Date: 13 Ascending Air, Realm Year 762
Synopsis: The Solars finally emerge from the wilderness and come upon a town. After settling in, they do some discreet research at the small Temple of Daana'd, on the subject of Anathema and Abyssals. They learn that Jiulan has been through the town, only a few days previously. They make an appointment to speak with the town elder. Then, the Deathknights show up at their inn.
The refugees come out of the wilderness just as a thunderstorm is brewing. Through the driving rain, they spot a barn nearby. With little choice, they take shelter within for the night. The next morning, the storm has passed, and they emerge from the barn to continue their journey. They soon come to the farmhouse belonging to the barn and ask for directions. The inhabitants, seeing a large, armed party, are reluctant to speak with them.
Follwing the road, they crest a hill and discover a rather unusual town. It is built on a small lake ... literally. The buildings and roads float on rafts. People are beginning to go about their usual chores, and the refugees speak to the local constabulary and ask about the town. It is called Ti'i wa'a wai. They are directed to the local temple of Daana'd and to the estate of the town elder.
At the temple, they meet the lone Immaculate Monk who maintains it. He tells them something of the history of the town, which was founded several decades before by immigrants from the Far West, which explains the unusual architecture and the predominance of blue hair and eye colors. They learn some of the Immaculate lore concerning the Solar Anathema. They leave the children and militia at the temple, and proceed to the elder's estate to speak about their people.
At the estate, they are told by the guards that they will have to make an appointment, because the elder is very busy. The earliest available time is the following day.
Frustrated, they decide to go back to the temple and take their charges to a local Inn, as they do not desire to remain closer to the Immaculate than strictly necessary, lest he discover what they are. Having obtained rooms at the Inn, they send Don Jurdat (the ex-merchant refugee) to purchase supplies and a cart. Ourna and Xylanthe discover that the town has western customs ... specifically, communal bath houses.
Later, Develan is attempting to add to his coin by plying his usual trade. Just as he nearly has a merchant's fat purse in his grasp, his hand is restrained, allowing the oblivious merchant to escape. Develan looks up to see who is holding him back ... and up ... and up. A rather large man, red of hair, in disturbingly familiar black armor is looking down at him disapprovingly. He is carrying a frighteningly massive black hammer. The man tsks and shakes his head, and scolds Develan, telling him that that isn't right. Admonishing him to behave himself, the man turns and departs, the merchant now long since gone.
Meanwhile, everyone is gathering back at the inn for the evening meal. After drinking for awhile, Tremaen gets completely sloshed on something that tastes like it could strip paint. Ourna is unaffected by her alcohol, and she carries him up to his room. Xylanthe and Ourna are upstairs, Albrecht is downstairs with the militia. Two men come in ... both are dressed in black armor. One is the man who met Develan on the street earlier; he proceeds to prop his hammer up against the wall as he takes a seat at a table. The other man fits the description of the Deathknight that Develan encountered in Metaia. Albrecht shrugs, not having been made privy to this information.
Up in the rooms, Xylanthe converses for a bit with the entity in her ring. The woman informs her that using her powers is flashy and likely to give away what she is. Ourna decides to come downstairs, and discovers the new visitors sitting in the dining area, within feet of the room holding the refugee children. She attempts to feign ignorance and proceeds directly out the door to retrieve Develan from down the street, telling him that she needs him to watch through the window in case she needs him to burst in to their rescue. She goes back inside and upstairs to warn Xylanthe. The two Deathknights appear completely oblivious to her, and the green-haired one actually flirts with the barmaid.
One of the PCs goes and convinces the innkeep to close the common area early. He reluctantly agrees. The Deathknights decide to leave, still paying no attention to the Solars whatsoever. Meanwhile, Develan has spotted a shadow flitting silently from roof to roof across the street, so he isn't paying attention until he hears the door start to open. The Deathknights move to turn in the direction Develan was watching through the window from, but he is faster ... he hopes. He quickly ducks around the corner into an alley and climbs up the wall of the inn to avoid being seen if they should chance to look down the alley.
The Deathknights march right past the alley and apparently don't even notice him. He slowly climbs up to get a better look, when a dagger suddenly embeds itself in the wall right above him. It is an unusual dagger, entirely black. No further daggers follow it, so Develan pockets it and takes to the roofs to follow the deathknights. However, he soon discovers that they have already eluded him.
As the session ends, the characters hole up in the inn and pray that the Deathknights don't return.
Date: 13 Ascending Air, Realm Year 762
GM Post-mortem: I am happy with how this session turned out, given that (once again, this time due to finals) I was unable to plan much of anything. The players seemed to like the uniqueness of the town floating on the lake (complete with a basis in its history). I also derived a great deal of enjoyment from the fact that my Deathknight NPCs were intimidating by their mere presence, rather than by doing anything overtly threatening. This was also the first session after I got sound working on my laptop, so people seemed to enjoy the use of sound effects (until it started getting silly. Must curb that habit, and be careful to not accidentally play turkey gobbles by moving the mouse pointer to the wrong place.)
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