Session 2 - Forgive and Move On

20/04/5-10

The sun rose over the horizon, as the little group converged at the northern road out of Konkraimor. A light drizzle of rain accompanied them, as they started walking towards where these tax collectors had been spotted, a 5-mile up the road. On the way Valeyo asked what had brought everyone and they began sharing. Sapphira lived around the area and simply came into town to sell some goods, Otto sought something related to Sardior, while Cassini had interest in some of the event transpiring in Dragomir. Shiek then threw the question back at Valeyo asking him about his unusual clothing, to which Valeyo explained that it a style gaining popularity in his home, but has yet to make its way here. When asked about their skillsets, Otto explained that he had been a cleric of Sardior, since he witnessed the Moonrise a decade ago. Cassini on the other hand possessed gift as a druid. Milivoj had apparently heard of preachers of Sardior coming around his homeland, but their faith had yet to take root, while druids had almost entirely disappeared in favour of organized religions.

About 90 minutes passed before something was spotted up the road - a small camp. Half a dozen tents between the road and the nearby lake, laid around a fire. A wooden pole with a flag marked by a silver crown with wings flew high. None of the group recognized the symbol, but upon getting closer they were waved at, by a muddy scaled dragonborn in religious vestments. After approaching the camp to greet them, the rest of the campers could now be seen. A tough looking dwarf fishing in the pond, next to two half-elven twins, a human man and a hafling stood next to each other by the fire and they all bore this symbol of a crown with two wings on their clothes.

The dragonborn man greeted the group asking about their day and whether they could spare a few gold pieces. A wooded trough stood before him, containing a small number of gold and silver coins. Valeyo asked about the symbol on the flag and the dragonborn face lit up. He then told us the tale of his goddess - Timora. A foundling god, who had only started reaching out to people in the last few years, he himself having been sent visions, but a month ago. His merry band was here to collect donations for a church and spread word of Timora. Shiek noticed that all of the symbols stitched and painted on their clothes, were rather crude - either done in a hurry, or not by a trained hand. The dragonborn said that they had just got here, setting up camp, but last night. When asked about having seen a grey skinned tiefling pass last night, he denied it, but his expression showed that he knew more than he let on.

The party bid them farewell, and continued along the road discussing how to handle this. Collecting donations was not illegal and these men had not tried to harm them in any way. After some back and forth, Valeyo started walking back to the dragonborn and asked to be told more about their goddess's tenets. He was handed a small 10 page book, hastily written, but with nice handwriting. The core message of the book was one of forgiveness, of moving on and leaving the past behind. Valeyo handed the book back and told the dragonborn that they need to clear their camp and leave, as some bandits had been seen operating nearby. He even pointed at Milivoj, saying a knight of the king had been dispatched. The dragonborn was taken aback, but said that they could take care of themselves. Upon further insistance thye started making up excuses about their tents being wet, something Valeyo solved with a cantrip.

Now out of excuses the dragonborn told us he would be frank - the couldn't leave. Responding with honesty in kind, Valeyo said that their faith was made up, and it's tenets the definition of generic, something that visible irritated the dragonborn. Eventually both parties came clean about their goals here. The dragonborn and his people, were sent to retrieve a material that was stolen from them - an ore, found on the mountaintops, which was of religious significance tot Timora. it was created by their goddess and allowed communion with her. A batch had been stolen from Grumpad, and the high-priestess Natasha had sent them to retrieve it. They seemed rather surprised when we told them that someone else had attempted to steal the ore from the ship. Shiek proposed waiting for our employer to arrive and pretending we had captured these men, so we can clear this situation up. After some discussion in Velindese, they agreed to the plan, although they had confirmed with each other that should this not work, they would proceed as they had originally intended.

A few hour later, Blazh and an armoured woman were seen riding up the road, with a cart behind Blazh's horse. He looked different, one of his horns having been broken. When asked about it he said that this is what he looked like, and he would simply use an illusion to hide his injury and appear more presentable when trading. He congratulated the party on capturing these men and was about to give them the promised gold, when he was asked about the ore he was transporting. He denied any knowledge of it being stolen and presented documents confirming its purchase from the Chettan Mining Guild in Grumpad, to be delivered to him in Konkraimor and taken to be sold in Konskirav.

The group turned to the dragonborn and said that it all looked legit, so if he should return to his priestess and let her know so they can find another way to solve this, if the goods were truly stolen. He got visible nervous and cried out that they cannot be allowed to have the material, as they could bring death to thousands, explaining that outside of it's religious use, this material could be used to manufacture a powerful explosive device. Blazh denied having any knowledge of that and claimed it was his intention to sell it to the highest bidder, as a merchant does. The dragonborn the stood up, revealing that his bindings were, in fact not very binding and spoke to his group in Velindese, saying that it is back to their main plan.

Combat ensued, where Sapphira, killed one of the half-elves and the human man, while the armoured woman with Blazh slayed the dwarf, by infusing her strikes with necrotic energy. Through out the fight the dragonborn and his group were focused on attacking Blazh, with their hafling getting a good stab on the man, one which was healed by the armoured woman with a touch. Valeyo implored the dragonborn and his friends to surrender and not die unnecessarily, but they would not listed. Ultimately, the dragonborn and the halfling were knocked out by Shiek, while the other half-elf was convinced to surrender by Milivoj and Valeyo.

Blazh started clapping when it was done, handing the group their 180gp reward and saying that they had earned a bonus, pointing out the trough. Blazh and his companion they rode off, unbothered by the killings. Shiek went to collect the gold from the trough, but was stopped by Otto and Valeyo, who said that taking it would make the group no better than bandits. They then healed the dragonborn and the hafling to talk to them. The dragonborn, whose name was Kastor, was deeply saddened at the death of his companions and the failure of their mission. Valeyo told the that they should have surrendered, but Kastor insisted that the lives of thousands had been at stake. When asked where his order was based, he simply said that they are still knew, their high-priestess being the longest serving member at only a few years. Last he knew, she had been in Konskirav, heading for Dragomir. Valeyo freed the men and told them to pick themselves up and move on, giving them his share of Blazh's gold. He suggested they go to Dragomir and meet with their priestess, letting her know what had happened, while Valeyo and Shiek would follow Blazh to see what his intentions for this ore were. Valeyo directed Kastor to a inn, where Valeyo would send letter with their findings. After saying a few final words from Valeyo in Velindese to boost Kastor's spirit, the party started heading to Konkraimor, to gather supplies and collect Milivoj's retainers, in preparation for their journey to Konskirav.