Zoom 2020-11-12 21:00

Zoom notes 12/11/20:
What periods of history does the Spell of Voids cover? Peak effect is from 100 years before the Age of Chaos to 10 years after.
Relationships of princes and pretenders? Avlera and Solara were brothers of King William. Adamas is William’s son ‘born out of wedlock’, and so half-brother to Hentron. 
Size of ferry across Northlake? Large – can take horses, wagons and pack animals etc. 
Will Apana be available to see before we leave? Yes – we need say what we will say/ask.
Likely effect of Spell of Voids on Centaurs oral tradition? Only lore that must be remembered verbatim (eg ancestral lines) or ‘sacrosanct’ verses (including lay verses by highly esteemed bards) would be remembered correctly. Otherwise, their lore will be extremely susceptible to the GSOV.
Coincidence of names Blue Tower and Blue Crystal Spires: No known connection.
Coincidence of names of Lartower, Larkstone, Larston, (Larkspur). Lar is a common part of placenames in Elven culture (eg heath, moor, ‘ton’ etc.). So any such place is most likely of Elven origin. 
Party discussions:
Apana: As a clearsighted priest of Shana and Cagrun’s old boss, we can be open with her about our research, and she may be able to provide vital info on how-not-to-get-ourselves-killed in Far Haven, and what sort of questions we can ask etc. She may even be prepared to write letters of introduction. Bazin and Umar will go to speak with her – Umar also wants to ask about giants around Far Haven.
Report to Cagrun/Gohde: We should send a complete report to Cagrun and/or Gohde – and it was decided to keep things simple and ask Jurrage to get the report to them in the the way he feels best – ie we won’t muck around with coded messages or anything like that. We would need to stress to Jurrage that the report is important no matter how fanciful or unbelievable it may seem (if he were to read it.)
Report to Adamas: We felt that Adamas should be kept similarly informed of what we have discovered and our conclusions – this can be passed on to him by Sparrowsight through her normal channels. Of particular interest to him might be the Elven faction information – and that the Elves appear to make 100 year treaties.
Elven factions: There was some discussion as to whether the Elven factions were actually fighting each other (and so other Elves were considered ‘the enemy’), of it was normal ‘courtly intrigue’ with both factions loyal to the Empress, but with different world views. We are also not sure what the views of the two factions were – but might be ‘tree-huggers’ vs ‘hegemonists’. Also, where is the Empress?
'Should we try to stay in Northlake until after the Elven delegation arrives? Although Caradoc could probably contrive a meeting with the thieves to ask for an extension, we decided that no 'real' information is likely to be disseminated for some time - and hopefully we would receive any pertinent information through gossip in reasonable time anyway (eg faster travellers f'rom Northlake)
Golderod: Even given the GSOV, he seems remarkably relaxed about the Shanah attack against Wyldwood in Far Haven.
Olg’s interest in Ownen was noted. 
Journey to Far Haven:
Mules and rations: Each second party member will give Francis an iron ration – so every party member will now have 5 or 6 iron rations to carry with them.
We will buy 5 mules which can carry 200 rations plus their own fodder for 20 days – so they can carry 18 days of food for the 11 of us, leaving us unencumbered when travelling.
We will obviously take Jurrage’s advice about where/who to buy the mules from – and rely on Quercuis to choose them.
Safety of Lake crossing: The reports of Sahuagin, dockside disappearances and wounded fisherman makes an attack by Sahuagin a threat we must address. 
Questions to the DM:
* Were the dockside disappearances during daytime or night time? (Trying to ascertain if an attack is likely to be day or night – and if Sahuagin are as adverse to bright light as MM suggests.)
* Will infravision help at night? (Party thinks that even cold bloodied creatures will be warmer than their surroundings – especially if operating at night.)
* Are the ferries providing any extra security or guards due to the Sahuagin reports?
* If not, how much would it cost us to hire some guards for the crossing?
Precautions to take:
* Be on guard for whole of crossing with full watches.
* Have infravision characters (and Francis?) sleep during the day so they can keep watch overnight.
* Have extra ‘ship-safe’ lanterns around the barge.
* Have missile weapons ready - and be prepared to follow up with melee once boarded.
* Have a non-front line character (eg Joshua) protect the helmsman – or at least be there to hold off an assault until a front-line character takes over.
* Spells to avoid: Entangle (useless), Fireball (dangerous!)
* Possibly useful spells: Sleep (Sahuagin assumed to be 2+2 hit dice), Light, Faerie Fire, Bless, MM, CLW.
* Have knives/daggers ready to cut through any nets that get used against us.