OOC: Randa has it =)

Poke around in the bag and see how much we got then add it to the party inventory.

DM: The bag the captain gave contains 50 gold. A fair amount, considering it is coming from the pockets of the soldiers themselves. 

The next few days are uneventful, boring even, as you have little to look at other than the mostly barren wasteland. The Calamity impacted what is now the region of Xhorhas the most, a war of gods and the world’s most powerful mortals have carved up what is known as the Wastes. Little grows here. Mostly it is a landscape of grayish rock, dust, and the odd petrified tree, which stands as a monument to the aforementioned ancient war.

In the night, you can see distant creatures out and about. Moaning, sad things. Remnants. Ylis can see what appears to be a humanoid creature walking in the distance, its own body appearing to be a bag that binds its arm and masks its face. It stumbles along, uttering muffled cries as it struggles against its own flesh.

The day before arriving at the Emerald Loop, the two parties come upon another corpse in the road. In fact, several corpses. One is clearly a demon. This one is an udaak, a four-armed, ape-like beast. Spears and axes still are buried in its body and it is slowing dissolving into black ichor, much like the hezrou you encountered before. There are also about 30 bodies, mostly human, adorned in hide armor, and the bodies of horses, surrounding the demon corpse.

As the party picks through the bodies, not much of value can be found, but Ylis does manage to come across a dagger of exceptional make still buried in the melting body of the udaak. There is an inscription on the blade’s handle that reads ‘Kierchaly Wastewalker’. Notably, Irvan seems only mildly interested in the corpses littering the field and does not join some of the others in going through the bodies for valuables.

Days later, a large stand of trees rises out of the barren wasteland. The leaves of dozens of towering oaks rustle in the breeze, and the scent of a bonfire wafts from a trail of smoke rising from somewhere ahead. The path through the trees is deeply rutted by the work of countless wagon wheels. A wooden sign posted at the head of the path bears the decorated shepherd’s crook that is the holy symbol of Melora the Wild Mother, and the words “Emerald Loop Caravan Stop.”

L1: Entrance to the Clearing
L2: Big Yuyo
L3: Ox Corral
L4: Adventurers’ Camp
L5: Bonfire

The forest pathway opens into a large clearing, nearly a hundred feet across. Music, laughter, and the savory aromas of fresh-cooked food and woodsmoke drift through the air. On the west side of the clearing stands a full-grown horizonback tortoise. On its back is the homestead of a family of goblins, who are making repairs to the structure. On the other side of the clearing, seven covered wagons encircle a bonfire, and a rope fence has been set up north of this encampment to contain the wagons’ oxen.

Ayo parks her wagon with the others and pulls Hee and Haw to the Ox Corral. They resist her now, not because they don't actually want to go, but because they seem to be enjoying her struggling to pull both along as she yanks on the reins and grunts curses at them. Once she gets them in the pen, they seem quite content in it and wander off to mingle with the oxen there. Ayo wipes sweat from her forehead and leans against the fencing, catching her breath. The rest of her crew get out and stretch their legs, exploring the camp to see what he here for them. Certainly a major change of scenery if nothing else, and potentially stimulating conversation with fellow travelers and merchants. 

DM: Long Rest achieved and Ylis, please add a +1 Dagger to the party inventory. 

Morgan yawns loudly, stretching his arms above his head.
“Finally, some life!”

He flips his top hat onto his head and leaps from the still-moving wagon with a grin.
“Don’t wait up for me!” he calls over his shoulder.

For a moment, he considers heading straight to the music and the adventurers to ask about the road ahead to Bazzoxan... but then his gaze lands on the massive Horizonback tortoise.
A giant tortoise is a giant tortoise.
“Well, priorities…” he murmurs with a smirk.

He strolls toward the great creature, eyes wide with admiration, taking in the slow grace of its movements and the structure built upon its shell.
Switching to Goblin, he offers a polite bow.
“Greetings, mighty traveler... and to those who ride with you!”

On the way to the caravan stop Ylis takes some time to draw a silver rose wreathed in green vines and strange red crystals. 

-------------

"Whoop whoop!" Ylis lets out a cheer at reaching a place which isn't a blanket of dreary. She relaxes a little, surely this place will be safer than the road, surely.

Ylis parks the wagon near Ayo's and walks Rumble over to the animals, making him promise to behave himself. 

She takes some time to clean the gunk off of the golden rings, then looks for Irvan. She could use a friend when looking for somebody to sell the rings to.

After the trek through blasted wasteland and the sight of so many unnatural and twisted creatures Jacarandas heart is buoyed by the sight of The Wild Mothers symbol.

