Session 11 — Coelodons, Tiny People, and the Road to Gwyndinas

Late Midspring, 4E 1396 — pirate island to Fort Foothold, then the coastal road to Gwyndinas.

Session Recap

The session opened on the beach of Ankley Island, the pirate fight already behind them, with the party sorting loot and discovering The Land Boat floats. Back at Fort Foothold, reunited with a blood-drenched Ashlyn who had spent her solo hours slaying a scarred direwolf for a 25-gold bounty, the party handed in Devlin (in the care of the rhino-man sergeant Sir Dahorn), turned over seven looted signets, and claimed the Payton bounty — nearly losing it to a mustache disguise mix-up before Silithane chased down Tegrak and quietly handed him the whole coin purse. Tegrak read the sign above his head, walked straight into the Reclamation Training Center, and became a recruit. Thalia made her one remaining local delivery, meeting a very strange woman: Vernon Cleave's mother, who wanted the letter burned and was proud of having been beaten.

On the road to Gwyndinas, two things happened. A juvenile coelodon — a rubbery, obligate-carnivore sea creature from Atollia's milder waters, a baby that had wandered far from home — clambered ashore and tried to eat Lash off the clifftop. A brief combat (and a very good animal handling roll) ended with the mama retreating into the deep, Lash floating on the baby's nose, and then charming it with the Crab Pearl and a handful of meat: she acquired a new pet crab from the beach. The road crew also learned of a strange figure killed on the coastal path a few days prior — blood-painted face, spell scroll remnants, cut up by twin meat cleavers, dead 2–3 days (roughly when the ships arrived). That evening, in the camp of a passing tiny-race trading caravan, Thalia tracked down and met Zantaya — a pale shapeshifter courier who had been maintaining Rivalon's mail routes in secret. They traded intel, delivery responsibilities, and a mutual recognition: the postal guild is biding its time, afraid to visibly organize against Laewendas. The party long-rested with the caravan's hospitality (tiny chairs, tiny stew), then marched into Gwyndinas at the Swest (southwest) Gate the next morning — arriving at the capital of the Reclamation for the first time, entering with a fresh pip from the GM for reaching the city.

