Session Date: 8th Jul 2025
Saga: 5th Saga - Freedom's Flame
Attendance: Sam Gallon,Rowan Hales,Tom Brothers,Caleb Hamlet,Jae Knight

Session Summary

As the party planned their route from the Wyvern’s Cave, they decided to head toward the Emerald Fort for rest and information. Drache was visibly tense upon entering the city, especially after learning that Genevieve's son, Kaes, now ran the Fort with a colder, more calculated hand. The group paid their respects at a new statue of Genevieve and discussed the theory of “Perpetuals”—humans who seem to live for centuries. After finding little information in the records room, the group suspected Genevieve may have had a secret lover and devised a plan to find them in the mess hall. During the festivities, Korrigan discovered a scarred soldier who accused Drache of killing his brothers during Drache’s darker days at Tulan Fort. Korrigan confronted Drache, who admitted his guilt, and urged him to make amends. Drache honoured this by accepting the man’s challenge to a sacred duel, ultimately winning but watching his opponent die due to the effects of the Dueler’s Brew.

The next day, the party awoke in unfamiliar surroundings: a filthy slave tent deep within the mines of Lost Haven. Without their equipment or the ability to cast magic, they quickly learned that they were trapped within an anti-magic field and forced into back-breaking labour. Korrigan began to relive traumatic memories of his past in Lost Haven, while Halfbie studied the magical suppression field, believing it was powered by something similar to the divine towers. The party were escorted to the surface where they saw the full extent of the horrors of Siltwater Slums, and Korrigan led them to a small church dedicated to Ignatius, where a surprisingly kind priest welcomed them.

The priest preached a hopeful but twisted version of the teachings of Ignatius, describing the Sundering not as destruction, but as liberation—immortality through transformation into Ash Spawn. Halfbie questioned the morality and unknown pain of such immortality, leading to a deep but tense theological discussion. After being offered a small amount of food by the priest, the group exited the church and processed what they’d seen. Korrigan opened up to Mordecai about his origins in Lost Haven, revealing his original name, KA-1, and how he tried—and failed—to spark a revolution in the past. Mordecai assured Korrigan of his loyalty and declared he would burn the city to the ground if it meant Korrigan's freedom. As the session ended, Korrigan declared it was time to revisit his old home.

Full Session Notes

Standing at the threshold of the Wyverns Cave, the party paused to get their bearings and figure out where they needed to go. The Tour Du Ashen's hands accounted for them discovering a teleporting dwarven room and venturing back to the Wyverns Cave. Studying the map closely and referring to an old book they found recently, Halfbie suggested they travel to The Emerald Fort, not only would it give them easy access to Lost Haven, but it would give them all a chance to catch up with an OFC business partner and to learn what happened after Genevieve's death ^[1]. The rest all agreed and began preparations to head off.

Before they left, Ruldrim approached them with a small black box with a large red button on it. He explained that if the party needed to use the room to travel, they could call him using this box. Thanking him for being so thoughtful, they all headed off for the emerald fort.

After a few days of travelling, they finally saw the emerald fort's white walls and green banners. As they approached, Drache became increasingly nervous. Reaching the gate, the guards stopped them, asking what their business was with the fort. Mordecai explained that they were allies from the war for the cause's freedom and wanted safe passage through to Lost Haven. The guards quickly relaxed and explained they were more than welcome to enter, but if they wanted to travel to Lost Haven, the fort just requested that they do it at night.

When pressed for a reason for this, the guards explained that the Emerald Fort and Lost Haven have a somewhat turbulent relationship. According to the guard, Lost Haven would rather trade with the southern colonies, as the Verdant Peninsula had become too unpredictable. Halfbie pushed them further, and they admitted that the fort didn't want to be seen as fraternising with other nations too much; they were supposed to remain neutral.

As the rest of the party hung back, Drache nervously stayed put. He wanted to ask who was currently running the fort after Genevieve's death. The guards explained that after her heroic death, her son, Kaes, took over. Unlike his mother, he is a very intelligent ruler, much colder and calculating. The conversation eventually turned to The Tulan Fort, where guards admitted they had heard how bad it had gotten, and its reputation had been run into the ground. Halfbie chimed in, asking the Emerald Fort's opinion on unions. The guards explained they didn't have one as they were all family at the fort, leaving Halfbie uneasy.

