Mini 14: The Horse Would Like to RAGE?! Report

General Summary

10th of Keltier 1524 Continued   The group works together to defeat the crystal elemental. Brienda and Nobu take a bit of a beating, overall they did well.   Isabella and Brienda are going to attempt to close the gate that had connected this place to the Shadow world. Meanwhile Galanith prays to Avani to protect them from the shadow world. Slowly, with Galanith's support, the pair is able to close to portal but Brienda quickly becomes unwell as a result. Nobu quickly comes over to tend to Brienda and help her however he can. They decide to stay and rest here for the night before heading back. This is to ensure it doesn't reopen or anything else happens to the mine. Isabelle notices some of the scales on her dragon egg has light up.   Galanith finds a carving that is now fractured in the crystal wall. There are symbols inside of a circle. Balthazar is unfamiliar with it. He tries to sketch it but really struggles with it. Nobu sketches the symbol so they can research it further at a later date. Balthazar tries to read the runes with a ritual casting of Comprehend Languages. He switches to ritually casting detect magic. Sadly doesn't work. Nobu attunes to the flametongue sword. Galanith walks the cavern to make sure there are no more dangers. She only finds evidence of the mining process.   Nobu, Brienda and Isabelle have a short rest and finish at 5pm. Afterwards they make camp and rest for the evening. Watches are taken in the following order: Nobu, Isabelle, Balthazar and Galanith.   11th of Keltier 1524   They got a peaceful night sleep and get up at 5am in order to start get moving. Brienda has a slight headache but is feeling a lot better. Isabelle shows her changed egg to Kaida.   At 6am they leave the cave and head back to town without any issues and arrive at 10am. They head straight to the Mayor's estate and have a meeting with Count Daeric. During this meeting they learn:

• The mine is two or three years old but has only been actively mined for the past 6 months since infrastructure had to be built within it first to ensure the safety of the miners.
• When they describe the knight's body, clothing and sigil to Daeric they learn that the man was one of their royal knights of the kingdom. He was the son of a noble in the Capital. The family might reward someone who brought new of their son's fate and the return of the ring.
• The Count will send people to check the mine and put the group up at an inn. In the morning if the report comes back as positive they will receive their reward.
• The Count is cautious of the idea that the mine was intentionally sabotaged. They have been having issues with another mining town recently and he suspects they might be involved. They are a silver mine. Knutesford is to the SE of Rotterham.
• Isabelle looks at the runes for the first time and sees that it is to do specifically with the vail and creating an opening.

Balthazar is allowed to stay at the library, Isabelle heads to the temple of Erik, Nobu, Galanith and Brienda head back to the inn.  

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Isabelle talks with the priest and fills him in on what happened in the mines. He is very curious and takes notes on this. He is a little worried about Brienda, Isabelle and the egg becoming shadow touched. Afterwards she meditates with the tree for a while.  

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Balthazar looks into arcane sigils to fix the lack of knowledge he had about the runes. The best he finds is a beginners guide for making runes. Much to his disappointment.  

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At the inn, Brienda learns that Galanith is older then Balthazar and finds this very confusing because he at least acts really old. They talk about how long it takes to become proficient with a bow and arrow, which is apparently years much to Brienda's disappointment. Nobu entertains Brienda with many games while they wait for their missing companions while Galanith makes use of the baths.  

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The group comes together for dinner. When they finish eating they receive a letter, telling them to meet at Count Daeric's estate in the morning for a meeting to receive payment as the mine has been confirmed to be in a good and clear state.   The group discusses leaving in the morning. They make sure that when they arrive at the capital that for now they will keep Brienda's identity a secret until they can confirm Brienda's lineage. Galanith reassures her that if anyone makes her uncomfortable, they will deal with them. Brienda is obviously very anxious about what comes next and after. Balthazar wants to send her back to Abburycott once this is all sorted so she can be home with her toys. Isabelle reassures her this is a long way off since nobility never moves quickly. Balthazar reminds her that her Uncle might even be still alive as they look into the cards they found.   Balthazar casts Detect Thoughts on Brienda to see she fears being abandoned. He tries to reassure her that they won't abandon her.   Nobu gets his handkerchief cleaned to get the blood out.   Afterwards the group heads to bed.   12th of Keltier 1524   The group has breakfast. Some has simple baked treats like cinnamon rolls and some have lobster and avocado on toast. Afterwards they head to the Mayor's office. The group is given:

• 1000 gold for taking care of the issue.
• 200 gold bonus for the mine not being damaged in the process.
• A letter about their deeds and it includes the family name of the knight who perished in the cave.

