Session 20

Property	Value
Beginning XP	1160 XP (Level 5)
Beginning gold	2 platinum, 414 gold, 353 silver, 813 copper
Ending XP	1380 XP (Level 5)
Ending gold	2 platinum, 455 gold, 353 silver, 813 copper

Kingdom Turn - 1 Arodus 4710

The first day of Arodus brought the monthly kingdom turn.

Upkeep Phase: Leadership remained stable (no changes)

Resource Management:

• Started with 0 ore and 2 lumber from the previous turn’s commodity trading
• Resource Collection yielded 4 ore and 2 lumber
• Consumption was balanced by food production (supply and production are equal)

Commerce Phase: The attempt to Collect Taxes went poorly. Our critical failure was mitigated by spending 1 Fame point to reduce it to a simple failure. Unrest increased by 1, though the kingdom gained a +1 circumstance bonus to Economy checks for the remainder of the turn.

The party chose not to Improve Lifestyle or Tap Treasury.

Tapping Commodities provided 9 RP for kingdom projects.

Leadership Activities:

• Supernatural Solution (Critical Success): Secured a magical reroll for a future kingdom check
• Provide Care: Reduced Unrest from 3 to 2
• Rest and Relax: Reduced Unrest from 2 to 1
• Repair Reputation: Critical failure. After spending another Fame point, the attempt still failed
• Quell Unrest: Failed to reduce unrest
• Prognostication: Success, gaining +1 circumstance bonus to resolve Kingdom events
• Create a Masterpiece: Success, gaining 1 Fame point

Region Activities:

• Went fishing, successfully gaining 1 Food. However, a Giant Turtle attacked during the expedition
• Claimed the Temple of the Elk with a Critical Success, immediately attempting another Region activity
• Failed to claim another hex
• Failed to build a worksite in Quelimdrill, even after using the Supernatural Solution

Civic Activities:

• Successfully demolished the ruined set of houses damaged by the Owlbear attack

Event Phase: Extended pleasant weather blessed the kingdom. The Magister’s roll brought good fortune. The pleasant conditions helped ease tensions, though with only 1 Unrest remaining, the benefit was minimal.

Downtime Activities - 1-27 Arodus 4710

During the month-long kingdom turn, the party engaged in various Earn Income activities, each member contributing to their shared coffers:

Character	Activity	Earnings
Kairos	Earn Income	120 gp
Lizzy	Earn Income	120 gp
Djacques	Earn Income	120 gp
Leonardo	Earn Income	120 gp
Total		480 gp

---

28 Arodus 4710

With the kingdom turn concluded, the party prepared to venture forth once more. While fishing at the lakes bordering at Hexpan, a local fisherman named Arven approached them with a peculiar problem.

”Got a hidey hole where I normally fish,” Arven explained, gesturing toward the Tuskwater. “Best spot on the east bank. But about a week ago, this big, ugly turtle moved into the cave. Soon as I get near, the thing comes at me fast and aggressive-like. Jaw like a bear trap.”

The fisherman was describing a large turtle that had claimed his favorite fishing spot. Arven asked the party to rehome the creature. The party agreed that Lizzy, in her capacity as Warden, should handle the situation.

While gathering information in Hexpan, Djacques picked up valuable gossip from the locals: the Lonely Barrow and the Tomb Treasure mentioned in the map from the Hateful Hermit’s den were one and the same location.

The legends spoke of an isolated barrow mound of a barbarian warrior king, standing in the Kamelands for thousands of years. Over time, the earth near the mound had subsided, opening a crack in the tomb and disturbing the warlord’s undead guardians. Even beyond death, this warrior was sworn to defend their lord. The warlord himself, now known as the Lonely Warrior, had risen as an undead. The treasure map promised a magic flaming weapon hidden within, though it warned of traps and the undead guardian.

The party decided to travel to the Lonely Barrow, estimating a day’s journey through the Kamelands into the Tuskwater region.

