AAR (10M): Traverse the Gilded Stone Path (2020-12-08 @ 2359 GMT)

[Xzandrate]

From the writings of Moe'uhane, T'skrang Illusionist, 10th Circle, Boatman 6th Circle, Messenger Rank 6

In my last visit to Sosanopa I was approached by a familiar face, Bartol the human sailor who assisted us when Icarus tracked down Ke'shof. He had entertained a number of inquiries since I submitted my writings to the Great Library. It seems there was some interest in my passing mention of True Water. In hopes of finding a more suitable and stable profession, Bartol was looking to found a new settlement and raise and harvest the kharefya as a type of true water chicken. The thought seemed interesting and he seemed committed, with or without my assistance. As I did not want to be indirectly responsible for the mans death, I agreed to meet him and assist with this venture.

I put out a call to adepts in Throal and was met with a healthy response. Some friends, and friends of friends met to journey to Sosanopa. Thorkell, LaShana, and Xeviouz I knew. Xeviouz brought along a windling elementalist by the name of Zil.

We met Bartol in Sosanopa and began our journey up the river to one of the locations we had come across before, Mathonwy. The village leader there, Anna Voss was amenable to the idea of relocating to more defensible location, however she first requested a task of us. To retrieve a mating pair of kharefya so that this new settlement may attempt to domesticate them in some fashion. We travelled to a location that we had encountered kharefya. As we were here a bit out of season, the kharefya were not quite as vigorous nor aggressive, so we needed to do a bit more investigation. We noticed some traces of the beasts, and Zil questioned some local spirits to try and pin point where the beasts where huddled for warmth. In an effort to draw them out we put together a large fire and began to heat large rocks. We then loaded the rocks into the cages we brought, and then after locating the hiding spot with Lifesight, we drew them out through the earth with a few castings of Walk Through. We managed to capture two, but unsure of the sex of the creatures, we opted to follow the trail of a third that looked to have wandered further into the forest. It took little time to track it down, it was huddled at the far side of a clearing, hissing in fear. It appeared to be afraid of a large tree in the middle of the clearing. We couldn't detect anything amiss with the tree at first, other than it appeared to be damaged. Thorkell then spoke up and indicated that the tree appeared to be generating heat, nearly as warm as you would expect from a creature. We snuck around the tree, and attempted to coax the kharefya into a quickly prepared tent enchanted with Other Place, attempting to get the beast to safety. In order to combat it's fear I soothed it with a casting of Assuring Touch. This simply resulted in it trying to attack us and back away.

Xeviouz jumped to action and attempted to grab the animal and run past the tree. This action drew a reaction from the tree, as roots and branches began to move. It appeared to be some sort of squid. It thrashed around and made some swings towards Xeviouz. We fell upon the beast, drawing vines out towards multiple members. In the end we were triumphant and lucky, as the last kharefya had chosen to hide in the cage we had brought. We returned to Mathonwy and gained Anna's promise to assist with the founding of the new town. But the people of Mathonwy would not be enough alone, so we continued up the river to the settlement of Foss.

Foss was a settlement of Ork and Troll kaer dwellers. They were slightly more fortified than Mathonwy, but they agreed to let us speak to their chief Venmara. We waited in the chief's building for a short time until Venmara entered, cleaning the blood from her hands. We explained the proposal, and who else would be joining the new town. She was interested, but hesitant. She explained that there had been a rash of interactions with some T'skrang who claimed to be from House Ishkarat. They had been engaging in a the waylaying and abduction of travellers, followed by some overly cruel interrogation. Zil attended a number of these people, helping to soothe their minds and bodies. Venmara explained that while those scouts remained, there would be no way to ensure the safety of the town as it made the pilgrimage to the new location. We agreed with this assessment, and offered to broker a solution.

We found the scouting party west of Foss in the plains. LaShana and I moved forward under cover of stealth while the rest of the party presented a smaller number than their own. While they were not immediately aggressive, they were rather indignant. They explained that anyone who did not perform a greeting ritual to their standards was branded horror marked, and attacked and interrogated. As they continued to defend their reprehensible behaviour, Xeviouz eventually drew his sword and called for them to defend their actions. The t'skrang were not expecting the power that our three comrades brought forth, and even less expectant of the windling sniping them from the shadows. The archers were quickly debilitated, and the final two were knocked to their back. We seemed to have things in hand, so I began to search for any others who may be attempting to ambush us. The veil parted and the truth revealed the group of five elves behind LaShana. I assume these to be the 'blood elves' written about in journals, as they all were covered in a thorns as an ork would be covered in freckles. Each thorn showed the sheen of wet blood.

