10.1 Meliora
SESSION DATE: January 25, 2025
PRESENT: Rory, Kemurial, Freya, Lim Dul
Deep Dive
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Adventure Photos
Adventure Song & Lyrics
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World Anvil Journal
sooo... ith vewy windy today and ith makin it vewy hawd to figur owt wear we r goin tho well hav to do are betht. i wath abel to keep uth on twak tho mabee ith not tho bad. we caim acwoth a ewefint gwaveyawd or thomethin they r a buncha boneth and tuthtkth awound and not much elthe weawwy. kimiweel uthed hith abiwity to wook for unded and he fownd a thpiwit of a woowy mamith. we tawkd to it and fownd owt ther uthed to be a buncha them but they died off jutht wike wat we thee with all the boneth. he wookth tord a caiv and ith wike there ith a tukth in ther that i hope u can fikth and were wike ok well chek it owt. we go in tha caiv and shur nuff there ith a tukth thittin in ther. kimiweel twieth to bwing tha peetheth bak toghethew and win he doeth there ith a buncha thpiwith that pop up but thin win kimiweel wet go of tha peetheth of tha tuthkthth they fell bak apawt and the thpiwith wint away agin. fwaya ith wike hay i got thith thcwol that wud wet me pwop it up for now and were wike ya go ahed and twy it and whadya no it wurkd. the peetheth thtaid put togethew and the thpiwith all caim bak and thin the big guy caim in hear and wath wike oh wow u did it hereth a horn for u to taik if u need it and we wath wike defnitewy man thankth. the big mamith naim ith mewefint. he thaid if we can come bak thometiem and fikth the tutkhthtkth for gud thin the horn mite get mor pauerfel.
n e way we keep goin and fwaya findth a werbor guy and heth wookin pwetty confuthed and thtuff. heth wike pawt man and pawt bor. we dethide to go up to him to thee if we can help him. kimiweel tide him up with thome wope and i twied to help but kimiweel did a pwety gud job and dum dum caim to help and he that on the guyth wegth tho he cudnt wun. we toad him we wud taik him to git cyerd and he wath wike okay ill twy not to hurt u but i mite not be abel to help it im thowy. he thayth hith naim ith jethtin. kimiweel wet him wide hith horth on tha way to the town pwathe.
kimiweel and dady karl find thome food and thtuff but they altho find thome muny and thcwolth to tho thath cool.
well now ith nite tiem and geth wat yah thath wite we hav a werbor with uth and it jutht tho happenth to be a ful moon tonite wudnt u no it. well now we got thith guy to wory abowt wile we twy to git thome wetht. wuckiwy kimiweel maid a vewy gud not with hith wope tho thith guy cant git owt of it vewy eethy. we wath abel to git a good nuff wetht tho thath gud.
well ith tiem to git wotht agin im thowy guyth i jutht cant help it im twying my betht but man i jutht caint git the hang of thith i geth. at weatht it theemth wike the other guyth no wat their doin tho it kinda maikth up for how bad i am at findin the way. fwaya fownd a hyuge wike viper thnake mikthd with a centpeide... cenitpede... thing with a buncha wegth and we wath all wike nope that dont look gud tho we jutht we it go by and wuckiwy it dint thee uth or n e thing. kimiweel fownd thome mowe gold and a hewing poshin.
tonite ith anuther ful moon tho we maik shure jethtinth wope ith thtil tied weel gud and it ith. me and dum dum thlept ok but fwaya and kimiweel dint thweep much tho they wook ekthauthtid. wuckiwy today wath a eethy day i dint git uth wotht and we dint fite nuthin tho they wath jutht a bit thwower than nowmal but nuthin to bad.
n e way evenchuwy we finawy maid it to tha town. ith calld mewiowa and ith kinda big but not big wike uwithtiwhihwthiwu ith gota buncha peepel tho. ther r a buncha diffwent kinda peepel hear fwom all diffwent bakgwowndth and thtuff tho it wookth wike they r welcomin to uth. the gardth at the thity gait thtopd uth and akthd uth abowt jethtin. we towd them tha twuth and that we wantid to git him fikthd tho we gaiv them the muny it wud cotht to git the curthe wemovd and kimiweel gaiv jethtin thome mowe muny and the hewing poshin we fownd erlier for him to uthe after heth bak to normel.