The Mysterious Merchant

As the party traveled through different hexes, transitioning from the Kamelands into the Tuskwater territory, they encountered a peculiar sight: a traveling merchant with an unusual assistant.

The merchant stood beside a colorful chest, while his companion parrot (introduced as Larry) perched nearby. Djacques had Noor with him and watched with interest as the two birds interacted. Larry flew over and landed on Kairos’s shoulder, and the merchant cheerfully announced that Larry could sell many fine wares.

The merchant produced six different scrolls from his chest: Equal Footing, Synchronize, Lucky Number, Dream Message, Temporal Twin, and Time Pocket. He said the scrolls were brought for Kairos.

The rest of the party was bewildered as to how this merchant would know Kairos’ name. Kairos’s eyes lit up like a child in a toy store. Time magic scrolls of this caliber were hard to find.

The merchant also retrieved a Transcribe Conflict scroll, setting it aside for Djacques. The merchant then introduced himself as Pocus.

The party took the opportunity to sell their accumulated loot, exchanging armor, weapons, and treasures they’d collected from recent adventures. The sales brought in just over 120 gold pieces. With their newfound wealth combined with their earned income, they made several purchases:

• Leonardo bought a +1 Armor Rune (160 gp)
• Kairos bought a +1 Armor Rune (160 gp), plus scrolls of Equal Footing (4 gp), Synchronize (4 gp), Lucky Number (12 gp), and Temporal Twin (30 gp), total 210 gp
• Djacques bought a +1 Armor Rune (160 gp) and the Transcribe Conflict scroll (30 gp), total 190 gp

But as the transaction progressed, strange details began to accumulate.

The merchant mentioned that Larry had traveled for “eon…” before quickly correcting himself to “decades.” Then the parrot spoke, addressing Djacques by a name that made both him and Leonardo freeze: “Lodewijk knows many things and has seen many things.”

Lodewijk… Djacques’s true birth name, known to virtually no one.

The party’s animal companions began acting strangely. Noor and TikTok kept their distance from Pocus, visibly nervous. TikTok outright fled into a nearby tree. Even Weiß, Djacques’s normally steadfast horse, refused to move closer.

Djacques engaged his Hypercognition, making six Recall Knowledge checks to understand what was happening. The results were unsettling: this creature was almost certainly not human. It wasn’t evil. In fact, it seemed chaotic good with no malice, but there was a strong moral aura around it, a sort of “magical pressure” that made it seem far larger than its physical form.

Kairos, noticing Djacques’s concern, spoke up. “These scrolls are hard to find. Time magic of this caliber isn’t common. Where do you source them?"

"I have no source,” Pocus replied with a mysterious smile. “I craft them myself.” “You must be a particularly powerful mage,” Kairos observed. “Time makes everything plausible,” Pocus answered cryptically.

As the conversation continued, Kairos noticed other peculiarities. Pocus used archaic words and phrases that even the long-lived Kairos would only vaguely recognize from her grandfather’s speech. His language seemed to blend Draconic, Elvish, Orcish, Dwarven, and more, flowing seamlessly between tongues.

Determined to test him, Kairos asked a technical question: “I notice you have Temporal Twin and Time Pocket. Those require significant understanding of temporal mechanics. What’s your theoretical framework for how they interact?”

The answer Pocus gave was complex and densely layered with temporal theory. It impressed even Kairos, despite time magic being her primary field of research.

Then, as mysteriously as he had appeared, Pocus began to fade away. He became more and more obscure, along with Larry and the chest, until they vanished entirely. The animals immediately recovered, acting normal once more.

About a minute later, a thunderclap echoed across the plains.

Evening - 28 Arodus 4710

The party made camp for the night, still processing the strange encounter. Kairos found a suitable spot to rest, her mind turning over the temporal theories Pocus had discussed. Djacques entertained the group with campfire stories, weaving tales of their recent adventures. Lizzy prepared dinner, and Leonardo methodically polished his weapons and armor.

