Session 021

Leodel’s Dream

Leodel dreamt of a song sung to him by Quinton, remembers 3 verses of Song of 7 Banners.

”You recall a quiet day in the orphanage. Quinton, the caretaker, is telling you a story about a city with 7 great houses; The Green Frog, The Black Cat, the Brown Bear, The Grey Wolf, The Blue Snake, The White Owl, and The Royal Lion who ruled over them all. He also tells you about a Prince to had to flee the city in its time of need and how an evil man took control shortly after. He says the story ends with a brave and powerful figure reuniting the city and becoming the new king.” - Leodel’s memory, narrated.

The Next Morning

The party awake in various locations around Phandalin and begin their days with food and early errands.

Getting Information

Illsaiim headed back the Phandalin Miner’s Exchange for more information about Oskar Kryme.

He was greeted by a mysterious man in a black hood who was understood to be a higher ranking member of Zhentarim. He sternly tells Illsaiim to ask around the town for information.

Speaking to Randall

Fill headed to speak with Randall Bark about how he is handling the new position. He sees the human man with hair tied back and a new bear growing in. Randall Bark thanks Fill for giving him the chance to matter again.

Ander’s Proposition

Ander and Leodel ran into each other outside Adabra’s Funderground and talked about returning to Neverwinter.

Leodel comforted his father during a tender moment and agreed to return to the life they had before. Ander reminded Leodel why had even come to Phandalin in the first place and they headed to Barthen’s Provisions to inquire about the item.

Thin Heir

Elmar Barthen recognised Leodel and explained the story behind the item before presenting a shiny, seemingly-Platinum belt.

”A human man came past a week or so ago and clearly wanted to get rid of it. He only asked for 20 gold and I can tell you it’s worth a helluva lot more than that!” - Elmar Barthen to Leodel

The belt looked metallic, but didn’t seem to shine in the light as it should when held by Elmar Barthen, however upon touching Leodel’s hands - it glowed a bright white light across the entire belt.

The 6 linkages of the belt contained a symbol of a different animal - to which Ander seemed surprised in recognition. The belt seemed to be missing a seventh link that would allow it to be worn.

The two felt they should return to Orphanage, where Leodel grew up to get some answers. They walked back to the centre of Phandalin to say their goodbyes to The Bussy Knights.

Alberic’s Monk-sense was tingling

Alberic had been meditating for a long time when he was interrupted by Mike and Salvador; before announcing he had a sense there was something significant about to happen in the centre of the town that they should attend.

Royal Implications

Each of the members of The Bussy Knights made their way back to the town square of Phandalin before inquiring about the belt slung over Leodel’s shoulder.

Illsaiim recognised the symbols on the belt and demanded to know why it was glowing for Leodel and how he had attained it. Ander was apprehensive of the Shadar-Kai male but mostly kept the conversation civil. Illsaiim demanded to see the belt and Leodel obliged, handing it over to him.

After a tense moment and a recital of Song of 7 Banners started by Leodel and finished by Illsaiim, the belt was returned to Leodel as it glowed even brighter before attempted to wear it.

Upon doing so, the seventh link of the belt appeared; depicting a royal lion on the centre. Only confusing the party more; especially Leodel, the dragonborn said his farewells to his compatriots before heading towards Neverwinter with Ander.

Weeks later

”You see a brown wood cottage with two floors in the woods outside the South-East wall of Neverwinter. The top floor window had been repaired in the time since you left. There’s a few kids of varying ages roaming around outside playing and helping out. You see a familiar human man sitting in a chair drinking what looks to be a cup of tea. As you approach you make eye contact as he nearly spits the tea out in the face of a half-elven kid he was talking to.” - Leodel’s return to the Orphanage, as narrated

Leodel and Ander arrive at the Orphanage and the former is very quickly recognised by the host.

A short conversation occurs between them before Quinton recognises the belt and ecstatically hugs Leodel and shouts in joy:

“MY BOY, YOU’VE DONE IT! Come inside the both of you, there is much to discuss!” - Quinton Alagondar to Leodel and Ander

Quinton explains the events of The Ruining from his own perspective; talking about the loss of his siblings in a single moment and then his city in a handful of minutes. He details that a dark-elf man helped him reach Leodel’s parents; the Nabal Family who helped him escape the city entirely.

Song of Seven Banners

Quinton recites the lines of Song of 7 Banners one last time and explains to Leodel that a long time ago in his families’ history, there was apparently a need for a safety mechanism to select a new person as heir in case the main family were all killed off by plague, sabotage, or otherwise. This led to the creation of Thin Heir and its enchantment which would allow any living heir to pass the throne down to anyone born of the city; from one of the Great Houses or else.

”Your compassion and caring nature alongside your ability to captivate a room rang true above all else as you matured. The day Ander came to adopt you; and you cared more about what would happen to the other kids than yourself - I knew I had found the next heir to the throne of Neverwinter.” - Quinton

Quinton inspires Leodel to become the hero he had always spoke of being and to reunite the city of Neverwinter as the scene closes.

A sudden call from Kellam

In the lull following Leodel’s departure as The Bussy Knights have a sombre moment over the loss of a comrade; Fill receives a call via Wyng Communicator from Kellam.

Kellam informs the party to be careful as Dagult’s corpse; which was locked up in their vaults for investigation, has vanished suddenly and is nowhere to be seen.

”I’m worried for the safety of the Prince and my nephew… I’ve sent what guards I can to monitor them. Please watch over Aster for us, Mr Werrell. I’d hate to think what could happen if they got a hold of either them.” - Kellam to Fill

Fill keeps this information to himself for the time being.

