Sttormford → Timberline
Level 5
Opening: A Private Meeting
Vesolnir was drawn into a private meeting with Avelyn de Merrowyn, Advisor of the Heart, in her werewolf form. The two met in a dark, unremarkable alley lying between the Golden Fleece and the Cathedral Library where Avelyn previously saved Veslnir from a vampire ambush. Not a place of meaning. Simply a place both had been before.
The Bastion
The party established their Level 5 Bastion on a hillside estate outside Stormford.
Features include:
- A small pasture with sheep
- A library
- A large communal kitchen
- A single, cramped bedroom
Residents and caretakers:
- Nadir, a one-armed elf, overseeing the library
Nadir was set to research Leylines this week. - Mimsy, a Nezumi mousekin, tending the sheep
- A sheepdog of indeterminate loyalty and capability
Further development of the pasture homebrew and rules to be determined.
Journey to the Observatory
Vesolnir, Bonk, May, and Cheri departed for the mountain observatory by cart.
- Cheri traveled at the lead on a broom.
- May flew next to the cart.
- Bonk insisted on remaining in the cart, wary of Rocs, the gargantuan eagles known to inhabit high mountain regions.
- Vesolnir rode in the cart as well.
The route climbed through a high-altitude temperate forest reminiscent of the southern alpine ranges.
Early travel went smoothly, though it was too strenuous for May to continue flying so she got in the cart, exhausted.
Cheri discovered a broken elven shortsword, inscribed in old Elvish with its maker’s name. Despite its state, the blade bears an enchantment of unbreaking and an enchantment that keeps the bearer afloat and advantage to swim..
As altitude increased, May became exhausted from sustained flight. She begins riding in the cart.
The Falling Star
Before reaching the timberline, the party witnessed a meteorite strike.
At the impact site, they encountered Garnet Lark, already harvesting the stone using insulated tools and a ceramic-lined containment box. Garnet identified herself as working for the observatory’s doctor.
She informed the party they shall escort her, citing local dangers. Rocs, specifically.
Bonk felt vindicated is his caution.
Owlbear at the Timberline
Near the timberline, the party was ambushed by an owlbear.
The creature struck first, launching from concealment and slamming into the ground with crushing force. Bonk, the donkey, and Garnet Lark were knocked prone. Garnet narrowly avoided death.
Cheri’s opening aerial attack with her hand crossbow dealt significant damage, followed by an offhand shot that bloodied the beast.
May cast Sleep. The owlbear failed its save.
During the momentary lull, Vesolnir invoked the Moonwoven Token, drawing forth a memory tied to the creature’s present motives. The owlbear sought broomstone. It could sense that the party carried it. For apex avian predators, broomstone is rare, valuable, and necessary for digestion.
The party killed the owlbear.
Bonk and Cheri harvested feathers, talons, and the beak. Cheri field-dressed the carcass and packed it into the cart, collecting usable meat, bones, and organs. Gleefully dismembering the beast adorned in it’s blood.
Vesolnir used the moonwoven token to sense ley magic disturbance within the gizzard of the owlbear. Within the gizzard, they discovered one small piece of broomstone(d20), matching the sample already in their possession. it seemed to defy gravity in Vesolnir’s palm. as if the energy of the leylines gave it loft.
Session End.
Closing Pressures
The King’s Council is losing its balance.
Ælor’s despondency is no longer private. With Seraphina withdrawing from her role as Advisor of the Soul and Osberric increasingly defining policy through caution and containment, the Rule of Three is functionally broken. Avelyn de Merrowyn feels time working against her, not just politically but structurally.
Seraphina’s absence is no longer neutral.
Her fixation on the dead and the damage done to soul-threads in the crypt has left the living without advocacy.
The Ruk’Tai are becoming legitimate threat.
What was once cultural resistance now reads as the early shape of organized power. Avelyn fears not rebellion, but alignment. If they consolidate, they will may stand alone.
Broomstone has entered the world as a real substance, not a theory.
Its presence in the owlbear’s gizzard confirms living systems have adapted around it. This is not a lost art waiting to be rediscovered. It is an active ecology that predates current understanding.
Stormford’s isolation is becoming a liability.
Osberric’s strategy of safety through proximity to power assumes threats move slowly and visibly. The meteorite, the planar instability, and the owlbear attack suggest otherwise.
Unresolved Threads
What has compromised Seraphina, and when?
Avelyn suspects something long-standing and subtle.
The cost of being wrong may be less than the cost of waiting.
Who else knows about broomstone?
The party has not disclosed their earlier sample.
Rocs remain unseen.
Bonk’s fear is unproven but validated by Garnet Lark.
Garnet Lark and the Observatory Doctor.
The observatory is not merely academic.
Meteorite recovery protocols already exist, so someone anticipated this moment.
The bastion is occupied, but not secured.
Nadir, Mimsy, and the land itself are now part of the party’s footprint in Stormford. Presence creates vulnerability as well as belonging.
Ælor’s need to leave Stormford.
The King has not acted on this impulse yet.