Young New World season 3

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Session 23: Arrival in Amatom (4/10/816 to 7/10/816)

• After entering Amatom, the group follows Avia through the grasslands. AFter several hours, they are stopped by a force of gnomes who then lead them to an outpost. At the outpost, the group is questioned and eventually given a choice. Pass a test of sincerity or leave. They agree to the test and are sent to a nearby town.
• Arriving at the town, the group is lead in and put into a traveler's lodge. They are told that they will help the defense of the town against the next attack by Horari-like soldiers. Their mission will be to stop runners from reporting back to the main camp. It is unknown when the next attack will come, so they rest and wait.
• The are not kept long, and are called to action early the next morning. Lead over the wall and around to the rear of the attacking force, they wait for the runners. The attackers are driven away from the town after several minutes, and the runners are sent. The group awaits them and the plan is going well until Wren lights their weapons with fire and gives away their location. The runners stop and a froce of 25 breaks away from the main force to attack the group.
• Rano's arrows thin the ranks as the others await the charge. Ezra sneaks out to deal with some hiding runners. Figment unleashes pixie dust on everyone, apparently aiding them. The battles lasts under a minute as the group is lucky and skilled at eliminating enough of the charging group to force them to withdraw.

Session 24: Deeper into Amatom (7/10/816 to 12/10/816)

• In the aftermath of the attack, the group searches for anything that was left over. Finding nothing they return to the city. For two days, the remain in the lodge, resting and waiting for the next direction in their journey.
• Gnixel returns to guide them to the first mountain ring, where they will be able to exchange information. The trip will take three days. The first day sees them set upon by a bullette, which their guide said is very uncommon. It is driven off before anyone is seriously hurt. The second day is uneventful.
• On the third day, the sky clears and suddenly a giant monkey in yellow golden armor appears. It is Horarian in style attacks the group. During the battle, in comments on occasion in single words in Horarian. The group surrounds and attacks mostly with ranged weapons. The creature knocks out Cyrus, Yorikito, and Isikawa. No one else approaches it for long. It loses its tail dagger before retreating after being hit by a dozen bolts and arrows.
• The group reaches the first mountain ring and a rest stop.

Session 25: The Keeper of the Inn's Choice (12/10/816 to 13/10/816)

• The group arrive at the inn and spends a day. While there, they interact with fire giants, elves, and many gnomes. They sell their magical great sword to the giants with the help of the innkeeper Stagnzi. The elves ask many questions of them. Stagnzi speaks them them about the next step on their journey and offers them a choice of the easy path over the mountains or the path of honor through the mountain. After some discussion, they determine that the test requires them go through.
• The next day, they head into a tunnel that will take them one day to reach the city of Lofton. Two hours in, they are set upon by a flaming tiger. The battle is long a fierce. The great cat nearly cooks Raino to death, tears up Iwakasi and Wren, nearly killing them both. Figment, Yorkito, Barak, Cyrus and Esra all feel its burning claws and are driven back. It bounds among them clawing a scratching and grasping Raino in its mouth the entire time. Figments spells and Barak's healing keep them alive until finally after dozens of strikes, the creatures disappears in a burst of flame.

Session 26: The Keeper of the Inn's Choice (13/10/816 to 30/10/816)

• After debate, the group soldiers on deeper into the tunnel. Not long after, the are faced with eight targets and a pit. Their discussions lead them to a terrible result. The pit doubled in size, several of them battered by wind and a boulder rolling towards them. Wren unleashes an arrow which summons the dragon Dash who stops the boulder and after gets the group to the end of the tunnel. As they are about to emrge, they are confronted by a group of gnomes, lead by the 'scalehunter'.
• The gnomes agree to allow the group to safety if the dragon will come peacefully. Dash agrees and the group is lead to a hotel where they rest.
• The group is given the choice whether to remain or leave. All but Figment quickly decide to return to the Iron Tower.

