Children of Cyre - Campaign Journal

Season 1 - Those Left Behind

Episode 1 - The Murder of Efrain Candela

1st of Olarune, 998 YK (Late Winter)

• Elijah intervenes in a scuffle between the guards of New Cyre and a group of Goblinoids new to town. He isn't able to prevent violence from breaking out, but nobody is seriously injured, and the goblinoids are arrested under murder charges.
• The party chooses to investigate the murder, learning that the deceased is a explorer of the Mournland named Efrain Candela, and had apparently struck a bargain to lead those same goblinoids there, in search of an artifact from their dead empire
• Examining the murder scene, the party picks up some clues, including a part of a burnt journal with the words "...amulet.. is", and begins to suspect a stranger, recently arrived in town
• Canvassing the neighbourhood for information, the heroes are jumped by a group of thugs, led by Sol Monterossa, a notorious troublemaker.
• After thrashing the thugs, Beren questions Sol. Something about Beren seems to terrify the criminal, and he spills everything he knows about the man who hired him
• The characters immediately rent horses and set off North to Starilaskur, to catch the killer before he leaves on the next train to Cyre
• Boarding the train, the heroes confront the killer. After trading blows on the roof of the train, the assassin drinks a potion which he believe would help him escape. Instead, it leaves him dead.
• Investigating the body, the heroes find a strange amulet, as well as a note implicating a mysterious Lord of Secrets
• Bringing the body and the notes back to the New Cyre Guard, the goblinoids are freed from their charges
• The goblins are led by Pratea Thieg a dirge singer from Kech Volaar. After thanking the heroes for their assistance, she and her band depart New Cyre, and head for home

Episode 2 - The Ivybridge Horror

20th of Olarune, 998 YK (Late Winter)

• Kellah meets with Chief and Jerrah, who advise him on the distinctions between the goblinoid tribes, as well as how best to approach their life in New Cyre
• Cintia Siman, an elderly woman, comes to Elijah and asks him to investigate the disappearance of her nephew, Federico Siman, a former soldier
• Searching Federico's room, Elijah takes a rubbing from the desk that indicates Federico may have been approached by someone looking for a mercenary.
• The party travels south to Ivybridge, Federico's last known location. Along the way they rescue a nameless warforged who had been abandoned since before the war
• Arriving in Ivybridge, the PCs meet with the Mayor, Joachim Wojczek, and his family, and enjoy his hospitality
• After dinner, the PCs question the mayor's children. His son, Manfred, under pressure, threatens them, and says that Federico is dead.
• Exploring the town, the PCs are unable to turn up any clues until they meet with Father Morrus, a priest recently arrived in Ivybridge. He offers to setup a meeting with someone who could help
• The PCs meet with Tars Thorn, a mysterious figure, who offers to share what he knows of the town, in exchange for the party's assistance in rescuing his companions.
• The PCs journey further south to attempt to rescue Tars companions from a tribe of kobolds. The party engages the kobolds, and Kellah is killed, while Glint and Elijah are captured. Beren returns to Ivybridge to get help
• Glint and Elijah free themselves and Tars' companions, kill the remainin kobolds, and return to Ivybridge
• Tars tells the PCs that he and his men are members of an organization called the Swords of Liberty, and organization dedicated to overthrowing the monarchy and instituting a true democracy in Breland
• Federico was coming to Ivybridge to meet with Tars, and possibly to join his organization
• Tars also tells the characters that he has observed the villagers sneaking into the mayor's cellar late at night
• Beren charms and kidnaps Manfred, who, under questioning, reveals that the whole village belongs to a cult which worships a being called The Father, who lives beneath the mayor's house
• Furthermore, it seems that Federico had assaulted Manfred's sister, Irena, and that Manfred had killed him, and fed him to The Father to cover up his crime
• Sneaking into the mayor's cellar, the heroes find the villagers have been worshipping a terrible abomination, and destroy it
• Afterwards the Mayor confronts them for what they've done. Angry and saddened, the Mayor asks the PCs to leave, and never return to Ivybridge
• Upon return to New Cyre, Elijah meets with Cintia, but is unable to tell her the truth about the kind of man her nephew was, and instead tells her that he died fighting the kobolds.

