The Collective - Session 14

This is the fourteenth session in The Collective campaign and the first in the Evangeline storyline of the The Dwarven Sword arc. Player feedback ranks this session at an 8.50.

Notable Events

 * The party left Belvast for the city of Edgemouth.
 * Badger and Rosanhi began to feel the effects of the meat curse cast upon them by "the magic meat man".
 * The party met a mysterious young woman named Eva and helped her fix her wagon.
 * The party arrived in the militarized city of Edgemouth and met two men of the Duke's court, Sir Allen Granger and Sir Neville Sheer.
 * The party learned that "Eva" was actually the missing marquess of Edgemouth, Evangeline Davenport.

Summary
THREE DAY PERIOD: Having secured the sword and packing up their camp, the circus continued its journey to Edgemouth. Along the way, the group engaged in activities such as donkey-spotting, herb-hunting, and song-singing to pass the time. At the end of their third day of travel, the party decided to sit down for a nice hot bowl of soup, prepared by Gnorbitt from strange herbs that Badger found and several old discarded boots. After eating the clearly vegetable-laden soup, Badger was confused to find that he only tasted meat, not yet suspicious of the meat curse that had taken over his body, as well as Rosanhi’s.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 1000: On the last day of the journey to Edgemouth, the party encountered a broken carriage along the road, carrying a mysterious young woman by the name of Eva. They did not learn much from her, but quickly helped repair her wagon so that she could be on her way. Arriving later that evening in Edgemouth, John Gershwin led the through the ugly, blocky city streets populated by soldiers and smithies where peasants and merchants would usually reside. According to John, Edgemouth was the center of Humanity's war effort against the Orcs of the Crimson Mountains, and one of many examples of settlements transformed by the conflict.

The group traveled higher up the hill of the city towards its peak, upon which the bastions of a castle rose even higher. Passing through the outer gates of the castle, John provided the inner gate guards with a scroll of identification that allowed them to pass into the castle, where they met with two members of the Duke's court, Sirs Neville Sheer and Allen Granger. Both Granger and Sheer questioned their identities, with Granger not fully convinced of John's identity but fit to trust that he did in fact serve the Duke. Unlike his more reasonable companion, Sheer was quick to cast doubt upon the entire party, making several remarks regarding Gorrn's race.

Explaining that they had retrieved the sword from thieves in Paradeen. While Granger was happy to learn of this, he informed the party that he himself could not give them their reward due to the Duke's absence. According to him, the Duke's daughter had recently gone missing and several bands of soldiers had been dispatched to look for her, including one led by the Duke himself. Until the Duke's return, they would not receive their payment.

After further discussion, the group came to the realization that the Duke's missing daughter, Evangeline Davenport, was the mysterious Eva that they had met on the road. Agreeing to go after her, the party was allowed by Granger (much to the dismay of Sir Sheer, who was at this point given the nickname "Sticky") to rest in the castle before leaving on horseback to return Evangeline the next morning.