The Collective - Session 60

This is the sixtieth session in The Collective campaign and the fourth session in the Freedom Fighters storyline of the Current Arc. Player feedback ranks this session at a 9.2.

Notable Events

 * Members of the party met Riah, a mysterious paladin of Kel.
 * Harald Iskildsen and the other captured marauder were set free after their defeat at the logging camp.
 * The party learned about potential jobs opening up at the logging camp.
 * Rosanhi Balleth learned of Calhoun's depressive state after other's attempts to hide it from her.
 * Kevril confessed about his true identity to the leader of the refugees, Padithar.

Summary
SUNDAY, MAY 20, 1001: After the battle concluded, the Collective gathered and discussed their plans. They decided to rest and leave for Paradeen in the morning, with Gorrn keeping watch over Harald and the other captive and OTIS staying up in a tree on the lookout for anyone else who might come in the night.

MONDAY, MAY 21, 1001: Shortly after dawn Rosanhi and Flynt awoke together. Noticing a slight movement across the camp, Flynt went to investigate with Rosanhi right behind, finding a stranger dressed in black standing amongst the corpses of the previous battle. With his divine sense, Flynt was able to detect that this person was consecrating the bodies, rather than whatever he and Rosanhi assumed them to be doing.

Hearing what the stranger was up to, Rosanhi suggested that they go wake up Roscoe, knowing that if they needed to talk to this person, he was the best person to do it. They hadn’t been noticed yet to their knowledge, and so Rosanhi tried to sneakily move away, accidentally stepping on a branch in the process. The noise makes the stranger stop their movement, but as if nothing happened they continue kneeling by the dead bodies and doing their work. Rosanhi took this as her cue to quickly go and get Roscoe, and filled him in on everything that had happened once he awoke.

Roscoe and Rosanhi joined back with Flynt, and Roscoe walked out to initiate conversation with the stranger. She offhandedly greeted him back and told him that she is just giving the dead a final respect before their souls pass on. Flynt poked his head out of hiding, and Rosanhi followed behind him. Rosanhi asked for her name, causing her to finally turn to the group and show her face. The stranger turned the question around and asked what Flynt and Rosanhi, "followers of the Matron and the Judge", were doing surrounded by corpses. The stranger identified herself as Riah, a paladin of Kel, and Riah and Rosanhi entered a conversation about life, death, and how what Rosanhi has believed to be an antithesis of her beliefs doesn’t have to be. The conversation was over as quickly as Riah finished her consecration, and with a snap of her fingers, the bodies went up in flames. Riah left, telling Rosanhi and Flynt that their paths will possibly cross again in the great conflict that is coming, and then disappearing into the forest.With Riah gone, Rosanhi, Flynt, and Roscoe went back to bed, waking again with the rest of the party. Gorrn made some mushroom soup for breakfast while Rosanhi let the party know about what happened with the bodies and Riah. During the meal, Gorrn expressed to the others his opinion to let Harald go, relating with his issues with being governed by a king he does not recognize. After a long back and forth about what the best option would be, the party decided to let Harald and his companion go, and to tell the King the truth about why they released him. Gorrn went with Badger to release them, convincing Harald to leave and live to fight another day. After being released, Harald thwarted his companion's attempt to rush Badger with a knife, picked up his discarded axe from the dirt, and left the camp without speaking a word. Soon after, a group of soldiers from Paradeen arrived to secure the camp area and provide the party backup, led by Sergeant Eric. The party told him that the camp is secured, but that Harald got away into the forest. Eric informed the party that if they know anyone who needs a logging or building job that they can probably get a one-up on other people knowing about this place beforehand. The party gave Eric the orb to talk to Levin, and then made their way back to Paradeen. Upon returning to Paradeen, Rosanhi, Roscoe, Gorrn, and Badger decide to visit Calhoun to check in on him, while Kevril, OTIS, and Flynt went to inform Padithar of their success at the camp. As the gang pulled up to Calhoun’s home, they spotted Peart outside carrying a box containing many half empty, open wine bottles. Peart feigned inebriation, signaling to the less oblivious of the group of Calhoun’s current state. Gorrn forcefully took Rosanhi to help tie the horses off while Roscoe and Badger were let into Calhoun’s home by Gayle, finding it ramshackle with its owner passed out drunk on the couch and bottles and debris strewn everywhere. Badger ran to grab Calhoun a clean jacket while Roscoe casted Major Image to hide the mess. While the two tried to cover up for Calhoun, Rosanhi grew increasingly suspicious of what was going on inside and, after breaking free of Gorrn’s grasp and leaving him paralyzed in the street, burst into the home catching Roscoe and Badger in the act. Badger cast Dimension Door to whisk Calhoun away, leaving Roscoe to explain what was happening before Gorrn tackled Rosanhi, revealing the state of the home. Roscoe lied to Rosanhi that Calhoun is stressed about planning a date for her, asking her to keep it a secret so and act surprised when Calhoun asks her out. Unsatisfied by this answer but wishing to get away from the situation, Rosanhi expressed her frustration to Roscoe and then left to enter the Triangle Market, eventually purchasing a shiny metal cymbal to be used as a scrying disc, and then returning to the Church of Arabella to help heal the sick and injured.

Kevril, OTIS, and Flynt arrived at the refugee camp to find its residents in a buzz, with shelters being taken down and belongings packed up despite no news of the party's success at the logging camp. Seeking out Padithar, Kevril found her buried in a tome, alone in her tent and non-participatory in the wave of energy flowing through the refugees. The trio explained to Padithar that they had been successful in clearing the camp, but expressed concern that the area may not be ready for them for some time longer than the camp seemed to expect. According to Padithar, even news of a potential new home in the forest was enough to fill many of the refugees with hope, a feeling sorely absent within them for many weeks now. Whether or not the camp is ready for them, most of the refugees are anxious to leave the city and are willing to put in the work to rebuild. Padithar herself did not share the camp's sentiment, her characteristic apathy towards leading them on full display to the trio, but did note that she was looking forward to having a quieter place than the city to conduct her research. She believes that in time, they may find themselves a capable and compassionate leader who will bring them to a better place than she can. Kevril contested this, insisting that Padithar is a good leader, but this notion was quickly dismissed as she instead questioned Kevril on what his plans were. She further questioned what Kevril was doing here, noting that she knows quite little about him and would like to understand his motivations.

Uncomfortable with sharing his past in front of OTIS and Flynt, Kevril resisted sharing this information but was pressured into doing so when Padithar cast OTIS and Flynt out of her tent. Hesitantly, Kevril told Padithar that his true name was Gaelin, and revealed that he was a member of a high order of Dominion druids from Chirramee. Forced to leave, he has been searching for someone who can help him with his motivations, though he intentionally left these vague. He finished by letting Padithar know that she is the first to learn this information and that he believes the group he's with now may help him achieve his goals. Unfazed by this revelation, Padithar warned Gaelin that the secrets of his past make him a direct enemy of the refugees, and that the Collective themselves have caused them much pain and loss when they cleared the fog in Enne Onno. Despite this, she expressed that the Collective did free the refugees from their prison in the fog, accomplishing what the Dominion had failed to do in over 100 years, and that their intervention may have saved those who did not die from Lofy's attack from a similar fate by the Dominion. Bidding him to be careful with whom he shares his past with, Padithar wished Gaelin luck on his journeys before having him leave her to her studies.