Session 27: The Group Split on Method (23/9/816 to 26/10/816)

• The group made their way to Meldrage over the course of the month following our last adventure. Near the outskirts we were taken to a nondescript tuft of high Yellowian grass that turned out to be a secret entrance to an underground tunnel. The Winged among us grumbled about having to go underground but we were assured that the trip would be less than a mile in length so we followed our guide into the tunnels. The tunnel opened into a larger chamber where we were met by a Dwarf. This Dwarf worked for the Maximillian family and told us that our arrival was earlier than anticipated and that we would have to rest in this chamber for a day wile everything was organized. We were provided food and wine and rested for the evening. The following day the same Dwarf (Vos?) led us through more tunnels to an underground complex. There were other people in this complex, common folk, but the same sort you would find in a town. Elliott used his magic to clean everyone up after their month long trek so that we were presentable and we were led to what appeared to be a conference room on one of the levels of the underground complex. Once in the conference room, the dwarf attempted to negotiate with us to have us "remove" the "spies" of the Legion of Democrats (that's what we are calling them. Everyone else is trying to call them a cult, but Breach tells them to not use that word because they are not a religious organization attempting to supplant or replace Deities on the Council).
• Rillain starts talking and everything goes downhill from there. The Dwarf tries to get us to agree to "remove" the Demo-Krat spies, we (through R'lain) ask for more proof that the Celestial Bureaucracy is really tied to the demo-krats somehow and we aren't just being used as a disposable bludgeon for the Maximillian's political rivals. R'lain quickly irritates the dwarf to the point where the dwarf leaves.
• Several minutes later another individual enters the conference room, Sir Pierre. Sir Pierre talks with us and even offers a small chest full of gold for "removing" the "Spies". After much talking, Sir Pierre comes to the realization that we are not an elite mercenary force that can eliminate his problems and that we have an agenda of our own. The ACTUAL mercenaries among us understood what was being asked and offered and had no problem with it, the rest of us were more hesitant.
• After much more talking by R'lain we agreed to only go to the town the Evangelist's were coming from and see if there were indeed ties to the Celestial Bureaucracy. We made it to the town only getting moderately lost on the 5 mile trek. Once we made it to the town the bulk of us had a really nice pancake brunch at a halfling buffet eatery where they charged by how much they thought you could eat. Once brunch was done, we made a circuit of the town and found a shrine to Tyrogatore. Breach met with the Cleric of the shrine and sparred with him. Breach won the match and we continued our circuit of the town. We tried to get info about the Demo-Krats from the Cleric and he offered to introduce us to them because it would be the polite thing to do. We respectfully declined but he kept insisting. Breach decided to ask him to spar again to prevent him from alerting the demo-krats to our presence/questioning. The rest of us made our way to the demo-krat meetinghouse. Sss'sss and Chasker hid and the rest of us made our way normally. At the entrance we were met by an individual who asked why we were there (i forget his name, but it will become irrelevant as you will see in a moment). We show him the a pamphlet we obtained from Sir Pierre that proselytizes the demo-krat teachings and the man brought us into the meeting house and proceeded to avow to us the joyous wonders and the correctness of the demo-krat way. As we were listening and the speaker was just getting into his groove, Sss'sss attacked him from out of the shadows gravely wounding him. Of those of us in attendance, Horatio, R'lain, Jade, and Kess, only Kess joined in the murderous bloodbath. Elliott interposed himself between Ssss'sss and the demo-krat speaker and Ssss'sss stabbed him. Elliott tried to use his spells to diffuse the situation, only managing to put Kess to sleep. Jade dragged Kess out of the meeting house and attempted to slap her to wakefullness. R'lain healed the speaker as we tried, unsuccessfully, to talk Ssss'sss down. A guard also arrived to assist the defense of the speaker. Luckily the rest of the town had been drawn to the fight between Breach and the cleric of Tyrogatore so no more guards arrived. The speaker tumbled out of harms way and thanked Elliott for attempting to save him and retreated out of the meetinghouse getting slashed at by Ssss'sss agiain who drew more blood. The speaker made it out of the meetinghouse where he immediately ran into Kess's knives. Ssss'sss charged the speaker and slashed him one last time and flew off. The speaker went down for the count. Kess cheered the victory over a foe, Horatio walked away from the craziness, R'lain apologized to the dying speaker stating he thought his ideas were terrible but didn't think he should die for having them. Jade kicked the dying man in the head while he was on the ground and then followed Kess away from the meetinghouse. Elliott, still bloody from Ssss'ssss's blow, cast detect magic and saw lingering auras around the podium area where the speaker had been talking. Once he finished his inspection, Elliott made his way out of the meetinghouse and ran into another guard, who by this time had been alerted by the initial guards calls for help. Eliot was briefly questioned, but not detained as the guards went to assist the fallen speaker.
• Horatio could be heard talking to himself about spending several hours trying to avoid this exact situation only to end up there at the end anyway.

