🗓 Session 1 – 🪶🎲 Debts and Feathers

📅 Date of Session:

2025/03/23

👥 Party Members Present (in order of appearance):

Voss Dain – Half-elf cleric; broad-shouldered, red-haired, confident, and gruffly good-natured. His humor borders on sarcasm, masking his pragmatism and quiet moral compass.
Nelvax – Human monk; streetwise and easygoing, with a gambler’s charm. Quick with a grin and quicker to act when others hesitate.
Xaniver – Eladrin sorcerer; composed, curious, and sharply perceptive, carrying himself with calm poise and a faint air of otherworldliness.
Harlekk Wynnchym – Kenku bard-warlock; a small black-feathered performer in colorful scarves and a wide-brimmed hat, radiating infectious optimism despite his eerie, flightless form.

📍 Locations Visited:

🎲 Session Summary:

🏰 Visit to Lord Signmonder’s Estate

The party arrives at Lord Signmonder's estate, once the old royal castle now gifted to his family.
Two Redcloaks—fully armored elite guards whose identities are hidden—escort the party through the gates.
Nelvax recognizes one of the gate guards as Tony, a gambler from the Three Nines casino.
The group observes the estate’s lush gardens, magical lighting, and watchful stone lions with glowing eyes.
Inside, they meet Lord Signmonder, a stern dwarf with an ornate axe marked by the Dwarven God of Battle.
In this world, divine power stems from ideals rather than named deities.
Dain and Signmonder greet one another as old battlefield companions, trading jabs laced with mutual respect.
The group explains that a bugbear named Golfa at the Triple Nine burned a Coatl Feather, ruining a halfling’s heirloom and debt payment.
Signmonder denies involvement or knowledge of the transaction at the Lucky Leap, appearing genuinely confused.
The discussion raises suspicion that someone may be impersonating Signmonder, leading to speculation about The Golden Masks, a secretive network of shapeshifters, spies, and thieves.

🧩 The Golden Masks and a Favor Owed

Signmonder suspects the halfling was scamming the group on behalf of the Golden Masks.
He offers the party a new task—retrieving his horse, Miss Ivory, from the Roomland stud farm, located near a windmill on the outskirts.
The payment: 15 gold pieces each and one shared favor from Signmonder.
The party senses he’s withholding something. Nelvax and Harlekk read him well enough to know there’s danger he hasn’t shared.
Pressed, Signmonder admits that Lord Wedress reported strange lights, rituals, and whispers of witchcraft at the windmill.
Signmonder fears accusations against another noble, Countess Unper, without proof, and sends the group to investigate quietly.
He warns of possible cult activity or a hag’s influence, but assures the group it may be “mere rumor.”
The party accepts the mission, shaking hands before departing.

🐴 Journey to the Roomland Estate

The group leaves the city and travels through rolling, cleared hills toward the Roomland Estate.
The evening air turns acrid with smoke as they crest a hill—the farm and stables are engulfed in flames.
Nelvax spots a slain guard, freshly killed by a blade, still bleeding into the dirt.
The team rushes forward as panicked horses scream within the burning stable.

🔥 Horse Farm Inferno (Skill Challenge)

Initiative Order: Nelvax → Xaniver → Harlekk → Dain

Round 1

Nelvax: Sprints to the stable doors, throwing them open; the sudden airflow fuels the blaze. Quickly assesses the spread—roughly thirty seconds before the far stalls ignite.
Xaniver: Casts Rime’s Binding Ice in a wide cone, freezing four stalls and momentarily halting the fire’s advance.
Harlekk: Rushes inside, opening the first stall and calming a terrified brown horse with gentle words; successfully leads it out.
Dain: Arrives behind the others, slowed by his armor but readying rope and gear outside.

Round 2

Nelvax: Attempts to mount a panicked horse to ride it out—fails the calming check, the horse injures a leg in fright.
Xaniver: Uses Minor Illusion to conjure a barking border collie behind the white mare; she bolts free—Miss Ivory identified.
Dain: Dodges aside as Miss Ivory bursts through the doorway, taking a glancing hit (2 bludgeoning). Secures her lead rope outside.
Harlekk: Opens a second stall, speaking softly; the nearby horses calm and follow him out.