During the evening, Leonardo practiced his Intimidating Posture, refining his martial techniques.

---

29 Arodus 4710

The next morning, the party set out for the Lonely Barrow. Following the crude map from the Hateful Hermit’s dwelling, they navigated through the wilderness until they found it: a cave entrance, half-hidden by undergrowth.

The walls inside were caked with dust and spider webs. A faint glimpse of detailed mosaics was visible beneath the accumulated grime. The air was thick with the sharp, pungent smell of guano and ammonia.

Kairos lit her lantern and moved to study the mosaics with scholarly interest. Using her Loremaster skills, she quickly identified the artistic style.

”This is fascinating,” she began, launching into an enthusiastic lecture. “We’re looking at artifacts from the Age of Enthronement, roughly 700 to 1000 AR, about 3,700 years ago. The Taldane Empire was at its peak of expansion during this period. They sent multiple ‘Armies of Exploration’ to claim new territories. The First Army went south and founded Cheliax. The Second Army went east, passing through this region around 900 AR. This barrow predates that Second Army, which means it’s from when the Kellids still held these lands independently.”

She gestured to the figures depicted in the mosaics. “The Kellids were fierce tribal peoples. They valued strength, honor in battle, and respected powerful warriors. Their burial practices for great warriors involved barrow mounds like this. The warrior would be interred with weapons, treasures, and sometimes retainers or guardians, willingly bound to protect their lord even in death. The Taldane artistic influence suggests cultural exchange, possibly through trade or early diplomatic contact before the conquest.”

Leonardo asked innocently if Kairos had been there at the time. Kairos looked momentarily insulted (the barrow was nearly four thousand years old), but Djacques quickly intervened with a diplomatic clarification. Kairos softened thanks to Djacques, encouraged to take it as a misguided compliment about her apparent youth.

Leonardo then asked what Kairos knew about the undead, given her devotion to Pharasma.

”We need to be careful,” Kairos cautioned, her scholarly enthusiasm giving way to religious solemnity. “Undead that have existed this long are often powerful, and they may have warped purposes. These guardians were sworn to protect their lord even beyond death, but after thousands of years of undeath, who knows what drives them now?”

As Kairos spoke, she bumped into something soft and fuzzy in the darkness. A moment later, the air erupted with the sound of flapping wings, from several swarms of giant bats, disturbed from their rest.

Kairos, captivated by the mosaics and caught off-guard, destabilized her timeline abilities but remained entranced by the artwork. Leonardo was similarly surprised. Djacques, however, reacted instantly, casting Courageous Anthem and following it with Haste.

The bat swarms attacked. One descended on Leonardo, while another targeted Kairos. She defended herself admirably, avoiding most of the attacks but taking 1 damage and 1 persistent damage.

Leonardo retaliated with devastating efficiency, killing the first swarm in a single strike, then moving to the second and eliminating it just as quickly.

The party pressed deeper into the cave, finding themselves in a central chamber. Four tunnels exited the room in orthogonal cardinal directions, and the space was dominated by four stone statues. As they entered, tendrils of shadow emerged from the faces of the statues, reaching toward them with malevolent intent.

Djacques and Kairos resisted the supernatural fear, but Leonardo was affected, becoming enfeebled by the dark magic.

Kairos, noting that they’d arrived early in the morning with the sun directly behind them from the east, quickly assessed the cardinal directions of the halls. The party chose to run into the eastern chamber.

The Lonely Warrior’s Tomb

The eastern room was decorated with elaborate pigments and carvings, though many had been defaced by repeated weapon blows over the centuries. Weapons and armor surrounded the walls, offerings or trophies from ages past. In the center stood a stone sarcophagus.

As soon as the party entered, the sarcophagus burst open, and they rolled initiative.

