Everything is an Adventure

This report will find Knight Captain Dawes well and comfortable in the knowledge that Pelor's influence in the south is growing.

The Holy Rollers and I intended to rest a spell and then expand our collective footprint within the Dreadwood to include the ancient elven temple. The magician Sanji had plans to do... whatever it is wizards do with that kind of thing. We just had a little business to do first.

Our contact, a strange cat creature named D'anconio, had offered to purchase some treasure from us. When we arrived for the deal, it appeared that our most valuable piece had been stolen. We immediately suspected the sketchy pawn broker in town named Pinkman. The sheriff Kai'lan offered some vague information but otherwise was no help.

Rakshasa? Something else? Who knows?

I retired to the villa so as not to impede the investigation of Zimon and Sanji. I am unforgiving of the types of interactions necessary to be effective and we did not need any more friction with Kai'lan after having repaired that relationship. I must remember that social conventions prevent me from cleansing evil from society on first contact. The burden of proof of misdeed is an inconvenient necessity. I will repeat that to myself daily to avoid further complications.

Investigation discovered Pinkman and "Methany", Zimon's alleged henchwoman, had fled town on a ship south. D'anconio was helpful by offering his divination skills and demonstrated the value of an arcane caster of significant power. Sanji will continue to cultivate his talents and one day rival the cat creature, I'm sure of it. "Methany" was actually a doppleganger, Pinkman was at the bottom of the ocean, and the ship was bound for a strange port called Freyyard.

D'anconio magically warned the captain of the ship of his danger and suggested he delay his arrival to Freyyard until our party could arrive to confront their danger with our unique skills. Meanwhile, we chartered teleportation while Zimon and June flew on the bounty hunter's magical steed. The risk of teleportation was negligible with Pelor on our side and we arrived in Freyyard whole.

There was a misunderstanding with local officials after one foolishly attempted to extort us for "taxes" when approached in his capacity as Dockmaster. While taxes are a necessary function of right society, attempting to shake down the righteous in the middle of the street is at best in poor taste, at worst bad for one's health. Rattled teeth, a crushed tin whistle, and reinforcements saw us paying their silly tax and collecting the appropriate papers to exist without further harassment rather than display our might to the detriment of our mission and Pelor's standing in this foreign land.

The enemy's ship had not arrived. Sanji sprung for fine rooms overlooking the harbor so that we could watch for its arrival and we waited. Our stay was interrupted by a sewage backup in an adjoining alley, demonstrating that the local taxes were little more than bribery and extortion. Despite my frustration with ineffective bureaucracy, it was not the common man's fault. Indeed, they suffered daily under this petty regime and whatever aid that I could offer to ease their suffering was my duty.

So there I was, shirtless and plunging a sewer with tools borrowed from the innkeep, when something gave and the foulness drained away rapidly to reveal a natural cavern of sorts. The sewer line was clearly damaged. I had the stable boy fetch my sword and I slid into the cavern to investigate in case of foul play of some sort. A sewer is a perfect place for evil to infiltrate a city.

I was joined by members of the Holy Rollers, never ones to shirk their duties to the people, and we explored a short series of tunnels before encountering two abominations called Skittering Maws. Pelor protected me from their shark's teeth and poisonous bites in lieu of my armor that rested in my room. We dispatched them and displayed their carcasses for the locals to understand what service that we had rendered (Well, there's your problem). They were rightfully impressed and lauded us for our efforts.

The ruler of Freyyard, styling himself a "Prince", hosted us and awarded us medals for our bravery. He also exempted us from the frivolous taxes that cursed the land. He was a gracious host but despite his silvered tongue no righteous man. His town was a den of slavery, a haven for thieves, and an example of many missteps made by selfish and petty rulers. But he was sympathetic to our mission and offered what aid he could.

Zimon spent time on his flying mount to scout the approach to town, eventually locating our enemy's ship adrift, a horror show of carnage on deck. He landed to investigate and single-handedly captured the doppleganger who had killed the entire crew when discovered. A merchant mariner came upon the scene and after a tense exchange, Zimon had to destroy the creature to demonstrate that it was indeed a monster and not some damsel in distress. We recovered our stolen property, traded the ship to the Prince for passage home, and set sail.

We are restored financially and physically to Bonevale. FOB Horizon is established and growing, with Father Cassian's temple to glorify Pelor drawing peasants from all around. Our next goal is to clear the territory around of evil and expand our grasp on the region with Sanji's planned tower.

In Pelor's Light,

Knight Justicar Percival, FOB Horizon 

Musings:

Long report I'll keep it short. DM set this hook ages ago with a vague notification that "we weren't replaced by dopplegangers" in downtime. We cleared the immediate personnel, but Methany wasn't local. When two Methany's responded to Zimon's search for her, in two different cities, we knew of course that that was a problem, but it was Zimon's problem. Zimon leaned into his poor wisdom and let it ride and there we were.

The crown we sold had great potential for adventure. I wanted to utilize it but it would take over the game and the other players weren't interested, so we sold it. Every time we try to sell a very expensive item it's a complication, which turns into some kind of adventure. Smart play by the DM, however annoying to us at the time.

This session frustrated our plans but was a good one, interesting and creative and broadening the world. It highlighted Zimon's player's greatest strength, his ability to lean into the game and enjoy the experience without getting caught up in "winning". DM set a great and frustrating foreign environment, with a unique feel. Also expanded on the random sewer encounter that became relevant to the scenario. We grew our renown as Lawful heroes and I got more opportunities to clash with the DM over religious extremism. I'll only get worse and he'll continue to throw subjectivity at me until I remake the world in Percival's image or die. Live long enough to become the villain, or something.