Category: Playing D&D

It was our first session in about two months. Planned as a short session that wrapped up the Quest for the Lorebook. The intent was for a primarily social session that introduced some new hooks for further adventures and established some downtime activities. As they say, “the best laid plans.”

After leaving Mayor Kellamon’s house/office most of The Five headed towards the House of Quar, the temple/storefront of Telse’s largest faith. Sitting on the Font of Two Paths the House of Quar bottles and barrels the holy water. Its waters can heal wounds, cure diseases and prolong life. It has two prices, for the faithful (a small donation) and for others (50 gold).

Being in Telse, which is the homeland of three members of the party, they are confident. Shonie heads off to her home. Ten less minutes talking to priests is fine. They got their payment, what more does she need to do?

So the Five, but not the original Five, cross the market. It is bustling with dogs, birds, ponies and other companions. Shops are hawking goods, sometimes hawks.

And then a huge net falls on top of Aamar, Bernie and Mansaray’s falcon. It came from the direction of the Fair Market, where gemstones, jewelry and blown glass are sold. Behn immediately spins in that direction and unloads a bolt into a halfling manning a cart with a large netthrower on it. In front of the cart are two mastiffs. There are five other warhounds with the group opposing The Five. Another halfing is alongside the cart. A slight human stands in front of the group.

“Give me Mansaray’s falcon,” the human demands.

Here the party could do many thing. Though in conflict no lethal action was taken. And, it stays that way for just a moment longer.

Behn wins initiative. He’s just a sorcerer, and still learning his spell powers since the Five have had a Lorebook for a couple days. He casts Fog Cloud to obscure The Five. Mo is next. The quick thinking rogue cuts through the netting to release Aamar and the two bonded companions then uses Cunning Action to Dash towards the House’s door. He yells for Samul and Saffron to follow (those two characters are unplayered in this session).

The two halfings at the cart start loading a new net.

“These need not go further, just give me the bird,” as he whips the bird. Dropping it to the ground unconscious.

Aamar, now free of the net, casts Hold Person. It doesn’t take, as the mental power of the subject was too strong. That man whips Behn. It’s a relatively minor wound, but magically saps his strength as well. Behn’s pissed. The man is rather frustrated.

This next round is when things escalate.

Behn casts Thunderwave. Luckily every single possible subject makes its save. Luckily because it includes several of his friends. But five of the opposition’s dogs are in range and they all fall. Both halfings are wounded both from the wave of thunder and their psychic bond. Aamar is wounded two ways. Bernie is wounded. The man with the whip is wounded two ways. The rest of The Five are inside the House. Maurice is dashing for the Bishop sensing that his friends are outmatched.

One other issue takes place. Behn’s a wild sorcerer. All arcane casters in Kin are wild. There are not yet the schools teaching those that channel magic to understand what it is they do. He surges. To Behn’s good fortune he gets to teleport to a place within 60 feet and he’s now inside the bell tower looking down into the fog.

Everyone in the market and most inside Telse hear the boom of thunder. What was once a quiet, non-lethal attempt to capture became a deafening battle with lives on the line. The Guard is alert.

The man with the whip strikes Aamar twice. He isn’t seeking a killing blow, but one that disables the Cleric of Quar. It works. Aamar is down. Bernie is enraged and rakes his claws across the slaver. Samul rushes out to find Aamar in the fog. One of the halfings shoots at Behn in the tower. The other has the netthrower readied.

Behn’s fog is still stable. Bernie and this slaver are inside the thick cloud and can’t make out the details from the rest of the conflict. The two dogs that didn’t get caught in the thunderwave flee. It’s rushed. There is chaos. Behn’s bicep is oozing blood with a dark mist around the whip wound.

The man drops his whip. Pulls a bow and shoots at the man of Mehmd, again hitting. Behn is about to go down as well. Mo gets Samul’s help, rushing out to pull Aamar into the church as the fog clears. Bishop Ollium stands at the entry too.

Bernie claws the slaver again.

Piyu and a few members of the Guard are nearby. Behn blasts the netthrowing cart with a Firebolt. The halflings try to put that fire out.

Captain Piyu shouts out, “Parun, drop your bow. Everyone, stop.” He has numbers, and health on his side. One of the Guard casts friends on Bernie, the bear cub.

That event requires some quick rules invention. Bonded Companions are somewhat like people, but not their own agents. The check for control is opposed by Aamar’s Charisma. Luckily for Aamar and the Five the role fails and Bernie stops attacking, for a moment.

