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Dunmari Frontier - Session 18

Questions and Doubt: in which mystical realms and strange silences are discussed

Featuring: Kenzo, Wellby, Delwath, Seeker
In Taelgar: Apr 24, 1748 DR
On Earth: Friday Feb 05, 2021
Karawa

The Dunmar Fellowship delves into discussions of otherworldly planes and strange enemies, and decides to travel east into the desert to learn more.

Session Info

Summary

Timeline

  • Apr 24, 1748 DR, late afternoon: Discuss Agata Dustmother, the gnolls, and the events of the past month with [Candrosa], who is distracted, worried, and nervous, especially when the topic of Shakun’s Protection comes up.
  • Apr 24, 1748 DR, evening: Discuss the metaphysics of other planes and Agata Dustmother with Tharandros. Decide to travel east with Havdar.

Narrative

We open in a bare room, the party, Candrosa, and Alesh clustered around a map, discussing the gnolls, what Alesh found in the south, the events at Raven’s Hold, and Agata Dustmother. The conversation is wide-ranging, touching on many subjects.

The dark magic of Agata, also known as the Old Woman of the Dusts, is discussed, and how she makes deals that always seem to turn out worse, and darker than expected. So are demons, and how they have little power to reach the world of Taelgar, unless summoned, opening up a portal to allow them through to wreck havoc. While not common these days, many demons fought in the Great War, aiding the armies of Cha’mutte. 

No one is sure where the gnolls to the south came from – whether there is another demon there, making more gnolls – but Alesh points out that it would be possible for them to have traveled south from Raven’s Hold in the blasted plain. That raises more questions, though, like why they were heading to Kharsan and then into the desert. 

Throughout the conversation, Candrosa is distracted, worried, and nervous, and when the topic of conversation steers towards Shakun’s protection and its absence, he becomes silent and refuses to discuss further. The only time he speaks with force and vigor is when Delwath suggests there is nothing left of value in Karawa to besiege it for, as the land has been overrun already, and Candrosa corrects him that the Temple of Shakun has never fallen. As he leaves to pray, he seems shaken, and overwhelmed.

Before leaving, he tells the party the tales of how to find Agata, should they wish it: head east to the eastern edge of the mesa, then turn south, and look for an animal behaving strangely: a crow flying due south, a line of black beetles, a lizard moving slowly and watching. Follow that animal, and it will lead you to Agata’s home.

After some discussion of what to do next, and a brief conversation with Havdar, who is angling for the party to come east hunting Orcs and gnolls with him, the group heads to find Tharandros, the leader of the Centaurs. Tharandros is happy to speak with them at length, over food and wine, as he is overjoyed that they removed the demonic corruption from the land.

Another wide-ranging conversation occurs, touching on the Echo Realms (the Shadowfolds, Feywild, Nightmare Realm, Dreamworld, and perhaps many more), the resonances in the world that they are echos and reflections of, and the mythic history of the days of great magic before the Echo Realms were created by the Riving, which sundered some of the chaos of Taelgar. From Tharandros, the party learned that Agata is a fey creature, and that she and the Centaurs had an agreement that she would stay south of the road, in the desert and canyonlands, while the Centaurs would have the plains to the north. He also hinted she may have been an ally of Cha’mutte in the Great War, and this is the cause of her desire for revenge.

Finally, the conversation returns to Karawa and the Shakun mysteries. Tharandros says there is something wrong here, a silence where their should be echoes and reverberations, something missing from the land, and asks the party if they can find out more. As the conversation ends, the party decides that perhaps the answers they seek lie to the east, and prepare to find Havdar to discuss joining forces.