Key Events

• Loot divvy and departure from Ankley Island: gold split 6 gold 13 silver each across all seven (Tegrak got the full Payton bounty coin purse later anyway), pirate rowboats sold to the gnome boatwright for 10 gold each (after dramatic floor-begging restored the deal — the builder refused to buy "anything of Payton's" until Draak and Magra knelt and pleaded). The builder kept his principle: boats to be scrapped, not built into new ones.
• The Prehistoric Longsword identified at last: Lash spent six hours on the sailing trip re-examining the blade (weaponsmithing check, high roll). The material is auricalcum — an old, pre-modern alloy, silvery with an off-red hue, stronger than steel or silver, with a property that suits wet and underwater conditions. This specific sword is ancient and degraded enough that smelting it for the raw auricalcum and reforging with better modern technique would yield a superior weapon; alternatively, Lash can try to restore the original. Worth far more than its weight in gold. Lash now holds it.
• Sir Dahorn: the rhino-man sergeant-on-duty at Fort Foothold, full plate, gold front teeth, enormous. He accepted Devlin in one fist, took the bounty board off the wall (all 40 copies at once), tossed Payton's head to the fish, and paid out the bounty. He gave Lash a hair ruffle worth 1 temporary hit point.
• Tegrak leaves the party: Silithane (in his old-woman disguise; the bounty was paid to the wrong person briefly) caught up to the sad-shuffling Tegrak, gave him the uncounted coin purse, and pointed him toward the Training Center. Tegrak walked in and enlisted. His arc with the party is complete.
• Devlin handed over: formally surrendered to Sir Dahorn as a prisoner of war. His complaint that Silithane still has his spellbook was pointedly ignored.
• Thalia's delivery to Vernon's mother: the old woman at the address east of Foothold's walls, past the graveyard — pink hair-curlers, brittle, sharp — refused the letter from her son Vernon Cleave, whom she called "a patricidal maniac" for killing his father, her husband ("all he ever did was beat him"; "he was a good father and a good beater"; "I learned to love it"). She signed a formal declining-receipt; in the process accidentally signed away her own visitation rights to Vernon's daughter — her granddaughter. Thalia, mildly traumatized, collected a 2-copper tip and left "the winner of worst mum of all time."
• New detail about Vernon: he has a daughter. His mother (the grandmother) has been prevented from seeing "the grandbaby." The party now knows more about Vernon's family than Vernon probably wanted them to.
• The road crew and road tax check: a work crew with armed guards, led by the cheerful paver Malcolm, stopped the party at a freshly repaired coastal stretch for road pack certificates — which the party had. Malcolm explained the previous group that came through didn't: they killed a road guard and did blood-ritual things with the organs. The corpse, left for crabs and the ocean, is what attracted the coelodon.
• The coelodon encounter: a juvenile sea monster (long neck, fat round body, walrus-blubber smooth, obligate carnivore, not far from a baby) surfaced and sprayed water at the clifftop party, knocking Lash and Magra off the edge. Silithane cast Featherfall on the falling Magra; Lash surfed down of her own accord. Thalia whip-muzzled its jaws; Ashlyn Hexed it and jumped off the cliff (5 damage; "I don't care about getting hurt"); Fenric intimidated it from the water (Intimidation advantage); mama arrived and lurked at perimeter depth, watching. Resolution: Ashlyn threw a dismembered corpse-leg into the water as a distraction — mama and baby retreated. Lash touched the pearl to a beach crab that had been imitating Silithane's calming dance, fed it a treat, and gained a pet crab.
• The body on the beach (investigation check): a middle-aged human, dead 2–3 days, stripped of signet and weapons, in black robes, face painted thick white with a blood-red jaw. Cut to pieces with what appears to be twin butcher's-machete-type weapons. Low-level caster (spell scroll remnants, waterlogged). Silithane made a rough sketch for identification later. Road guards confirm he was the blood-magic-wielding attacker from the group that killed three of their number.
• Zantaya and the caravan: the tiny-race trading caravan — gnomes, halflings, small animal-folk (mouse and squirrel people), with a normal-sized cat named Tony — pulled up at the side of the road to camp. Sitting at their fire: Zantaya, pale shapeshifter courier, side-shaved hair, pinstripe trousers, glowing white eyes, heavily under-slept. He shape-shifted through two forms to explain how he gets past Laewendas's checkpoints. He and Thalia traded:
  • He took two letters for the lumber mill manager in Chapston (legal complaints about over-milling) — saving him a trip.
  • He handed her a wax-sealed letter addressed to Prince Lon — 4 years undeliverable; everyone he asked in the supposed destination village had never heard of him ("Maybe it's a silent P").
  • Zantaya confirmed that Old Margaret Jr. is very deliberately not going back to Ankley — he personally delivered the man's name-change paperwork both ways. Thalia voided the message.
  • Zantaya identified Garruk the Red as Laewendas's most notorious tax enforcer — armored up to bigger than Drak, ugly-mugged, bad egg.
  • Named Smiling Sam, a serial killer loose in Gwyndinas that "nobody really knows anything about" — "proper detective stuff." The party's earliest brush with the case, weeks before Dominus formally briefs them on it.
  • Inside Gwyndinas: advised the party to stick to the Blue district (nicest), avoid Red and Brown districts, and steer clear of the south-side discount magic market (cursed knockoffs).
  • Gave Thalia two soft leads on Scary Joe: look for a small hamlet (No Falls, Chapston, Burton-by-the-Waters), possibly under a new name — maybe Joseph, maybe a fully new identity.
  • Confirmed Laewendas has nine henchmen who underpin her power; removing a handful would crack the capital.
  • Mentioned several secret couriers inside the Palisade who shelved their jobs for fear of Laewendas — potential post-guild recruits if the party can "rouse their courage" or collect their backlogged deliveries.
• Veilwood, confirmed by one of their own: when Veilwood came up at the fire, Ashlyn noted she's from there ("it's not great") and confirmed the rumour — night monsters knock on the doors there every single night. A grim aside that lands differently once the party later learns of children vanishing in the night beyond the Palisade (Ponterford).
• Gwyndinas first impressions: arrived at the southwest (Swest) Gate. The boat parked at Westgate Stables (1 silver/day, paid up to the 12th of Spring's End — Drak added an extra gold for insurance). A guard gave Thalia a signal whistle; Drak charmed a hug out of another. The city is brand-new (~6 months old) — everything fresh, a mix of single-room hovels and multi-storey apartment houses. Notable landmarks spotted: the Colosseum (fights, gambling, public entertainment), the Knights' Temple (honourable deed registry, bounties, official knighting), the War Memorial (names of the fallen in the central plaza), and the Castle (Queen Ysolde's seat; walled nobles' quarter). A d100 city encounter yielded a minor cart crash — a vegetable merchant and a metals merchant, horses down, four people shouting; Drak picked up a horse, moved it, and made three people shout at each other instead. A cheerful guard resolved it and gave the party whistles.
• Session end: the party arrived at the Colosseum's entrance, to the sound of chants and crowd roar. Pip awarded for reaching Gwyndinas.