The group decide to get horses for the 25 miles between Rotterham and the Capital. The toy with the idea of renting but the stable only has horses for sale. They are 75 gold each though the party is warned to steer clear of the black horse at the back. On inspection, Balthazar can see the black horse is clearly the best horse in the whole stable. However, it is clearly unruly. Kicking things and staring him right in the eye as he comes over to inspect the horse.   Isabelle heads over to the horse and casts Goodberry to offer it to the horse as she also casts speak with animals. The horse accuses Isabelle of being a witch. He declares he is not an animal. Isabelle convinces the horse to trust the group in trying to help him when they can. The lays down some conditions:

• He will only carry a person and maybe a small dragon.
• There will be no bit or bridal or saddlebags.
• He will not eat grass or oats.
• If he feels like he is being mistreated he will kick and rip off your ear and add it to his collection.
• He will teach Isabelle the code of Morse to allow him to communicate more easily.

Isabelle buys this horse for 100 gold since he was being trained as a warhorse. In total the party spends 500 gold total on horses. The party splits the remainging gold so everyone gets 160 of their remaining reward. They leave town at 9am.   At 10am the party sees some wood elves setting traps in the forest. Balthazar notices they are traps for humans in the forest. Galanith speaks with them and learns they are hunting hunters who protected creatures in the area. The humans have not only been poaching but hunting the fey in the forest. After this brief chat, the party leaves the wood elves to their business.   At lunch the group takes a break and Balthazar remarks on Isabelle's control of the horse. This upsets the horse and Isabelle explains the situation to the group as they stop for lunch and has Balthazar identify the magical effects on the horse. When Balthazar respectfully explains what he is going to do to the horse, Brienda translates for the horse a threat if Balthazar does anything untoward. The group learns that Brienda can speak with animals and plants. She's not sure when it started. Before she went to sleep and after she got her necklace that she wears.   During the identification ritual Balthazar learns that this individual has been cursed to live as a horse. Through the process of Forced Reincarnation they became a horse. They remember who they were and have all their same abilities but have been forced into this new form. Their soul was transferred into this form as a mature horse.   Isabelle uses her magic to speak with the horse again while this is all being discussed. She learns:

• His name is Allag Southolt of the Southolt Clan.
• He has lived for longer then is natural for a horse.
• This happened because he would not allow the witch into the clan's stronghold.
• She wanted in and out of the rain. When turned away she turned them all into animals and sold them for coin.
• The stronghold was in the Blood Skull Baron mountain range which was dedicated to dragons.
• Allag wants to go back there to check on things. It is a sacred space that allows for magic to come into the plane and as a result needs to be protected.

After this discussion they agree to take a 40 minute break in order to identify Brienda's necklace and the three items they found in the cave that had yet to be identified. They are:

• Figure of Wonderous Power (Silver Raven)
• Potion of Healing
• Amulet of the Heir

Amulet of the Heir Warlock (Fey patron), requires attunement It’s an iron bound emerald with silver decoration and chains. Once the wearer is attuned the user gets:

• +1 to con modifier
• Cast Druid craft at will
• Cast Talk to animals and plants at will.

  At 1pm the group heads off once more. Nobu talks to Brienda about talking to his horse about making sure he's doing okay and not making the horses job harder then it needs to be. She reassures him he is doing good.   At 1:30pm the group comes upon a group of Orcs attacking a group of Firbolgs. The Firbolgs seem very badly hurt and are surrounded. The last of the firgbolgs that are trying to fight are being lassoed with ropes and being restrained. Isabelle pulls out her bow as the party readies themselves to help the group being attacked.   Nobu jumps over his horse with great skill, running towards the conflict while trying to gain insight into what is happening here. He gleams the happiness from some of the orcs as if pay day has arrived while others seem proud of the brutality on display from their group. The firbolgs seem scared, hurt and confused with a pleading behaviours to be left in peace. The Captain of the Orcs is eyeballing the group with a face that screams "this is just business" and is annoyed at the idea of someone interfering with their business.   Allag is very excited at the conflict and bolts forward with only the briefest warnings as he rushes himself and Isabelle straight towards the conflict. The horse becomes Enraged as he runs forward right up to the closest two orcs. Isabelle, not wanting to be so close to the fight, Misty Steps away before firing two arrows at the orc next to Allag and missing with one. Balthazar rides out wide off the trail and casts fireball at the orcs. This kills two and injuries their chief. Galanith fires three scorching rays at the chief and hits him all three times. Brienda tries to help with her magic but misses.   Javelins rain down on the party hitting Allag and Isabelle once. One almost hits Balthazar but he shields. The two orcs, and the chief who moves up, in direct combat with Allag attack him with their greataxes, hitting him three times. The chief's battle cry seems to embolden his group. Another moves up to attack Nobu directly and does indeed hit him with his axe as well.   The party continues to attack the orcs, but they are proving to be a persistent group. Hopefully they can make it through without Allag turning himself into horse meat.