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These notes are for The Arrival characters/game.

The party is currently:

The voyage aboard the Starjammer was a pleasant one, until you were a few days out of the Ivory Vale, where the skies turned dark and stormy and the waters became rough and choppy; slamming against the sides of the boat, with so much force, you were all sure, the rest of the journey would be completed by swimming for shore.

Sailing into the bay that the Ivory Vale rests in seemed even more perilous as the infamous “Bones” that the Ivory Vale became famous for, reached out of the dark seas like skeletal fingers seeking to pull every passing ship, beneath the stormy waters. Legend states that long ago, an ancient dragon fell in battle – and that’s what the “ivory” bones are that protrude from the ocean.

The week long trip aboard the ship allowed each of you to get to know one another and form a loose friendship.

You have all just arrived to the Ivory Vale, a fishing port whose activity has been increasing lately, as more people seek to explore the new continent you have just set foot on.

Rolling thunder in the distance, and grey clouds looming in the heavens makes for a dreary day – but that seems to do little to impact the people of the Ivory Vale. The small town is bustling with business, with vendors selling their wares on the side of the streets, each of them shouting louder than the person next to them to draw your attention.

After making your way through the town, each of you finally take refuge at the Lion’s Pride Inn.

The Inn was full of patrons, which were a mixture of citizens of the growing town of the Ivory Vale, and new adventurers who were coming to seek out new opportunities and explore the rumors of untapped treasures to be found. Inside, the party heard a wide mixture of stories and rumors ranging from haunted swamp lands to the disappearance of many of the Ivory Vale’s citizens and explorers who never returned.

Trogdorr approaches the bar and orders a steak and potatoes; followed by a drink. The bartender seeing that he’s a Dragonborn – and by the ratty attire he was wearing – probably a barbarian of some kind – offered to pour a pint of a drink known as The Dragon’s Breath… on the condition that he would attempt to slam the drink down. Trogdorr – not afraid of a challenge – drinking or otherwise – slammed the drink down and nearly instantly regretted it as his world swirled into a dizzying haze. By the time his steak and potatoes had arrived, he was deep into feeling the drink’s potent effects – which were mixed with alcohol and various spices to give it that “extra punch.” He had tried to stab his steak with a fork and found that (in his mind) it was moving around on the plate. Frustrated, he gave a hard trust at his potato to see if it would too – jump out of the way. Striking the side of the potato with his fork he had sent it flying across the bar, where it struck another patron – a man in heavy armor who immediately took offense and shoved Trogdorr. Seeing this unfold, Ellyjobel ran up and asked the angry human if she could buy him a drink. The human, seeing the small gnome well equipped, was amused by what he saw and offered to challenge her to a “Drink to see who falls first” – without realizing, one of Elly’s flaws in life was that she never turned down a drink – and because of that – had built quite the tolerance. Needless to say she quickly drank the human under the table; who once drunk, had sworn that he and Trogdorr had been best friends for years.

During all of this commotion, Calliope had approached an old wizard, that no one seemed to pay attention to. He was in a corner, seemingly talking to himself, and with a look of extreme concern. Approaching the wizard, Calliope asked if he needed help.

The old wizard with his long, white, unkempt beard, which stretches beyond his waist line strokes his beard thoughtfully. His ice blue eyes scan over each of you, as if pondering to place his trust in this unusual band of people standing before him, which he’s never seen before. “I live outside the city walls of the Ivory Vale, further south, on a farm bordering the Jade Forest. That’s where the Kobolds came from – and chased me out of my house. I am pretty sure they’re after my Crystal Ball. I am not sure if they got it – as they swarmed around my home and I was forced to flee!”

Calliope asked what the Kobolds would want with his crystal ball, and he explained – with his eyes shifting about, his tone going lower, that the Crystal Ball was truly the only thing he had of any value in his home – he couldn’t imagine what else they would have been after.

Pressing the issue of the Crystal Ball, Calliope asked it. “My Crystal Ball?” he stammers with a bit of uncertainty. He strokes his beard and he seems to think things over in his head. “Well, you see – it lets me,” he leans in close, “speak to my dead wife.” You all cast uneasy glances at one another, knowing that the Art of Necromancy is forbidden. His ice blue eyes seem to go grey, matching the thundering clouds outside, and you begin to hear rain fall upon the wooden roof of the inn. “My wife died, very young… when she was giving birth to my boy. I’m tried to raise my son, but he needed his mother… never grew up right in the head, I think, because he didn’t have his mother’s touch.” Looking distraught, he goes on to say, “I admit – I did an ancient ritual that summoned her spirit so my son could speak with her – to get the closure he needed… but he refused to let her go… so I ensnared her soul and imprisoned it in my crystal ball. My son… went mad with rage, over the years and became uncontrollable… he eventually ran away… I’ve not seen him in over ten years.” He pauses and heaves a deep sigh, “I believe the Kobolds believe they can use it as a means to speak to the beyond and unlock secrets of Necromancy… if you can get the crystal ball back, I can reverse the spell and free her soul. Then, if you so wish, I will turn myself in for the art of Necromancy.”

