# 91_20210911 Neverember's Rally %%[Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDlDydGahkQ)%% ## Session Summary As soon as I see Sabine, I realize that she is a fire genasi, and one of the most powerful generals on Memnon's army in Calimshan. She inexplicably and abruptly left his side and caused the tides of battle to turn. I send a message to tell the rest of the party that we should not try to fight her-- we should try to run. Neverember's speech begins. He ennumerates all the good things he's done (recruiting sailors to tow an iceberg to Neverwinter, striking a deal with the orcs) and promises to do even more. He wants to rebuild the bridges, recruit more clerics of Tyr, and solve the problem of the red river by talking to Helm's Hold. He mentions that he has also found an artificer who will improve the efficacy of the mercenaries and that his help rebuilding Leilon and Phandalin after some attacks will line the Neverwintan coffers as well. He explains Mordai Vell's presence by saying that he is thinking about allowing guilds and will be starting one guild-- Mordai's, for banking. Just then, an arrow from Karias Drach strikes him. Sabine immediately moves to protect him. I send a message to Invidoo asking him to start a fire, which he does. In the confusion, Maestro teleports behind Sabine and manages to take Sabine's sword, which is immediately locked in a battle of wills against Maestro's handaxe, and both weapons fly apart. Ka'ira takes the sword. Sabine takes Neverember to safety and heals him, ordering Sarthos to get her sword back. Sarthos must obey, but does not want to. However, we do manage to hold him and the mercenaries off long enough for us to escape. ^summary ## Recap of last session ![[90_20210904 Preparing for the rally#^summary]] --- ## Log While I was studying the teachings of [[Tyr]]: - One of the oldest gods in existence, surpassed only by the [[Lords of creation]]. Oghma joined the ranks of the lords of creation later. - He is a rank of gods called "[[Celestial gods]]": he extolls the virtue of justice. The only gods stronger than Tyr are the lesser gods of creation, who created the world. None of us know this. - [[Oghma]] is also one of the strongest, and in the writings, they say that Oghma surpassed Tyr's strength/power. - Tyr wants to protect the weak. Oghma doesn't care about the people; he just wants to name everything. By naming everything, he gave those things reality and substance. - Tyr opposes [[ttrpgs/Order of the Wandering Mind/Tiamat|Tiamat]] because she's evil. She wants to subjugate the weak. She's the antithesis of his belief, but he doesn't go after her out of respect for Bahamut, Tiamat's brother. - Only Oghma has been able to rise to the rank of celestial gods, at the cost of [[Deneir]]'s divinity. Deneir was one of the servant gods of Oghma. Lesser deity of knowledge, writing, cartography, symbols, glyphs, images. Symbol: lit candle above an open eye. - There are three of them that stand for knowledge: - Oghma (head) - Deneir 💀 - [[Milil]] - [[Gond|Gond]] (gnomish, inventions): clockwork machines - Deneir somehow died to help Oghma become a god of creation. What I know about [[Genasi]] - When I see [[Sabine]]'s flaming locks, I remember [[Calimshan]]. I left Calimshan because [[ttrpgs/Order of the Wandering Mind/The Spellplague|The Spellplague]] destroyed the prisons of two warring elemental lords. Before the war started, there was no Calimshan desert, but their war created it. An ifreet was fighting an air elemental lord, a genie/djinn ([[Calim]]). Efreet was named [[Memnon]]. The battle lasted 1000 years. People were their slaves. Eventually, the elves helped the people of that area by forging the [[Calimemnon Crystal]], which imprisoned both of them and allowed the region to recover. Calimshan became one of the most successful port cities in the south. - [[Almraiven]] was a city where the humans were surviving because the Pasha was protecting them from battle. - The Spellplague shattered the crystal, and the two elementals were set free. They picked up where they left off, enslaving everyone in their cities. - Genasis, who were pretending to be human, revealed themselves and chose sides. Genasi