A Wild Leonin Appears!

Directly afterwards; The Bussy Knights excluding Alberic noticed a very tall Leonin man; who would later be revealed as Graxious Longwood I, attempting to sneak behind them very poorly.

After being questioned by The Bussy Knights and catching the attention of Adabra Gywnn, he agrees to visit Randall Bark and be registered as a visitor in the town due to his suspicious circumstances.

Speaking to Randall, again.

Upon speaking to Randall Bark - Graxious is welcomed to the town and thanked for his co-operation.

While The Bussy Knights talk outside; Graxious inquired with Randall Bark about a group of bandits that been seen in the town of Phandalin. Randall admitted that he isn’t aware of the details around that as he is still catching up with his responsibilities as Townmaster’s Hand.

Randall Bark said Adabra or Harbin Wester might know more. He also offered Graxious a bit of work clearing out some trouble down south in Sleeper’s Keep. He also said that Brackdak Olgon might have some more work for him if he wants it.

Towards the end of the conversation; Graxious noticed an unusual bird on the windowsill of the building that flew towards the outside people.

Discussions

Fill informed the others about the call from Kellam. They discussed their options and desires to move from Neverwinter. They also discussed what to do about Graxious.

Shortly afterwards; Graxious exited the building.

”After a hard days work, it’s time for a drink!”

The Leonin male announced (at around 9-10am in the morning), that it was time for a drink before heading directly for Adabra’s Funderground.

Mike misinterpreted what Illsaiim was trying to say about being careful around Graxious and suggested he instead had meant they hire him to replace Leodel.

The Leonin agreed to help The Bussy Knights first as a proof of his character before then being helped by them to find the bandits he was after.

Meet back here at Noon

The Bussy Knights agreed to meet back in front of the Townmaster’s Hall at Noon before heading their separate ways to get supplies.

Gearing up

Fill; looking for new weapons, ran into a new shop that had appeared near Barthen’s Provisions run by a man named Richard; a person from Grenfell with the expected very green eyes.

Fill thought it odd that a person from such a peaceful society would become a weaponsmith; but swapped his crossbow and bolts for a longbow and arrows.

Mike looked for some armour but was unable to find anything that worked to his advantage - he joined Fill shortly afterwards.

Salvador headed to Barthen’s Provisions to buy some Health Potions; managing only to afford a single basic potion. He also joined Fill and Mike as they went to source transport.

Transport

Fill, Salvador, and Mike headed towards the Phandalin stables and after a small misremembering of their group name by Ideira Stables, she had given them a group of 7 horses and a cart for 60 gold.

6 of these horses were retroactively named by each of The Bussy Knights.

Salvador -> Stitch
Graxious -> Spirit
Fill -> Bepis
Mike -> Sasuke
Alberic -> Jamiroquai
Illsaiim -> Bishop

Information

Graxious first spoke to Brackdak Olgon at The Funderground and found out about some bandits causing trouble in Hockton; a farming town located East of the border with The Shielded Inlands. He also spoke with Adabra who did remember that bandits had been in Phandalin a while ago but she could not recall their appearances. Graxious paid for the two glasses of Ale and left.

Illsaiim headed back to the miner’s exchange for more information about the mission, and to let Zhentarim know he was accepting the mission.

A tense moment occurred when Illsaiim made demands that this would be his last mission with the organisation.

”Prince, This is Zhentarim. There is no end to this deal. Remember, House Wisedew asked us for your location and we told them we didn’t know because you were an asset to us. If you are no longer, then we might re-evaluate what we know about your location.” - A Zhentarim agent to Illsaiim

Illsaiim left shortly after receiving a slightly better crossbow as a loan.

To Neverwinter!

Despite aiming to leave by Noon, the party were inefficient in their gathering of resources and it was the late afternoon before they had even sourced their resources. They left Phandalin at around 3pm.

Based on the map provided to Illsaiim, there was a bit over 100 miles between Phandalin and Neverwinter following the known roads. They estimated it would take between 3.5 to 5 days to travel that.

Day One:

The first day went smoothly for the party, not many issues to deal with, however they did notice a run down caravan that had the same adornments and stylings of the caravan they had seen on their way to the Dwarven Excavation. It didn’t seem to have anyone inside or around it so they moved on past it.

Settling down for rest at night; the 4 members of the party with Darkvision watched out while the Human party members rested the whole time. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; just some general night time spookiness.

Day Two:

As the party set out for day too; they came across a narrow section of path with somewhat lowered ground towards the East and higher ground towards the West. The path curved from the South-East towards the North-North-West.

As the caravan moved past one of the trees; a figure jumped out of the tree and attacked the party. The now zombified corpse of Dagult Neverember appeared in front of them all; still mouthless and blank-eyed, and cast Cacophany on them - sending Fill, Graxious, and Illsaiim flying out the left hand side of their carriage; destroying it in the process. Their horses were also sent flying; taking damage and being scared senseless.

A drawn out combat encounter ensued where Dagult took control of Alberic while he attempted to flee following a slash attack from Mike Hawk. The party had their attention split as Dixon Normus; still in a similar zombified state to the last time they’d fought him, appeared out of a tree nearby Fill Werrell.

The party managed to whittle down their opponents; landing some key strikes and largely avoiding retaliation. Mike landed the “killing” strike on Dixon; who he now knows is his biological father, and Fill landed the final blow on Dagult; annihilating the Undead Human with a Guiding Bolt spell.

The session closes with the party assessing the environment for more danger - before realising that their cart is damaged and their horses have run off during the fight.