Knowing that Necromancy is a forbidden art, Calliope knew that it pained him to reveal the truth behind the Crystal Ball’s origins. The wizard went on to explain, “I’m not proud… but my son… was so angry… even when he was young,” the old wizard seems to slump over, broken. “I tried to give the boy what he needed. But nothing I could do was enough. He blamed me for his mother’s death. When I began researching for the ritual to summon her soul… I wanted to make sure it was perfect…” His voice trembles, “I… did things of questionable nature… I needed to make sure that when I summoned my wife’s soul… that it was perfect…”

Calliope assured the old man that they would help him recover the Crystal Ball. She returned and gathered the others, explaining that the old man’s crystal ball was stolen by a band of kobolds and that they should help recover it for him. Knowing that one of her newly found friends, Phalen was a Cleric of the Goddess of Life, the bard intentionally left out the parts about necromancy.

The party agreed to help recover the old man’s crystal ball, and decided leaving immediately was the best course of action – the rain would already make tracking the Kobolds a difficult task.

The dark clouds that threaten rain, hide the sun, the moon, and the stars, casting darkness across the land. In the distance, the shadows are briefly disrupted by the flash of lightning in the distance and the rumbling thunder that follows. The ground is thick with mud, and each step taken seems to exert more effort than the last, as if the ground itself is trying to pull your boots from their feet.

Traveling south for several hours, the party rests for the night on the edge of the forest trail. While Phalen took watch for the night, she awakens the party to the sounds of what sounds like puppies growling and yipping. Several creatures that appear to be three and half tall, with reptilian scales holding spears appear. They look as if they might be small, humanoid dragons or reptiles. Holding spears and daggers in their tiny hands, these small humanoid creatures edge closer, eyes narrowing on each of the party members, before launching an attack.

Trogdorr leaps into battle, using his weapon, he eviscerates one completely smashing it so that not even bones remain. Talerien climbed the tree and launched a volley of attacks and spotted a second round of ambushers. Calliope joined the fight stabbing one with her rapier. Ellyjobell moved out and shot several with her bow and arrow, before taking two hits herself. Twirpo unleashed a volley of spells incinerating several where they stood with Magic Missile. Before long, only one was left – and it decided to flee for it’s life.

Talerien told the others to let it go and he would track it. Staying a little behind the kobold, he marked the trees as he passed them so that his party could follow him, as Phalen tended to the wounded. He tracked the kobold to an old house, where it turned and ran east – staying clear of the farming fields on each side of the beaten down home. Talerien waited for the party here, spying what appeared to be four bodies laying in field. He suspected it was more kobolds and that it might be an ambush. He waited for his party to catch up to him and he explained what he saw in the fields. Trogdorr smiled and ran, jumping over the fence and charging the potential attackers hiding in the farmland. Much to Trogdorr’s dismay, it was four dead kobolds. He examined the body and discovered there was no clear indication what killed them – they had no puncture wounds or arrows sticking out of them.

That’s when several of the party members spotted something unusual – the scarecrow that was next to the bodies – right behind Trogdorr (who was too busy searching and looting the kobold bodies) – was moving towards him! The enchanted Scarecrow attacked Trogdorr! A second scarecrow in one of the other fields began to lumber over, also triggered by an unwanted presence in the field. Calliope was so stunned – and shaken by the sight of these unusual creatures – she was frozen with fear. Elly launched a volley of arrows at each of them as Phalen stood next to her launching crossbow bolts. Talerien fired arrows at them and Twirpo unleashed fire based spells hoping to catch them on fire. When a third came lumbering over, Elly grabbed her rope and tied it to the fence and began running around it to trip it. Talerien spotted a fourth and final one approaching; even though the other three were still standing. It was a long, hard fight, but the party eventually overcame the beasts and took shelter in the home, which they recognized as the old man’s home that they had promised to help. A quick search of the home revealed paintings of him and his son (who was still young in these paintings), and found volumes of Necromancy books. When Phalen asked if Calliope knew if the man was practicing Necromancy, the bard quickly changed the subject.

The party rested here to regain health and regain spells for the night, knowing they would be tracking the kobold east, into the Blackland Swamps, which were rumored to be haunted…