Session 4 (9/3/2020)

The session saw the party waking up at their campsite from the night before and moving on, traveling through to Svenheim, meeting some mercenaries and foiling a robbery on the way. They found their way to the Grumpy Dwarf, Aldor met a mysterious cloaked stranger named Thrain, and Bjorn offered to help with the town's bandit problem.

The next morning, they bought some supplies (having left Auriel with a great deal of exuberance and little forethought) then went to see the mayor, who explained that the town's militia was too green to fight hardened criminals, but offered to accompany them himself.

Gaw and Darragh scouted out the camp, and they set up an ambush for the first group of bandits coming down the path. While their ambush failed because the bandits spotted Oorok, they still managed to wipe out the group, and now have to work out what their next move is.

Teldaris date: Sunday the 10th of June, 643IR

## Oorok Tharomarsh

After resting at camp for the night, we pressed on and made our way into town. Before we left, Bjorn and I searched for breakfast. He may not know what makes a good camp, but he sure does know how to find a good meal. Between us we found enough rabbit and vegetables to feed everyone…Lyra is a surprisingly good cook.

As we made our way forward, we came across a group of merchants being robbed by bandits. They tried to tell us to move along, but I wasn't about to let them just rob these people. Some of the others though…

I’m starting to wonder about Lyra and Kel. They both had “secret plans" to pretend to leave those merchants behind for their own needs. It proved to all be fake. They wanted to use words and espionage to help these merchants. But those people didn't have time for that. I'm sure Lyra and Kel meant well but…you don't solve problems by pretending to be cruel. Sure, we helped those people, but it almost meant leaving them. Is this how they want us to solve all problems in the future? By making innocent feel as though their needs don't immediately concern us?

I'm also unsure of that gauntlet Kel wears. Something about it makes me uneasy. There's no denying his magic is powerful, but the way his gauntlet absorbs things from people. I also get the sense he's never killed a man before. With a wave of his hand, he made a man explode and then…he ran away. Killing your first man is never easy, and killing more only makes it harder. I wonder, when his words fail and it comes to fighting, will he be able to do what it takes?

And his magic…did he also train under Fabio? What does that say about Lyra and this “arcane" stuff they use. Can either of them be trusted?

Is Aldor's magic the same? No. I can't think of that. His magic has to be different. I only have so few people I can trust again and I can't lose that trust. I'm not losing more people.

After dealing with those bandits, we made our way into town. A nice little town. Tavern, shops, blacksmith. Maybe I should visit the blacksmith. He might be able to do some work on…I don't know what threats we'll face, but I might need that thing ready again. The man I am isn't enough, maybe I need to be a man I swore I would never be…

The tavern there seemed nice. A mess, but nice. Not their fault though, those boys from the war caused the damage. After a round of drinks, we called it a night. A strange man sat in the corner but I wasn't ready to bother him. Can't say the same for Aldor though. He seems all to eager to make friends…an admirable quality…I wish the others would be nicer to him.

The next morning, we made our way to the bandit camp the bartenders told us about. The mayor couldn't send fighters, but he made sure he himself could join us. I hope we can deal with these bandits…no more innocent should have to suffer.

## Aldor Stargazer

Dearest Diary,

The past couple of days of travel has been weird. I thought the adventure would feel different. But hey! The bandit stuff has been fun. Learning who does what and all that. Bandits are dumb. Dangerous… sometimes. But dumb always.

Kel and Lyra are really good at talking. But planning seems to still be weird for all of us. I mean. My plans are great. Check this! I run. I bonk the guy in the head. I cast Sanctuary on myself. They can't hit me. I'm the best. They give up and we win. However, everyone else thinks too much I think. Talking gets us away from harm but elongates it for others. I don’t like it…. It isn’t because I’m bad at it. So shhh.

Kel was suuuuuuuper shaken after ger froze that dude. I think its the soul-sucking thing. They probably taste bad. But Bjorn and Lyra noticed so they are probably best to talk to him about it. Bjorn especially. He should be able to help someone that doesn’t have the halfling efficiency that I grew up with and use as an excuse every time I’m questioned about that stuff. Its totally not the fact that I will (the words are crossed out and can't be read.)  Oops. A little granny g came out just then. I’ll go fix that up right quick. Never go full granny g Aldor. Ya silly billy.

We learned more about the gems. Lyra just kinda stared into the nothingness for a bit. And thoughts just came to her. Maybe she is more like me than I thought hahaha. She knows so much. It's so cool. Maybe she has some god that helps her think too!!!