are rare (rarer than dragonborn) but they are common in Calimshan. There are only two seen there: fire and air. Fire genasi sided with Memnon, ifreet, lord of fire. They were the generals of Memnon's armies. - Sabine has a sword and a shield. The shield has a silhouette of a red horse. And that identifies her as one of the generals of Memnon's army who was practically undefeatable in army. She led armies that decimated Calim's armies. But for some reason, she left Memnon's side, bringing with her some of her most loyal soldiers. Because of that, the tides turned and Calim was able to reclaim the land that he had lost. - As far as I know, Calimshan is still a battlefield. Almraiven is at the outskirts of this battlefield where the last vestiges of humanking are still surviving, keeping the war at bay with their magic. The lords are called Pashas. The Pasha of Almraiven is powerful enough to keep people safe. - Xio is both scared of and attracted to fire - Fire genasi are immune to fire, like imps. They are half mortal, a quarter elemental. They're like tieflings-- their parents can be human, but they are genasi. They have an innate fire bolt ability. They can teleport between fires. They can share fire resistance to their immediate allies. - When they're not manifesting their element, some of them can pass for human. Some of them can't, like [[Force Chimera genasi]] with ice spikes on her head. She is an air genasi. They grow energy lines (*zuzulduar*) that glow when they're manifesting their powers. Lines across their skin that light up everywhere. They're like fingerprints. - Air genasi has a limited ability to fly and not need to breathe indefinitely. She would have resistance to cold (opposite of fire). - Fire and air genasi wouldn't work together in Calimshan. - Sabine talks to her people in common, but in a battle language. ![[rally-map.png]] Air went north (right in the map above), shadar-kai went east, barbarian went south. Neverember says: - [[Gnolls]] have been seen elsewhere, but not in the city - Monsters in the chasm don't harm anyone because of my walls - Caravans from [[Candlekeep]] and the dwarven city of [[Sundabar]] can still travel here because I patrol the high road - We have a water problem, but I have solved that by recruiting sailors from far north to tow icebergs here. - I am in talks with those from [[Helm's Hold]] to figure out the source of the poisoning of the water. - I'm talking to [[Many Arrows Tribe|the orcs]] to negotiate for them to leave, but for the moment, they've said they won't attack the city if we leave them alone. - (A guy points out Neverember didn't kill the spider) - That was after my men spent weeks wearing it down. Those hapless adventurers wouldn't have been able to do it without them. - Things are going to change in Neverwinter. They'll be better for everyone. - I will rebuild the Sleeping Dragon and Dolphin? bridges. They were destroyed by Hotenow and I will employ artisands of the highest order to rebuild them. - I found this ally: [[Varian]], Varian, renowned knight of Tyr. (Ka'ira doesn't know him.) He is shy, afraid of the spotlight. Varian will recruit more clerics to our cause so that we can worship Tyr and help Chand. - This lady ([[Red-veiled woman ally of Neverember]]) has agreed to help figure out the red river problem. She barely moves but bows slightly. She has red skin underneath. Not a cleric. She's wearing robes, and no visible weapons. It's strange. - I have taken measures to improve the efficacy of mercenaries. I have employed [[The Mercenary Artificer|an artificer]] (permanent payroll for the next few months). The mercenaries now have better weapons to repel invaders. - I have expanded our trade routes so that we can rebuild Neverwinter. We have connected far west to the [[Moonshae Islands]]. They will help our craftsmen do good work. I am in talks with the [[Ten Towns]] in the north for their unique whalebone trinkets and musical instruments only found there. [[Luskan]] is a hard bargain, but I believe we'll make headway there soon. - (Someone asks about [[Waterdeep]].) It's a unique city, run by an unknown circle of lords. It's hard to know whom to talk to. - I have plans to rebuild [[Leilon]]. It's located next to a marsh that has many shipwrecks. There is something there that was manipulating minds, but I took care of that. ("What about the dragons?") I have secured that town and an insignificant town named Phandalin. The city mayor asked the [[The Lords' Alliance]] for help, so I'm helping. I've sent a batallion of my best mercenaries to secure both towns. Phandalin is also close to a mine that has been long forgotten, but which we now have access to. It's rumored to make wondrous weapons. ^41a37b - In exchange for rebuilding, Leilon will grant us access to their mines of copper, nickel, and silver. The survivors and peacekeepers of the dragon attack are called [[Lances of Leilon]]. - I have been approached by many nobles, including [[Mordai Vell]], to allow guilds. I told them I will try one guild: Mordai's, who will run the bank. We hear 3 distinct bird calls from the east (where the shadar-kai went) that are not bird calls. Sabine issues a sharp command and forces one of the mercenaries to dive in front of Neverember-- just in time for the mercenary to get killed by a black bolt. Initiative! - Karias - Sabine - 26 Keren - Maestro - Mercenaries - Ka'ira - 10 Invidoo - Sarthos - 6 Eraithe - 5 Xio [[Sabine]] attempts to move in front of Neverember and issue a command (that we don't understand). Ka'ira used her bag of tricks. Wagon in the south bursts into flames - the people heading in that direction go east instead. Neverember gets hit by the assassin! He goes down. Sabine can't cover him and is visibly worried. She heals him!! She begins to drag him away. Maestro teleports behind Sabine and she doesn't notice him (yet)! He tries to take the sword. He rolls a 25! he draws [[The First Blade|a bluish black blade]] out of its sheath. The moment he touches it, he feels it has a presence. An evil presence. It immediately tries to take control of him. His stone gauntlet tries to interfere, but it's struggling to stop both the handaxe and the sword. The gauntlet breaks and shatters on the floor. The two weapons (sword and handaxe explode and go flying in opposite directions like repelling magnets). The handaxe flies squares north east. The sword flies 2 squares away. Ka'ira goes for the sword. She resists the evil from the weapon. The sword tells her it hates Sabine for dominating it, too. It tells her its name is "The First Blade". Eraithe recognizes the metal of the sword. "Arandor metal". Sarthos walks up to Maestro and says: "I'm afraid this is the last time we're facing each other." But he looks at Ka'ira as if he's on our side. "I was commanded to fight you, and so I shall." He directs the mercenaries to come closer. He goes to attack Maestro, but Maestro shifts out of the way. Sarthos mouths "well done". - Free: What does Sabine look like now that the sword is gone? - Minor: Knack - Standard: Extract Name on Sabine ^f4b3a8 - 16 vs her will does not hit. - Move: away as if I'm with the rest of the crowd Varian asks if Neverember needs healing. He and the red-veiled woman are just hiding. Round 2. Sabine orders Sarthos to get her sword, and starts to drag Neverember away. Keren lets Eraithe do an attack on Sarthos. Maestro begins to run away. Eraithe does an Aegis on Sarthos and teleports to a flanking position. Hits on Ka'ira: 4, 1 crit Will of mercenaries: 17 - Standard: Moment of Glory - Minor: Round 3 Ka'ira does Dragon Breath on enemies, and Divine Sanction. They all want to attack Ka'ira. Sarthos goes past Eraithe and goes towards Ka'ira. I used one Accurate Wand to do Hypnotic Pattern Free: Tell everyone what I'm doing, tell everyone to leave. Standard: Hypnotic Pattern (+7+3 vs Will later) Minor: Sustain Moment of Glory Move away 5 short whistles from each of the directions of the force chimera. An explosion occurs: splintering wood, shouts. Not from any of the directions of the force chimera. Round 4 1&2&5 are slowed & Sarthos (his Will is 17) Black smoke is coming from the docks. - Free: RUN! We can't take them AND the Force Chimera! - Standard: Visions of Avarice (+7+3) - Minor: Sustain Moment of Glory 1, 2, 3, 5, Sarthos are immobilized Round 5 - Standard: Sustain Moment of Glory - Minor: Sustain Visions of Avarice