Session 28: Deemed Enemies of History (3/11/816)

• In the aftermath of the attack everyone except Chasker was questioned by a constable that the town brought in. Elliott, being a victim, and having a witness to his attempts to stop the murderous rampage of Sss'sss, was given medical aid and allowed to stay in a guest room in the Lodge. The rest of the companions (Breach, Rilain, Jade, Horatio, and Kess) were put under house arrest in a non-used house near the poorer section of the town. The inspector, Inspector Hopfoot, questioned everyone involved. The truth was given and everyone except Kess was allowed to leave. For her part in the attack she was arrested. She will likely end up as a ward of a temple somewhere where she can be watched and her barbaric tendencies can be watch and hopefully controlled.
• Inspector Hopfoot basically told us to leave the town immediately. That's when Chasker rejoined the group. Inspector Hopfoot said he had arranged for a guide to take us somewhere safe. Outside the town we met up with an Emerald Brigadier named Lance who rides a Hippogriff. Captain Lance took us to "the Bardic College, The Trueheart Academy" (which we decided is basically the equivalent of "Penn State, Delaware County Campus"). Once at the BCTA, we were met by a female Silversword, who was also a Professor of the Academy. We kind of danced around why we were there until Breach had enough and he mentioned the Cabal of Democrats (no longer called a Legion as it was decided that the word "Legion" may inadvertently give the democrats too much gravitas). We were taken to see another Professor at the Academy, this one of History. When we reached his office we again told him about our suspicions about the link between the Celestial Bureaucracy and the Cabal of Democrats. When we finished he said "thanks for the info. I really hate to do this to you lady Silversword, but sorry-not-sorry" and he and the podium he was standing on faded to a black mist. The door to the office was locked but we were able to pick the lock and open it. There was no longer the rest of the Academy on the other side of the door. Instead there was a long hallway. Captain Lance stepped out the door and a new symbol, unlike any of the others we had encountered appeared on the wall.
• Elliott attempted to pull some tapestries off of the wall of the office. His plan was to cut them into thin strips or unravel then threading and use it to navigate what he fears to be amaze on the other side of the office door. As he tried to pull the first one down, the tapestry came alive and ate him. It was a mimic. All 4 of the tapestries in the room were mimics. Elliot almost died (again), but the others managed to kill or drive off the rest of the mimics.

Session 29: Deemed Enemies of History (3/11/816)

• After the battle with the tapestries, the group decided to walk out into the tunnel and navigate the corridors. Breach, with his "degree" in engineering and architecture, quickly figured out the symbol on the side of the wall was a map of the dungeon we were in. Using that logic to move forward, we crossed the first T-junction and decided to head right since there was a breeze coming from that direction. Upon doing so, we made it halfway down and encountered a red-eyed, heavily muscled creature with humanoid features and a horned bull head with wispy hair. Lance and Horatio were in the lead and quickly formed a defensive flank. Horatio set for charge and, sure enough, the creature bellowed and charged us at tremendous speed. Not anticipating our military precision, it ran headfirst into the business end of Horatio's polearm only to meet it's untimely death. It then melted into the stone. Rillain took out some chalk and marked the point where we killed the creature.
• We then moved forward to the end of the corridor to a dead end. We repeated this at the other end of the T-junction and found nothing. It was then decided to continue straight down the main tunnel and continue to listen for the grunting and roars of bull creatures. The group encountered a bull creature at every T-junction, whether it be down the left or right side, so they decided to set up a flank at each intersection to lure the creatures into charging us. Horatio continued his amazing success by skewering several of them upon impact. We decided there would be nine in total leading up to a "boss" at the end of the maze.
• After the first three were defeated, the next three were more powerful and emitted a noxious gas that blurred our vision and made it difficult to fight. Nonetheless, we powered through and defeated them. Moving forward, we encountered number seven, it became wise to our flanking strategy and did not charge. Instead, it roared before red hot fire spewed from it's snout and hit those of us set for charge. We defeated it, but took heavy damage as a result. We decided to skip number eight and went down the end of the T-junction in stead of going straight. We suspected the corridors would meet at the edge of the point where the map appeared to connect. We were proven right when reached the end and saw the tunnel angled downward at that point. After confirming the other end of the T-junction and the center also went downward, we decided to scout ahead. Our Silversword companion decided to sneak down the slope after hearing the snoring of another bull creature. She made her way down to where all three points met and saw a nest made of what appeared to be gold and a bigger, more menacing looking bull creature sleeping in the nest. *
• Things didn't go well after that point when the creature awakened and sent a flaming breath weapon her way. The rest of the group at the top of the right side corridor saw the blast of red light up the room below and heard her screaming for help. We decided to run down the corridor, but several of us slipped and fell down the hall. It was sharply angled so we descended pretty quickly, but those of us who didn't slip were able to stop the others from falling. We composed ourselves and eventually encountered the bull creature. We took the fight directly to him and eventually defeated it, but not before Jade was knocked unconscious. Once dead, it melted away like the others, but this time our entire surroundings melted away too and we awakened back in the professors office where we started.
• After coming to, we immediately subdued and surrounded the professor and questioned him at sword point. He confessed to being in league with the Cult of the Democrats and proclaimed that they were trying to preserve history and that we were destroying it. When asked to explain, he said there is an ancient text that used to be on academy property that contains proof of the powers of the Bureaucracy belonging here in Yellowia and having some sort of roots on Habololy. Rillain was highly offended by the comments and proceeded to lecture the professor on the misguided views on democracy. Our Silversword friend, being the figure of authority on campus, granted Rillain legal rights to accuse and condemn the professor for his treason. He was ordered to jail to be held until fully prosecuted. During his questioning, he was stripped of his one hundred year tenure and all rights at the Bardic Academy. It was at this time, after breaking down and sobbing like a six year old with a skinned knee, that he told us of a book he uses to communicate with his cultist overlord (can't remember his name). This cultist power was described as a humanoid bull like the one we saw in our trap who was also responsible for casting the high level magic we were subjected to. The book acted as sending stones, much like Tom Riddle's diary in Harry Potter where he would write down questions and commands and receive responses. The book was confiscated.