She follows Ayo to the pen while the others get settled and disperse, assisting Ylis over with the horse if she needs help, " How are you feeling after the journey?  It is a harsh land here, though nature seems to be abiding despite the ravaging....."

She looked to the blade on Ayo's belt, " You've not had a chance to use her yet.....but perhaps that is for the best.  Shall we join the other caravan? or do you need to purchase anything from the goblins?  I should probably replace some arrows and theres not much in the way of good foraging material here to make them with."

(The last two days were unexpectedly crazy. Sorry for the delay.) 

Sacha looks around at the blasted wasteland around her. Although she does feel uncomfortable with so few plants around, strangely, it's not much different from her opinion of cities. The paved roads and piled stones of Rexxentrum or Port Damali are just as devoid of wildlife as this accursed landscape. At least Xhorhas has the excuse of being the battlefield of the gods. 

Regardless, she still uses druidcraft to animate whatever small plant life she comes across on the trek. 

She shudders at the sight of the dead udaak. What a terrible battle to have required so much sacrifice just to slay one demon. If they had time, she would bury the bodies, but the quest calls. 

When approaching the camp, when Sacha sees the first hint of green, she gets out of the wagon and sprints ahead. 

"Trees!" She yells in joy, dead leaves rustling beneath her feet as she runs. She even casts longstrider to get there faster. She climbs the tallest one as high as she can climb and gets a good look at their surroundings. 

Perception: 11

Once she's finished looking around and hugging the branches, she descends the tree and kneels in front of the symbol of the Wild Mother. Long have her people worshipped Melora and been persecuted by Dwendallians for their devotion.

"By Her Great Tree, may we grow and prosper," Sacha mutters a prayer before joining the group. 

Sacha will approach the goblins. Do they appear to have a leader, perhaps an elder? She is interested in why they're out here in the middle of nowhere. 

Morgan talks to the massive horizonback in goblin and the horizonback looks down at the tiny human as it chews a shovel of feed. It considers the words a bit as it chews then returns to eating a pile of greenery.

One of the goblins is working some repairs on the structure sitting on the horizonback’s shell. He takes note of the human conversing with the horizonback with a friendly smile, as does a cantankerous looking old goblin sitting on the command post of the fort-like building on the tortoise’s back. The older one calls out to Morgan.

“Hey, watch out! These giant tortoises will bite you clean in half without even noticing. Don’t make me tell him you’re food!”

The younger goblin working, though still much older looking than Morgan shakes his head with a smile and a look that says ‘ignore the old man’. He slides down a rope to land at the feet of Morgan as a little goblin girl follows, where she lands, tumbles in the dirt, and runs off giggling to the ox corral. The goblin male approaches Morgan, polishing a wrench with a rag and speaks in goblin. “Well met, friend. Name’s Pops. What may we call you?”

***

Ylis is quite successful in drawing the crest on the bag and jacket.

Rumble rankles with wounded pride. He would never do something so childish as misbehaving. As Ylis turns to walk away, he uses his snout to try to seal Ylis’ coin pouch. He is not successful in going unnoticed, as intended. He plays innocent and trots away.

Irvan, as usual, is enjoying some drink. He is more than happy to tag along where money is being discussed.

***

Ayo pushes off the rope fencing. “Aside from not making it to the fight until it ended last time, it’s been just about everything I had imagined adventuring would be!” She looks at Hee and Haw, then back to Randa. “Well, not everything. There sure is a lot of nothing between the somethings. Days of bland scenery and a hard bench sure has worn me out.”

She reaches out with some hay and Hee and Haw mosey up and take the offered snack. “We are stocked up on supplies yet. I think we will take that captain’s advice and not buy anything until I see some Aurora Watch around here.” She scans the area and gives a half frown. “But maybe you guys will have some luck.”

***

DM: Given how many dead there are, it would be quite a day’s work to bury them all. Perhaps even two days. Does anyone help Sacha?

Quote from Erik_Soong >>

 

DM: Given how many dead there are, it would be quite a day’s work to bury them all. Perhaps even two days. Does anyone help Sacha?

 "Of course I'll help!" Ylis poses in a muscle stance then laughs and makes digging motions. She proceeds to help dig with Mold Earth

DM: Well that surely changes things. It is not long before all the bodies are appropriately buried, and deep enough that the normal scavengers are not able to dig them back up again. Magic solves everything! :P

OOC: Mold earth is low key one of the most gamechanging spells from a worldbuilding perspective. It would affect so much if relativity common. Warfare, sieges, construction, mining, agriculture, art, etc. 