Behn runs down the ladder-stair from the bell tower into the temple’s chamber of worship. He snags a flask of the Everflow and quaffs it. The necrosis on this arm stops. Saffron shoves different vial of water down Aamar’s throat.

“Piyu, I’m here on Azsel business and just need that falcon. Mansaray escaped and we are able to recover.”

“I do not see a Mansaray. I see six heroes of Telse. I don’t even see the falcon.” The poor falcon is at the top of the bell tower. “Azsel’s authority here is at Kellamon’s will. He most certainly will not will you to recapture an escapee within town.”

Piyu is a goliath, like Mansaray. Half his guard is as well.

“Come with me Parun. We will talk with the Mayor about this,” the old goliath commands. “You others, go with the Bishop. Figure out what to do with the Lorebook.”

Pointing at one of Parun’s halfling companions with a crossbow bolt in his thigh Behn asks, “Can I have that back?” That halfling casts Acid Splash back to answer in the negative.

Bishop Ollium steps between the two. “You, go! You, come!”

They are saved, but heavily wounded. The road between the General Market and Fair Market is covered in the violence. Another priest of Quar comes out to look after the wounded dogs. Some may be saved.

“You, Mehmd man, fifty gold for that flask.”

“What flask?” Behn tries to play it off.

“The one that you tossed aside at the base of the stairs.”

“OK, that flask.” Behn scrapes together the coinage, barely. The Five have yet to cash the cheques that Mayor Kellamon instructed them to take to the money changer.

“Son,” the Bishop looks at Aamar, “does the Book have answers?”

“It does not,” the independent priest answers. “It has some history and lessons of magic. Over these days I think I’m learning more and we of Quar can learn more.”

“May I have the book?”

Aamar respectfully declines. “I will study it here, but I’m attuned to what it does and can help us all learn.”

After a first adventure The Five went out into the Western Wildes. They learned that a group called The Scholars are keeping Kin ignorant of magic. Cortez’ student Chorl is responsible for the Awakening, violating the trust of the Scholars. When Cortez set the volcano off he may have eliminated Chorl and the Cult of Nak’s power. While they were away the West Gate was taken over by Oun/Obsconites who are trying to hasten the fall of Kin. This group is preventing all goods from coming to Telse along the Western Road that connects Dakan Thaeeb and the Cliffs of Gallinor to Telse. Lastly, they met Parun, an agent of Azsel who is collecting escaped slaves to bring them back to the halfling slave kingdom.

Their adventures are not over. They’ve collected a few goods, gained some power and know that Kin continues to feel the effects of the Awakening.

Making a homebrew setting can be rough. You give thought to empires, races, class restrictions, some unique things (cantrips for all, bonded companions). You start to layer on some histories (Lorebooks), maybe a secret society or two, some competing faiths as well. Eventually you think “this can run.”

Then your players ask you a question you can’t answer quickly. Sunday, that question was “What day is it?”

I thought I had the answer. “It’s seven days since you started your quest.”

“Actually, it’s nine. I wrote that down. I mean what day of the week is it? What month?”

“Oh, you want a calendar. I don’t have one. I’ll fix that. For now, consider it late Spring.”

Then the searching the internet started. Calendars need a few things answered. Are there moons and how many? Are the moons tidally locked? How fast do they orbit the planet? How many days does the planet to take to orbit its sun? Does the dominant culture mark its calendar by the moons or by sun?

So I started answering some of these, but not in a particular order. There were some things I wanted. The calendar where the characters were active would be a solar calendar that has no months, just seasons. Then I decided to cheat and make one of the moons have a cycle that matched the seasons. This is cheating. It lacks realism, but it can have verisimilitude. As long as this is kept consistent and reasonable, it creates a believable, though unreal, world.

Decisions to this point: solar calendar, four months that match the seasons

Would there be other moons? Yes. After a quick internet search I found an awesome resource for calendar creation and played with some ideas. At one point there were seven moons, but eventually I brought it down to four moons. Moon three guides the calendar of the lands of Telse, Kirtin and Daoud with an origin from one Qin was dominant in the South and West. It is roughly the size of our moon.

