Skip to content

Dunmari Frontier - Session 41

Monsoon’s Arrival: in which the party returns to Tokra and plans their next steps

Featuring: Kenzo, Wellby, Delwath, Seeker, Riswynn
In Taelgar: Jul 06, 1748 DR to Jul 13, 1748 DR
On Earth: Thursday Mar 03, 2022
Tokra

The Dunmar Fellowship returns to Tokra, assists in archiving lore, and prepares to escort Johar to Darba amidst the onset of the monsoon season.

Session Info

Character advancement: the party reaches level 8 as the werewolf threat is ended and their time in Tokra comes to a close

Summary

Timeline

  • Jul 06, 1748 DR, early afternoon: Leave Saka’s camp. Kenzo gifted scrolls for collecting stories, and Saka urges him to take his duties as a mystai of Bhishma seriously. Travel south to Tokra.
  • Jul 07, 1748 DR: Travel south to Tokra.
  • Jul 08, 1748 DR: Travel south to Tokra.
  • Jul 08, 1748 DR, evening: Arrive in Tokra. Reunite with Riswynn at Kirian’s for dinner. Kenzo listens to Kirian’s life story.
  • Jul 09, 1748 DR: Speak with Hardstones and with Govir at the archives. Speak with Kaleha. Monsoon rains arrive in Tokra. Move to monastery.
  • Jul 10, 1748 DR: Day of Renewal. Spend the night at the monastery.
  • Jul 11, 1748 DR: Speak with Kassi about Rai, dead gods, and Yezali. Rest at monastery.
  • Jul 12, 1748 DR: Rest at monastery.
  • Jul 13, 1748 DR: Speaker Lara returns. Discuss situation in Dunmar and Sura. Agree to escort Johar to Darba.

Notes

Narrative

We begin as the party finishes their conversation with Saka, and prepares to return to Tokra after sharing a meal with Saka and her family. As they depart, Saka pulls Kenzo aside, reminding him not to neglect his duties as a Mystai of Bhishma. She gives him 10 scrolls that can be used to collect the stories of the people of Dunmar, to be stored in the Hall of Stories at some point in the future. 

The next two days are spent in uneventful travel south back to Tokra, in the hot, dry, weather, arriving the evening of July 8th, and returning to Kirian’s, where they had been staying. Here, they are given messages from Govir at the Archives, from Fallthra Hardstone, from Kassi at the Lakan Monastery, from Kaleha, and from Riswynn. After meeting up with Riswynn again, the party returns to Kirian’s for dinner, as clouds form in the sky for the first time in months. After some discussion of what to do with the captured werewolf, Kenzo listens to Kirian’s story.

The next day, the party takes care of errands around Tokra. First, a quick stop at The Red Lily Inn to check on Garret Tealeaf and Ander Charmheart and his family, and then to the Archives. In the Archives, there are papers and notes spread all over the place, seemingly Govir’s recent work. The party heads downstairs to the Hardstone’s quarters, where they speak with Fallthra Hardstone. She has been worried about Dag Hardstone’s dreams – of a dark woods, in twilight, the sounds of a hunt in the distance. But Delwath assures her the dreams are safe, the echoes of the god that cured him from lycanthropy. 

The party then goes to talk to Govir. He has seemingly barely slept since we rescued, and has figured out a lot about the ritual from the notes Delwath translated. He tells the story, which confirms what the party learned from their captives. He has also found more information in the Archives, not well cataloged or noted, that describe the ritual and the goal of the Fraternity of the Empty Moon from the last time they were in Tokra, many generations ago. Govir is convinced that the Archives could be better organized and there is much to learn hidden in the depths of the records and letters here. 

After speaking with Govir, the party briefly speaks with Ardan, convincing him to give Govir the time and resources to lead a reorganization of the material stored in the Archives, and leaving Govir with a list of things to try to dig up information about. While it will take some time (months, not weeks), he is dedicated to the cause, and Ardan is willing to fund several assistants for him. 

Leaving the Archives to speak with Kaleha, the skies open and the first rains of the monsoon season begin to fall. Kaleha is very pleased with the rain, and in a good mood. She intends to execute the werewolf for his crimes against the people of Tokra, but wanted to confirm the party did not want him alive for any reason first. 

That afternoon, the party moves to the monastery to wait for their Portable Hole before leaving for Darba. The next day is the Day of Renewal, a quiet day in the Dunmari festival cycle, celebrating the first rains of the monsoon each year, and giving thanks to Jeevali for her sacrifice. 

Over the next few days, the party speaks with Kassi (details on what she reports are described in Research from Kassi), and then speaks with Speaker Lara, when she returns from her trip to the east.

Speaker Lara has traveled east, and spoken with Nayan Sura, drawn, she thinks, by the gods to help make sense of the current moment. But Lara fears this is a moment that Laka did not foresee, and does not know exactly what to do. She sees the will of Aagir in Sura; Aagir has always been the force in Dunmar pushing for war, pushing to drive east and exterminate the evil forces that threaten Dunmar. But whether this is impulse will lead to safety, or just needless death, Lara does not know and cannot see. In the past, riding east in force has led to much death, but whether needless is hard to say, and if Sura summoned the might of Aagir and rode forth, Lara fears that Dunmar may meet a glorious end. Nayan Karnas is a servant of Sonkar – a goddess many think cold, perhaps even heartless, for she is the one that sits in judgment of the dead. And yet she is also the one that mourns life cut short the most, the lost potential of the prematurely dead to create art and beauty in the world. 

While a solution is not immediately apparent to Speaker Lara, she has decided to send Johar to Nayahar to speak with Nayan Karnas, to try to prevent war at least. However, rumor is that the roads are dangerous now, both from evil that may have slipped in to Dunmar over the last months, and from the usual banditry that is caused by famine and war. So, she asks the party to escort him, at least as far as the coast. 

We end as the conversation fades and the party agrees that Johar will come with them to Darba.