IC: Sacha thanks Ylis for helping. She hopes that this helps their soldiers’ souls in some small way. 

Morgan laughs, raising his hands in mock surrender.
"If it’s all the same to your tortoise, wise one, I’d like to keep my body in one piece."

He chuckles, then offers a friendly nod to Pops.
“Nice to meet you, Pops. I’m Morgan.” He tips his hat politely.
“What feels like a lifetime ago, I used to travel with a moving circus… but this?” He gestures at the towering tortoise with an admiring grin. “This is a whole new level of caravan.”

He laughs softly, then continues:
“My friends and I are headed toward Bazzoxan. When I saw this magnificent creature...” he tips his hat again toward the tortoise “...I just couldn’t resist stopping by.”

Glancing around the oasis, he adds, giving voice to Sacha’s curiosity:
“So, what brings you out here in this… ‘oasis’ in the middle of nowhere? I see you are doing some repairs. Where are you folks headed?”

The old goblin sits up on his perch in the command post and glowers at the friendly Morgan. All bark, no bite, he is. Pops continues to clean his wrench as Morgan introduces himself. As Morgan gestures up at the horizonback, Pops follows his gesture to gaze up at the tortoise as well, chuckling in appreciation. He shifts his attention back to Morgan and slides the wrench into his toolbelt. He places his thumbs into the belt and leans back. “Glad you like her. That’s Big Yuyo. She’s been with us since I was a little tyke, getting my knees scraped up running around under her and whatnot.” He looks back up at Big Yuyo and his mind wanders to the distant past, a gentle smile spreading across his face. He does not stay there long however, and quickly returns his attention to Morgan. “She’s an adult, but she isn’t even full grown yet. By the time she is done growing, three full families can be housed on her back with room to spare. I hear Jigow has an orc woman who has an entire tavern with lodging on her horizonback.

“Bazzoxan, you say? Well, good luck to you on that, why are you heading that way? Most travelers we have encountered with that place on their map are leaving it, rather than going toward it. I hear that the Dynasty has really locked it down tight. It’s understandable why though…” He shifts uncomfortably and moves on. “We come from Rosohna, taking a stop here for a few days to repair some damage to our home-Big Yuyo here accidentally brushed some trees and really busted up our plumbing. Completely crushed Auntie Jaller’s potion lab too, heh. After that, we head to Asarius to visit our bugbear cousins."

The goblin, Dermot, from Ayo’s crew meekly wanders over to the conversation. Doing his very best to appear like he is just interested in the trees or an odd bush as he meanders in. As usual, intense worry lines his face, making him appear much older than he actually is. 

DM: Morgan knows that Dermot is the same age as Ayo (around 17), though his makes him middle aged, as goblins on Exandria have shorter lives compared to humans. Additionally, Most people in Wildemount know that Rosohna is the capital of the Kryn Dynasty, whether they live in Xhorhas or not. Morgan would have heard conflicting information on the Bright Queen: she is known locally as a firm, but benevolent ruler who loves her people more than her own life, while information that Morgan may have heard while in the Dwendalian Empire paints her as a baby-eating monster.

Since Morgan doesn’t enjoy knowledge given from being a native (as he was raised in a traveling circus), Morgan can give me a History Check for more information on both Rosohna, Asarius, and which information on the Bright Queen lies closer to the truth.

Morgan rolls his lucky coin between his fingers, lost in thought while listening to Pops.

Most of his circus family were goblins, orcs, and all sorts of folks the “normal” world called freaks. That’s how he picked up Goblin... from laughter, campfire tales, and a few too many late-night dares.

Right now, though, he wished he’d paid more attention when they talked about geography, politics, and all that boring stuff. (OOC: History check with a lucky point: 15.) Still, the stories about the Bright Queen… those had always fascinated him.

Ylis walks the stalls with her friend looking for a jewelry or fine crafts vendor. If the vendor sells rings that are similar to the ones she has she will look for another. She thinks she might get a better price if the vendor doesn't already have what she is selling. 

In the end she doesn't haggle hard, always looking at Irvan and his daggers to see if the price seems right.

After that business is taken care of she asks Irvan if he is in need of anything. She is happy he came along, doing this would have been so boring by herself. 