Round 3

Nelvax: Vaults from a wall onto the frightened brown horse’s back, using agility to steer it out through the smoke.
Xaniver: Calms the black stallion, coaxing it to follow.
Harlekk: Leads two horses toward Dain but is scorched by the rekindled flames (4 fire damage).
Dain: Manages multiple leads, tying them together and anchoring them near the well outside.

Outcome:
All six horses—three brown, one black, one chestnut, and Miss Ivory (white)—are rescued.
The stables collapse behind the party as they regroup in the yard.

🧙‍♂️ The Man in the Barrel

Nelvax discovers a water barrel behind the burning house emitting faint noise.
Inside is an elderly man named Jaggen, soaked and terrified.
He explains that Countess Unper and her servants attacked the estate, capturing the Baron, Baroness, and their children, and setting the buildings ablaze.
Jaggen claims she took them to the windmill on the hill, and that “dark things” were happening there.
Grateful to be saved, he gives Nelvax a carved wooden Ring of Animal Influence, featuring etched animals.
As Nelvax slips it onto his hand, he senses a faint connection to the horses nearby.
Jagen agrees to watch over the rescued horses while the party investigates further.

🌙 Arrival at the Windmill

The group travels up the hill as night falls.
They spot the decrepit windmill, its sails tattered and moss-covered, faint orange light flickering from inside.
Overhead, the full moon glows with a bite missing from its edge—a normal but unsettling remnant from the Age of the Dark Angels.
The party halts on the hillside, preparing to investigate the Countess’s domain.

📌 Notable Moments:

Dain and Signmonder’s reunion blends camaraderie with suspicion.
Nelvax’s quick thinking and agility save multiple horses.
Harlekk earns admiration for risking fire to save the last horse.
The group learns of Countess Unper and Golden Masks, connecting noble politics to shadowy forces.
The moon’s missing piece serves as an ominous visual motif, first noted here.

💰 Loot:

15 gp each (promised upon completion)
Shared Favor from Lord Signmonder

📦 New Items:

Ring of Animal Influence – Given to Nelvax by Jagen

🗨️ Quotes:

“If you can’t save them all, at least get Miss Ivory!” – Dain
“Be careful around fire; you never know when it will catch.” – Xaniver
“I’m not a horse enthusiast, if you know what I mean.” – Dain

📚 Leads and Discoveries:

Lead - Completed Countess Unper’s Rituals: Jaggen’s warning about the kidnapped nobles at the windmill.
Lead - Completed The Golden Masks: Criminal faction possibly impersonating nobility for profit.

🗺️ Quest Updates:

✅ Rescue Miss Ivory – Complete.
🔜 Investigate Old Grinder – Ongoing.
Investigate the Golden Mask - Ongoing

✅ Things to Do:

Investigate the windmill and confirm the fate of the Roomland family.
Determine the nature of Countess Unper’s rituals.
Return Miss Ivory safely to Lord Signmonder once the investigation is complete.

🧍 Major NPCs:

Lord Signmonder – Dwarven Crown Warden; head of the royal military, former comrade of Dain.
Tony – City guard and gambler, acquaintance of Nelvax.
Golfa – Bugbear owner of the Triple Nine Casino; burned the Coatl Feather.
Lord Wedress – Noble who reported the windmill’s strange activity.
Countess Unper – Noblewoman accused of dark rituals and kidnapping.
Jagen – “Old man in the barrel”; survivor who warns the party and gifts Nelvax a ring.

🏳️ Factions:

The Redcloaks – Elite royal enforcers; intimidating and anonymous.
The Golden Masks – Criminal syndicate of spies and shapeshifters.
The Tower – Magical authority overseeing sanctioned spellcasting.
The Crown Protectorate – Military arm under Lord Signmonder’s command.