With their conversation concluded, they entered the fort. It was much emptier than when they last visited, presumably because many of them were at the OFC. Walking through the streets, they eventually came across a freshly made marble statue of Genevieve. Mordecai tugged at Korrigan's sleeve and asked if he could make some flowers to lay at the statue. Korrigan sadly explained he couldn't do it at the moment as he didn't have the spell prepared, but Sylva could probably. The druid quickly stepped up and cast the spell Plant Growth, causing a field of flowers to bloom around the statue.

While the others had a moment of silence, Halfbie quietly got out the Tome of Unfinished Stories and wrote in Genevieve's name. Ink slowly seeped into the ancient pages before being replaced with text that read, 'When Genevieve died, she was 334'. Korrigan saw Halfbie reading the book and peeked at the page before becoming amazed at how long Genevieve had been alive. Halfbie nodded, saying that it had alluded them for a while now. A few of the humans involved in the Sundering were hundreds of years old, even though they were only Human. Halfbie revealed in their notes that they had been calling these people Perpetuals. So far, they had listed Galen Verik, Caden Steelbreaker and Genevieve as all pertutals, with only Galen having a somewhat concrete explanation ^[2].

Mordecai wondered if they had a record room to look through to learn more about Genevieve. Drache assumed they probably did, as most places would have some form of central records, although they probably wouldn't be super detailed. They soon found the library, but it was primarily financial information and basic troop movement. There wasn't a lot about Genevieve; the earliest records of her began a few years after the Sundering. Halfbie suggested they find someone who knew her well and ask.

None of them knew who the second in command would be. Drache explained that during his time at Tulan Fort, there was a rumour that she had a lover who looked like a troll. He explained that they probably could trust the troll part, but she probably did have a lover. Upon hearing this, Mordecai immediately became very interested and started trying to picture the type of person Genevieve's lover would be.

He surmised that Genevieve was probably a very Masc Lesbian. She was clearly very organised and sporty. Halfbie surmised that Genevieve's girlfriend would most likely be a very Femme Lesbian, probably quite disorganised and with a bubbly personality. Mordecai built on this assumption, thinking that the best place to find them would be in some bar or mess hall.

As they travelled there, they came up with a plan. Mordecai explained that man Femme lesbians are quite messy when they drink. So they suggested starting a drinking contest. Korrigan explained he would use Elemenism to give Mordecai's entrance some dramatic effect, and Drache would start the contest. Drache, Halfbie and Aidan would then watch for anyone who could be Genevieve's lover. Halfbie thought to themselves before getting out their spell book. After muttering a few words, a glowing orb began to take the form of an Elven face. Halfbie then commanded it to fly into the mess hall with Drache, fly up to the roof, and give Halfbie a top-down view of everything.

Korrigan casts his spell, causing gusts of wind to fling the doors open and close the shutters. He then gave way to Mordecai, who walked in and began expectantly performing for the room. While preparing to announce the drinking contest, Korrigan noticed a man with heavy facial scarring staring at Drache intently. Korrigan gets two beers, and Misty Steps over to the man and offers him one.

The man boardline spits at Kerrigan and gruffly tells him he didn't need any charity from the likes of him. The man goes back to staring at Drache. Now that he is closer, Korrigan notices this stare is one of hatred. Looking between the man and his companion, Kerrigan smirked before saying Emmaline. The man whipped his head around to Korrigan, his eyes blazing with fury, before spitting on Korrigan. Korrigan instantly casts a charm on the man, and he instantly calms down.

Korrigan takes this opportunity to ask why the man is so angry with Drache. The man tells him that a few years ago, he was on patrol with his two brothers. They are eventually sent to a nearby village that reported some trouble with local ruffians. He gets to the town where 12 men jump out at them and beat them. The man's two brothers were beaten so severely that they eventually died of their injuries. He then looked at Drache and explained that the Dragonborn at the bar was part of the group that jumped his brothers.

