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Dunmari Frontier - Session 20

At the Stone House: in which history and past disaster are discussed, and orcs defeated

Featuring: Kenzo, Wellby, Delwath, Seeker
In Taelgar: May 02, 1748 DR to May 05, 1748 DR
On Earth: Saturday Feb 27, 2021
Nashtkar

The Dunmar Fellowship discusses Delwath’s mysterious past and learns about the Order of the Awakened Soul with Pava and Avaras, before aiding in an orc battle at Havdar’s camp.

Session Info

Character advancement: the party reaches level 5 while training with Pava and Avaras before departing into the desert.

Summary

  • Delwath reunites with Pava and Avaras who saved him in the desert; they share stories of the Order of the Awakened Soul.
  • The party learns of the Order’s failed attempt 30 years ago to cleanse the Plaguelands. Recent changes in the desert are discussed, including orcs fighting a civil war, and worsening evil around Kharsan.
  • The party trains with Pava and then departs for Havdar’s camp, navigating the desert terrain.
  • Teaching Havdar’s camp, the party aids in repelling an orc attack, capturing one survivor.

Timeline

Narrative

We begin at the entrance to Pava and Avaras’ House in the desert, with these two old monks greeting the party, and Delwath especially with recognition and a note of caution. They welcome the group into their home, and over cool mint tea tell the story of how they found Delwath, wandering, delirious in the desert, dying of thirst, perhaps 30 miles east of their home. He was muttering in a language they did not know, and looked wild, but not willing to leave him to die they brought him to their home. 

Over the course of the afternoon and early evening, while their student Amil brings tea, Pava and Avaras tell their story, and listen to the party. They have lived here for nearly 30 years, and were wanderers for some time before that, and once the desert was, if not exactly safe, much more empty than it is now. They tell of Bhishma, the founder and first Samraat ruler of the Dunmari, whose prayers brought Jeevali back to life (the event celebrated by the Festival of Rebirth). Their order is dedicated to her – she is now deified, as a demigod in the pantheon of the Dunmari – and has a mission to care for the lost dead and tell the stories of the people of Dunmar. But they are cautious and not very forthcoming, and ask to hear the party’s story.

As the party is talking, Avaras appears with the reason for their suspicion: Delwath’s old elven armor, now collecting shadows that grow and billow off of it. When Pava and Avaras found Delwath, they were worried the shadows were making him delirious, were cursing or contaminating him somehow. As Delwath puts on the armor, the shadows fade, and a look of acceptance settles on his face. As the conversation continues, Avaras and Pava, and the party, come to be convinced the shadows are not evil, and the armor belongs with Delwath. 

After this, the conversation continues, touching on Agata Dustmother (“misery incarnate” according to Pava), and especially the history of the Mystai of Bhisma. For some time, even before Avaras and Pava were born, the order they eventually joined had become deeply committed to trying to cleanse the land, the desolation of Cha’mutte, of some evil preventing it from healing. About 30 years ago, one of their leaders supposedly devised a secret way to remove this curse, and it was attempted. But it didn’t work, and many of the strongest in their order died, and much power and knowledge was lost, including the original Monastery of Bhishma near Kharsan. As it was inside the cursed area of plague nightmares around Kharsan it was never exactly safe to approach, and after the failure 30 years ago few were left with the power to dare it.

Now, in the past year or so, they speak of how things have changed, gotten much more dangerous. Orcs who used to live peacefully to the east are now fighting each other in some kind of civil war; a malevolent presence now seems to direct the evil memories that linger around Kharsan; and an adventuring party passed east into the desert recently, chasing rumors of a lost library of Drankor to the south. As the party discussed Delwath’s past and powers, Avaras and Pava go to bustle about in the kitchen cooking dinner. 

The next day, they spend the morning training with Pava, who shows Kenzo a trick to manipulate his opponents’ ki and stun them. The party then sets out in the afternoon for Havdar’s camp, about a day’s join to the northeast. Passing through the canyonlands and rough terrain it is obvious how much better Wellby has become at picking a path through the desert, and the party makes steady progress into the evening. 

The next day, after avoiding a giant scorpion lying in wait to ambush some prey, and after traveling most of the day, the party stops as they approach Havdar’s camp and hear sounds of a battle ahead. Seeker looks ahead using one of his new spells, and sees Havdar fighting a large band of Orcs, maybe 20 or more. The party leaps into action, and finds themselves facing off against the leader of the band and several spellcasters, including one who causes some serious damage with a giant blast of fire. But the tide of battle eventually turns against the Orcs, and the session ends with the Orcs dead, except for one who is unconscious in the grasp of a large stone hand summoned by Seeker.