1. Journals

AC 12 - The Rules Of The Hunt

Session
Auburn Crown Arc II - Growing Together, Not Apart
Auburn Crown 2022-07-15

Previously AC 11 - Hangover Recovery, Teleporting Cats

The group dealt with their hangover each in their own way. Ratyn went for a run and consumed lots of water, Aggma made herself some medicine, Sett slept in, and Oris struggled while Gina got medicine from Alyna. Later, the group gathered for some hangover late lunch. One of Charles Veiss's kids came in, went to Aggma, and told her that Christopher is too hangover to join.

The group discussed their plans, ultimately agreeing to participate in the Hunt for Naomi Copinger. They then went to the Greens to find Pippa Dorrian and ask her about the Duke's daughter, Qeral Arkelow. She informed them that they weren't on talking terms, but childhood friends, and that it ended badly. But Pippa received a letter from Qeral two days ago, asking her to come see her at The Pyramid in Adestry "to focus on their dreams". She wasn't excited about the prospects, focusing on her musical career. All the while, Patrick Singalong was playing the harp, beatboxing and scatting.

Later in the evening, the visited Garret Highbrew for his cat problem. They found cats, high on the nip. Aggma quickly confirmed their waning magical essence (conjuration), and with the cat's help found the source of the nip. Magical residue of the bell's, with Varis storing it and believing it simply evaporated during the night. To buy the groupe's silence on the source of the cat problem, he gifted the group two earring of message.

They left the bells, shared the good news with Garret, and each headed home, hearing a commotion in the streets of a "fortune teller" visiting Tilley.

NPCs

Naomi Copinger (ossie, up beat)

  • She's currently gathering info on the jury to have a better idea at what would give them the best chances. Last year Harris won by bringing a chimera's egg.
    • Gina Honeyflower
    • Brandon Onyxknives the tattoo artist
    • Apparently a surprise guest will be the Duke himself! He used to participate back in the day apparently, some story she didn't dig into, but this year he supposedly volunteered to be a judge.
  • She also has the rules of the hunt: Each group of up to 10 members have up to 36 hours after the start to bring back something impressive from the surrounding area to the jury. That's it. There is no more defined rule. A few years ago someone bought back a live minotaur which ended up killing a few unlookers, and they got disqualified, so that's not great. Someone bringing something from another plane also gets disqualified, so the party can't travel to the city of Dis and bring back a trapped soul in a jar.
    • Some rumours Naomi heard about the surroundings are that when the founder of Tilley, Marcus Tilley's daughter married, he had a magical copper birdcage made with an immortal summersong bird caged inside it. On the night of the wedding, the birdcage was stolen and lost in the swamps.
    • A recurring winner is presenting a magical chess set that is moved on vocal command. Harris won a few years ago with it. Apparently Gregory is the one currently in it's possession. Might be fun stealing it back.
    • Glen Itchy-feet Harris, a surprisingly skilled fighter for his age, offers up a prised family heirloom every year to whoever can defeat him in one on one combat. It's been 4 years and no one has ever defeated him, most notably because no one has ever managed to locale him during the event! The heirloom is a glass hand with gems for nails.

Nastus Derivern (sly, overconfident, cocky)

  • Can be found in a tavern reading a poor soul's Agnars Gailra (from Aggma's backstory) fortune, promising great riches if they go train in a monastery for several years.
  • "Sett! What a pleasant surprise!" to Sett, "bartender! a round of drinks for me, my friend here and his companions! Come, sit!". Tells Agnars: "You now have the knowledge to change your life for the better. Seize your chance!". Agnars gives him 15 GP, gets up, and leaves, bumping into Aggma "Oh, Aggma, sorry, didn't see you there" and leave the tavern.

Edmin Arkelow (southern, playful)

  • Thanks the party for gathering info, this confirms that she's still in Adestry. Pays the party 80 GP in total.
  • This puts him somewhat at rest, and will send people to investigate based on the details they shared.
  • Hopefully no one knows I'm looking for my daughter? Deception check from whoever is talking
  • In the mean time, would like to officially task the party with something, seeing as they can be trusted. His resources are currently stretched thin, so tasks the party with delivering an ultimatum letter to Geralt Harbridge. He owns the Harbridge quarry out of town, and has been confrontational in the past. He still hasn't paid his due taxes for last year. This letter tells him to either pay the group a sum of 1000 GP that they deliver to the Tilley treasury, or their whole operation being shut down.

June 24th, 2022 March 4th, 2024

Locations

Harbridge Quarry

  • South-east of Tilley, an hour's horse ride. Heavily guarded, with a tower and gate at the entrance. Not letting anyone in. If the Duke wants to deliver something, he can come to it himself.
  • If they insist, the guard on the tower will shoot a warning arrow. Entrance guarded by 3 guards: 2 on ground level, 1 on the tower (only 3m high). easy two-shot enemies!
  • Inside, they find people working, not paying much attention to them. Eventually a guard might come up and ask "break's over, get back to work!"
  • Geralt is in the mines, apparently an issue occurred. After waiting a bit, the party are taken inside the mines to meet Geralt.
  • Travelling down the cold, damp, dark mines, with only torches to help them (and aggma being too big as usual), they find Geralt and a few other mines frozen into place. Not stone, but glass-like glazed. Unlike anything else they've ever scene. In Geralt's hand, a similar amber looking orb. Digging revealed an obsidian black surface, with an indent in which the orb was placed.
July 14th, 2022 March 4th, 2024