Session 01: The Road to Blunderwatch

General Summary

Ox’s Journal Entry: Journey to Abizma

  Day 10.   The road to Abizma has been eventful—as it often is when traveling with a batch of new recruits. I took along Maggie, the Aasimar monk; Skreet, the spider-monkey Hadozi; Nesa, the fiery and overly chatty human noble barbarian; and Derrick, the human fighter so unremarkable he practically blends into the background. Well, except when he’s not.   We stayed at two inns: The Nooner and Thee Inn. Now, I’ve seen a lot of Thee Inns—they're everywhere on the routes to Thee City—but this one had its charms. Skreet didn’t even bother with the accommodations, sleeping outside most nights, either in the trees or perched on the wagon. Maggie? She’s... awkward. Like she’s spent her life expecting everyone to treat her like an angel and is baffled when they don’t. As for Derrick? He existed. Until he did something notable.   I had a feeling something was off about this trip. I caught glimpses of someone following us, which I shared with the recruits. Derrick—armed with his usual insight—suggested it might be a centaur. Turns out it was worse: Union Compliance Officers.   Arl and Carl, to be exact. Level 2 adventurers and turns out bullies with badges. They were tailing us, doing a shoddy job of it. Not surprising—they didn’t seem to care much for the Union handbook. Derrick, however, had read the handbook and carried a copy. He used it to call them out for breaking protocol. Instead of owning up, Arl and Carl bribed 'em to keep quiet. Pretty sure they still reported them, though. Rules are rules.   Turns out bees the size of Teefies (my dog) are an effective motivator for creative thinking. Derrick grew a whole patch of flowers to distract the swarm. I don’t know how—never thought the man had a spell in him. But he did, and it saved us from a complete honey-related disaster. Nesa didn’t help matters by swinging her axe at anything that buzzed too close. (She also yelled a lot. Loudly. Repeatedly. To the bees.)   The rest of the trip went relatively smoothly until the bees, and after that, a little mystery emerged. Someone tried to break into the cargo one night, aiming specifically for Thendra’s crates. Thendra, a merchant tiefling traveling with us, seemed innocent enough until the party discovered she was smuggling an unregistered cursed item. A nasty one too, bound for the Abizma Black Market. When confronted, she fled under the cover of darkness.   We reported her to the Union as well. Can’t let cursed items circulate freely. Dangerous stuff.   By the end, the honey I was transporting made it safely to the mead maker, so all was well as far as I’m concerned. But this lot? They’ve got potential—except maybe Derrick. Until he gets a little bit more experience under his belt.   – Ox