Campaign Diary

This page serves as a diary for the sessions of the campaign played to date. Details about people met, locations visited, and enemies encountered will appear here.

## Be-Sia

### Session 1

Three future guardians for the summoner Tasha arrived at Be-Sia Village in the mid-afternoon of a clear day in late spring: Ancho, a Bedore artificer; Lash, a half-orc fighter; and Lyraesel, a wood elf druid. They were greeted by a party of companions at the hilltop to the north of the village: Shel, a tortle ranger and Tasha's first guardian; Wakka, captain of the local bandersnatch team the Be-Sia Aurochs; and Chappu, a bandersnatch player and Wakka's younger brother. Wakka lead the recruits to the steps of the island's temple, reminded them of the proper prayer motions and etiquette within the temple walls, and bid them farewell.

The three new guardians learned that Tasha had locked herself in the Chamber of the Fayth within Be-Sia Temple to complete her training and become an official summoner, but had not returned in three days. Shel, being an officially designated guardian, was granted entry to the Cloister of Trials. Lyraesel stepped out of sight and, using her Wild Shape ability, transformed into a black fly to sneak past the guards and enter the Cloister. Lash and Ancho, distracting the guards, entered the Cloister by pushing past Brother Kaito (who did not give chase out of fear of violating the temple's rules).

Within the Cloister of Trails the four guardians encountered a light puzzle, whose solution would unlock the entrance to the Chamber of Fayth. Ancho cast Mending on a broken crystal sphere; placing it in a beam of light from the ceiling and testing its orientation, he illuminated the door jam of the stone door within the antechamber. Unable to find another light beam in which to correctly place a second crystal, the party cast Light to illuminate the face of the door.

With both parts of the entrance lit, the stone double doors slid back and led to a small room outside the Chamber of Fayth. The party discovered a tiny crystal embedded in the floor, one inscribed with the glyph of Be-Sia Temple. After the party searched for a way to open the subsequent door, Tasha emerged from the Chamber of Fayth and exclaimed to Shel that she had become a full summoner, before properly introducing herself to Ancho, Lash, and Lyraesel and accepting them as temporarily unofficial guardians.

Upon exiting the temple the party members split up to explore the village: Ancho, Lyraesel, and Shel chose to visit the village chef, Saria, while Lash visited the inn and met two Crusaders, Luzzu and Gatta. During her meeting, Lash learned from Luzzu that there was a secret mission being planned for the winter on the mainland of Ozuma, during which the Crusaders would attempt to finally defeat Penance once and for all without the use of summonning.

After getting some early rest, the party awoke at midnight to witness Tasha's first summoning at a grand bonfire at the center of Be-Sia Villge. During the ceremony she summoned a winged aeon named Valia; Lyraesel and Shel were able to pet Valia's elongated neck before Tasha dismissed her and turned in for the night.

The following morning the adventuring party awoke to no sign of Tasha, but learned she was gathering her final belongings from Be-Sia temple. Upon arrival at the temple, piranhas emerged from the fountains and began to attack the temple patrons; while Ancho and Lash quickly dispatched of the piranhas in the pools using their melee weapons, Lyraesel and Shel used the Entangle and Moonbeam spells to clog the fountain pipes and prevent further enemies from reaching the area. With the temple safe once again, Brother Kaito emerged to inspect the damage and, recognizing the piranhas as Penance Progeny, pointed out to a large swelling wave moving past the island on the western horizon: Penance was nearby.

### Session 2

After being notified of the threat of dangerous waters ahead due to the presence of Penance, the party immediately left on a three-days' journey to the northern part of Be-Sia for their next stop: Ki Kila. Other parties had already left earlier in the morning for their own passage on the S.S. Liki, including the Be-Sia Aurochs (en route to Tica for the upcoming bandersnatch tournament) and the Crusaders (en route to mainland Ozuma for their secret mission).

On their first evening, while Lash and Lyraesel were on watch, the party's camp was besieged by a flying garuda. Lash slashed at the monster's wings with her handaxe, knocking it to the ground, but in her effort to grapple the garuda's neck she was thrown onto her back. Using her Starry Form, Lyraesel loosed several radiant arrows toward the garuda in an attempt to blind it before eventually landing the killing blow on the beast.

On their second evening, while Ancho and Shel were on watch, the party's camp was besieged by a group of three wild dingos. Ancho ran up on the pack with his steel defender Nox to attack them with his Green-Flame Blade while Shel stayed back to fire arrows from a distance. Their joint effort made quick work of the rabid pack.

