8-1-22 – 8-3-22 CR: The party (now consisting of Zara, Nathaniel, Essedar, Telenvor, Londario, and Adrien) travels back to the ruins of Caladere to assist Surveyor Celard in his investigation of the razing.  They find him dead, with his throat crushed, and evil runes of Ethoar carved into his forehead.  The blackguard Krothaer has also left a challenge in the form of his eastward-pointing severed finger in the center of a profane ceremonial circle.

8-4-22CR: Though they are shocked and dismayed by the razing of Caladere, the party hatches a plan to bait Krothaer into fighting them on their terms.  Zara performs an Arinnite ceremony of cleansing for the burned ruins of Caladere and with Adrien’s help she sends a dream trance challenge to the Blackguard.  Zara takes the dream form of a great cat of healing in the hopes that her offer of mercy and reconciliation will enrage her enemy.  Adrien is certain that the message was received, but Krothaer’s response is not immediately forthcoming.  The group decides to head eastward to search for his whereabouts and any additional clues about the Cult of Ethoar that is now active in the region.

8-5-22 – 8-11-22CR: The party travels south from the ruins of Caladere, cutting east and skirting across the north edge of Tent Town (about two miles north of the tents) to avoid notice.  They travel along the road to Fort Praévé on the border of Hathorae and Malok-Gorthai without incident, and spend the night at the Pikeman’s Rest outside of Fort Praévé.

8-12-22CR: On the road northeast from Fort Praévé in the late morning, the party encounters a rotund rat morph named Rana Greywhiskers fleeing a pack of bugbears and a pair of trolls.  The party dispatches Skardak, the troll cleric who is the leader of the warband, and routs the bugbears with ease.  Only one forest troll, a hunter/javelineer, escapes into the forest to the north.  Rana is a resident of Thran-Gaar, the capital city of Malok-Gorthai (the Orclands), and he was out gathering herbs for his business when he was attacked.  He identifies the troll Skardak as a lieutenant of a band of ruffians known locally as the Nightrenders.  Rana is invited to travel with the party and they spend a pleasant evening around the campfire discussing the finer points of orcish culture.

8-13-22CR: Marching rapidly north along the main road, the party arrives at the gates of Thran-Gaar just after nightfall.  On the road towards the city they encounter a friendly patrol of Krodath-Gaar guards affiliated with the Frosthorn tribe.  They stay the night at a popular common house near the main gates: the Fanged Spear, run by Maddoth Thundermaw, who has a penchant for epic storytelling.  Maddoth informs the party he is looking for the head and tentacles of a Displacer Beast to add to his collection of trophies – he claims such a find would inspire his tales to even greater heights.   The food at the Fanged Spear is quite plain, so they decide to eat dinner at the nearby Roasting Hog, a favorite local pork barbeque pit house.  Over dinner, the party discusses their situation regarding their enemies and the conspiracy of dark cults which seems to have infected the area.

8-14-22CR: The party explores Thran-Gaar.  At the Entertainers’ Guild, Nathaniel researches a ruin called Dralius, a place thought to be infested with demons.  At the Shrine of Gwardo, the group encounters Shar’drasa, a fox morph who tries to sell them a map to buried treasure.  They also visit the Shrine of Jenoic, where they gather some significant information: a violet meteor was seen in the skies during the Convergence, and it was thought to have impacted near a valley called Ijruk’s Blind – this area is located at the south end of Malok-Gorthai, about 5 days’ travel from the city.  Ijruk’s Blind is also rumored to be one of the locations of the mythical Footsteps of Jenoic, where the deity himself was thought to have put out the eye of his nemesis Ijruk (god of the orcs).  Further, a kidnapping has occurred here recently: Brother John Randall was taken silently in his sleep and the shrine was defaced with hateful anti-human rhetoric.

                Dismayed by this news of racial strife, the party seeks an audience with a community elder: Grodish Ash-Eye, an honored member of the Elder Council of Shamans.  They spend all of the late morning waiting patiently for a chance to speak with Grodish, who finally does permit them to enter his chambers.  They speak well into the afternoon, sharing smoke and drink with Grodish as he educates them on the ways of the orcs.  He suggests that if they wish to help solve the mystery of Brother Randall’s disappearance that they seek citizenship and work to build honor and reputation within the community.  He refuses to speak of the specifics of the defacement of the shrine, but hints that he knows more than he is willing to say.

                The group takes in a heavy lunch at the Fortunate Feast, an upscale local eatery, and spends the late afternoon browsing merchandise in the south end of the city at the Smiths’ guild and the Artisans’ guild.  There, they meet the Mistress of Tailors, Nemmia, who asks them to retrieve her dead husband’s Orc Double-Axe from the main Nightrender camp in the forest to the south. 

                Before bed, they return to the Fanged Spear and swap tales with Maddoth.  He tells them the story of Lord Jin’taah Dragonbane’s defense of the northern wall breach during Vadarixian’s Invasion in C.G. 6262 (two years prior to the Convergence).  Nathaniel tells the story of how he acquired his unusual scar, and Maddoth is impressed by his storytelling ability (as is Adrien).

8-15-22CR: The group returns to the Artisans’ guild to discuss business with Nemmia.  After a brief negotiation, the party agrees to help her retrieve the double-axe in trade for an amulet of natural armor +1. 

                They visit the local Temple of Shandae, where they meet a peaceful soul of an orc named Bo’boka Bloodflayer.  Among the topics they discuss with Bo’boka are the nature of nonviolence (he has an extensive library on the subject), the prejudice of his tribe, the Bloodflayers, against non-orcs, and ways in which the party might serve the community of Thran-Gaar.  Bo’boka invites them to return any time for further conversation.

                Nathaniel is referred to a local seeress of Mirael – Tessa Filariel, a half elf – by Bo’boka.  In order to win his way into Tessa’s good graces, he purchases some fish-n-chips for her from the local branch of Sandy’s.  He buys two divinations from Tessa: a runecasting, which reveals that he has elven blood in his ancestry (about five generations back, or 1/32 removed), and an actual divination spell, which gives the following clue about Brother John Randall’s location: “North and East, chained in darkness, under stone.”

                That afternoon, the party decides to hire a courier from Taliraen Independent Couriers and Sendings (TICS) to update President Weylorn on their findings.  While waiting for paperwork processing at TICS, Adrien receives a sending from a mysterious contact.  His mood darkens, and he informs Nathaniel tearfully that he must depart for Aerendale at the first light of dawn the next day.  The two lovers share a warm night in bed back at the Fanged Spear, and Adrien assures Nathaniel that this is not “goodbye,” but rather “until we meet again.” 

Falling Stars, Rising Hope