Moon four (The Dragon) is absurdly large, but also quite distant with a long orbit of just under 20 years. It is a generational moon. The calendar won’t be guided by this, but some holidays and story points can be. Maybe a culture considers its people as One Dragon (developing), Two Dragons (Young Adults), Three Dragons (Adults), Four Dragons (Aged), and Five Dragons (Ancients). Boom! More development right there. This makes a lot of sense for Crinth. They don’t celebrate years, but the passing of The Dragon and how many times someone remembers it being Full.

That’s moon three (Kin) and moon four (The Dragon). But what if I want some cultures to use a lunar calendar?

The answer is moon two (Glibbon). For ease of rules conversion this moon is at 31 days. Making a moon, or other satellite, that follows between 28-40 days should keep your DnD rule-set simple enough. Monthly spells/features/etc should maintain their power. Azsel and Mehmd would use this calendar system. Complicated conversions won’t be necessary as the game will run using the Qin Calendar as the Scholars and host city use it. But at times referencing the competing calendars can help make the World of the Everflow breathe life.

For fun I added a moon with a weekly cycle. The tiniest of the moons (Feylf) whips around the planet every seven days. Crinth’s druids use this moon quite a bit.

Decisions: Four Moons. Three competing calendar systems with one dominating the educated classes, two Kingdoms and a several fallen Kingdoms.

Another thing needs to happen. What is year zero? That changes. The common calendar on Earth starts in a year that is recognized as the birth of Christ. Prior to that is BC or BCE and after is AD or CE.

On Kin the most important event is simple – The Awakening. That’s the start of the Qin Calendar. It began 22 years ago. The current game, answering that player’s question, is now 71 Spring 22 P.A QC. That’s when The Five cashed their cheques from Mayor Kellamon upon returning to Telese.

This convention is common in the Western Wildes (Telse, Qin, Mira, Sheljar, etc) and through the Scholars. Kirtin and Daoud start with the conquest of Kirtin-on-the-Lake. On the Qin calendar that was on the 4th day of Autumn 792 BA. The two Hundred Years wars started in 543 BA and 291 BA.

But, the calendar also needs names for its days. I decided on seven day weeks for two reasons – we’re used to thinking like that and because any rules that reference weeks are pretty simple.

Decisions: Four moons, three calendars, seven days.

Naming the days would in some ways echo the real world.

1. Elmsday starts the week and honors Selley (Goddess of Birth, Life and Death) and Belsem (Goddess of the Untamed).
2. Bell’an’Aur is the second day of the week. It starts with a rejection of that which can’t be tamed and ends with a dinner celebrating Aur. Aur is the name of the planet. It hadn’t had a name until the calendar issue came up. In Kirtin and Crinth this is Feylfday and is the day when Feylf is full, shortly after sunset.
3. Quarsday is the third day. It celebrates Quar (God of Rivers, Mountains)
4. Day of Glight honors the Lord of Knowledge. In developed lands the afternoons are given to learning.
5. Torday honors Torq (Goddess of Sea and Storm).
6. Az and Sel is day six. This honors not a god within the Wildes/Kirtin/Daoud, but the man and dog that legend says discovered the bonding. Nik is also frequently honored on this day. Azsel recognizes Az and Sel as man and dog that raised to the gods.
7. Day of Oun is the end of the week. Oun and Obscon are not honored. The Lords of the End are respected in that all things end. They are feared.

There are a few other things that should be noted, and here I leaned on the players again. It’s a complex set of moons. When are they all full? That would be every 337,435 Auran years (they have 312 days), except that when the 20 year moon is full it stays full for several weeks. The Dragon is full to the human eye for over two years. So four full moons happens about every 17.5 years. Three full moons happen every 7.75 years. Every 217 days two of the moons are full at the same time.

To look at the Qin Calendar in the year when The Five are in action click here and enter the following on the data tab.

{“year_len”:312,”events”:1,”n_months”:4,”months”:[“Spring”,”Summer”,”Autumn”,”Winter”],”month_len”:{“Spring”:78,”Summer”:78,”Autumn”:78,”Winter”:78},”week_len”:7,”weekdays”:[“Elmsday”,”Bell’an’Aur”,”Quarsday”,”Day of Glight”,”Torday”,”Az and Sel”,”Day of Oun”],”n_moons”:4,”moons”:[“Feylf”,”Glibbon”,”Kin”,”The Dragon”],”lunar_cyc”:{“Feylf”:7,”Glibbon”:31,”Kin”:78,”The Dragon”:6220},”lunar_shf”:{“Feylf”:1,”Glibbon”:9,”Kin”:0,”The Dragon”:0},”year”:22,”first_day”:1}

All of this effort did not create just a calendar. For the most part when role-playing players will not refer to a custom calendar. It’s tedious and slow. But, you should know how many days are in a year and when you create your custom calendar you start to create festivals, celebrations and justifications as to how certain cultures think. Now, with a calendar there is life to the worldspace.

