Last time on the Dining Campaign:
The party continued their fight against the ugly ghouls. With minimal (but not zero) casualties, they manage to defeat the undead… and deal with the after effects. After settling down, they speak with some of the members of the City-State Council… and now, they’ll talk to the rest. Maybe?
Present in this adventure:
- Kai, Aaracokra Ranger-like-Rogue
- Elena, Elven Rogue-like-Bard
- Nocturne, Tiefling Cleric-like-Sorceress
- Galwyn, Gnome Paladin-like-Cleric
- Karma, Orcish Drunk-like-Monk
- Dharma, Human Saijin-like-Monk
NPCs mentioned in this adventure:
- Defender Yani Tyverius, Orcish Paladin of the Altecian Temple
- Selena, an enchantress. Roommate of Nocturne.
- Grothurn Faan, Archmagi and head of the Mage’s Guild of South Cormick
- Horin, Halfling Arcane Trickster and representative of the South Cormick Tax Association (read: Thieves’ Guild)
- Myra Cormick, Succubus Mayor of South Cormick.
So! The party starts out split still from the previous adventure, as Kai and Galwyn speak with Defender Tyverius, the Orcish Paladin representing the religions of South Cormick. As mentioned before, the Defender was not what the party had in mind upon meeting her; she’s a rough and tumble badass fighting Paladin, not a clergy member. Speaking with her, Kai eventually figured out that she was a really good liar… and was trying to suss out their loyalties. After conclusively determining that the party’s loyalties were with the City-State (or, more importantly to her, to the population of the City-State), they seemed to have gained her trust. She did request that they maintain a diverse population in their new town, but that’s not something the party would be resistant to.
Meanwhile, Nocturne and Karma were back at Nocturne’s apartment. Upon entry, they all had the interesting sensation of having the entire apartment smell… of peppermint. Nocturne had asked her roommate (Selena) look up information on a weapon that the party had found back on Dis. That greatsword created a large area of extreme cold around it and seems to have been embedded in the land for quite some time. Well, Selena found the motherlode on information on this (read: She rolled an 18) and not only found information on it, but actually found a replica of the weapon. Seems as though they use this weapon replica as an example as to what not to do when enchanting a weapon. The original weapon was created by a Lich who had a resistance to cold. The weapon has the ability to generate an aura of cold… that also impact the wielder of the sword.
The wielder can dial down the size of the aura, but it will always affect the wielder. Unfortunately, that means that someone needs to pick up that weapon to dial it back. It might be possible to telekinetically manipulate it, but at this time it seems to be a task the party won’t be able to handle… for now.
The other two parties eventually rendezvous back at Nocturne’s apartment, filling each other in on the events that happened… then decide to split the party again. Because of course my players split the party. :)
Party 1 consists of the two more rogue-ish characters – Kai and Elena. They went to the Tax Association to speak with Horin, the tax collector. Horin… is not a nice person. This was pretty clear in the first few moments of negotiation, demanding something from the party in exchange for his vote. Specifically, they wanted something that benefited THEM. Eventually, they got out of him that they wanted something to embarrass or otherwise lord power over Myra. Seems they don’t have a great relationship, to put it mildly.
That would be when Elena starts RageBarding. Didn’t help that Horin actually picked her pockets (and was partially caught by Kai), but they started flinging invectives at each other. The party left, but likely not with Horin’s support.
Party 2 consisted of Dharma and Nocturne. They first stop by the Museum of the Young Goddess to investigate a lead on a corpse. A roughly thousand year old corpse of a high priest of a long forgotten deity that doesn’t have any power. This makes Nocturne and Dharma’s first introductions to the Cult of the Young Goddess; they had a short tour by a Curator, the term for a monk of the cult. Seems as though the cult are made up of Explorers and Curators; Explorers are more like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft – they go out adventuring to learn new things and collect artifacts to return back to the Museums. The Curators protect the artifacts in the Museum and cultivate knowledge of the areas around the Museums. They’re a fairly small religion, but seem to be really helpful. They provide the party with a map of all known former holy sites of the various religions in Mion.
Afterwards, they go and visit Grothern Faan. Or at least attempt to. The one who is well known for having cranial rectal inversion syndrome had a secretary who said that the next time he would be available would be in a month and a half. Not only does every other member of the Council that mentioned Archmagi Faan think he has cranial-rectal inversion syndrome, but apparently so did his secretary.
The party returned to one location and planned out what they want to say at the next day’s council meeting, in the hopes of having victory in their council proposal. After some information gathering (read: skill checks), they determine that their chosen site would be able to support a population of 10,000 and provide a large food surplus for future sites as well. They decide to go for an initial population of 2500 and bring more people after each growing season.
The party now prepared, we end the night on the eve before the council meeting.