Arcolatry (TF001)

**“Arcolatry”** is the first session of the Team 3.5 game.  Arriving in the borean dominated town of Dimshade, three very diverse individuals are set on a crash course with each other…

# Synopsis

As the sixth month began to reach middle age, the yearly festival celebrating Exaire, the Trialmaster, was underway in the town of Dimshade.  And, as is tradition, warriors and vagabonds from all over Salbus made their way to the goliath town to compete for glory, recognition, and money.  And it is here that we cast our eyes onto three individuals, cast together by pure chance: Lemmy, a curious being made of constructed metal that walks and talks of his own accord; Aine, a purehearted young woman of the Solari Monastery; and, finally, Lath, a curious drakeblood of mottled countenance, and reserved temper.  These three, along with several other hopefuls, made their way to the Starlight Amphitheatre, the center of worship for Exaire.

As they gathered in the Starlight, they were eventually approached by a half-elf adherent to Exaire named Hadarai, who informed them that they would need to be a team of at least three to compete.  The three, through a variety of (contrived) circumstances, eventually decided to enter together… as did a teenager borean that Aine played with outside, named Varad.  The team was given the designation of Team Four, however at Lath’s insistence is also known as Team 3.5.

Team 3.5 made their way to the arena proper, where they were introduced to the Warden of the Starlight: an archon by the name of Selise Marivaldi.  She congratulated the assembled teams on their bravery and willingness to reach for glory, warning them to prepare tonight for the trials that would begin tomorrow.  As Lath and Varad chatted about the nature of the tournament, Selise herself came up and introduced herself.  After introductions concluded, she offered them a job.

Her beloved pet bear, Toffy, had gone missing the week previous.  If they were able to find Toffy and get him back, they would be given free lodging at “the best tavern in town”: the Shot of Courage.  The party agreed, and in doing so Selise directed them to the Shot to retrieve Toffy’s favorite snack: a haunch of deer leg glazed with a special honey wine.  Lath and Varad went out to go track down any clues that could lead them in the right direction while Lemmy and Aine went to retrieve the haunch.  Entering the Shot of Courage, they were introduced to the tavern owner, an amber colored cambion by the name of Courage.

Confiding in the two that Selise has been worried sick by Toffy being missing, she hands them a haunch, asking them sincerely to return Toffy home.  Aine, with a single tear rolling down her cheek, solemnly swears that they will.  Meeting up with Varad and Lath, the group of four start making their way into the Avonstead Forest, on Toffy’s trail.  As they wander further and further away, Aine gifts her bo staff to Varad, to give him a weapon to use.  Which is convenient, as they are soon set upon by three underground mimic-kin.  Usually a subterranean dwelling species, they had made their home in the canopy above, and dropped in rage on Team 3.5.  A battle ensued, with the group managing to thoroughly dismantle the three horrid creatures.

Continuing further into the Avonstead, they eventually trace the bear prints to a small clearing.  It’s quite picturesque: a small pond of water and a nice cave inlaid in the small cliff that overlooks it.  Peering out of the mouth of the cave is a tiny bear cub, and the party quickly deduces that Toffy has made a little home and family for himself out here.  The party cautiously lures out Toffy from the cave by having Aine throw the deer leg into the clearing, which does lure out the bear family.  Lath notes that a nearby felled tree has a series of deep gouges into the wood, which only serves to heighten his worry as he sees that Toffy was carrying a variety of fairly fresh wounds.  Using a length of rope, Lath cautiously comes up to Toffy, who does not resist as he slips the leash around his neck.  The group slowly starts making their way back home…

Before they go too far, however, they hear a horrific chattering noise, and the culprit behind Toffy’s wounds: an antlion, who had burrowed up from the ground below.  What followed was a pitched battle, as Lath swiftly kept Toffy out of danger by tying him to a tree before joining the fight in earnest.  Team 3.5 put up a valiant assault upon the insectoid monstrosity, with Varad aquitting himself very well despite his terror.  And finally, it was Aine who brought the beast to its end, as she did a couple of sick parkour flips before utterly decimating it.  And, with that direct threat out of the way, the licked but still ticking party made their way back to Dimshade, Toffy’s family in tow.

They arrived as dusk began to fall, to a veritable hero’s welcome as Toffy’s presence became known.  Aine made an effort to make sure Varad stood tall and proud, which definitely did not go unnoticed by a couple of other goliath teenagers, who sneered and ran off as they made it to the Shot.

Selise, now stripped of her gear as Warden, had a very emotional reunion with Toffy, as Lath, who had been carrying the newly christened Strudel, introduced her to Toffy’s family.  Courage spoke for both of them as she officially offered the party a place they could always stay at in Dimshade… before Varad was dragged off by the ear by his mother, promising them that he would come back tomorrow.  He also left Aine’s staff, which she decided to engrave with Varad’s name.

What followed was a night of pure levity and excess.  Well, for Aine.  Lemmy still doesn’t quite understand this whole “drinking” thing, and Lath found a quiet little nook of the tavern to rest in before retiring upstairs.  Eventually, Lemmy aids a very inebriated Aine up the stairs, who, in a drunken garble, mentions a “she” who apparently thought Aine was no fun.  And, at some point in the night, Lath exits the room to wander the length of Dimshade, but grows frustrated with how practical the layout of the city is, with no real way to get lost in the twists and turns.

# Characters

* Hadarai: half-elf acolyte of Exaire
* Varad Inulatho: borean teenager
* Selise Marivaldi: archon Warden of Starlight
* Courage Marivaldi: cambion owner of the Shot of Courage

# Game Data

* Date played: 2/13/2020
* Time played: 2:40:00