Y'so's Adventurers

 DM Note: Phil had to bow out due to work but asked the group to play anyway, with the DM running [[Ardour]] as a "battle bot". So, Phil's character was present for combat but otherwise uninvolved. The group continued on, passing through ranch country. 2nd DM note: I had intended for this to take a couple of days, but they were on the road and I forgot to mention it. Which probably has a lot to do with why they didn't end up interacting with any of the ranch people I had been thinking about. Oh well. Getting into the foothills of the mountains, they noted a very contained set of stormclouds. Early spring, storms are not unusual in the moutains, but the sky was otherwise clear. [[Lorrin]] recognized this as a sign of a dragon lair. Once under cover of the stormclouds, the group was attacked by an entity formed of dust and air. Having defeated it, [[Camillune]] said that they should expect others. Far ahead, they saw bonfire smoke and she began rushing in that direction...

 The group ([[Ardour]], [[Camillune]], [[Kaupu]], [[Lorrin]], [[Lotte]], and [[Peltogyne]]) continue toward the mountains. [[Lorrin]] says the next town is [[Riverside]] and that it's an intermittent market. On the way, they pass farmland, but don't stop. I creeped them out with a children of the corn reference. The introduction I wrote for [[Riverside]] goes: Here the river, still on your left,  widens and slows and makes a gentle curve to the right, framing the back edge of what would normally be a small town. But sprung up around the wooden structures of the town proper is a veritable metropolis of all kinds of tents and temporary structures. Thus far you've not seen any merchants or traders on the roads, but clearly this is the start of the time of year that merchants are much more commonly found. From here, you can see tents and wagons, with an area full of bailed goods near the river on the far left of the city,  and corrals full of animals of all kinds on the far r...

 On the way, the group followed [[Kaupu]] and [[Lotte]] just to the side of the trail. They spotted a pit trap and decided to go around rather than exploring. They came to an area that was thoroughly trapped with snares. In addition [[Lotte]] spotted a hiding place and they assumed that there was more hiding spots that were almost certainly occupied.  [[Camillune]] decided that the approach was to call out. When that didn't work, she set off a snare (there was a bell attached as an alarm). and when that didn't work the group decided to press on. [[Camillune]] set off all the traps she could find on the way. Not much further along, they came to a swift flowing stream that couldn't be easily crossed. However, there was a tree that had been felled across the stream as a rudimentary bridge. [[Ardour]] decided to go first and realized that the bridge was a no magic area. He decided to brave the crossing anyway. From the other side, a humanoid approached. He is a fairly good look...

 The group followed back to town. When they arrived, there was some discussion about getting cleaned up first so as to present better, but they decided to go back to the mayor immediately. Out front of the office were [[Melgash]] the fighter, [[Falimar]] the rogue, and [[Picti]] the sorcerer. Of course, none of these people had been introduced. As our heros arrived, the fighter ducked in to warn the others and then ducked back out. [[Camillune]] tried to be friendly, but it didn't seem like there was much interest in response, so the heroes went inside. Inside the office were [[Rouac]] the cleric, [[Ta'om]] the bard, and [[Theoc]] the artificer talking with Mayor [[Jerrell]]. On the desk in front of the mayor were a golden circlet and two bits of broken off "dragon" parts. [[Ta'om]] was explaining that their theory is that the heroes were using the control circlet for the dragon to try to blackmail towns into paying for protection. After some back and forth with b...

 So, to start with, 90% of this session was battle and I find battle recounting tedious. As such, I'll be glossing a little bit. A quick recap, and directly into battle. I have done a little homebrew with items, classes, and races, but never monsters. This was my first homebrew monster and I'm pretty pleased with how it went. I sort of smashed together a red dragon and a green dragon and then threw in some of my own ideas. The only "issue" is that I made the clockwork dragon immune to fire - without considering that one of my players exclusively does fire damage. Had I taken that into consideration I wouldn't have felt so bad about it, but crippling someone's character's abilities without thinking about it is sort of a jerk move. Nevertheless, he was cool about it and ended up crippling my dragon anyway, so it was a fair exchange. One of the things that I don't like about combat in 5e is that it's rather static and tedious. You hit me, I hit you, i...

 From [[Garth]]'s farm in [[6th session]], the group moves SE toward the mountains with the intention of helping the dragons.  There is three days of travel and the time is spent in this way. [[Ardour]] takes [[Friedel]] aside and discusses further magical education. [[Camillune]] attempts to find the supplies to make healing potions. As [[Lotte]] is concerned about getting potions, she helps with this. [[Kaupu]] explores the box a little further. After three days, [[Lorrin]] recognizes that they are going to arrive at [[Stillmouth]] soon. Before they get much further, they find that people are traveling toward them and away from [[Stillmouth]]. It's still early for trading, and these people appear to be fleeing. [[Lorrin]] stops a woman who tells them there is a monster in [[Stillmouth]]. She hasn't seen it and has no information, but is confident that it exists and fleeing before being devoured is the correct response. The next day they meet a bard named [[Jerryd]] Premo....

 The party comes over the top of a hill and are looking down on a farm, of sorts. The field, instead of being sown with crops appears to have lengths of ice between the plow furrows. There are flail snails being driven down the rows by a gauth and a spectator. Instead of a cabin or a house, there is a nearby cave entrance that appears to be the living quarters. The party has stopped just shy of where the antimagic begins to observe. After a little debate, they move down to speak to the... creatures. The gauth introduces himself as [[Garth]] and explains that it is his farm. He seems to be the major source of the antimagic field, as it grows stronger where he is looking. He says that the ice stuff is actually glass made by the snails that they harvest and turn into stained glass windows. He explains that normally they work at night, but there have been vermin recently who come at night and break up the glass. So they've been working during the day. Perhaps the party can help by disp...

 After very little tinkering, the puzzle on the door is quickly solved. The DM learned a lesson about dispensing info. When the puzzle is solved, the door swings open. The walls are still dark crystal, but the crystal can be seen to be fading to gray perhaps fifteen feet down the passageway. Beyond that, there's an intense light, like bright sun on a midsummer day. The ground is curiously flat. There's a layer of dust perhaps an inch thick, but the surface under that is completely flat like a stage. There's a sense of unreality to the surroundings and even to yourselves. There's a nervous tension in the air, like backstage on opening night of a play. The gray crystal walls fade further into white crystal, and then transluscent. By the time the passageway opens into a room, the transluscent crystal has got opague and reflective. There's no source to the light, but the mirror-like walls reflect the brightness so much that you have to squint. This room is empty. It...

 Starting from [[Mathema]], the group travels southwest back to [[Grund's Vale]]. As they haven't really done any exploring through the forests, they remain on the roads.  [[Friedel]] won't accept going back to his village, but that's not the destination anyway. Going to the gnome/goblin cave shouldn't take too long. Whoosh and his fellow goblin are guarding the trash pile island but won't challenge them as they're known. Of the two kings, only the pantless one is awake. He's very willing to take them at their word basically no matter what they say. He asks them about the stolen item. [[Camillune]] rolled an insight against everyone's deception. She spotted [[Kaupu]] but didn't pursue the matter. [[Kaupu]] successfully snuck the pole of expanding into [[Ardour]]'s bag. [[Cael Vista]] is open to them. The [[temple of Y'so]] is in the center of the city. It is on the crown of the hill that Cael Vista is on. The temple is a crystal edifice. ...