Korrigan thanked him for his time, approached Drache, and asked if he could speak to him outside. Korrigan questioned Drache about the man's story, and the Dragonborn's usual happy personality quickly faded to one of solemn shame. He stuttered his way through an explanation, saying, "I buried a lot of bodies in the past. I'm not proud of any of it. I hate myself for it." He explained that he tried every day to be a better person, which was one of the main reasons he left Tulan Fort.

Korrigan reiterated that he was not that person anymore, but he could not continue to be a good person if he didn't right his wrongs when given the chance. He explained that Drache had to talk to the man inside; he just had to decide whether he would be charmed or not during that conversation. Drache opted to remove the man's charm, and with a nod of approval from Korrigan, the charm was released.

Drache awkwardly reentered the mess hall and approached the man, who was visibly angry again. Korrigan joined Halfbie and the others at the bar. As he approached, he had never heard Halfbie asking Mordecai what they were about to drink, which was called Tequila. With a knowing grin, Mordecai confirmed this, explaining the method for drinking Tequila with salt and lime. Halfbie knocked the shot back before pulling a disgusted face.

Korrigan explained he would join in, but the last time he drank, he got mad and became a demon. With slightly slurred speech, Halfbie asked if they had heard from Bronumas since the divorce. Korrigan explained that he was thankful he hadn't.

Drache sat at the table with the man. They both took a long swig of their drinks. After pausing, Drache said, "So, Long time no see".

"i wishi couldve killed you earlier", sneered the man.

"yeah, youd be surprised, how many people have said that to me."

The man laughed hollowly, "you know you're the last of 12? The last on my list."

Drache took a swig before saying, "And then what do you do after Is it your purpose complete? Is that when you'd be fulfilled?"

"No. I suppose not." said the man, "It won't bring them back, but that doesn't matter"

Drache tried to explain that he left Tulan a long time ago and had tried his hardest to change for the better. The man didn't care and just said he needed his bound of flesh to complete his mission. Then he called the bartender over and whispered something in their ear. After hearing the order, he asked if he was absolutely sure, and the man confirmed he was. There were a few moments of silence before the bartender returned with two shot glasses, one in front of the man and the other in front of Drache.

The man stared at the glass. He asked about Emmaline, wondering how she fared. Drache proudly explained that he had managed to save her from Tulan. The man was delighted to hear she was safe and was even happier to hear how she was now off saving the world and travelling. His smile faded as he said, "You'll drink with me, won't you?" Drache Solmun picked up the glass and clinked it with the man.

The man stood up, and Drache followed suit as they walked out of the bar to a nearby training facility. Then he gestured for Drache to pick up whatever weapon they wanted. Drache instinctively gravitated to the greatsword on the table. The man did the same, and they began their duel. The fight wasn't close, and Drache quickly overpowered the man and soon knocked him to the ground unconscious and bleeding.

Drache looked at the man on the ground with pity, healed him back to consciousness, and knelt to meet his gaze. The man explained that the drink they had earlier was called the Dueler's Brew. He explained that the potion enforced the sacred rites of the duel, causing people to die if they ran away or got others to help them. But it also had a third function: it would kill whoever lost, no matter what. They laughed at the thought of Drache's kindness, only serving to cause him more pain. Drache did his best to make him comfortable and offered the man a prayer. The man smiled, knowing he would soon see his brothers.

There was a long pause, and no one knew what to do or say. Halfbie quietly approached Drache, who stood stock still, resting on the hilt of his blade. With a soft hand on the Dragonborn's shoulder, Halfbie suggested they go and drink away their sorrows. Drache turned to Halfbie with a sad grin and said, That plan was the best thing he had heard all day.

They returned to the mess hall and began to drink copious amounts of alcohol. As the night carried on, they all drank too much and one by one passed out.

The next day, they woke up with splitting headaches. Although the air was difficult to breathe and smelled foul, they propped themselves up again against the thick cloth walls and found themselves in a circular tent with two others. To their alarm, none of them had any of their equipment or weapons. One of the people in the tent greeted them, commenting on how it wasn't often they saw new faces in the mines.