After a few hours hike on the third day, shortly before reaching the port of Be-Sia, the party caught up with Wakka and Chappu; seeing another garuda swooping above some hikers nearby, Wakka pointed out that it would be a great opportunity for Tasha to practice using Valia in combat. Tasha summoned her aeon and almost instantly dispatched of the garuda, instructing Valia to use her Energy Ray attack.

At the port, Tasha said her goodbyes to the villagers who had come to see her off before preparing to board the S.S. Liki. An elderly woman approached Lash and Shel, telling them that she had saved up money for her retirement but was never able to safely travel to the mainland continent to spend it on herself. She gifted the summoner's guardians 1000 gil coins in a large leather purse, which the party discovered after boarding was actually a Bag Of Holding.

### Session 3

The party boarded the S.S. Liki and met the ship's captain, a red half-orc named Eugene Harden. Since the party was traveling with a summoner, all except Lyraesel (who was unable to convince Harden that she was an official guardian) gained free passage on the ship. Harden ultimately decided that Lyraesel could have free passage all the way to Tica if she completed the Cloister of Trials in Ki Kila Temple, but otherwise she would owe him for both legs if she traveled on to Tica.

The ship then departed for Ki Kila. A month of rough seas keep the party confined to the lower decks of the ship, staying either in their sleeping quarters to avoid seasickness or in the dining quarters for food and mild socializing to stay sane. Tasha asked the party to play party games, including philosophical joke discussions and drinking games (though eventually the drinking games stopped when Tasha became ill). Eventually, the seas away from Be-Sia became calm, and the travelers were able to enjoy the upper decks of the S.S. Liki.

Near the end of the journey, one morning the party was exploring various parts of the ship, including the engine room with the ship's second mate, a male aarakocra named Edward Feathers, and the chef, a male tabaxi named Robert Roundshorts, where Lash found a book on the Bedore language titled 'Secrets of Salvage: A Bedore Primer, Volume V.' Back on the upper decks, while Tasha was summoning Valia to give her some flying practice, a sudden brewing tempest in the southern seas caught Captain Harden's attention, and called for full speed ahead to try to outrace whatever beast was beneath the swelling waves.

The boat's analog engines were not enough to escape the monster, as Penance's skyscraper-sized fin emerged from the waters and began to pass the ship, heading east toward Ki Kila. Harden gave orders to Edward and Robert to fire harpoons at Penance's fin to dissuade it from attacking the island. Unfortunately, this effort merely upset the monster and dragged the boat around on the high seas, bringing the party under attack.

Penance fired several of its scales toward the boat. Shel and Ancho took out the scales attacking the other travelers before splitting up: Shel to protect Tasha, Ancho to dislodge the harpoons. Lash and Lyraesel laid waste to a number of other scales before Penance struck the ship from underneath with one of its tentacles. The attack dealt dangerous blows against many on board, including Shel and Lyraesel, who were both knocked to the ground, and Valia, who was struck by the ship's mast. With the scales dispatched, Ancho and Lash got to work destroying the harpoons before Penance struck again, knocking Lyraesel unconscious and gravely injuring Tasha and Valia. Once the second harpoon was knocked loose, the sudden shift in momentum knocked everyone on deck off their feet while tossing Edward and Robert overboard.

As the party regained their footing, they witnessed Penance fully emerging from the depths, pushing up one final swell of water. As it disappeared back beneath the surface, the great waves formed a tsunami heading straight for Ki Kila.

### Session 4

Following a short battle against Penance, Tasha dismissed Valia and sprang into action, finding any wounded passengers and healing them of their wounds before curing herself. The party realized the boat was not moving and quickly ran to the cabin to check on Captain Harden. Eugene had been knocked over and was shaking in the fetal position, afraid that the S.S. Liki was doomed to sink. Lash slapped Eugene to knock some sense into him, reminding him that he needed to man his ship, before leaving to take care of the ship. Offended at Lash's behavior, Eugene tried to grab her to reprimand her, but she eluded his grasp. The party journeyed below deck to discover that the engine room was nearly destroyed: the chocobo wheels had been broken, leaving the animals to run around the engine room in a panic, and the room was about to flood, the walls having been slammed in by Penance's tentacles.

The group quickly came up with a plan to save the ship. Lyraesel cast Speak With Animals to calm down the fleeing chocobos and free up space for the party to study the room. Ancho quickly analyzed the weak points on the wooden beams in the engine room, identifying the most damaged parts and casting Mending to prevent the flooding and stabilize the boat. Shel and Ancho then determined that a metal brace had bent, leaving a heavy support beam across the center of the room sagging into the chocobo wheels, halting them from spinning and in turn keeping the engines from properly restarting.

