G01 — Session 16

????, Earth Season

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Season, Week, Day
The Tail End of Earth Season

Events

Having returned alive from dealing with the dragon, the group once again found themselves in Leika Blackspear’s schemes. Leika wanted to grant them land in Apple Lane as it was nearer to Blue Tree tula than the steading by the falls. Finarvi and Serala managed to tempt her with the idea of turning the falls steading into a waypost for trade, as it would be better for Finarvi’s planned Wilmskirk trade route.

Serala sought permission from the Feathered Horse Queen to involve herself in the newly-rediscovered Ernaldan sub-cult of Orgovale Summer. A letter was sent.

Jorrim and Finarvi worked on planning and organising the new trade route, and curing the dragonhide. Jorrim also arranged for a shipment of apples to be sent to White-Eye the Troll, and located a priestess who specialised in pre-Dragonkill mythology. She knew more about the cult of Orgovale Summer, a granddaughter of Orlanth who founded Clearwine. He was unable to have an in-depth talk with her before he set off with Serala on a mission.

Serala had a herd of ponies in Blue Tree to collect. Ivalla had a herd of cows to take to Blue Tree. Finarvi muttered something about arrangements to meet Berra and Varanis in Blue Tree in the coming seasons. Jorrim and Arim both wanted to return to the temple of Orgovale Summer. They therefore made arrangements to travel together at least as far as Apple Lane.

Finarvi and Serala proved quite effective at herding the cattle. The others were at least not an active hindrance. They found themselves shadowed by elves past Tarnasil’s Grove, but arrived in Apple Lane with the cattle without incident. When told they could pen the cattle in the orchard, Finarvi made sure the place was swept clear of any fallen apples as he didn’t want to be faced with a herd of colicky kine in the morning.

The next day, the party headed towards Blue Tree. Their progress was slowed by false alarms, so they made camp in the wilds. Jorrim set up a warding while the Grazelanders hobbled the cattle and set a watch for potential cattle thieves. The night passed peacefully, but early afternoon the next day, the cattle became restless. Everyone except Arim detected movement in the undergrowth from a pair of sabre-cats that were stalking the herd. The Grazelanders guided the herd out of ambush range of the predators. They pushed on for a few more hours before making camp, cautious about still being in the big cats’ territory.

That night, Jorrim’s wards went off accompanied by the yowl of a big, angry cat on the far side of the herd. Ivalla used Cat’s Eye and Serala cast Light, and both saw two sabre-cats running up the hill away from the bright light. Both had their bows to hand and brought down one of the cats. Ivalla harvested what she could from the carcass in the way of hide, teeth and claws.

The hobbles prevented the cattle from fleeing and there were no further disturbances that night.

The last leg of the journey to Blue Tree passed uneventfully until the group entered the tula and were greeted by a band of warriors from the clan. The band’s leader sounded a horn to let the clan know of their coming and at the noise the cattle, who had been fairly manageable up to that point, decided to stampede.

Serala and Finarvi managed to ride ahead of the herd and head off the charge before it got up to speed. They rounded up the herd and brought them to a halt. The leader of the warriors looked slightly abashed and helped them drive the cattle into Blue Tree, where Ivalla was quick to point out that they were a gift from Queen Leika’s royal herd and not, in fact, raided.

A party ensued. This time, nobody ended up in the rafters.

After staying a few days, they headed back to Apple Lane with Serala’s remaining ponies. Remaining, because she had found out that some of her horses had already been sent to Henderost for breaking as no-one in Blue Tree could manage them. On returning to Clearwine, Serala got a positive reply to her letter for the Feathered Horse Queen.

Jorrim decided to settle as a scribe in Apple Lane, helping the aged Lhankor Mhy scribe there. Arim spoke to Nameless who told him they would be sending Sigurd, an old veteran, to be Apple Lane’s new Thane, and wanted him to be the Sword to back him up and to tend and guard the shrine of Humakt. Arim accepted in the short term, knowing that the Apple Lane locals needed to be taught how to fight. Finarvi and Ivalla planned to return to Blue Tree for Dark season to practice leathercraft. Ivalla offered to put Finarvi up at her cottage, in return for teaching her to craft leather.

The group returned to the temple of the goddess Orgovale Summer to investigate the old cult. They found an extra room they had overlooked on their first visit, an antechamber off the dragon pedestal room. Orgovale Summer’s statue moved again when they entered, smiling upon them and speaking to them. Orgovale Summer was looking for a priestess to link to, but none of the people before her were Ernaldan, so she had to be less picky. Jorrim, Serala and Ivalla decided to initiate into the cult of Orgovale Summer. Jorrim attempted to negotiate positions within her Cult, as they together added up to about one Priestess, but the goddess was having none of it.