2020

*Like a historical text, these are one person's perspective of these early sessions. Except that person is God, so regardless of what happened, this is what happened.*

*2/22/20*

"It's been just over a year since the mighty heroes known across Tal'Dorei - Vox Machina - were able to defeat the Chroma Conclave and banish the would-be god Vecna the Undying from the realm. You've all heard the stories, but frankly couldn't give less of a shit because you have had other things to worry about, namely the aftermath of the world being saved from near destruction.

The sun is low in the sky as the first day of Misuthar draws to a close. The air outside is still swirling with a few half-hearted flakes and flurries, but, for the most part, you've weathered the worst of what turned out to be a rather bitter winter. For Westruun, this means that the shares of the latest harvest are slowly dwindling, the thieves guild called the Clasp has been bolder in the cold, and the militia townsguard are more irritable lately as they're called to pull double patrols. You've all hunkered down for the evening in one of the less seedy taverns on the outskirts of the Residential Ward, directed to meet here by a worrying (and brief) note left by a trusted friend."

Four individuals sit around the tavern (but not in the corners, because it's a circular room). Clarence, the elven owner of the Puddlemuck Tavern, is whistling behind the bar. You all know him as a chill dude who looks like Prince Charming.

"A cold draft intrudes upon the warmth of the modest bar as a tall, armored figure enters and heads towards the counter. You all look up to see Yenfire, your (unbeknownst to you) mutual friend, have a quiet word with the bartender, collect a small, steaming mug from their hand, and head up the stairs towards the private rooms."

Everyone follows.

"I bet you're wondering why I've brought you here." Yenfire is a member of the townsguard, and she's asked the four party members - Gen the ranger, Bea the bard, Champ the rogue, and Dircc the warlock - to meet her here because she needs people she knows she can trust to investigate a series of strange disappearances that her superiors don't classify as a solid enough case to look into themselves. In the last few weeks, several plainscows have gone missing, worrying local farmers, but now a child from the area has gone missing as well. Farmers Stow and Pribus have both reported livestock missing, and two days ago, Bertie Softfoot's parents filed a report with Yenfire's patrol.

Yenfire trusts her friends to go around, investigate the scenes of the disappearances, and interview the concerned parties. She'll be around if they run into any trouble, but requests that they make sure it's actually an emergency before she's summoned, since she's on thin ice with her overworked superiors. She looks like she wants to say more but doesn't, casting quick glances around the room. The party departs.

All disappearances have taken place close to the city walls on the south end of the city. Stow is a tall firbolg widower who grows the best potatoes in the area - lets animals out sometimes so they don't get cooped up, not too surprised if a couple wandered off during the night and got lost. Pribus (older dwarvish woman) is more concerned - her livestock are her main source of income, so she monitors them more closely (and loves them very much). Her cows have been in the barn all winter, and she has no clue how they could've gotten out. Nothing seems amiss at Stow's farm, but the earth in Farmer Pribus's barn looks disturbed. Hmm.

The party heads back inside the city to the Market Ward to seek out the Softfoot family, a gnomish clan of jewelers. Ruby and Mal(ichite) are the parents of 24 children - they seem frazzled but are very loving parents. There are so many kids just everywhere. Champ immediately tries to make friends. Mal is openly weeping over their missing son, who is their youngest at 6. Thinks the Clasp is involved and is waiting on a ransom note.

Bertie's room is the nursery - he's the only one still in there - and the doors and windows look undisturbed. On a very good investigation check, it's noted that the room is suspiciously clean, and there's a loose floorboard under the bed which leads to a tunnel.

In the tunnel there's a battle with a bunch of kobolds led by what appears to be a Spireling Gholesh of the Clasp (which turns out to be a human wearing an ogre mask), and the party spares one of the kobolds - Korbag, who has a family to support and was just a temp, anyway. Upon closer investigation of the corpses, the 'human' was actually an Arcanaloth wearing a magic ring (never identified??) and a clasp/broach which allowed it to appear human. Somebody puts on the clasp and also appears as that guy.

Bertie is recovered from underground (in a secret room with a lot of correspondence), Yenfire is notified (after a lot of struggle with a sending stone), and everyone agrees to see this mystery through to its end, at least. Bertie is returned to his family after agreeing to be best friends with Champ forever and Yen agrees to meet everyone back at the tavern during her break. They show her the clasp, and she recognizes the human guise as a coworker of hers who'd been undercover with the Clasp. This is bad.

3/6/20 (the notes from here on out are...sketchy)

- Yenfire helps plan the next steps - she only has enough money to keep rooms for them for the next three days, so they need to figure things out by then.

- man who was impersonated was an old contact - they were recruited by the same organization, and he was highest up of a few undercover plants with the Clasp throughout Tal'Dorei. Only 1.5 party members can read, so the letters are given to Yen for decoding. Most look forged - they got the man's handwriting correct but the cipher is a bit off and there's a trace of magic that gives it away as phony. One letter she can't read, code?

- the 'coded' letter is actually old drow/accented undercommon. There's somebody in the Underwalk who might be able to read it, but they run the nightly fight club, and the only way you can talk is if you win. Whoops.

[notes stop here, but obviously they went and signed up at the fight club. When asked for a name, they decided on Smashmouth in under three minutes.]

- after a successful fight, the drow running the club hands over the winnings and agrees to translate the letter as long as they leave him out of it.

*"We ready the sacrifices as per your order. The spy will be brought to you on the day of challenge at your altar in the wood of brambles. The watchers have been sent to their places. All hail Dol Rhevtield."*

Next session (absolutely did not write the date anywhere whoops):

- it's decided that they need to head to the Bramblewoods to look for the 'altar' mentioned in the note.

- on their way, they come across a gathering of people - somebody is standing on a platform speaking about a 'Dol Rhevtield'. Smashmouth decides this is bad and starts a fight. The first civilian casualty of the campaign happens, rip

- after a stupidly short fight (I hate Shatter), they head into the woods and come across some elven ruins, seeing that same disturbed earth and another freakin tunnel.

- lots of stealth checks are passed and eventually they end up as the most obvious bad guy ritual room in existence. Viscera everywhere, too many candles, space cleared on a high stone altar for one more sacrifice. There are guards everywhere, several posted near a door that leads (presumably) towards some cells, and a door that is DEFFO a boss lair. So many holes in the walls and ceilings extending out into tunnels that goes gods know where.

- Detect magic reveals a lot of lingeral bad vibes. The party is being scryed upon - somebody is tracking the coded note they took.

- a fight happens and they win. Look, I was too busy to take notes.

-'Well, fuck it. Something bigger is going on here.' Yen tells Smashmouth about her travels, recruited into an organization that took quite a hit a year ago, she's been looking for trustworthy people to venture into far corners of the land and investigate this gropu and others like them that threaten Tal'Dorei's newly found peace.

- Yenfire is a sort of recruiter that was stationed in Westruun, but now that she has people to recruit, she can take them to a teleportation circle outside the city that's set to transport them to the organization's headquarters.

- Smashmouth steps through the circle into a very cool looking atrium. Yen welcomes them to the HQ of The Association of Concerned Ordinary SUbjects of Exandria (TACOSE), an organization that spans continents that helps people do good and keep good going.