered that a patron of the tavern named The Seer had abducted their guide, Theratina, to sell her into slavery at the Arena of Vel’Therin Expanse. Following a three-day pursuit, the party arrived at the arena and chose to fight on Theratina’s behalf to settle her “debts”. They successfully slew a weakened Behir, securing 4 of its teeth and 6 of its scales as trophies, and liberated Theratina before retreating back into the city.
Events
Encounter with the Silent Fist
- There are many narrow creeks and shallow rivers as we travel along the river out of The Border City.
- We dock our boat to prevent it from breaking and begin walking toward the Vel’Therin Expanse.
- A few hours into our walk, we hear commotion ahead where a single person, Cal, is arguing with a large group of people.
- The crowd is a group of bandits called The Silent Fist who claim they “own” the road and demand 5G per person to pass.
- We decide to fight them instead and kill them all; Avenj claims their bones.
- We search the bodies and find 25G and a scroll with orders talking about guarding the posts.
- The scroll, from Thalan’dor, warns: “Do not trust people coming from the south due to the war between Iskar’Thul and Karvok Thuldor”.
Arrival at the Traveling Tavern
- Looking through the eyes of Hoots, I spot a tavern with people coming in and out about an hour away, and we begin to walk toward it.
- Clouds begin to get grey overhead around 4pm as we arrive at An Unnamed Tavern North of The Unnamed City.
- The tavern is staffed by Asia, who claims the Travelling Tavern is in motion and is supposedly going to Brackenmill.
- Asia mentions a man who “lost something” passed by a few days ago; her description makes it clear he is the creator of the Scary Frankenstein Guy.
- She describes him as a “weird looking Drow with a long pointed nose” who wore no brands but had a “weird croft black cloak with a piece ripped off of the arm” and a mask covering only his eyes.
- The missing cloak piece sounds like The Awakening badge, and the mask appears to be the other half of the voice-changing mask.
- Cal rents a room for 2S, and the party buys drinks and eggs for 6G.
Poker with The Card-Jutsu
- A man in the corner at a poker table reportedly beat The Frankenstein Creator in poker; he says a game might jog his memory.
- We join the game with a 5G buy-in; the man says he is often referred to as The Card-Jutsu.
- After games of poker and war, he reveals the man was Ned Grindledark and was heading to the Kingdom of Caer Thalar.
- He claims the stitched boy is hunting “one of the greatest monsters ever, finishing something that is yet to be finished”.
- During the games, Roz casts See Invisibility and notices The Card-Jutsu is wearing an Invisible Amulet.
- The Card-Jutsu passes out drunk after the final game.
Heist of the Invisible Amulet
- Roz asks the party to distract the other patrons while he steals the amulet.
- Theodore goes to Asia to pay the bill; she offers to forget it if they clean the place, so he casts Prestidigitation everywhere.
- Avenj chats with another woman in the corner to distract her, but he gets uncomfortable when she flirts and walks away.
- Roz successfully takes the necklace without being noticed; it is no longer invisible, and he puts it in his pocket.
The Seer and the Abduction
- Cal flirts with a lady with dreadlocks named The Seer, who is a member of The Silent Fist.
- She defends their toll collection, calling elvish cities “a utopia,” and shows a necklace with vials containing tiny, banging people inside.
- She claims they are “legally captured” prisoners; Cal is unsure if the necklace itself is magic.
- Asia mentions a free campground out back for the party to stay at.
- We notice Theratina is missing and find The Seer outside on a horse with Theratina trapped in one of her vials.
- We unsuccessfully try to stop her as the horse takes off.
The Three-Day Chase
- We take four horses from the stable and a wagon, allowing us to rotate sleeping during a multi-day chase.
- The Seer appears not to sleep; we chase her for three days.
- Eventually, she enters index.
- Hoots watches her enter the city and go into the arena before losing sight of her.
- Roz casts Locate Object on Theratina’s Rapier to track her.
The Arena of Vel’Therin Expanse
- Heading to the arena, we meet two massive Dragonborn with The Silent Fist’s sigil who call themselves “the chain”.
- We speak with a man named Tigel and confirm the location is the Arena of Vel’Therin Expanse.
- The Seer walks out of the arena with a bag of gold; she claims she is just trading prisoners.
- Theratina is scheduled to fight 3 Goblins to settle her “debt” for killing 8 bandits.
- The party’s options are to pay her 200G fine or fight on her behalf against monsters chosen by The Seer.
- We choose to fight and select the “yellow” option.
- The announcer hovers on metal to the center of the arena to introduce us, and the party levels up.
Battle with the Behir
- We fight an old, weakened Behir that has been fighting for a long time.
- It is wounded on the top and left side of its head; we learn hitting these spots is an automatic crit, though the AC is higher.
- We kill the creature and harvest 4 of its teeth and 6 of its scales as trophies.
- The party quickly leaves the arena before being forced into another fight and ends the session back in the city.