“What day is it?” asked Samul, a Barbarian from Mehmd who currently lives in Telse.

“It’s 71 Spring 22 P.A QC a Bell’an’Aur. Glibbon is full later this week when Ahid (the sun) hides Ounsday.”

Waking the morning after taking the Lorebook away from Cortez The Five rescue a half-dozen cattle. Starting on their way back to Telse they know that they will move slowly. Maurice heads off on his own to scout the road. There is some concern that the Western Tower of Telse may be held by non-friendly forces. The rest of The Five (now actually five) start the slow trudge through lands as a light fall of ash continues.

Around noon the ash stops falling. A few homesteads are out in this land, but it is mostly wild. A light forest is off to the North while the right side of the road is a rougher land of hill and rock. Off to that wooded side Saffron notices a mix of men and canines rushing from stand of trees to woods. She can’t make much more out than that, but does warn the group.

Onward they travel, a bit more wary and unworried. An hour or so later, Samul in lead position sees two canines and two men. They are then joined by a third wolf. Shonie stops the cattle. Samul walks steadily forward. This is too simple to be a trap.

Saffron recognizes one of the men from the Village of Nak. These are enemies. Behn and Saffron ready their crossbows. Samul readies his chain, slamming it into the ground as his left foot hits the ground. Aamar and his bear cub Bernie move through the cattle preparing to help.

Action is swift. The wolves fly forward with two rushing the barbarian and another targeting Saffron. Behn lets a bolt fly. It’s a miss. Everyone is rather surprised.

Samul enters a frenzy, whipping his chain at the two wolves. Both strike him as he misses. He shrugs off the wounds. Saffron utters dissonant whispers. The wolf charging her whelps turns 180 degrees and dashes off into the woods. The wolf rushes past the man that she recognized. The wolf and man can’t run away fast enough. The man’s fear is from recognition. The wolf’s fear from that spell.

Samul’s chain whips into wolf, this time ripping through the fur, tearing out flesh. It’s human companion cringes, as his bond leaves the living world. Aamar speaks the healing words of Quar and the minor wounds from the wolf bites are gone. The rival acolyte of Nak hit Aamar with his second scared flame. Aamar dodged the first.

The Bard speaks a quick rhythm, inspiring Samul to success as she charges the remaining battle. Samul takes out the acolyte. When Saffron reaches the conflict a single stab of her sword is all it takes. It’s over. A few seconds of fury and a clear signal that Nak’s followers weren’t entirely eliminated.

They march onward and camp prior to sunset. Overnight, on the final watch, Samul notices a herd of elk leaving the ashen lands of the northwest for more fertile lands around the Ferments.

By morning all are rested, healed. A ranch on the road’s right seems a good spot to offer the cattle. Aamar sells them at a below market rate, but the group takes in some gold for their efforts.

Maurice returns from his scouting trip, winded.

“Ahead, the Telse’s Western Tower, it’s no longer under the town’s control,” he spits out between heavy breathes.

“Who took it?” Aamar asks.

“Obscon’s followers. There are dozens. Some laborers still work for them.”

“All armed?”

“Not all, but most.”

“We should go around,” Aamar suggests.

“Why?” Samul’s thoughts are simple.

“To the North or South,” asks Saffron.

“Maybe we get closer and see what path would be easier?” Shonie questions. The group nods. That’s the plan now. Mo scribbles out a tiny map. If the approach makes it clear that they cannot risk trying to go through Obscon’s annihilationists they can head into the hills to the South.

That’s the path. A few days of construction and the fence towards the Sheljar Gate has made more progress. The rougher lands to the south will provide more cover. The group turns towards the Ferments giving space to Obscon’s faithful. Popping over a crest they notice a man and a female goliath hunched over at a bush.

The two don’t seem hostile. Their robes indicate that they are local circle of druids, plucking herbs.

“Ho!” calls out Aamar.

The great goliath gives greeting back. Her bird flutters about her shoulder. “You’re the group searching for the Book! Are you back?”