Combat & Encounters

• Coelodon encounter (clifftop, the coastal road): juvenile sea creature (obligate carnivore, no gills, walrus-smooth body, 10–15-foot neck) surfaced and hosed the party with a water-spray attack targeting Drak, Magra, and Lash (Dex saves). Drak shrugged it off (toddler-level annoyance); Magra grabbed the cliff edge with Silithane's Featherfall assisting; Lash rode the fall to land standing on the creature's nose. Initiative: Thalia whip-muzzled its jaws; Silithane cast Guidance via hawk + Help; Ashlyn Hexed (CON disadvantage) and jumped off the cliff (5 bludgeoning, superhero landing); Fenric jumped into the sea (1 bludgeoning, pencil entry) and intimidated from the water; Drak stood above and watched with mild concern ("What are you guys doing down there?"). On the mama's turn, a massive silhouette unzipped the sea horizon and held position at perimeter depth — same holding-action stance as Magra. The juvenile swam free of the thorn whip; Ashlyn threw a corpse leg as a distraction; both creatures withdrew. No kills, no loot. Lash received a beach crab as a consolation prize.

NPCs & Factions

• Sir Dahorn — rhino-man sergeant-on-duty at Fort Foothold, gold front teeth, full plate, casual giant. Processed Devlin and the Payton bounty with efficient good humor; gifted Lash 1 temporary HP via hair ruffle.
• Malcolm — cheerful road-paver on the coastal Foothold–Gwyndinas path; gave Draak road-safety advice and accepted a hug.
• Tegrak — departed: enlisted into the Reclamation Training Center at Fort Foothold, his full bounty in hand. No longer traveling with the party.
• Devlin — handed over: formally turned in to Sir Dahorn as a prisoner of war.
• Vernon Cleave — absent but present: his mother exists (and resents him), his father's murder is confirmed, his daughter exists. The party knows more about his family than he'd want.
• Zantaya — pale shapeshifter courier operating secretly on Rivalon's mail routes; met in a roadside tiny-race caravan. Traded deliveries and intel with Thalia; suggested as a potential postal-guild ally.
• The tiny-race caravan — traveling merchants and their extended crew of gnomes, halflings, and small folk, with a full-sized cat named Tony; heading for Gwyndinas on a 4-day road trip.
• Prince Lon — a name on an undelivered wax-sealed letter now in Thalia's bag; 4 years undelivered; no one has heard of him; almost certainly a Rivalon noble name.
• Garruk the Red — Laewendas's most visible tax enforcer: cursed (allegedly) with the most punchable face in the kingdom, armored up to exceed Drak's size, goes town to town demanding tax payments.
• Smiling Sam — an unidentified serial killer active in Gwyndinas; flagged by Zantaya as "proper detective stuff." The party's first lead on a case that becomes a major thread.
• Laewendas — noted this session as having nine henchmen whose collective support underpins her power, per Zantaya.

Locations

• Fort Foothold — quick stop: Dahorn's desk, bounty filed, Tegrak enlists, Devlin in custody. Also: Vernon's mother lives just east of the walls, past the graveyard.
• Ankley Island — closed out: the party sailed away with the boats; the ruins, the crab beach, and the coelodon-attracting corpse are all they leave behind.
• Gwyndinas — arrived for the first time: southwest gate, Westgate Stables, central plaza (War Memorial, Knights' Temple road, small-to-large housing mix); the Colosseum is the party's first stop. Noted districts: Blue (nicest), Red, Brown, two half-slums; avoid the south-side discount magic market. Queen Ysolde holds the castle.
• The coastal road (Foothold–Gwyndinas) — site of the coelodon fight, Malcolm's work crew, and the blood-magic corpse. A second campfire ~6 miles from Ankley (from Session 10) remains uninvestigated.

Loot, Items & Rewards

• Rowboats sold: 10 gold each (two boats = 20 gold total, split between Draak and Magra by the boatwright's assumption).
• Prehistoric Longsword identified: material confirmed as auricalcum — old-era, stronger than steel, suited to water; Lash's choice: restore or smelt and reforge.
• Payton bounty coin purse: given uncounted to Tegrak; he kept it and enlisted.
• Land Boat stabled: Westgate Stables, Gwyndinas; paid to 12th Spring's End (3 silver + 1 gold from Drak for extra security).
• Pet crab added to Lash's inventory — a beach crab of notable size who mimicked Silithane's calming dance; requires keeping wet twice daily.
• New deliveries in Thalia's bag: two legal complaints for the Chapston lumber mill manager (from Zantaya); the wax-sealed letter addressed to Prince Lon (4-year backlog).
• Signal whistles: Thalia and Drak each received one from a Gwyndinas city guard.
• Party pip awarded for reaching Gwyndinas.

