Session 1 - Beginnings

19/04/5-10

The story begins in the port town of Konkraimor, in eastern Dragomir, on the continent of Ikoval. The sun rose over the small island east of the coast where the Old Town stood. A think manmade strip of land connected it to the mainland and the New Town. Sandy beaches stretched for miles in the north and south and the citizens were enjoying this quiet morning.

Having recently sold their wears an woman cloaked in green was making her way towards the Seaview tavern laying on the land bridge connecting the towns. The cloaked reach all the way past her tights and her hood was pulled back, revealing her long hair and unnaturally red eyes. An eerie air hung around her. At the same time from the opposite direction approached a man in his mid twenties, wearing a formal attire of a buttoned up vest and a long blue coat. He had long ginger hair was tied in the back. Standing at around 6ft, his left leg was missing from below the knee and had been replaced with a peg leg. His left sleeve hung loose, showing a missing arm. Using a cane to support himself he hobbled towards the Seaview tavern, looking out at the port next to the tavern where a longship was just pulling in.

On the deck of the longship, two figure looked out towards the coast. A 5'11 Wood Elf with a dark green jacket and a large billowing hood, was adjusting his shaded pair of glasses as the ship was docking. Strapped to his back is a large suitcase. Besides him stood a small 4'1 dwarf with long black hair and a 3 knotted beard, each knot ending in a metal ring. Covered from head to toe in scale mail he bore a shield strapped to his back and thanking the captain for the pleasant journey.

Riding into from the west was a young noble gentleman atop a fine steed. Besides him a group of 3 people followed - a elderly, well-dressed man wearing glasses, a towering hulk of a man with a clean shaven head and a much younger man carrying a sword in two hands. After surveying the area, he headed to the tavern, noting the recently docked ship. Suddenly something caught his eye, another ship, Almanati in construction, was headed towards dock - much, much too quickly.

One of the passengers on the Almanati ship was a 6ft man covered from head to toe in a loose fitting sandy cloak. He wore a loose pair of trousers and had his face covered in a black mask, leaving only his green eyes visible. From his chest something protruded about 4 inches, almost reaching his chin. Atop the deck, he could see two of the crew, a bug bear and a blue tiefling standing at the front in anticipation. The hobgoblin captain was at the wheel with a mean look in his eye maniacally screaming "It's time!". The final crewmember stood right in front of the stairs leading below deck with a knife in his hand, eyes focused on the longship in the dock ahead.

A loud crashing noise, permeated the air surrounding the land bridge and its docks, as the Almanati ship chased, bow-first into the longship. The blue tiefling jumped aboard the longship and sliced the throat of a dwarf crewmate. The bugbear ran towards another dwarf, bu the hobgoblin captain shouted "Remember why we are here!", causing the bugbear to instead grab one of the barrels from the dwarven ship and rushing it back to their ship. Seizing this opportunity the man in the sandy cloak stabbed the pirate at the top of the stairs, killing him, and the rest of the bystanders joined the fight.

The bugbear was pushed into the water, by a swarm of bees, unleashed by the woman in green, as the man in the shades burned him to death with the power of the moon. The red-headed man, used his magic to calm the tiefling and the dwarven captain, using his words to convince the tiefling the follow him back to shoe, with the intention of handing her to the guards. Meanwhile the armoured noble, jumped off his horse on to the long ship and the across to the Almanati vessel to confront the captain. Seeing the tides turning the hobgoblin spun the ships' wheel in an attempt to turned the ship around. Between the armoured noble and the sand cloaked man, the hobgoblin captain was defeated and convinced to give himself up, lest he be killed.

With the combat resolved, the cloaked man inspected one of the barrels the pirates had tried to steal. Labeled "Do NOT open.", it clearly contained something heavy broken up into large chunks. Grooves had been cut into the lip of the barrel, likely by the material as it had be filled. Soon the Dragosila arrived, thanking this group of strangers for apprehending the pirates. They were also thanked by the dwarven captain, who said that the client, on whose behalf he was shipping the barrels would want to thank them and that he would be coming around in an hour.

One by one, these bystanders started heading into the Seaview tavern. The ginger man grabbed a drink and sat at a table, reading a book. Soon he was joined by the woman in green who introduced herself as Sapphira Angelica-mae. He shook her hand saying his name is Valeyo, but looked back down at his book, after seeing her red eyes. Meanwhile at the bar, the elf, the dwarf and the nobleman were talking about the wine selection. The elf and dwarf introduced themselves as Cassini and Otto, respectively, while the nobleman told them he is Milivoj Novosel member of the Ujen Klan, from their ancestral home in Klevonika and sworn knight of his liege - king Dragomir. Having heard all that, Valeyo looked at the man sitting in the corner and went to approach him, asking his name. The man said to call him Sheik. Valeyo asked Sheik if he was from Almanat, and expressed his desire to visit the city. Sheik confirmed, but seemed to not hold a very high opinion of Almanat. When Valeyo pointed out the thing sticking out from Sheik's chest, he simply said not to worry about it, as it is not recent. Milivoj thanked Sheik for his assistance in capturing the pirates, to be brought to face the King's Justice.

The group began talking about what it could have been in those barrels, the pirates had tried to steal. Sheik shared his findings about the barrels, while Otto and Cassini mentioned the barrels having been loaded aboard in Grumpad. While discussing a possible connection to the railway, Sapphira, pointed out that a grey tiefling could be seen talking to the captain outside. Soon he entered and thanked us for saving his cargo. The tiefling, whose name was Blazh, was a merchant from Otutsa. He gave the group a bag of 100gp as thanks and asked if they were interested in another job. He had apparently been harassed by some bandits on the road north of Konkraimor, who had demanded he pay a toll. As he was planning to leave town tomorrow afternoon with his cargo, he wanted us to leave ahead of that and deal with them, offering 180gp, after some negotiation. The group accepted his offer and the merchant took his leave. Discussion was had, where Cassini asked if they were going to kill the bandints, to which Valeyo responded that there was no need, as they didn't know if anyone had been hurt yet and a peaceful resolution could be reached - a opinion seemingly shared by Sheik and Milivoj. The group then decided to meet at 09:00 tomorrow morning at the northern gate.

Valeyo left first, heading towards the New City and being followed by Cassini. When asked why he was following him and abandoning his dwarven friend, Cassini said that he needed to find a place to stay and he had only met Otto a few days before on the ship. Valeyo suggested Cassini look in the Old Town for a inn, while he himself had something to take care of in the New Town. Sapphira went to get her horse from the New Town stables, before going to the Craven Fisherman inn, in the Old Town. Otto, Cassini and Sheik also found their way to the Craven Fisherman, separately. Milivoj sought a place to stay with the local Lord Casimir, who was delighted to house him and his servants. Valeyo meanwhile spend the evening talking to a group of workers in the New Town, finding out about their troubles with the recent boom in population and the unsustainable pace of housebuilding that is demanded. They were particularly unhappy with the fact, that despite most of the labour nowadays being done in the New Town, the Lord only spends money to improve the Old Town. After talking Valeyo stayed with them in the Dorms, until morning.