Session 52 & 53: Chilling in Chotown

As the group approaches the cottage, they see that a haphazard wooden wall has been built around it. The clerics explain that some members of their order have migrated here to avoid the war, and that they’ve set up defences in case of an attack. Cho tells them that he wants to go inside before discussing these matters and uses his glaive as a key to open the door of the cottage. The interior is so dusty that Grombrin sneezes out a puff of fire. Cho uses his magical blue flame to blow away the dust and puts a giant kettle on the fireplace to boil some tea. He then tells the others to make themselves at home while he deals with some personal business.

While Cho leaves to visit his mother’s grave, Grombrin transmutes some loose stones into a forge to do some smithing on Arran’s circlet. When Cho returns, he asks the clerics to remove the fortifications, because the sanctuary is not supposed to be a place of battle. He explains that violence was committed here once before, when he killed the murderer of the former caretaker, and that he never wants that to happen again. If they must put up defences, it should be outside the premises, where the vines aren’t silver. The clerics reluctantly submit to his authority. Grombrin asks if he could defend himself if he was attacked here, and Cho asks that he leave the premises before fighting back.

Cho asks the clerics about the Staff of the Mother. They explain that it’s in possession of the Order of the Great Gap, who refused to participate in the war. Some of the clerics want the staff to be put to use against the dragonborn, but they’re no longer in contact with this order. Cho expresses that he wants to seek them out and try to convince them to hand it over. The group then discusses their upcoming travel plans and settle on the following order of events.

* Find the Axe of the Roaring Tiger.
* A quick visit to Oda-iger to get the blessing of Mereteth. Cho is willing to take the blessing for the time being, but ultimately wants the blessing of Anaereth.
* Vojta wants to go to the Horned Forest north of his home. Someone he cares about travelled there and never returned, so he wants to find out what happened.
* Grombrin wants to go to Moradhin to finish his axe, but he needs more time to prepare.
* Arran eventually wants to go to the Hollow Mountains for another of the magic weapons.

On the topic of Anaereth, Cho wonders if he could get her blessing from here, because the cottage is a sacred site of hers. He communes with Yane and asks about this, but she answers that she can’t channel her full power from here, so he will have to come to her main temple. He also asks if she can help the lizardfolk who have been driven from their homes. She says that Mereteth might not let her intrude on her domain, but she will see what she can do. After ending the communion, the group discusses going to the temple of Anaereth after the Horned Forest. They would be able to fly along the coast and mostly avoid the dangerous wasteland of the Lifeless Valley. When the location of the temple is pointed out on the map, Nan says that she was raised near it. There were some ruins there with an illusory wall, which she deems similar to the way Turagh’s temple was disguised. She can point them to it but doesn’t want to return to her village, because she vowed not to return until her task is finished.

After the discussion, Arran takes Vojta outside to speak in private. He says that he wrote a letter explaining some things about himself that he can’t talk about, and tells Vojta to read it if he ever dies permanently. The group then spends the night at the cottage. In the morning, Cho asks Grombrin to craft another key to the cottage for the clerics. He then imbues it with his blue hearthfire. When they are about to move on, a horn is blown, signalling a new arrival. It is Gyrraleth, who has come to parley as Cho requested. Cho gets Gyrraleth to agree not to start a fight here, then takes him and the others inside to discuss.

Cho asks Gyrraleth why he wants to bring Cerebarieth back. He says he wants to bring order back to the world, which intelligent beings have removed from it, and that this is the only way to do it. Chaos and bloodshed will be ended as long as Cerebarieth is around, because sentient beings will be prevented from acting in ways contrary to order and harmony. Cho questions whether Gyrraleth will have any say in Cerebarieth’s actions, and he admits that he will not. Cho then compares Cerebarieth’s order to the enslavement of the aboleth, but Gyrraleth says that enslavement is a means to an end, and that he has faith in the original god to have the judgment to use it well. Cho accuses him of blind worship. Gyrraleth questions whether he is any different, but Cho says that he follows Yane not due to faith in her authority but due to holding the same morals. They agree to disagree and part ways. Gyrraleth leaves the area of the silver ivy and teleports away.

With the Axe of the Roaring Tiger as their next objective, Grombrin performs a ritual to learn more about Diyeck Redmud. He receives visions of a young Diyeck becoming an accomplished employee of Blacktusk. More recently, he disobeyed a command to kill some merchants and was reprimanded for it. Shortly after that, he was tasked with raiding a dragonborn caravan. In their possession he found the Axe of the Roaring Tiger. When holding it, he was filled with pride and courage and decided that he didn’t have to obey Blacktusk anymore. He and his soldiers then disappeared into the jungle.

The group concludes that Redmud isn’t as malicious as they assumed. They decide not to fight him, but they still want to speak to him and try to get him on their side for the liberation of Kadoma. They depart in cloud form, following the rivers until they reach Hiru. The town is small but fairly busy, and the architecture is similar to Oda-iger. They get a room at the inn and buy some drinks. Cho orders a very strong and suspicious drink and chugs it, instantly turning him drunk. They ask the barkeep about anything interesting in the area, and he says the only notable sight is the ruins. They decide to investigate those after they rest for the night.