session 29: Sailing Towards the Empire (17/1/817 to 27/3/817)

• The group boarded the ship and set sail for the Orcish Empire. It came to our attention that those sailing with us were only crew and warriors answering a call for non-lethal gladiatorial combat in the Empire. Among the warriors was a Common Human named Artur who was especially skilled in the martial arts.
• We made it about halfway to our destination, when in the middle of the open sea, we spotted dancing lightning patterns that warned of impending danger courtesy of Lai'zei. After another day passed, we were boarded in mid-sail by a Cloud Giant enforcer of Lai'zei who demanded a toll of 210 gold to pass through the trade route. The captain slowly went to retrieve the gold while offering it to us if we were to drive the creature off. The giant made an off color remark about Tyrogatore which set off Artur. He used his lightning fast reflexes and powers of teleportation to assault the giant before he knew what hit him. After landing three blows to the giant's knees, he stumbled and was left reeling by the sudden assault. The rest of the group jumped in the best we could with magic, ranged attacks, and buffs. After a surprisingly successful barrage of attacks, the giant fled and leaped off the boat into the dark waters of the night. The captain, impressed with our skill, promised to pay us when we landed.
• Several more weeks passed and the crew was particularly respectful of us after our little display. Artur took a liking to our group and spent a little more time with us as well, although he didn't talk much. When we were about a day or two away from our destination, we were pursued by Barbarian pirates. They commanded a very fast longboat and were able to overtake us with speed, however our group and several of the crew were able to frustrate and delay them with long range spells and ranged weapons. Eventually, they gave up the pursuit and retreated back into the ocean depths.
• At this point, we reached the Empire and met with a diplomat on shore. He told us we were to be taken to a neutral location and quarantined until they were satisfied we weren't infiltrators. We agreed and let them guide us after paying a small toll which Yoshi generously paid for and then some. Our guide was impressed with Yoshi and his faith in The Oldest Orc. The two exchanged tales of Oldest Orc lineage and regaled the group with chants based on family trees and old-timey respect. It took six hours to reach our destination and the two of them were still in the throws of monotone storytelling. A sight to behold for sure.
• Once at our location, which turned out to be the old shrine of Lakius in the previous era, we were told to remain here under guard until their investigation of us was complete. We agreed to follow the rules and that was that. Some of the other combatants with us were grumbling under their breath, but nothing violent happened, likely due to the good mood the Orcs were in thanks to Yoshi's verbal ninjutsu. They also agreed to have Akrah stay at an adjacent building if she wanted in order to separate male and female. That's where we left off.

session 30: A Dangerous Night in the Empire (28/3/817)

