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CreatedMon May 11 2026 18:00:00 GMT-0600 (Mountain Daylight Time)
DateMon May 11 2026 18:00:00 GMT-0600 (Mountain Daylight Time)
SourceTranscript
Tagsgame-log

2026.05.12

Summary

The session picked up at the King’s Tourney with the party regrouped after learning Jevon was taken by black-armored knights. Cassian led Aldrich and the others to the tent of Gruvelda Duskbelt, one of the few dwarves at the fair and a master smith. Aldrich hoped to buy armor or weapons, but with only 44 gold total the best Gruvelda could offer was a round shield, and she laughed off Cassian’s attempts to charm her. Azrith broke the standoff by using Thaumaturgy to conjure phantom ghostly sounds around her tent, pitching the party as ghost hunters who could solve a problem she’d heard about. Intrigued, Gruvelda pulled the group inside and told them her clan had heard rumors that certain nobles were meddling with magic at the hamlet cemetery on the hill. She offered to craft something for Aldrich before the tournament and put word in with her brother—who guards her clan’s underground home from shadows and ghouls—if the party dealt with the ghosts and brought her proof.

As the group prepared to leave, Gruvelda stopped Odine Dunmere and asked why she had come from the Veil. When Odine mentioned the pestilence, Gruvelda retrieved a small wooden box from her shelf, opened it, and revealed a severed, heavily decayed hand covered in the same black vine-like veins as the curse. She then removed a glove from her other hand to show a prosthetic nub: she had cut off her own hand years ago to stop the corruption from consuming her. Odine, overwhelmed by shock, uncontrollably cast Message into Gruvelda’s mind before she realized she was doing it. She then drew back her sleeve to reveal the tentacle-like marks on her own arm. Gruvelda said flatly that none of the people at the fair knew what was coming. She agreed to speak with Odine in depth but asked her to wait until the first week of the festival was over, as she would be too busy until then. Source: Transcript.

The party climbed from the King’s Tourney grounds up into the hamlet of Everdale proper, a sleepy hilltop village quiet compared to the fairgrounds. Oathkeeper patrols walked the streets in pairs, bearing three distinct banners: a green shield with a stag (the same order as the knight Sir Televast, encountered before reaching the city), a red shield with an ember flame, and a silver crest with a helm and two crossed swords. Cassian noted these are the three oldest surviving knightly orders from the era of King Aldrich—the orders that formed the Oathkeepers and have kept the throne and keep safe ever since. From the crest of the hill, Odine could see the Thornwood Vale stretching beyond the Gleaming Keep—a vast forested valley veiled in an almost imperceptible green mist.

Azrith’s supernatural senses guided the party to the Stone Sanctum, an old moss-and-vine-covered stone cathedral with a bell tower and an attached graveyard. Inside the dim chapel, Cassian played with Thaumaturgy to lighten the mood; the resulting disturbance dislodged a scrap of green fabric from an iron candelabra that Azrith identified as likely torn from Jevon’s cloak. When Odine opened Jevon’s magical box, its light flickered erratically instead of glowing steadily—a sign to her that his life force was in danger. She bolted into the graveyard and found Jevon bound in rope and tied to a cherubim statue, unconscious and bloodied. A dead black knight lay on the ground nearby. Odine cast Healing Word and brought Jevon back to consciousness. He immediately warned that there had been a second knight.

Before the party could react, the second black knight—possessed by an undead spirit—lunged from the shadows and grabbed Azrith, who flipped free (acrobatics, 19 vs. 18). Combat followed. Odine spent her first turn sawing through Jevon’s ropes and freeing him. Aldrich struck the creature with an unarmed blow but failed to trip it and then absorbed its life drain attack: 4 necrotic damage that also permanently reduced his maximum hit points by 4 until a long rest. Azrith activated his Crimson Rite (Rite of Dawn), taking 1d4 necrotic damage to his hand in exchange for resistance to necrotic damage, a bright light aura, and bonus radiant damage against undead. Cassian misty stepped to Jevon’s side and returned his box to him, then fired an Eldritch Blast (5 force damage). Jevon joined the fight with his Green-Flame Blade but missed. Odine blasted the creature with Sorcerous Burst, dealing 13 lightning damage (halved to 6 against its resistance). The creature critically struck Azrith on its next turn, draining his max HP down to 12. Finally Azrith hit with his scimitar—his Rite making the attack magical and adding radiant dice—finishing the creature. As the armored body dropped, a spectral form emerged, said “I submit, I must go,” and dissipated.

The party searched the knight’s distorted body and Cassian identified the crest: these were House Godran soldiers, likely common foot enforcers rather than decorated knights. Jevon, now on his feet, explained that the Godran men had taken him to interrogate him about his magic and his teacher. His teacher is a witch named Marilyn, who found him near death, malnourished and near starving, and taught him to survive before moving on. She gave him his box and had been encountered in Everdale, but she is from the Thornwood Vale and wields what Jevon described as unfathomable power. Cassian speculated aloud that Marilyn may be what the noble houses are truly searching for when they compete over the deed to the Vale, and that House Godran may be pressing Jevon to find her.

Jevon said he could not safely return to the fair in daylight—when the Godrans discover their men are missing, suspicion will fall on him. He enchanted two small stones using his box: one for himself, one handed to Odine. She can use the stone to send him one brief message, and he can reply to her mind. He asked her to use it at night, once the party has a safe meeting place. For lodging, Jevon recommended the Ragged Flagon, a makeshift tavern in the King’s Tourney campgrounds that noble houses tend to avoid, as a good place to lie low. He then slipped into the shadows to hide out for the coming days. The party’s first bout in the Proving Grounds is the following evening at sundown. Source: Transcript.

Open Threads

  • Compete in the King’s Tourney: First bout in the Proving Grounds is the next in-game evening at sundown. The party registered as Cassian’s Crushing Crusaders and will report to Tent D.
  • Rescue Jevon: Partially resolved. Jevon was found and freed. He is now hiding and unreachable in daylight; Odine Dunmere holds a one-use communication stone. Two dead House Godran soldiers in the Stone Sanctum graveyard may draw attention.
  • Investigate the Pestilence: New leads established. Gruvelda Duskbelt survived the curse by amputation and wants to speak after the first festival week. Maralynn the witch from the Vale is connected to Jevon and may hold answers. House Godran’s fixation on locating someone in the Vale is suspicious.

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