They did not move to interfere or draw weapons, I left the final two t'skrang to the others and snuck to a better position to intervene should they attempt to take advantage of the others. The flailing t'skrang managed to land a deep gash across Thorkell's lower leg, he collapsed to the ground as the blood gushed from the wound. Thinking this would be when the elves may act I confronted them with a warning, they still held their position. The final t'skrang was dealt with, and Xeviouz quickly applied a Last Chance Salve to Thorkell. With some additional Garlen blessing by Zil, Thorkell sputtered and coughed and opened his eyes. The elves then finally spoke with us.

They explained that they had lost one of their scouting party after and encounter with these Ishkarat scouts, they had hoped to question these t'skrang to find his location. The whole truth immediately became clear to me. I advised them of the plan to found a more defensible settlement, and that I may be able to find and return their missing scout.

We returned to Foss and tracked down Venmara. Again, she was cleaning blood from her hands. I explained that the Ishkarat scouts had been dealt with(one had actually been brought back to be ransomed back to his niall), but we needed to see her patient immediately. She simply shrugged and led us to a room in her personal quarters where a elf covered in thorns lay badly wounded. Zil tended to the injuries and we explained the full situation to Venmara. She agreed to hold up her side of the deal and prepared people for the move.

The elven scout was brought to the location of the new town and returned to his scouting party. The combined populations of Foss and Mathonwy gathered and began to evaluate the locations of buildings under the watchful eyes of Thorkell. Anna and Venmara met with us and sought guidance on how a new leader should be chosen. I suggested that it be best if everyone was represented by a council. Anna and Venmara could represent the dwarven and trollish settlers, and Bartol could speak on behalf of the humans. They agreed to this idea and would work with the people to find representatives for the elves and orks, with room in the future for others. Finally the name was chosen, Smuggler's Respite

We spend a number of weeks afterwards helping to establish the settlement, ensure that fortifications we errected and dedicated to Upandal and that a sufficient hospital was established in the name of Garlen.

[verse86]

Thorkell's Journal:
A well known adventurer named Moe'uhane has been tasked with helping consolidate and build up a town to handle the gathering of True Water. It's a good thing they brought me along. After looking at the current town could definitely do with a foreman with some direction.
They asked us to find a mating pair of Kharefiya (these large salamander-like creatures). After heading along the river for some time we found a decent spot that we believed could house some Kharefiya. Zil was able to use his lifesight to find the creatures in their homes. Since we knew Kharefiya like heat, we heated some rocks and put them in the cages, then moved the cages close to their burrows. The heat worked to lure them into the cages. We continued further and found another cowering in the corner of a grove. While trying to capture the creature, we figured out what caused the fear in the creature: a forest squid. Xeviouz and I made short work of the creature. We returned the Kharefiya to Mathonwy and gained their cooperation.
From there we moved on to the town of Foss, a town mostly of Orks and Trolls. We met with Mara, their leader who asked us to deal with some group that was threatening the area. We met with some of the victims who returned. Moe'uhane was able to recognize they were under some illusionist spell and broke it. We found out the Ishkerat were kidnapping and interrogating people. We were also able to learn that some strange elves also interrogated one of the citizens
We left to find whoever was threatening the citizens of Foss. We happened on a group of T'skrang we believed to be Ishkerat. Of course a fight ensued. Despite my bests efforts I was flanked by one of their member and lost consciousness. They tell me I died. I'm just glad I had my Last Chance Salve. I really must get some better armor.
They tell me those elves were watching our fight while invisible and Moe'uhane went to speak to them. He made a deal with them. It seems one of their members is missing and is believed to be in Foss. It turns out Mara was attending to their companion. Some days later we have moved the two towns to their new location. They decide to have a governing body represented by each of the races. They also settled on the name Smuggler's Respite. I will be staying here for some time to help see to the construction of this new town.