• The group is attacked overnight by a swarm of Wugs. The battle is long and the group would certainly have been defeated if not for Artur and the other martial artists. In the end, several wugs are killed and one is captured.
• Protected until the morning, the group is escorted to the mainland where they meet with the local high cleric of the oldest orc and his guard. After the meeting, they are cleaned and taken to the Quan Yin section of the city.

session 31: The Road to Melg (28/3/217 - 10/4/817)

• In the Yinite section of the city, the group is split up for the day. Akrah and Oz are allowed to wander and mingle, while the others a left near the entrance. When the day ends, most are led to the barracks where they can spend the night. The next morning, they are brought to a Xeran of soldiers who leads them down the road towards Melg.
• The 300-mile journey goes well. It is not until they come with a couple hours of the wall surrounding the inner empire that trouble appears. Two giants, one injured, are in the road. The har lowta, Oz, and one other soldier that can speak giant go forward to speak with them. The others take a guard. After catching a glimpse of a disc in the sky, a rainbow shower of light rains down and damages the group in a variety of ways. Moments later, those around the giants are covered in a mist that blinds them and a three headed creature descends from the hills and attacks. Artur and Akrah take on the beast as it rampages. They are finally able to defeat it and it collapses and melts away. Before it does, a blurry humanoid creature also attacks. The group and the remaining solider fight it off until it is forced to flee.
• Healing and gathering with the two giants, the group sets off for the wall and reaches it with no other problems that day.

session 32: Where's the Emperor (10/4/217 - 13/4/217)

• The group made the arduous trek to Melg without incident. Once there, we were treated to a fine meal and rooms for the night. We parted ways with the guards who brought us here and were then met the next morning by our guide, a refined looking light skinned Orcish Har Alta of some repute. He said he would be taking us to the festival.
• He escorted us through the city and into the shopping district which spanned a half mile. We made it to the end of the stores lined up outside the city and entered an area that led to what the Har Alta referred to as the Hall of Good Fortune. This was the corridor leading to the gladiatorial events and, of course, the festival of which he spoke. We all took in the sights and sounds of the thousands of people attending the festivities, then the Har Alta told us we were to be tested before meeting the Emperor. We gasped as we thought this meant mortal combat, but to our relief, it wasn't. Instead, we were tasked with figuring out if the Emperor was attending the event, and if so, we had to locate him on our own. We were given one hour to complete this test.
• We immediately split up in small groups. Artur went to the bar areas in order to determine if anyone would give up his location if drunk enough. Ozrick and Taye went off to the fighting pits. Oz and Gareth went to the shopping district to obtain some coin with the Emperor's face on it, and Yoshi began praying for a Divination spell to get some answers. We spent about a half hour doing various things, but nothing helped and we couldn't find him.
• After about ten more minutes of conversing with the crowd and trying to figure things out, Taye and Oz went to a guarded back entrance of the arena and Taye used his psychic powers to Scry through the doors. He found the Emperor's personal guards standing at attention facing the crowd outside, but no sign of the Emperor. Meanwhile, we met up with one of the more unique contestants of the games; a Chosen of Frostine in heavy cloak and hunched over to meet the gaze of most people. He eventually took an interest in all of us and joined us in looking for the Emperor since he knew what he looked like having seen him at the beginning of each day's opening ceremony. He revealed himself to be about nine feet tall when fully standing, but couldn't spot him.
• At this point, we were running out of time and Gareth decided to give up and throw back a few cold ones. At one of the bars, he met up with someone watching his surroundings and sitting quietly at the bar. Gareth eventually found out this was one of the Emperor's attendants and he told him that the Emperor likes to be entertained. Gareth returned to the group, who at this point resorted to gaudy magic tricks and embarrassing displays of oration atop a floating disk to try to get the Emperor's attention. Nothing worked until Yoshi realized he should probably read the prophecies he had recorded over time. Sure enough, there was one prophecy with an image of dancing Orcs. We made the connection that the Emperor likes to be entertained and darted over to the dancing Orcs at the other end of the arena. We got there, Oz held up one of the Orcish coins, and saw an uncanny resemblance to the Emperor among the dancers. With about a minute to spare, as the Har Alta was descending the stairs where we were all standing in order to inform us of our failure, we introduced ourselves and the Emperor immediately acknowledged our arrival and the fulfillment of this part of the prophecy.
• With that, we were welcomed with open arms and the Emperor cleared a path among the crowd to take us back to his mobile chambers for a private discussion.