Blood's Awakening 06/09/2023 session recap

♣ Blood's Awakening: the party
♣ Blood's Awakening recap - part 1 - part 2 - part 3
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• Still in Riva del Gallo, the party learns some more about the Iron Falcons. By using Sending, Polvere asks Colamasso, his father, whether he has information about them or not. He actually does, but he isn’t enthusiastic about it: something bad has happened in the past between them and he advises Polvere to be wise and pretend he isn’t Colamasso’s son. It isn’t clear if whatever happened was Colamasso’s fault or the Iron Falcon’s.
• After resting in Riva del Gallo, the Rose of the Winds leaves for Collevecchio Mondavio, the province’s capital city that’s currently under Mohkvaris’ siege. They travel all day long and reach the village of Centraludo della Valle by evening on November 28th.
• The situation in Centraludo della Valle is dire. Refugees are coming from the nearby Piediripa, the closest village to Collevecchio Mondavio, and there’s no space to accommodate them all. Groups of people all gathered outside the village and made camp with what they could.
• With no hesitation, the Rose of Winds helps in any way they can. Some cook meals for the refugees and serve them food, some play some music to lighten the atmosphere and tell stories to the kids to distract them. Some help with their magic: Polvere conjures food with the spell Create Food and Water, while Caliban’s magic builds all the Galder’s Towers he can to give the refugees a warm place to sleep, at least for this night. In the midst of the darkness, the Rose of Winds brings some hope to the people of Latavium.
• The party also asks about the Iron Falcons, who might’ve taken the same roads as the Rose of Winds. They indeed have and they’re one day ahead of the Rose of Winds. The Iron Falcons all wear a silver falcon pin on their clothes, and they’re a diverse group, made of two women (an elf and a human) and three men (a gnome, a dwarf and a halfling).
• A woman named Giada asks the party for help: she was the owner of La Sosta, the inn at the crossroads by the foot of Collevecchio Mondavio. She had to flee her inn when the dragon’s cultists attacked, but has no idea where Marco, her friend and colleague, is. The party agrees to look for him.
• That night, Polvere asks Colamasso some more about the Iron Falcons. Colamasso makes it very clear that we should keep an eye out on our coin pouches, and that the human and the halfling are especially touchy.
• The following day (November 29th), the party travels fast and by afternoon arrives at La Sosta, at the foot of the hill where Collevecchio Mondavio was built on. Before approaching the inn, Polvere notices something scary in the dark, thunderous clouds: it’s just a glimpse, it lasts a second, but the unmistakable shape of Mohkvaris emerges from the sky and breathes lightning against the city. The lightning bolt crashes against a magical, invisible barrier surrounding Collevecchio Mondavio and just as he appeared, Mohkvaris ascends again into the clouds. The party is understandably distressed but the Rose of Winds presses on.
• Polvere and Vittorio find a good spot to hide their horses and, before he leaves, Vittorio takes a few minutes to calm them down. He does a good job, thanks to the influence of Serpico’s magical steed, Misericordia, who doesn’t flinch despite the scary situation.
• After biting the bullet, the party stealthily approaches the inn and sees that there are three cultists and, in the stables, six guard drakes snacking on human flesh. The Rose of Winds takes their enemies by surprise and quickly disposes of them. It’s also Caliban and Edna’s first fight since they changed their fighting style, for which they trained during downtime. They’re both in their own element  and it really shows.
• It’s not the first violent fight for anyone in the party, but Winter seems particularly shocked or distressed by the whole situation in Latavium and the sudden spike in violence.
• Noticing movement inside, the party doesn’t hesitate and enters the inn. In the entrance there are signs of a fight, scratches, empty shelves and stuff like that, but no people in sight, until the party encounters a woman, an enchanter, who points her finger against them.
• Caliban counterspells whatever she was casting and a fight begins. The enchanter casts Fireball in the entrance, hitting many of the party but especially Celio. Despite the memories of his traumatic death, he resists and keeps fighting.
• And… cliffhanger!