dum dum thaid he wath goin to find a tavrin or thomethin to twy to git thome info and kimiweel thaid he wath goin to do the thaim thing but go to a church inthted tho im wike okay well then im gonna twy to git thome info to. i walkd awownd the thity and fownd thome peepel doin a pit fite tho i joind that. that wath fun i won a buncha gold and maid fwindth with a guy naimd jorj and he had a wittel bajer pet naimd heri. he put up a gud fite but i ended up winnin and he wath wike man u fite gud and im wike thankth u to and heth wike r u fitin in the godth invashin or watever and im wike no but im gonna defind peepel who dont detherv wath comin and heth wike well ur bwade wud be gud watevr thide ur on tho dont git urthelf nokd owt. he thaid he and heri wath goin to go to wildweech and help them owt. he thaid heth beter off in the wildth wather than coopd up inthide tha wallth.
dwaugnir watevr ith hapenin up ther it thowndth wike they r gonna need thome help tho pweethe if u can help them that wud be gwate thankth.
Private Notes
- Today is very windy as a wind storm rolls in. -5 to Trailhand and Scout rolls.
- Rory is somehow able to maintain his duties as a Trailhand in the face of adversity in this windstorm.
- Nestled into the mountains, we discover what can only be described as an elephant graveyard, a mesa of tusks and bones scattered about. Kemurial doesn't notice any man-made icons, banners, etc. It seems to be all natural. There are remains of other creatures, but it's primarily large tusked creatures. Kemurial uses Divine Sense to check for undead while we all look for items, valuables, etc. While searching, Kemurial feels pulled in a direction. As he steps around the skull of one of the larger animals, he finds the spirit of a wooly mammoth. It looks at him with a piercing gaze, seemingly waiting for him to speak. Kemurial begins conversing with it. It says "My kind used to graze these lands and those in between." He looks longingly around him. He says they can't roam the lands again since the "Shattering of the Great Tusk". We ask about the Shattering of the Great Tusk. The spirit gestures toward the hillside, saying it was once the center of their home, but they've traveled a long distance. This nearby cave was sacred, the home of their people. Inside, we'll find a broken tusk of the mammoth god, known as The First. They don't know what shattered it, and he says the cave is safe as far as he knows. We head toward the cave.
- We easily find the cave. It's simple but large, with a dome shape inside. Inside is a slightly raised stone in the center with what seems to be a man-sized tusk laying on top of it, broken in two. Doesn't look like anything has recently disturbed it or the cave. Kemurial takes a closer look at the altar. Lim Dul reluctantly walks to the cave, but is entirely disinterested in this. Kemurial tries to fit the two pieces back together. As they're brought together, we see ghostly images of what we presume to be their ancestors, but as Kemurial releases the two pieces, they once again fall away from each other, causing the ghostly images to disappear once again. We try to prop it up using Freya's Scroll of Mold Earth. We all hold the tusk pieces while Freya casts, and we're able to permanently prop up the tusk again. The spirits reapparate. The mammoth spirit from earlier enters the cave, thanking us. Just then, a smaller tusk horn appears, and the spirit mammoth, named Melephant, tells us to take the horn. Using it will summon spiritual mammoths to trample foes. It's a one-time-use item only, at least until we return and fully mend the large tusk. Nice!
- We continue forth. The scouts find a single wereboar during our travels. We hear the rooting and grunting of what we thought was a boar, but Freya looks through the bushes to get a better look at it, and it looks as though it's half man/half boar that seems quite conflicted. We have a very lengthy discussion amongst ourselves whether we should put this creature out of its misery, whether we should capture it to take it to get cured, or whether we should leave it alone. Kemurial approaches the creature. It's aware of his presence, taking steps toward Kemurial, and warns him to stay away, not to come any closer. INITIATIVE!!!
- Kemurial Commands the creature to drop prone.
- The rest of us stay back, waiting to see what happens.
- The wereboar drops prone.
- Kemurial asks for help restraining the creature. He runs toward it, taking out his rope and begins to tie him up. Kemurial tries to reassure the creature that he's trying to help, and means it no harm. Kemurial takes out his sword and lights it up. Rory is getting mixed messages.
- Rory moves toward both the creature and Kemurial to assist Kemurial in restraining him however he can.
- Lim Dul moves forward and sits on the wereboars legs to keep him from getting away.
- Freya and Friar Karl stay back and watch from a distance.
- Kemurial takes him to a nearby tree and ties him to it.
- The creature says he can't control himself, and warns us to leave before he could hurt us.
- Kemurial asks if we can take him somewhere to get help, but he doesn't even know who where he is, or who we are.
- He seems receptive to help.
- Rory asks him his name. Jestan.