Rosohna is where all 12 of the noble dark elf Dens are located, along with a handful of lesser Dens. Morgan wouldn’t know all the noble Den names, but the three ruling Dens-the most powerful of the noble Dens-are known to him: Den Kryn, Den Mirimm, and Den Thelyss. The Bright Queen is of Den Kryn and she has been ruling for over 600 years. The Bright Queen was of particular interest to Morgan, given his traveling circus extracurricular activities. He knows that The Bright Queen’s local reputation is far closer to the truth than the propaganda spun by the Dwendalian Empire; she hardly eats babies and she cannot be said to be unfair in her rule. In fact, Morgan knows that she fights hard to make life in the Dynasty better. However, she is not without her flaws. She allows the Dens to engage in social and political sabotage, which is perhaps a little too similar to the ways of Lolth, even if actual deaths are rare. That said, she would be considered by many from an outside perspective to be a good ruler, even if imperfect.

Rosohna is mostly dark elf, around 70,000 of the 113000+ population, and the most notable feature of the city is that it is in a near perpetual state of evening because of this, despite being in a region that should receive substantial sunlight. This is because of an odd and unfamiliar form of magic that the Kryn have access to. Crime is low here, unusually so for a city so large. This is because of the shared faith of most who live in this city, and also because the Bright Queen’s specific actions to make the standard of living for even the lowest class comfortable, and because Den Mirimm is in control of law enforcement. Den Mirimm is known for its tough, sometimes even brutal approach to law enforcement.

Asarius is less than half the size of Rosohna in terms of population (~50,000 people) ¾ of which are goblinkin and gnolls, but is almost geographically the same size because it is more spread out. It is known as the City of Beasts, and is where much of the Aurora Watch (the Dynasty’s military) is stationed and trains due to an uneasy armistice struck with the Dwendalian Empire. Publicly, it was initially established by the Kryn Dynasty as a place to unite the wastefolk and nomads, but Morgan would know that it was more specifically chosen for its strategic positioning of a harsh, warrior people (in the form of the wastefolk) to the Dwendalian Empire, a point that Morgan also would know has incensed the Empire for hundreds of years.

Ylis doesn't see any vendors open in the conventional sense. However, as she explores the campsite, she does notice that a couple people around the campfire, inside the circle of wagons, have a small line of tables out with a few wares on display to attract buyer attention. Also present is another squad of the Aurora Watch. They sit around the campfire to watch the sellers. None are selling jewelry. They seem to be selling mostly general goods. Though one seller seems to be a seller of potions. All the prices do seem higher, as the captain of the other squad of the Aurora Watch stated, though the prices do seem to fall short of ridiculous, even if only just shy of it. 

Irvan seems wary of using 'aggressive haggling' tactics in the presence of the Watch, but more than that, he seems distracted. Skittish even. He keeps his back turned to some of the people sitting at the fire. Two human teenagers dressed in hide armor, presently getting some savory smelling grilled meat from a ruggedly dressed female drow at her cooking station. There are roughly 20 people playing cards, eating, or telling stories around the fire as the vendors laze by their tables and the Aurora Watch... well, watches. Potentially notable for Ylis are the presence of two dryads, who watch the fire warily. They almost appear to be clothed in shrubbery, but on a closer look, it is their own body, intentionally grown to give the appearance of clothing for the sake of comfort for non-fey creatures. 

Once Ylis asks Irvan of his needs, he responds quietly and uncharacteristically with a shrug and says, "Just tired. Want to turn in early."

Ylis asks quietly, "What's the deal with those people you are obviously trying to not get attention from? Are they enemies? Do we need to warn the others?" 

Trying to stroll casually, the bunny girl suppresses her disappointed at the lack of prospects but maybe she can use the rings in trade. She also keeps an eye out for anybody with the bag of cash symbol. "Come on man, let's get some food and then you can turn in". While heading towards the grilled meat seller, she makes it a point to pass near the dryads. Magical folk are so cool!

"Hello there magical dryad folk! It's a pleasure to meet you." She bows and puts her hand on her chest and gestures at her companion, "I am Ylis and this is my friend Irvan. I love your fashion sense!"

Morgan gazes at the horizonback, his mind wandering into daydreams of what it would be like for the fellowship to have their own colossal tortoise as a moving fortress. Maybe that’s something to bring up with the elder, Ushru, one day. The thought makes him grin.

Snapping back from his imaginary world, he laughs lightly.
“Adventurers follow adventures that follow trouble... that’s pretty much why we’re heading to Bazzoxan.”

He tilts his head, still smiling.
“But that doesn’t mean we’re going in blindfolded. So… any hints you’re willing to share, I’m all ears. Are you leaving Rosohna for business or for trouble?”

 (OOC: a persuasion check, if needed: 24)