Korrigan began to panic as old memories of his time as an enslaved person here began to resurface. Unable to sit still, Korrigan immediately got up and opened the door to the tent, revealing that they were deep in a large mine shaft. With the door open, the tent was flooded with dust, making breathing even more difficult. Standing by the entrance, he grimly said, "Welcome to Lost Haven"

Korrigan turned his attention to a young girl sitting balled up in one end of the tent. He went to cast Healing magic on the girl, who had many wounds all over her body, but when he went to do it, his magic failed. The girl looked up to him and went to say something, but she was unable to form words correctly because her tongue had been cut out. Mordecai tried to cast a message to talk to the girl, but found their magic wouldn't work.

The other person in the tent stepped forward into the light, saying, "Yeah, they did that after last time"

"What happened last time? Who did what?" questioned Drache.

The man explained that a few years ago, there was a rebellion, and a revolutionary force used magic to burn many of the doors down to let the slaves escape. When asked, the man explained the salves rose against the Luminara. Korrigan chimes in to clarify that the Laminar is the name of the inner sanctum where the elites live. Much to the party's dismay, their stuff was most likely stored in a museum for the rich people if it hadn't already been sold to the highest bidder.

Halfbie asked if they knew anything about how they were blocking the magic, but the person had no idea; it was just some kind of barrier. Halfbie was sceptical, as this was a massive mine, so the barrier would have to be stupidly strong and powered by a lot of magic. The man agreed but stated that they didn't really have the time to think about it.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and a huge, hulking man walked into the tent. In one hand, he held a long sword, and in the other, a giant sword. He stood there and shouted like a drill sergeant, "Enough chatting, you lot. Get to work."

They slowly get up and follow the enslaver into the mines. They soon reached a freshly excavated part where they were given pickaxes, which were chained to their wrists with heavy iron cuffs, and told to mine. As they begin to mine, Korrigan notices the little girl from the tent barely being able to lift the pickaxe, he approached he to help. But as he reached out his hand, a whip suddenly snapped at it, drawing blood. The salver screamed at Korrigan, telling him to focus on his work.

While they worked, Halfbie tried to figure out how the antimagic field would work. They surmise that the magic at work felt quite similar to how the towers functioned. It would also have to be very close to the centre of the mines to cover the whole area.

After 14 hours of back-breaking work, the slaver shouts, "Right, that's your shift over!!" and unshackles them from their pickaxes. Then, he leads them out of the mines and back into Siltwater Slums. The man from the tent asks if they would like to see the surface, to which they all agree. Going through a significant checkpoint, they found themselves in an even worse slum as people covered in bruises slept in puddles of their filth, inches away from another slave in the same condition.

The man led the way, explaining that their tent was considered to be relatively luxurious compared to how the rest lived. If they followed him, he would show them where they could get some food. They soon arrived at a slightly cleaner area where a large building with assigned, labelled food could be found. He then grabbed the girl's hand and walked over to get a bite to eat.

Korrigan turned to the group and sarcastically asked if they were enjoying their time in Lost Haven, to which Drache just sarcastically replied by asking if there were any good sites to see. Korrigan nodded and directed them to a smaller building nearby, which Korrigan explained was the closest thing to a church in the area. He explained he wanted to pay his respects to his friend Sara. He invited them to join him in doing so.

The building was relatively clean and mostly empty apart from a few ancient-looking pews. The priest came over to greet them. To their surprise, the priest carried the symbol of Ignatius on his robes and altar.

Seeing everyone's confusion, Korrigan stated, "I mean, say what you want about Ignatius, but to the people here, he was a chance of change, of cleansing this place of what it is."

With a kind smile, the priest ushered them to some nearby pews, welcomed them to his church, and hoped that none of them had been whipped too hard today. He then asked if they knew much about Ignatius. Mordecai explained that a lot more than the average person. The priest was elated and asked if they knew of the Sundering. And was even more elated when the answer was yes. "That's good, good, you've heard the old stories then. And I'm sure you see my filth out there," he said.

"I mean, we've read multiple things." explained Halfbie.

"Ah, you've read the scripts? " the priest questioned

"Yeah, some pretty old scripts. I wish we had it with us. We could have shared it with you." Halfbie confirmed.

