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“Hiraeth” by Scott Buckley Released under CC BY 4.0. Original recording; no changes made.
Player-facing journey record
Where the party has been, where the road is currently taking them, and which destinations are still pulling at the story.
Field Notes
| Leg | Status | Wagon estimate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turst Fields -> Westruun | Completed | About 6-8 calendar days total | The party reached Westruun, dealt with nearby bandit trouble, and left again in Session 6. |
| Westruun -> Kymal | Completed in Session 7 | Nine days remaining at Session 6 departure | A storm, a banshee escape, and a coin search interrupted the journey. The search cost one day’s travel; the party eventually reached Kymal. |
| Kymal -> Emon | Active | Remaining time not established | The party left Kymal after the performance and last stopped at the foot of Ironseat Ridge. Sion is now driving. |
| Emon -> Nicodranas | Intended | Not chosen yet | The blank journal points toward someone in Nicodranas. Ship passage is likely the cleanest route. |
The party is travelling by wagon carriage with horses. Sion took over driving after Kymal while John, Silk, and Leaf rested. Clerix stayed awake. The nine-day estimate belonged to the earlier departure for Kymal; the possible time lost around the performance is still unknown.
Recovered Fragment
After John's transformation and the Searchers' warning, the party restocked and secured a wagon carriage with horses. There is no hired driver. John is the one holding the reins, which makes every road problem a practical test of trust.
The first road day ended at a roadside camp rather than another settlement. The night stayed quiet on the surface, but the party carried the farmhouse with them.
The road grew harder before it grew clearer. Leaf noticed ominous birds that spooked the horses and sensed that something bad might happen. The party traveled cautiously, with Clerix on the carriage roof and everyone else inside.
The carriage got stuck in mud. The party solved it as a road challenge, with recorded successes in Athletics, Arcana, Survival, and Arcana. Afterward, they made camp again under heavy rain.
The party encountered signs of a minor battle from 812 P.D. It was not remembered as a great battle, but it carried the shape of the Iron Authority's cleaner, more formal soldiering culture: the kind of place where soldiers expected names to be made.
For Sion, that makes the road less empty. It has old pressure under it.
Clerix studied the strange journal and shaded the end of the page. The shading revealed the incomplete word or fragment "NICO--" and another phrase: "not yet." After some time, the shading faded.
Later, after speaking to his god, Clerix saw a vision of a pier and a raven.
The party found bandits pointing arrows at a family. In the fight, three bandits were killed, two were captured, and one fled.
The party reached Westruun around the fifth day after leaving Turst Fields. They found a place to hand over the captured bandits, learned about an inn, and spoke with the rescued family about the town.
Westruun's memory of Grog is not clean hatred. The city remembers that Grog Strongjaw sacked half of Westruun during the Vox Machina War after the city refused tribute. The rebuilt district is the Burned Quarter, though many locals call it the Quiet Side. His name is rarely spoken by locals; children call him "the Tide" or "the wrong giant," and adults usually say less.
The captured bandits did not stay contained. Their friends or allies freed them, pulling the party from Westruun back onto the trail. The road led to a Bramblewood bandit camp where hostages were being used as leverage.
The party chose to attack the camp without bringing villagers into the fight. Leaf scouted as a rat and escaped danger. The group took out two guards quietly, then defeated the camp in open combat.
The three bandit prisoners were put in prison in Westruun. Leaf, John, and Clerix attended the funeral of the hostage the bandits had killed. Silk and Sion stayed with the cart, where Sion spent some quiet time teaching Silk small things about being human.
After bargaining and preparations, the party left for Kymal with nine days of travel ahead.
A storm drove the party toward the forest. John handled the animals, Silk anchored the wagon, and Leaf found the forest's layout. Sion tried to steady the cart from the back. Some equipment was lost, but the party reached shelter and made camp.
Around the campfire, Clerix told the others he had been sold for one gold coin as a child and considered it an honor. He says the coin he still carries and prays to is that same coin.
The party woke in fog even though Leaf sensed clear, sunny weather. No sun was visible, and Sion sensed an overwhelming undead presence. The group readied the wagon, opened a trench with Earth Tremor, cut trees, and delayed the front ranks with Turn Undead.
Clerix passed out from the strain. Silk carried him into the wagon, and the party escaped amid screams and falling trees, looking back on a horde of banshees.
The party kept travelling, hunting and foraging without stopping at the crossroads. During night travel, Clerix's coin fell from his grasp as he slept. He woke in a rage, accused the others of stealing it, and jumped from the cart to search.
The party went back and reunited with him. The coin was recovered, but the search cost a day's travel. Clerix looked gaunt and drained afterward, before they reached Kymal.
The guards admitted the party as merchants. Dirty, deserted streets gave way to a dancing crowd around a performer in the central plaza. The party received apparently magical gifts, but Clerix's Identify found only cheap trinkets and clothing.
John noticed the crowd's apparent trance and pulled his companions back to the cart, where Sion was asleep. They felt hunger and exhaustion as if days had passed. Men Clerix had spoken to wore different attire and offered rations, which he threw down and stomped. Clouds blocked Leaf's attempt to check the moon's phase, leaving the elapsed time unknown.
Sion took over driving while John, Silk, and Leaf slept. Clerix stayed awake, fighting exhaustion and paranoia. Outside town, Sion briefly woke her companions to check whether the influence persisted, and their sleepy protests reassured her somewhat.
The party continued toward Emon and stopped at the foot of Ironseat Ridge. Emon remains ahead.
Field Notes
| Place | Why it matters right now |
|---|---|
| Westruun | The three bandits remain imprisoned here; the hostage’s funeral was held here before the party departed. |
| Kymal | Visited and left in Session 7 after an unsettling performance; how much time passed there remains unknown. |
| Ironseat Ridge | The party’s latest stop, at the foot of the ridge on the road toward Emon. |
| Emon | The next destination and a possible place to find answers, contacts, or official attention. |
| Nicodranas | Someone there is connected to the blank journal. |
Field Notes
