Editing 11/12/2023 -- Operation Regroup


* DATE: 14 Beocht 715AR
* We have a group of individuals on the brink
* The city of Tpres has burned, now Althara the Impure and her legions march across the Primordial Ring, the archfey and their Brigade assembled to defeat the ancient threat were broken, half escaped, other half became the Blossomed, twisted versions of themselves
* 21 days have passed, Primordial Ring needs heroes more than ever [...] now we find people trying to come to grips with their own failure, trying to pick up the pieces and figure out if they could muster the courage to be heroes once again
* We find one man [Marcus] trudging through dark forest and wilderness – Damon, black hair, red eyes, hood up, after the battle, he lost some loved ones, for the past 21 days he’s been trying to find food, turning/shapeshifting to hunt, looking for other survivors 
* Woods ahead begin to rustle, a figure emerges [Caleb] – A light green, near-teal tiefling, patches of darker green skin. He has deep green hair, about shoulder-length, intentionally messy. He has black sclera, with the only color in his eyes being a golden ring around his pupils, and wears simple obviously-mended clothing + an oversized duster jacket. Early-mid 30’s, with a wedding band on his left ring finger.
* The figure immediately raises his hands and declares himself friendly, introducing himself as Bloom, and after establishing they’re both from the Brigade, the two decide to head north in search of more survivors.
* [Failed phys checks] 1.5-2 hours pass, they’re startled by two figures emerging  – the first is a human male, mid 30’s, heavy armor with a spear at his side, drawn as he’s walking through [Ryan], he levels the spear at them
* Behind this individual, another emerges [Jamie] – Average height elf (5’11”), sharp features, dark hair cropped short, wearing long, dark religious vestments, a large greatsword strapped to his back, standing with an unpleasant expression
* The first individual is Andreas – Bloom and Damon introduce themselves, but Andreas doesn’t lower his spear until they say they’re with the Brigade
* Andreas says it’s good to see other survivors, introduces himself, and turns to the other individual – who introduces himself as Initiate Talisman, with the church of her lady Coronia [? Spelling]
* The four of them agree that there’s safety in numbers, and decide to travel together – as they decide to continue north, they hear a scream, and rush towards it
* [Brandon] A man, brown eyes, hair, beard, lumberjack-esque, seems petrified from being in contact with this creature, screaming his lungs out – Guy
* [Jonah] Fairly tall man, 6’, brown hairs, short-cut brown hair, greying brown mustache, tanned, weathered skin, late 50’s, wearing simple clothes like a farmer, holding a spear, cursing to himself – Thomas
* Strange creatures, covered in mossy, fungal growth, Blossomed zombies, inflicted by Van Rome Virus
* Combat starts!
* Though most of us aren’t great fighters, we manage to take out the Blossomed without significant casualties – Damon gets the first kill, Guy gets the second, and Talisman gets the last
** Notably, Talisman tries to subtly use pyromancy, but his magic fails. Bloom gets a brief insight into the weaknesses of the Blossomed [acid, fire, maybe lightning would probably be effectively against them, given their plantlike composition], but hasn’t shared that information yet.
* After the battle, the group decides to travel together, and Talisman defensively lays out that no, Talisman isn’t his given name, and yes, he’s an elf practicing high magic, to get usual questions out of the way – everyone’s chill about this, and he relaxes and asks where everyone is from.
** Bloom says he’s from here and there. Guy and Damon both grew up in the woods. Thomas lived on his farm for his whole life, until he joined the Brigade following the mess with the Van Rome Virus. Andreas was from Tpres, to which everyone gives their condolences. Talisman hails from the Prime Ring, and came here because he has a duty to help where he can. 
* Thomas also brings up that he’s looking for his son, Phillip [sic?] – he hasn’t seen him since the battle, but knows he made it across the river. Everyone says they haven’t seen him.
* Damon continues to lead the way, and Guy asks if he knows where he’s going – Damon says yes, but Guy gets the sense that Damon, while hiding it well, doesn’t know if he’s going the right way, or even if he’s keeping true north.
* Guy hears cursing to his 3 o’clock, and points it out to us – after some debate, we decide to sneak over to see what’s up, and find a woman with white hair, wearing blacksmith leathers and a hammer strapped across her back, pulling a rather large sack
* Bloom steps on a branch, and she turns – he apologizes for startling her, and everyone else steps out from the brush to speak to her, as well. She asks us to escort her back to camp, figuring we’re from the Brigade, but then realizes we’re stragglers – she gives us directions to the camp, and we help her take her sack [filled with rocks that have tin ore, as requested by Lady Cordell] back. She introduces herself as Marie Dumont.