With Shel holding her up on his shoulders, Lash exerted all her might to press the wooden beam back up into place. Lyraesel used Heat Metal to make the metal brace malleable, clearing the way for Ancho to used his blacksmith tools to reform the brace to its proper shape. The warmth radiating off the brace heated up the pauldrons of Lash's adamantine armor, searing her shoulders with a red-hot intensity, yet she maintained her strength and held the beam up until Ancho finished his work. The engine room was as good as new.

Back on the upper decks, Lash and Lyraesel returned to the cabin to reassure Eugene that the engine room had been repaired. Restarting the engines, Eugene wildly exclaimed that the boat needed to head to Ki Kila as quickly as possible in order to warn them about the impending tsunami. Furious at his decision to abandon his crew, Lash exchanged blows with Eugene. Upset at the discordant atmosphere, Lyraesel cast Charm Person on Eugene to salve his attitude; Lash then tied him to the back of the ship. Meanwhile, Ancho and Shel looked out into the waters to try to find Edward and Robert. Shel hopped on his Broom Of Flying to get a better view, spotting them floating in the waves a few hundred feet behind the S.S. Liki. Shel cast Summon Beast to bring forth a swimming creature, which Ancho rode out into the waters to save Edward while Shel swam out into the water and carried Robert on his back.

With the crew back on board, Shel and Ancho took a bruised and delirious Robert below deck for rest before cooking a small meal for the rest of the passengers, including a burger at Eugene's request. Lash and Lyraesel maintained the S.S. Liki at full speed on course for Ki Kila. When Lyraesel's charm wore off, Eugene tried to break free from his binds but failed. Upon their arrival at the bay of Ki Kila, the party saw the remnants of broken huts and bodies floating in the water: the tsunami had hit the village. Disembarking from the ship at port, Tasha prepared to perform the Sending ritual for the first time.

## Ki Kila

### Session 5

Just before sunset, Tasha performed a Sending, an ancient ritual to guide the souls of the dead toward the Afterworld in order to prevent them from remaining unsent or becoming fiends. In need of a good rest after their tumultuous journey at sea, the party turned in for the night after a brief dinner. Early the next morning the party learned from the village innkeeper that another summoner had recently headed into Ki Kila Woods on a journey toward the island's temple, but had not yet returned. In addition, a small group of Crusaders had left for the woods earlier that morning. The party ventured out of the village into Ki Kila Woods to begin their day-long hike to Ki Kila Temple.

When the party reached a fork in the road and became lost, Lyraesel cast Speak With Plants on the trees nearby to ask for help. Lash then spoke with a blade of grass named Hairy who informed the party of other hikers in the woods before requesting to be brought closer to the river. Shel and Ancho scooped him up with a pile of nearby dirt and replanted him closer to the riverbed. Afterward Shel went spearfishing for second breakfast, eating part of the freshwater walleye as sashimi before Ancho cooked the rest for the party. Across the bridge, the party encountered a group of Crusaders, including Luzzu and Gatta, preparing to capture a dead (or at least unconscious) Ochu Lord in a cage. Lyraesel pulled a large sappy purple flower off the tentacle of the fiend.

Within a few hours of hiking, the party reached the steps up to the peak of the volcano at the center of Ki Kila, leading to Ki Kila Temple, and Tasha decided the party should have a race the rest of the way to the top. Lash won, narrowly outracing Shel, while Lyraesel and Ancho tied for third, with Tasha coming far behind in dead last. At the entrance to the temple, the Tica Goers emerged from within, and Shel pointed out the team captain, a tall high elf named Bickson Dorque. The Goers explained that they had been praying for some tough competition, not for victory, as they certainly would be winning the upcoming tournament. Bickson mocked Shel and the other Aurochs inside, saying they wouldn't even make it past the first round of the tournament. Shel responded that not only would the Aurochs make it past the first round, but he'd defeat the Goers in the finals himself.

Within the Ki Kila Temple, the party headed toward the entrance to the Trials where they encountered another summoner, a female tiefling named Dona, and her guardian, a half-mermaid half-minotaur barbarian named Shia (nicknamed "The Buff"). Despite Tasha's manners, Dona was dismissive of Tasha's ability to complete the Trials within, criticizing her need to have such a large number of guardians on her pilgrimage. Tasha rebuked this criticism, attesting that it is an honor to have as many guardians as she can trust. Dona and Shia left as the party entered the Trials within.

Once inside the fiery temple, the party saw two separate chambers within. After splitting up, each chamber locked its doors behind the party, separating Ancho and Lyraesel from Lash and Shel while leaving Tasha alone in the central chamber.