Episode 3 - Slave Traders of Darguun, Part 1

27th of Therendor, 998 YK (Early Spring)

• Beren is approached by Videl Terrazas, a Cyran nobleman, who hires him to find his sister Francisca, and her son Bernardo.
• Asking around the villages north of New Cyre, Beren learns that Francisca had been seen travelling south towards New Cyre
• Beren also learns that a pair of men had been asking about missing people a few weeks earlier.
• The party travels back to New Cyre to question the men, who had come from the refugee camp
• While there, the party met with Prince Oagrev ir'Wynarn, who was attending to his people in the refugeee camp.
• The Prince took the time to thanks the party for the good work they were doing on behalf of Cyre
• Questioning the men, the players learned that a number of people had gone missing from the refugee camp over the past month or so
• Following some tips from the refugees, the party confronted a corrupt guard who had been working with the kidnappers. Kidnappers who turned out to be slavers, working from the North Wood
• The party travelled to the North Wood, and met with a group of druids who resided there, in the community of Seven Oaks. They learned that the druids prepared a magical draught from goodberries, and also that the slavers were likely hiding out in an ancient tower to the north, a remnant from the Age of Demons
• The PCs raided the tower, destroyed the slavers, and captured their leader, Belkas Mognof, a dwarf. They found a number of slaves being held in the basement of the tower, but learned from Belkas that Bernardo had already been sold to a hobgoblin named Reslit several days earlier
• Further questions revealed that Rekslit worked for the Warlord Kallad, who operated out of Rhukaan Draal, the capital city of Darguun

Episode 4 - Slave Traders of Darguun, Part 2

4th of Eyre, 998 YK (Mid Spring)

• The PCs spend a night recovering in Seven Oaks, before setting off for New Cyre, with Belkas in tow
• Nameless recovers a portion of his memory, recalling that he fought for Breland during the war. He also remembers working with his hands, and building things, and takes a new name, Mason.
• When they arrive in New Cyre, they turn Belkas over to Captain Reyes and re-unite Francisca with her brother
• Jimmy the Fence, while doing some business with Elijag, tells him that the gold ring they recovered from Belkas indicates that he's a member of the Aurum, a shadowy alliance of the some wealthiest citizens in Khorvaire
• The heroes, intent on rescuing Bernardo, journey south through Sterngate, and cross over into Darguun
• Reaching Rhukaan Draal, the characters being their search for Bernardo. It's not long before they come to the attention of Thallad, a servant of the Lhesh Haruuc
• Thallad leads the party through a back door into Khaar Mbar'ost (the Red House), Darguun's royal palace.
• There, they allies meet with the Lhesh Haruuc, who makes them a deal. He will arrange a fight in the arena between the PCs and one of Kallad's pets. Should they prove victorious, all of the recently taken Cyran slaves will be turned over to them.
• The Lhesh Haruuc also gives them a message to give to Prince Oagrev... "We have business to discuss", and says that he may have work for them in the future.
• The PCs are victorious in a vicious battle against a Manticore.
• The Lhesh Harucc is as good as his word, and hands over custody of the slaves.
• The PCs return to New Cyre, but shortly after crossing the border into Breland, they are overtaken by a group of Hobgoblins, led by Rekslit, who are determined to kill them and re-capture the slaves.
• Once again, the heroes turn out on top, and recover a magic sword from Rekslit, a weapon blessed by the Silver Flame.
• Finally returning to New Cyre, the character's are celebrated as heroes by the citizens of the town.

Episode 5 - A Requiem For Cyre

5th of Dravago, 998 YK (Late Spring)

• Prince Oagrev requests the party's assistance. There has been a series of murders of Sharn of Cyran, and the refugees living there are living in fear for their lives
• Arriving in Sharn, the party visits Lord Jairan ir'Dain, the Cyran ambassador. He tells them about the murders
• Leaving the embassy, a large group of people are seen going towards the civic district. The party follows, and sees a public demonstration against the monarchy, by a group of people in favour of democracy
• The party heads to the Highwalls district to speak with the guards who are investigating the murders. They are thoroughly unhelpful
• The heroes learn little from examining the body of the latest victim, although the latest victim had some damage done to their throat, and combined with questioning the coroner, they learn enough to believe that the murders are the work of a serial killer
• Examining the scene of the most recent murder,they learn that there may have been a clue stashed in a dumpster in the alley which had been cleared in the morning
• The party tracks down the local trash collector, finds out where he dumps the garbage he collects, and then makes friends with a goblin who picks through the trash for a living (Rogar). They purchase his most recent finds, and acquire rope that was likely used to bind the victim
• Questioning the contacts of the victims, the party learns that all three had some connection to music and song. One had been a voice teacher, another claimed to have been a famouse opera singer, and the third was known to practice dwarven yodelling as a hobby
• From the voice teacher's relatives, they learned of a very promising young Cyran singer in town, and Beren and Elijah decided to scope out her next performance
• At the performance, they spot a warforged with a damaged voice modulator, who matched the description which Mason and Glint had acquired earlier from a bar in a seedy part of town. When they tried to question him, he fled.
• In pursuit, Elijah was hot on his heels, while Beren fell behind. Turning to confront Elijah, the warforged battered him badly before Beren arrived via sky coach and managed to chase him off
• The party got back together, and followed the warforged's trail into the district of Fallen, where they were assaulted by a group of deranged humans called ravers
• Continuing to follow the trail, the party confronts the Warforged serial killer in a abandoned temple of Olladra.
• Defeating the warforged, the party returns to New Cyre and is rewarded for their work by Price Oagrev.

Episode 6

28th of Dravage, 998 YK (Late Spring)