* We crest a hill, and see a sprawling camp, with some soldiers out a few hundred feet to burn foliage. We go through the gate, and see a variety of people [satyrs, fairies, nymphs, humans, elves], along with children running around, and hear musicians playing. Almost normal, minus the amount of soldiers.
* Closer to center, less personal housing, more group lodging and tents, musicians giving performances, one tent people are excitedly running in and out from, some people walking out disappointed, lots of cheering. To the northwestern end we hear blacksmiths clanking.
* Marie says they’ve got food here, even their own tavern – the Bitter Swill, run by Castellian, a nice enough guy
* Archfey’s cabins in the center – three relatively small and modest log cabins, grass around them is a deeper more verdant green, many different flowers growing about the cabins. Marie says the Lady Cordell will want to see us, and approaches the centermost cabin – it has more roses growing around it, the very wood has thorns growing off of it. She says they move the cabins around – they can be folded and moved, and they’re a bit bigger on the inside.
* Marie warns us not to touch the thorns, they’re very sharp – Bloom asks if she’s speaking from experience, and she says yes; she was nervous when she got called to the cabin for the first time, and tripped, and it didn’t go well. She won’t make that mistake again. She turns very serious, and says she’s not prone to making mistakes. Her armor and weapons are the best there is in the camp.
** Guy says quality over quantity, and she fervently agrees.
* She takes us inside, and calls out for Lady Cordell – we hear a voice calling us into the study, and upon entering see a woman, larger in stature, more of a pale, porcelain skin, darker more watchful eyes. dressed in deeper, more verdant green. Her hair seems to be made of briars.
* She asks if Marie got the tin, and notes that Marie found stragglers – she quickly decides she’ll place in the Venerable Hounds, and asks our name. Upon hearing Talisman’s introduction, she asks if he has contact with his goddess, and says they’ll have to talk later.
* Guy asks if the VH are a combat group, and he pales when she says yes – but she continues that we all have to do our part, and because we’ve been given the gift of survival, we have to fight to keep it, and she’s sure we’re more than willing to sacrifice so others may have the same opportunity we had.
* She notes that Andreas has the build of a soldier – he says that’s been his profession all his life, and she’s pleased by this, and asks if he’s gotten a look at the camp. She then assigns him to watch the perimeter from 8pm-12pm, to which he salutes.
* She asks how old Thomas is, and he says 58. She says they don’t usually allow people so close to 60 to join, but have to press him into the service – she is apologetic about this. Thomas says it’s alright, but asks if she’s seen his son. She doesn’t know for sure, but says they’ll check around and let him know.
* After this, she tells us to follow her, and tells Marie to wait for her there. As she leaves, we realize she’s super fucking tall standing up (7-7.5ft tall), and Talisman feels a dripping primordial power in her aura – similar to his goddess, a font of magic, but while his goddess is  life-bringing, building, creation, Cordell is wild.
* She leads us back into the camp, and explains the camp is supported by several pillars – mechanically, we go over intel (intelligence on when/where threats are coming from – used to have a better to start in missions), supplies/resources (food, medicine, etc – notably, we need resources in order to heal health blocks), morale (used for recruitment, bad things happen in camp if we reach 0), pressure (how close the Impure are to overrunning camp – 1-5 avg, 10 not good, 10+ bad things will happen), time (need to be at Widowstone Keep by 30), etc.
** During all of this, she’s stressing a ''very'' strong desire to retake Tpres.
* She brings us to a board of notices/aid requests/etc., says that apart from our regular duties, she and her compatriots might require squads for assignments. She also mentions that the Rat Races have some kind of tournament going on, and that there’s a group of pipers taking the stage. Otherwise, she’ll send orders via attendants and couriers. She then tells us that the VH have an opening for tents in the south of the encampment, and that she’ll assign orders to us (minus Andreas) shortly.
* Andreas goes off on patrol, and Bloom pitches his tent and takes a nap.
* Damon goes off to look for his people, unsuccessful – decides to go a ways outside of camp at night. He changes form out there, and howls, hoping someone will recognize him. He’s heard by everyone in the encampment.
* Talisman finds Anahi in the medical tent, and they embrace, and spend a few hours catching up. 
* Thomas wanders around camp, asking if people have seen/heard of Phillip, gets a lot of sad faces and a drink or a pat on the shoulder, they’re giving condolences – they don’t know for sure he’s dead, they just assume he’s gone.
* Thomas’s forehead creases further, very determined, but eventually he has to go to bed, his old bones are tired.
* End the session here, level-up to 2!
** Next mission: Operation Blazing Citadel