Aamar answers, “we’re on our way, but the tower was taken.”

“Yes, Obscon’s followers were forced away from the West Gate by Piyu and Allison. But, that group took the tower and the Guard isn’t enough to take it back.”

“Is the gate safe”

“Yes, we will return through the West Gate when we go back to our apothecary.”

“Thank you.”

The druids are left to their gathering of herbs. The Five (actually six) head towards Telse. They reach the gate with others who’ve had to go overland rather than along the road. Trade with the Western Wildes will be greatly diminished with Obscon’s people taking over the gate and a volcanic eruption. When they left the guard numbered four. Now there are eight from the Guard and eight militia as well.

Walking into the city along the Western Street the group passes the stables where those with larger bonds leave them under highly paid care. The streets bustle with dogs, cats and birds. Bernie gets some odd looks. Bear cubs are not typical companions. They pass houses and shops with Telse’s unique mix of halfling houses, human houses, goliath homes and those with entries that accommodate all. As they approach the Market and the Font of Two Paths (the Everflow) The Five pass Allison’s house and Barracks. The Mayor’s office and rooms are across the street along the edge of the market.

The Mayor’s is a multi-racial building with 14 foot stories and a sequence of doors and hatches for Kin and their bonds. Aamar knocks. Kellamon answers. The portly halfling asks them to enter. “I will write you a script that you can cash at the money changer. You will be paid. Take the Lorebook to Ollium. He knows the local scholars that can study it safely.”

Aamar, Saffron and Samul’s players were present for this session. The group is considering an attempt to convince Bishop Ollium that they should remain in control of the Lorebook. They’ve found that book, but they didn’t get answers, only more questions.

The remaining Nak cultists, wandering herd of elk and druid herbalists were all rolled random encounters. The group was about to charge through the Towers but the quickly sketched map started to sway them away from the simple action. Rather than take a wide path their narrower route did result in more random encounters, but the one that hit provided some story rather than violence. The elk were another such story device, that showed how the events in past sessions change current ones. Encountering more members of the Nak group gave the clue/reminder that not all of that faith were destroyed.

When we left The Five they’d reunited in the Glass Tower and held the Lorebook in their hands. That’s a huge advance in their goals. There were signs of trouble. Some kind of odd tornado laden, green/black cloud storm sat over the Cliffs of Gallinor. Out East there is a trickle of smoke. Almost due North is the volcano in which the village they just escaped sits in the shadow.

Dark, dreary times with an invading party of 12-20 cultists and their bonds coming for them. The Five decided to stay and fight.

Maurice left the Tower to hide in the same patch of trees where Mansaray helped The Five a few days ago. The idea is to flank Chorl and the Naks when they attempt to charge the entry. Shonie hides up on the ridge where she and Hilltop will perform a delaying action so that the archers and casters can support from the observatory. That’s the role of Cortez, Saffron and Behn. Their bonds go to the ground floor with Aamar and the still recovering Samul. The priest checks the door to from outside to the pantry, blocking it with the stove and then blocking the pantry to foyer as well. That will delay alternate entry paths, unless Chorl and his followers just try to burn the whole place down. That would suck.

It’s a plan. Outnumbered the hope is to defend in depth and wear out the waves of wolves, eagles, humans and goliaths. It could even work.

Saffron is at the window looking towards Nak and one of the two giant eagles dives down to ground level. They other speeds towards the Tower. Behn is reinforcing the shelves that Shonie put in front of the broken glass windows. He should be able to take some cover using his trusty crossbow. As he pulls some wood past Cortez he recognizes a little of the language of Ken coming from the ancient goliath. Behn has no idea what is being said, just that it has similar sounds to the title of the book that Mo took and most of the Lorebook.

There is a boom – it is louder than anything anyone has heard. All are knocked to the ground. Saffron springs up quickly and checks the window. The top of the volcano is gone. No eagles fly as there is a rain of ash and rock and fear. There is also a wave of ash rushing towards them and down the valleys along the mountain.

Saffron didn’t really see the fear, she more felt it.

Behn rushes to the broken windows and shouts “Shonie, Mo! RUN!” Saffron can hardly hear him. Their companions are hundreds of feet away.

Aamar calls out “What happened?” And Behn barely hearing him, “Get up here!”