Decisions & Open Threads

• Gwyndinas agenda: the Colosseum (fights, bets, fame — Drak and Ashlyn keen), the Knights' Temple (honor registry, bounty board, the "second signature" on the leaving paper is somewhere), and presumably the War Memorial and various shops.
• Zantaya's postal quest: secret couriers in the Palisade are waiting to be "roused" — their backlogged deliveries and their courage. Thalia's long-term project.
• The auricalcum sword: restore or smelt? Lash needs a proper smithy. Now she's carrying it.
• Prince Lon: 4-year-old letter, entirely unknown recipient, delivered to no one. Who is Prince Lon?
• Scary Joe: leads point to a small hamlet like No Falls, Chapston, or Burton-by-the-Waters; possibly a new name. Thalia has a delivery to Chapston already.
• Garruk the Red: Laewendas's punchable tax enforcer is a named threat on the road beyond the Palisade.
• Smiling Sam: a Gwyndinas serial killer no one can describe — the party's first thread on what becomes a long investigation in the capital. Possibly connected to the twin-cleaver blood-mage body on the road?
• Zantaya as ally? Thalia added him to the allies list; they now share delivery responsibilities for Chapston.
• The blood-magic body on the road: a pair of twin-cleaver wielders killed a rogue blood-mage 2–3 days ago, right as the ships arrived. Who were the killers? Connected to the road attacks?
• The other campfire (~6 miles from Ankley on the Foothold road) — never investigated; still open from Session 10.
• Vernon's family: the party now holds collateral knowledge of Vernon's family (a mother who misses being beaten, a murdered abusive father, an estranged daughter). What happens if they encounter Vernon again?
• The leaving paper: one signature down (Sir Ronald). Two more needed before the party can legally exit the Palisade; the Knights' Temple is a likely next stop.
• Laewendas's nine henchmen: per Zantaya, removing even a few would crack her hold on the capital.
• The ruins and celestials: Thalia still hasn't told anyone what Primeval Awareness revealed under Ankley Island. The copied inscriptions remain undeciphered in Silithane's book.

Memorable Moments

• "Ain't you guys meant to drop me off somewhere?" — Devlin, lighting a cigarette before Lash Lion-Kinged him toward Sir Dahorn.
• Lash Lion-Kinging Devlin at the sergeant: "Self-prophet."
• Sir Dahorn ripping all 40 copies of the Payton bounty notice off the board simultaneously — the difficulty of tearing 40 sheets of paper at once quietly acknowledged.
• Silithane in old-woman makeup chasing a sad-shuffling Tegrak: "I don't look like that." — "Oh, my disguise is a generic one."
• Tegrak weighing the coin purse in one hand, not knowing what it's worth — then reading the sign above his head and walking straight into the Reclamation Training Center.
• Vernon's mother: "He's a patricidal maniac. He killed my husband. All he ever did was beat him." — "He was a good father and a good beater." — "I learned to love it, you see."
• Thalia, walking away: "That woman needs a therapist. She needs help."
• Zantaya on Laewendas's roads: "If you stick to the main roads, you get her tax collectors. Just bandits on the road. If you don't go on the roads, you got shit in the woods that shouldn't be in the woods. It's pretty grim really." — Drak: "But they didn't even dig a hole."
• Zantaya's take on Garruk the Red: "They say a wizard cursed him to have the most punchable face in the kingdom. His name is stupid. Like Garruk the Red. What am I, like, Xantaya the White?"
• The boatwright: "Payton? That guy's fucked up." — proceeds to refuse to buy the boats — then accepts 10 gold per boat after Drak and Magra beg on their knees. "He's dead, goddammit."
• Lash on boat redemption: "The boats didn't make a mistake. They were just tainted by his aura of bad pirating."
• Drak lifting the cart horse out of the road, placing it gently by a house, and then a man running out in his pajamas: "Oh my God, a free horse!"
• Drak getting a genuinely warm hug from a city guard: "The guards are there for you." — "I genuinely believe it. This guy would help you out of anything."
• Fenric's wood-carved scale model of the Land Boat, with all the party as action figures, on a nat-20 crafting roll. Drak: "What has he done to me?" Then: "Make him truck bigger."
• The gnomish camp chef convincing himself — with Drak secretly lifting the sword tip with his pinky — that he'd lifted the Giant Cutlass: reuniting him and his wife "with a reignited love that probably hasn't been there in a few years."
• Silithane teaching gnome children the thumb-disappearing trick: they ran away shouting "We can do magic!" — and Lash, simultaneously, said "You wanna fuck?" to a married caravan woman in perfect timing.