"Yeah They don't allow much in nowadays." said the priest

Halfbie agreed, saying, "It was written a few hundred years ago. So it would have been a bit of a relic"

The priest looked sad for a moment before continuing, "Now tell me, my children, you've seen Siltwater Slums, you've seen the villainy of these so-called protectors, ones that whip us, the ones that treat us like dogs." He paused a moment before continuing, "How would you like a change? A change from whips, a change from chains?"

He explained that Ignatius offers change and that the next Sundering will wipe the world of all its sins and free the salve around them of their suffering. Mordecai countered by saying that he would wipe everything clean and leave nothing but the Ash Spawn.

"See, that's the interesting thing, my dear. Who do you think wrote all the modern texts on the Sundering? Do you think it was us? Do you think it was the poor and pitiless? Do you think it was the followers of Ignatius?" the priest countered, "Or do you think it was the rich? Do you think it was those who didn't want it to happen again? Those that perhaps had a vested interest in keeping the status quo?"

Halfbie spoke up and explained that he had read those books, but the one they mentioned earlier was actually written by a priest of Ignatius. "It does paint the picture, obviously, in a more positive way, but it still comes across as an unrelenting wave where everyone is turned to Ash Spawn"

The priest laments that the book is not around for him to read but says, "Let's say that was true. He still made Ash Spawn, did he not? So, say he made the bunch of us into Ash Spawn. Sure, we'd come on and do what he wills, but once he's gone, once he's done with it, are we not immortal? Are we not immortal beings allowed to wander and do as we will?"

Upon hearing this, Korrigan walks out of the building. The priest muttered about how some people can't handle the truth. Halfbie asked the priest how he knew being part of the Ash Spawn wouldn't be agony. The priest counted buy asking "how do we know life right now isn't agony"

Halfbnie shot back, "Oh, we know that life can be agony, but it's all the time. If being Ash Spawn is agony, then we would be in pain forever and immortals. "

The priest conceded that he would never know any of this, but it was something he hadn't considered, and he thanked them for the interesting conversation. Halfbiue explained that they didn't mind what people did in their own time and weren't here to judge, so they also enjoyed the conversation.

The priest changed the subject to food, stating that when new slaves are brought, the church offers them extra rations. Due to the lack of food in Siltwater Slums, this is only a one-time thing, so they shouldn't get used to it. The priest then handed them two radishes, some cabbage, and a few leeks. This should make the first few meals a bit nicer for you," he said with a smile. Mordecai thanked the priest before grabbing the food.

"I'll see you again, my children. Thank you for a talk. It was very enlightening," the priest said with a friendly wave.

Halfbie returned the wave, but halfway through, their eyes switched from their usual kind to one filled with hatred. It was only a moment, but Mordecai caught the change.

Mordecai joined Korrigan outside, leaning against the wall and taking everything in. Mordecai casually asked how much Korrigan remembered from their time here. Without meeting Mordecai's gaze, he replied, "I remember being born here. I remember my name not being Kal. My name was K-A-1. That's the name they gave me. So, you know, my dad shortened it to Kal. Or made it into Kal. I am supposed to be a miner. That didn't work out. I was allergic to something in the mine and something in my father's forge. So I was trained to be a hunter. And then things get fuzzy after my 18th birthday."

He explained that he and his friend did everything they could to try to change things. They wrote pleas to the king, a book, and everything else. They even sent a petition to half the people in Siltwater Slums, saying they would stay if they were given freedom and a small wage. As Korrigan recounted the memory, Mordecai stepped in front of Korrigan and looked at him with a look of seriousness and certainty that Korrigan had never seen before.

"We're going to get through this. I think of you as my brother." Said Mordecai, his hand resting reassuringly on Korrigan's shoulders, "If it means burning this place to the fucking ground, I would become a monster so that you can be free."

Korrigan steeled himself, memories of people fighting flashed through his head as he said, "I think... its time we go see my old home"

Trivia & Notes

• When trying to figure out Genevieve †'s lover, Rowan Hales and Sam Gallon assumed she was a lesbian, unfortunately Mordecai rolled a 12 so we are unsure if this is canon or not.
• The face that Halfbie conjures is a part of their new Manifest Mind feature. They can share their sense with it and even cat spells through it. The face is Professor Varitan Leotoris †.

Footnotes