Rushing up the stairs as quickly as possible the human passes the window to the southwest and sees no more storm. The sky there is currently clear, and as he rounds a bookshelf he sees that wall of ash and the rain of stone to the North. They are seconds away from the Glass Tower getting hit by a few dozen feet of hot ash. Shonie and Maurice are outside with their companions.

Cortez is no longer muttering.

The wave of ash shakes the mostly wood tower. It remains standing. Most of the group is safe. The land outside looks like it was hit with a heavy snow, if snow was warm. There is no sign of Mo and Shonie. A falcon taps on the window to the West. It is a bond, not wild.

Aarmar Speaks with the Falcon as Behn sprints down the stairs. Maybe, just maybe he can find the two halflings. Saffron looks towards where the village of Nak was. Most trees are gone. The ridgelines she’d just scouted are forever changed.

From the falcon Aamar learns that Mansaray was in the little hamlet past the dark woods. It is where they left Saffron while she was ill. It is the town where one bandit was sent to serve and earn back honor. It is where Mansaray was when the ash flow hit. The goliath sent his falcon to Cortez’ tower to tell them that the hamlet is gone.

Behn throws the main door open and ash flows into the building. It’s just a few inches and bounding towards him is Mo’s little fox. Behn sprints back along the easy to follow tracks. Where they end he starts digging and digging. Maurice is nowhere to be found. The fox and Mitzie try to help, but still nothing.

Worried and excited Behn huffs and blows a Gust Of Wind. Clearing a space and then another space as the light ash blows out of the way. Maurice is under a large tree that seems to have protected him a bit.

“Heeellllp! I’ve found Mo.”

Aamar and Saffron join him. Aamar uses First Aid on the halfling and Maurice can walk again.

“What about Shonie?” and Saffron runs off to the ridge and those boulders. There are no tracks, no signs of life. “Behn, can you do that thing that cleared the ash?”

“Maybe?” and he does it again. Hundreds of cubic feet of ash are blown away from Behn. Shonie is huddled over Hilltop. The two tucked against those boulders.

Aamar cures their wounds.

Scanning the skies for any of Nak’s eagles they only see a trickle of rocks and ash. The Five (there are actually five since Samul is still exhausted from his day long rage) trudge back to the Glass Tower. Shonie and Maurice are in tattered clothes. Hilltop is a bit singed, but healthy and happy.

Climbing the stairs to the observatory in the Glass Tower and Cortez they have questions. He’s old and wise. He could know what just happened.

Behn asks “Did you do this?”

“I guess I did. We decided that Chorl was gaining too much power and needed to be stopped.”

“We?” Aamar interrupts.

“I and the other Scholars at the libraries around Kin. We decided to end his time. It may have worked.”

“Wait – you blew up a mountain to stop Chorl?” Saffron is stunned.

“Yes, he’ll be slowed down at worst. He may be ended. Even if he comes back, others will now have the powers he has.”

Aamar asks “Powers?”

“Pray to Quar, you will find he has more to offer you now. Saffron, your words are more potent. Behn, you will be able to do things that surprise and amaze. As Chorl’s Awakening leaked some magic into Kin, this broke the cage. It will also let the Others into Kin.”

The group exchange glances. Cortez just wiped out at least one hamlet and probably more, changing the landscape of the Western Wildes to maybe stop a former student. That and this talk of even more magic. When the Awakening (now the Minor Awakening?) came tens of thousands died. Kingdoms like Sheljar fell.

“Do you need the Book?” Aamar asks the old man.

“No, it is just a history of Kin with some spells. I have that here among my other books too.”

They back away from Cortez. Trust between them is dead. Sure, they have the book they wanted, but he’d wiped minds clean of others that hunted the Lorebook and blown up a volcano to trouble one man.

Without a mule, they load up Mitzie and Saffron’s dog to pull Samul on a sled behind them. The going is slow. Devastation surrounds them. Passing through the forest that was once dark and spider ridden is relatively easy. Then they round the bend where they’d seen that waterfall and see what the town was. It was in a valley from the once-high mountain. Now, it is desolate with only a single barn’s rough above the flow of ash.

Those with axes hack their way into the barn. It is warm, there is hay in the loft and five cattle on the ground floor. No people live. None of the cattle were bonded. The Five (back at six) settle in for the evening. Saffron sings a Song of Rest. They are all refreshed, even Samul.

In the morning they tear down some of the flooring to take the cattle on their journey to Telse. They have the Lorebook, five cattle, a story none will believe and a trail left behind them that anyone could follow.