Kairos moved with Haste, unleashing a Spellstrike against the rising figure. She then used Magus Analysis, performing Recall Knowledge to recharge her Spellstrike. The creature was an ancient Kellid warlord, his name long lost to history. The walls in this room had stood the test of millennia. His weapon appeared magical, but otherwise he seemed typical of powerful undead.

Two skeletal warriors emerged from the shadows behind Djacques, attacking Weiß. Leonardo responded with Shield of the Spirits, protecting Djacques from harm.

The Lonely Warrior unleashed a Lonely Dirge, a keening wail of ancient sorrow. Kairos made her will save but became Stupefied 1 from the supernatural assault. The warlord then attacked Kairos with his weapon, but missed.

Kairos retaliated with another Spellstrike, and this time the ancient warrior fell. But with his last breath, he triggered Final Respite, lashing out at Leonardo (Kairos was out of reach). Kairos immediately repositioned to protect Weiß and Djacques as more skeletal warriors poured into the room from behind them, attempting to surround the party.

Djacques struck at the nearest skeletons while maintaining Courageous Anthem, then retreated into the room to escape their encirclement. Leonardo, empowered by the anthem, cut through the skeletal warriors with brutal efficiency, destroying two of the four threatening them.

The remaining skeletons advanced into the room, trying to surround Leonardo. Djacques used Dazzle on one, disrupting its coordination.

Kairos moved past a skeletal champion, then unleashed her Twirling Staff Focus spell, the magical weapon spinning in a deadly arc that destroyed two more skeletons. She released her staff to one hand, drew her Gauntlet Bow, and fired at the full multiple attack penalty, missing spectacularly.

Djacques cast Soothe to heal Leonardo. The skeletal champion attacked but was caught by Shield of the Spirits again, and Leonardo finished it off with a decisive strike.

The chamber fell silent once again.

The Treasure

With the undead defeated, Kairos carefully examined the room, identifying and disabling four Breath of Despair traps that would have triggered deadly gas. Among the defeated skeletons, she noticed one wearing a copper ring, old but still intact. She pocketed it for later examination.

The true prize lay within the sarcophagus: a magnificent bastard sword, broken into two shards but clearly magical. The fragments radiated power, a +1 cold iron flaming bastard sword. The party agreed it was perfect for Leonardo, once it could be repaired.

The chamber itself, with its ancient mosaics and historical significance, presented another opportunity. Kairos suggested that they could create a museum within their kingdom, preserving this important piece of Kellid history and Taldane influence. The others agreed it was worth considering.

The Lonely Barrow itself would also make a good refuge in case of emergencies.

Encounter with the Warg

Kairos attempted to sketch the mosaics for documentation, but her artistic skills proved lacking. The drawings came out poorly rendered and barely recognizable. Djacques made his own attempt with significantly better results. While neither set of drawings was museum-quality, they were sufficient to convince a curator to research the site and potentially relocate the mosaics to a proper museum.

The party decided to explore further west from the barrow. They were confronted by a warg who demanded, in Orcish, what they were doing in his territory. Kairos couldn’t understand the language, but Leonardo could. The warg’s tone was threatening.

Speaking to Leonardo, the warg declared that this territory had already been promised to “Hargulka.” The warg warned that Hargulka would return and conquer their lands. It sneered that the Common tongue was primitive and repulsive. Djacques engaged his Hypercognition to recall everything he knew about Hargulka.

The name triggered a flood of rumors. Hargulka was apparently a troll notorious for causing unrest in the Narlmarches. Reports varied wildly. Some described him commanding a massive force, a fortified stronghold housing thousands of trolls, orcs, and goblins. Others painted him as little more than a brutish troll leading fifteen unruly followers from a cave or tent camp. Some stories mentioned golems in his service, others spoke of cavern trolls and cave trolls. The descriptions ranged from a dumb brute wielding tree trunks as weapons to the most cunning and organized troll conqueror the region had ever seen.