Other towns are weird! Blacksmiths outside of the home are awesome though. So are strangers!!! Thraine was sooo mysterious and cool. Hopefully, I meet him again. Id love to hear more about his travels.

Bjorn told the Mayor we had a plan to beat up the bandits so we went into the forest and scouted it out. Darragh is getting better at being sneaky but he still cant sneak up on me hehehehe. Mayor man didn’t seem too happy when I mentioned we didn’t actually have a plan but hey. He still hangs out with us. Even helped us beat up a bunch of them when they came to get us.

Now we must plan for the bandit camp... But I think... I’m going to fuck around with this new ritual I learned… It seems fun hehehehe.

- Aldor

## Bjorn Fella

***We packed camp and got back on the road to Kazholm today. We figured we shouldn’t stick around too long lest the bandits from last night, or their comrades, come looking for us. Oorok and myself went for a brief hunting and foraging trip as the others packed camp so that we wouldn’t travel on an empty stomach. While I was still far to intoxicated from the previous night’s -and most of the day, come to think of it - drinking to really accomplish anything other than stumbling upon some berries, roots and bulbs while I was making a half-hearted attempt to hurl my stomach straight out of my mouth, Oorok on the other hand proved far more sober - and competent, and managed to trap us some rabbits, not enough to last our trip, but enough to feed us for the morning.***

***And with that, we made for the first town of the trip; Svenheim. While it would take us most of the day to travel there, we still had plenty of beer to get us through, so naturally I started off the day’s journey with a beer or two. Lyra provided a relief from the mundanity of the journey by providing us with some exposition about history behind the stones we are searching for,  telling us that they were crafted by the Dragon King when he called down the power of the gods, and encased them in precious gems. He used the power they provided to unite the kingdom. They were lost however in his final battle, when he was felled they shot out in every direction and were scattered across the battlefield. We believe that by looking into his lieutenants and speaking to some experts on the history we may be able to locate the stones not already in the possession of Kel’s old friend.***
Eager to get to know this Kel character, and his interesting little rodent better, I offered for him to join me in drink and song to pass the time, he declined the beer and commented on how he thought it impressive that I could handle so much drink. Naturally being almost twice his size, I can handle a fair amount more than him, but I played up my tolerance, amused by the look of bewilderment spreading over his face. But alas, I was not without company to make a toast with, as we happened across a couple of folk heading to fight in the war. While I worry for men who would fight for glory rather than principle, the men seemed in as high spirits as they were full of spirits. Hardly able to walk straight they hollered and stopped for a brief chat. They seemed friendly, but we would later learn the men had caused quite some commotion in Svenheim, ruining most of the furniture in a tavern.

***We continued down the road a while longer and came across what was very clearly a robbery, being managed by a number of bandits whom we discovered worked with the group that attacked us previously. At first we attempted to handle the situation diplomatically. But we failed to land on an agreement that seemed just. Instead, we took a more forceful approach and managed to separate the group taking out the guards and leader.***

***I shudder now to think if we could have done it differently; If we could have done it better. I tore a man in half with my axe. It was horrible. I knew when we left I would need to fight, to kill. But it hadn’t truly occured to me until that moment the toll of taking a life. It’s so hard to process, because it was so easy to do, and it could just have easily been me getting split in half. I attempted to call for a surrender, but instead, my terrible decisions had caught up with me, and instead of letting out a plea for an armistice, I merely let out most of the Beer I had drunk that day, and fell into a heaving pile on the ground and my allies continued to slaughter the remaining bandits.***
***Once I regained myself, the battle had died. I helped Aldor bury the dead in the shade of an oak. Aldor prayed to his god, and I prayed to mine that the forest may take back these bodies, and use them to feed new life, so that this senseless violence may not have been for naught. We helped the men repack their wagon, and carried on to Svenheim.***

***We arrived in the town in the evening and funneled into the tavern were we learned of the destruction caused by the drunks we had encountered early in the day, and did what we could to help out the tavern keepers and rented some rooms upstairs. The following morning, we inquired with the mayor to see to helping us in clearing out the camp that seems to be the source of the surge of bandits in the area. He could not volunteer any troops, but offered his own sword, and proved to be quite useful when we ambushed a bandit patrol. Now we are holed up in the woods, preparing ourselves for the battle ahead and planning our next move…***

***When we make the push. It’s likely I will have to kill again. I can only pray to Athorus that the lives I take are justified by the lives I save.** ​​​​​​​*