It's been a while
The group heads north on moorbounders, where they share a camp for the night with a group of Empire scholars.
Session 19
Leaving Rosohna, the groupo heads north through the Barbed Fields on moorbounders, traveling through the land that is most scarred from the battles of the Calamity. We take a moment to rest as Mint sees a caravan in the distance. They’re moving toward our direction, but further away in a parallel manner. Someone yells but we don’t engage or cross paths. Prophet sees a campfire with around half a dozen people there. We also in the distance see our destination.
Maltheo approaches, and hears a magically amplified voice at around 90 feet away:
"Master so-and-so (didn't catch the name) is an Archmage of the Cerberus Assembly (revealing this group to be from the Empire). We mean no harm to anyone."
We agree to approach together and share a campsite. They have heard of Prophet (Thanor the Radiant) but see that he’s in a new form. She and her group like to hunt and study new creatures as an academic exercise. But the other day they came across a planar rift. Like a window of night hanging over the sunlit valley.
Welter, one of their companions, is already in the Deepriver Mines studying something. Apparently he's there alone, but we’re not particularly sure why. He specializes in old, dead languages, but even still, couldn’t find a way into the mines. He decided to stay but the rest of the party wanted to camp.
It's time for sleeping and 3 watches are set up. Doug is a kid. Sven is a greenish mostly-human looking person. Maltheo and Sven flirt, and have an R-rated evening. Second of the three watches starts. Mint and Mixie. Mixie does “ink magic" but is not able to remove a tattoo that Mint wants removed. The final watch starts with Doug and Briya. He’s overly excited to be doing watch duty. He's only 13, but got a scholarship at age 11 from being headhunted from his home village for the Cerberus Assembly. He wants to be a Voltstrucker, and shows Briya his notebook with the name Jayne in it. He’s from a place called Alfield in the Empire.
The sun rises, and the groups go our separate ways; in the distance we see the Vermiloc Wood on our way to the mines. We reach the entrance to the mines and there are two orcs at the front. Kra’naelen wants to speak to their manager, but he brings two more for a total of 5 orcs at the front now. Tensions rise, and the orcs attack.
We kill four of the group, and restrain & question the remaining orc, who seems to be the one in charge. He reveals that one of his wives sensed spirits in the mines, and also that Welter is in a small room nearby. The wives are out, erm, "foraging for mushrooms". We find Welter, a drow, ankle-restrained in the little room in the northwest corner of the entrance area.