Hargulka was said to be connected to Nyrissa. The connection wasn’t surprising. Nyrissa’s name seemed to surface in every matter related to kingdom-building in the Stolen Lands. The party recalled her link to Eirigg’s own ambitions for founding a nation. A pattern was emerging: Nyrissa appeared deeply involved in nation-building throughout the region.

Djacques also remembered hearing that nearly all trolls in the Stolen Lands harbored evil intent. He couldn’t recall specific troll-related crimes in the area, but the reputation was widespread.

Leonardo contributed his knowledge of wargs. They typically hunted in packs and were known for taunting their prey, making them easy to distinguish from common wolves. Goblins considered them faithful hunting companions until the wargs grew hungry enough to consider the goblins themselves as food. Wargs were fast but not particularly strong, unless one encountered the rare witch-warg.

Leonardo noticed movement in the nearby bushes and called for the party to ready their weapons. The warg identified itself as Howl-of-the-North-Wind.

---

Summary:

Kingdom Turn (1 Arodus 4710):

• Managed kingdom affairs, reducing Unrest from 3 to 1
• Claimed Temple of the Elk (Critical Success)
• Demolished ruined houses in Hexpan
• Gained 1 Fame point, spent 2 Fame points
• Resources: gained 4 ore, 2 lumber, 1 Food; gained 9 RP from commodities

Downtime (1-27 Arodus 4710):

• Each party member earned 120 gp from Earn Income activities
• Total earned: 480 gp

Quest Updates:

• Old Crackjaw (THAT DAMN TURTLE): Quest received from Arven
• Lonely Barrow: Located and began exploring

Major Encounters:

• Met Pocus, a mysterious merchant of indeterminate nature (possibly celestial, fey, or something else entirely)
• Fought giant bat swarms in the Lonely Barrow
• Defeated the Lonely Warrior (ancient Kellid warlord) and his skeletal guardians

Loot:

Sold to Pocus:

• Amethyst (40 gp)
• Decorative Flask (10 gp)
• 8 bottles herbal liquor (16 gp)
• 4 silver stag lord amulets (20 gp)
• Chainmail (3 gp)
• Breastplate (4 gp)
• Leather armor (1 gp)
• Hide armor (1 gp)
• Suit of ruined scalemail (2 gp)
• Silver warhammer (22.5 gp)
• Longsword (0.5 gp)
• Shortsword (0.45 gp)
• Dagger (0.1 gp)
• Curved sickle (0.1 gp)
• Shiny metal sickle (0.1 gp)
• Blowgun (0.05 gp)
• Whip (0.05 gp)
• Total from sales: 121 gp

Found in Lonely Barrow:

• +1 cold iron flaming bastard sword (broken in 2 shards) - for Leonardo
• Copper ring

Museum Opportunity:

• Can create one museum within the kingdom to preserve the Lonely Barrow’s historical significance

Purchases:

From Pocus:

• Leonardo: +1 Armor Rune (160 gp)
• Kairos: +1 Armor Rune (160 gp), Scroll of Equal Footing (4 gp), Scroll of Synchronize (4 gp), Scroll of Lucky Number (12 gp), Scroll of Temporal Twin (30 gp) - Total: 210 gp
• Djacques: +1 Armor Rune (160 gp), Transcribe Conflict scroll (30 gp) - Total: 190 gp
• Total spent: 560 gp

XP Gained:

• Pocus encounter: 15 XP
• Leonardo’s Intimidating Posture (downtime): 60 XP
• Giant bat swarms: 15 XP
• Lonely Warrior and skeletal guardians: 100 XP
• Disabling traps: 30 XP
• Total: 220 XP

Gold Summary:

• Beginning gold: 477.43 gp
• Earned from loot sales: +121 gp
• Earned from downtime: +480 gp
• Spent on purchases: -560 gp
• Ending gold: 518.43 gp (2 platinum, 455 gold, 353 silver, 813 copper)