- We find a Potion of Resistance on him.
- Kemurial summons his celestial steed on which Jestan will ride while bound as we find somewhere to take him for help. Encounter over.
- We keep going hoping to find this guy a curse.
- The Quartermasters are able to preserve our resources, and they also find some more along the road, namely 10g and a Scroll of Alarm!
- Tonight, it's a full moon. How appropriate!
- As the night rolls in, we hear struggling from Jestan. He's thrashing, causing problems for Kemurial's steed. Because of this, we don't get a good night's rest, but we are able to still rest well enough to get a full night's rest.
- TNGBU.
- Rory the ever-amazing Trailhand, gets us lost yet again. TWICE. Sheesh, man! That's a -2 on rolls for the Scouts and Quartermasters.
- The Scouts do their thing. We see something crawling along the ground. Freya points it out to us. It's a HUGE viper caterpillar looking thing. We decide to skirt past this thing, whatever it is.
- The Quartermasters do their thing next. We find 10g and a Potion of Healing.
- Trailhand next. Rory fails yet again. It's just a theme at this point. I'd be more surprised if he was successful first try. Second time's the charm though! 22! Rory finds well traveled trails and finally gets us back on track. IT'S ABOUT TIME! Because of the great roll this time, we get Bless on the first round of our next encounter today.
- Scouts up now. Freya is able to allow us to avoid all encounters.
- Quartermasters do exceptionally well.
- Yet another full moon tonight! Rory and Lim Dul are able to sleep well enough, but thanks to Jestan's constant writhing, Freya and Kemurial are exhausted for today.
- Trailhand failure. Let's keep going. Second time works. Another day, same problems.
- Scouts next. Freya avoids all encounters for the day.
- Quartermasters do well yet again, finding 17c and a Scroll of Ceremony.
- The weather has turned windy.
- Rory is somehow able to nail the Trailhand duties first try today. WOOHOO!
- Freya scouts ahead, avoiding encounters.
- Friar Karl finds yet more food and items along the trail, finding 17c and a Scroll of Summon Beast.
- Finally we arrive at the city of Meliora at first light. Meliora is quite a large city on the Trilake. As we enter we see a cosmopolitan mix of people and species, humans, dwarves, elves, etc. The city seems to be welcoming of all. It's primarily human-run city, but not culturally divided as belonging to any one species. It's large enough to have about 20,000 people and various districts. There are guards that simply look us over. They don't seem overly concerned about what we're carrying or wearing. They're looking at any visible flesh as we enter.
- The guards do stop us because of Jestan. They ask about him. Kemurial responds that Jestan is cursed with lycanthropy, and we've brought him here in hopes that we could find someone to cure him of his condition. Kemurial says he'll pay for the curative services himself. Kemurial gives the guards the money for the curse removal, and gives Jestan 5g and the Potion of Healing we found to use afterwards.
- The city is bustling with people, but the tone seems a bit concerned and downtrodden. The town is not oblivious to the news of what's coming in this direction.
- Lim Dul finds a local tavern to try to gather whatever information he can. Kemurial offers to go with him, but Lim Dul recommends he stay away as Lim Dul's going to the bad side of town, and recommends Kemurial go to the more affluent part of town instead.
- Instead of directly looking for information, Rory attempts to find a fair, carnival, or other such type of area where there might be strength-based games to see if he can find any shady individuals. He finds some pit fighting, which he happily joins. He's successful. His total winnings for the week is 100g, and is able to make one contact in the Crown District. The contact is George, a male human fighter. George is short, with straight red hair and light amber eyes. He wears chain mail and wields a short sword and dagger.
- After the battle, Rory shakes George's hand and thanks him for the great battle. Rory says " Gotta do what I can to stay prepared for what's coming, you know?" George responds by asking if Rory is taking part in the fight. Rory says he's not intending to take part directly, but wishes to defend and protect those not deserving of what's coming their way. George replies, "Your blade would be a valuable asset on any front, especially the way you swing it! Don't get yourself knocked out of this thing! Me and Heri, my badger companion here, are going to be taking up with the Leonins in Wildreach. I'm better situated for the wilds, not cooped up inside the walls."
That's it for this session!
For next session, Rory would like to at least initially continue asking George about what he knows, saying something like the following:
"Thanks for the compliment. You aren't too bad yourself! If we come into battle again, hopefully it's on the same side of the sword! Have you heard anything specific about what's going on up there? Anything in particular to watch for should an invasion occur? You seem to be the type to be in the know."