Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
7th-32nd of Waxing Fall, 1AL
The 3rd Watch are home at Port Noble, trying to get back to life as normal after the attack while they wait to hear what the council decides to do next. Fiaeorri takes some time to form the magical bond she needs with her new sword for it to work, and is surprised to hear a voice speaking in her head. The sword, Renn, is delighted to have a new owner, as the last one kept stabbing it in things.
Extang returns from his excursion where his attempts to go on a solo mission in giant eagle form resulted in him barely surviving an encounter with a flying draconic creature. He decides to spend some time learning all Feryon knows about dragons.
An announcement comes from the council, along with a vote. They explain that they didn't know the complete accuracy of their information, but that the attack seems to have come from a group known as the Soggy Alliance, who apparently have killed off anyone living within two or three days of the coast for so long that the coast has been avoided for several generations by sentient creatures. They also make it publicly known that there are spies reporting on Port Noble, known only as Koa-Toa, and that any information on them should be given to the militia or the council. Finally, they share that this attack was referred to as a 'small raid' and that it's unknown if the Soggy Alliance can be negotiated with, as one of the reasons given for the attack was for sport.
The vote they are given offers three choices on how Port Noble can respond to this threat: fleeing inland to establish a new settlement, digging in and remaining at Port Noble, or splitting their population in two with some staying in Port Noble and some heading inland to build a new settlement. They also get to vote on if Port Noble - should they stay there - should focus on defending itself, or if they should try to hunt down this Soggy Alliance. After a lengthily discussion (which Fiaeorri vanishes part way through to consult with Gregor), most of the 3rd Watch vote to split the population, and all of them vote to take a defensive stance.
It's a few more days before it is announced that the majority of the populace voted for the same course of action, and Port Noble begins its preparations for establishing a second settlement. Patrick, wanting a quick warning system in place in case either of the settlements is attacked, tries to find another cleric that can send magical messages across long distances like he can, but doesn't succeed - however, he gets inspired to make a scroll of the spell that someone in the settlement he isn't in can use. He even convinces the council to take care of some of the funding. In addition, he commissions some new armor from Gorbosh.
It will take some time for the scroll and armor to be complete, but there are some other concerns that the group decide to take care of in the evenings after they are finished with their various tasks. They have realized that Merara, an old sailor who took care of the orphans, established the fishing industry, and used to be on the council, is missing along with her house-raft. After she fails to respond to a magical message, they try to detect her body with Patrick's magic, while Extang polymorphs into a giant eagle so they can travel faster to get the most of the ten minutes Patrick's spell lasts for. They have no success, however, they come to another realization - they could use this to find the body of the blue dragonborn who went missing at the same time as Balasar's murder. They need to wait until the next day before they can do it, but not only can they put the dragonborn's widow's mind at ease, they can use magic to speak with the corpse and discover the identity of his murderer.
That night, Fiaeorri sneaks of to speak to Gregor again, this time asking for help. She explains how a year ago she murdered a blue dragonborn to help someone fake a suicide - but the fake suicide turned into a real murder and suddenly there were two bodies. She had buried the body, but now there is a chance it might be found, and she needs the body eliminated before the murder can be traced back to her. Gregor agrees to have this taken care of, and Fiaeorri describes the location of the body as best she can remember.
The next evening, the whole group goes out again, this time seeking the body of the dead dragonborn. Fiaeorri is very surprised when they find the body in a completely different place than she remembers burying it, and hides in the trees while the others are digging up the body.
Once the body is retrieved from its shallow grave, Patrick uses his magic to question it, learning that the last thing the dragonborn did before dying was follow a human woman into the jungle to help with something. He describes the woman as best he can, but it's a fairly vague impression; it could be any number of women in Port Noble. He didn't see how he died, other than a strip of metal coming out of his chest. However - and this was important to Patrick to learn - it was a clean death and he didn't suffer.
Fiaeorri sneaks off to demand of Gregor why the body was moved to such a stupid place - only to learn that the body was never found in the first place, as she had given the wrong location. Fiaeorri asks for advice on how to deflect the situation should suspicion and proof point to her, and recieves some - with the final option being to eliminate those who are suspicious of her. Gregor even offers the help of the rest of the True Daughters of Pagslas should it come to that - though Meglin, on bodyguard duty, objects, thinking Fiaeorri should clean up her own mess or pay for her own mistakes.
The rest of the group deliver the corpse to his widow, who is finally put at her ease, though she's confused about why her child was threatened to be killed if she didn't stop searching for her husband if he was dead. The 3rd Watch refuse the offered reward and report their findings to the council, who aren't particularly interested at the moment with everything else that is happening.
Everyone returns to their various tasks. Over the next ten days, Patrick finishes the spell scroll he is making. Extang is given a very sarcastic map by the cartographer, Saifon, who he then then begins taking cartography lessons from. Fiaeorri questions her sword and learns a little more about their attackers, including that they are part of something called the Deepmer Alliance and that the swords former owner was frustrated that the alliance doesn't provide enough sport. And the group gets a visit from Stor, offering them their choice of the newest jobs from the militia - one to find these koa-toa spies, and the other to find and secure a location for the new settlement. The group unanimously agrees to take the latter job. However, they don't head out right away - they wait an additional ten days so that Patrick's new armor will be ready for him.
And that brings an end to this week's game session. Come back next week to see what happens in Episode 59.
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