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Dunmari Frontier - Session 29

Gnolls and Gratitude: in which a curse is lifted and a new path is chosen

Featuring: Kenzo, Wellby, Delwath, Seeker, Drikod
In Taelgar: May 29, 1748 DR to Jun 01, 1748 DR
On Earth: Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
Shakun’s Wellspring and Karawa

The Dunmar Fellowship cures Jumi, defeats a gnoll ambush, and returns to Karawa, resolving to venture to Tokra for lore.

Session Info

The party gathers Agata’s Treasure, including the Scepter of Command.
Each party member is gifted a Mote of Fate by Tharandros***

Summary

  • Seeker dispels the magic curse that has transformed Jumi into a wooden puppet, earning Cintra’s heartfelt thanks.
  • Delwath and the party search Agata and Samerki’s bodies, cataloging valuable items.
  • The party successfully repels a gnoll ambush using strategic magic and combat prowess.
  • Cintra discloses the nature of Shakun’s Wellspring, revealing its protective enchantments.
  • The party returns to Karawa, gaining information and allies, and then decides to head to Tokra for knowledge.

Timeline

Mirror of the Past

Narrative

Our session begins at dusk, as the party silent, tired, stands before the dead bodies of Agata Dustmother and her oni servant, Samerki. As Cintra rushes to comfort her daughter, Jumi, in relief and also terror at what Agata has turned her into, the party takes stock.

While Wellby goes to scout into the slot canyon that leads to the exit from the Wellspring and Delwath begins his ritual to activate Elmerica’s Sight, Seeker removes a small pearl from his back, concentrates for a moment, and then goes to Jumi and attempts to unweave the magic that has turned her mostly into a wooden puppet. While a challenging task, he succeeds in doing so, and the party sees the wood melting away from her. Cintra, overwhelmed with gratitude, throws her arms around Seeker as Jumi tries to climb into his lap.

Meanwhile, Delwath begins a slow, careful investigation of what is on Agata and Samerki’s bodies. There is a lot to sort through, and it takes some time to catalog

As Cintra emerges from her tent, having just gotten Jumi to sleep, Wellby hears a noise from the slot canyon, of something falling into the pit trap. With only a few moments for some healing magic, the party prepares for combat. With the fire elemental, still around from the battle with Agata, blocking the exit from the slot canyon, Kenzo throwing the gnoll archers arrows back at them, a well-targeted use of Delwath’s magical green flame blade, Seeker animating a boulder to attack, Shakun’s aid in the form of Cintra’s bless spell, and some carefully aimed arrows from Wellby, the party manages to hold off the gnoll excursion. Particularly effective is a combination of Seeker turning the canyon floor to quicksand, holding a number of the creatures in place for Drikod’s flaming sphere to burn over and over again.

As the combat ends and the party recovers, and realizes that Jumi slept through the whole thing across the canyon in Cintra’s tent, the fire elemental burns the bodies as their last act before returning to their native Elemental Plane of Fire, but not before confirming by the last gnoll’s reaction to Agata’s dead body that they did in fact work for Agata. 

The party and Cintra talk into the night about the nature of the Shakun’s Wellspring, Agata’s magic, and more. Cintra shares what she knows of the Wellspring – it is an ever-changing land of hard to navigate terrain, a place where those who try to defeat Shakun’s Protection along the eastern border of Dunmar find themselves wandering, until they die of hunger or thirst. 

While the party quickly agrees that investigating Agata’s lair would be a worthy goal and an important next step, the first priority is getting Cintra, Jumi, and Heart of Shakun back to Karawa. The journey back is a little slow, as the horses have vanished, led back to Karawa by Baxter after the party failed to return to camp in time, and Jumi can only walk so fast. But after two days of travel, the party arrives in Karawa. 

In Karawa, Cintra and Jumi vanish to deal with Heart of Shakun, while the party is approached by Candrosa. Candrosa is overjoyed, profusing thanking the party and telling them they have saved him from his greatest mistake. He also shares the news that a group of Chardonians passed through a few days before, coming out of the desert and heading west. He promises to return later with whatever stories about Agata and especially her lair he can glean from the folks currently in town.

After talking to Candrosa, the party speaks with Havdar, about the Chardonians. At Havdar’s camp is also Baxter, newly equipped with his axebeak armor. Finally, they turn to speak with Tharandros, who is pleased with the parties actions, not so much for what they did for Karawa and Dunmar, but their work in removing now two great evils from the land (the demon in Raven’s Hold and Agata Dustmother). Tharandros tells them his people must continue their delayed migration north, but to leave a message with any passing centaur if they learn more of the evils, curses, and disease still lying on the Plaguelands. He is not particularly concerned with the doings of gods, but is and remains very concerned about the sickness that seems to still linger there. As they part, Tharandros tells them that the future is clouded and many paths from this point are possible, but that he feels strangely optimistic. 

Finally, the party returns to camp. Before discussing their next steps, they show the Scepter of Command to Mirror of the Past, receiving a vision of its creation and past.

After discussion of what they just saw, and everything that has happened, the party ultimately decides that at this point they need knowledge and lore, and the obvious place to look is Tokra, where Kenzo has connections to the Lakan Mystai, and which is also one of the oldest cities in Dunmar and home to a significant library. With that, the party sets camp and prepares for sleep.