MargardKazuki/SessionSix

Descending Wood

Kira hears word of an old, abandoned military outpost that has been taken over by goblins, foot soldiers of the Raksasha. They have apparently been stealing away gravediggers from local town(s), and she wants to investigate further.

Fort Altwald - Under the command of Baron Keld. History says the fort fell to fear of the Marumus Fell legions - the Baron fled in cowardice, and undead armies were able to take over. When the fort was liberated, the Baron was executed by a young captain of the Cheraki Legion: Captain Havelock.

If there is any Raksasha that claims that region as part of its domain, it is Lumizent, Fairy Queen of the Winter People.

Sexton is one of the villages that is said to be missing gravediggers.

When the party arrives in Sexton two days later, Judas goes goes to try to find information from a tavern; Kira, Ranka, and Jahanna goes to pay the Yarl a visit; and Kazuki stays behind to take care of everyone's things. Mizugami returns to the Yarl to clarify a few things.

Ranka talks to the innkeeper at the GUild in and learns about shaman who have taken over a temple in the mountains to the north.

Judas learns that the rumors of goblins are untrue and that the actual culprits are bandits hiding in the mountains to the north. Recently, the bandits raided a farmhouse and took the young. He returns to the inn where he and Kazuki wait for the others.

Kira speaks with the scribe at the Yarl's administrative building. She is not used to standard bureaucratic rigamarole and bribes the scribe to let them speak with the Yarl right away. The Yarl recognizes Jahanna and gives information about the witness who saw the abduction and a little bit of backstory about what happened with the gravediggers.

The group visits the witness first. He tells an accurate story, but Ranka notices something wrong with his description and realizes he's talking about summoned ice elementals rather than goblins. The group realizes that what Judas learned of the bandits, what Ranka learned from the innkeeper, and what the party knows of what happened to the gravediggers may all be related.

They pay the graveyard a visit and sees that their homes were ransacked.

They go to the farmhouse where the young people were taken and learned that 10 men had rode in; the son tried to confront them and died. They took the son's wife and children. The head of the house was badly beaten. He makes mention that icewalker barbarians may have been involved. Two male slaves were also killed and one female slave was taken.

The group decides to head into the mountains to investigate the temple and the reports of shaman and barbarians in the area. En route, Jahanna's horse slips and falls and it has to be put down.

They make camp for the night where Kira spots a scout spying on the group; Kira fires off a shot while Jahanna wakes the rest of the group. Kazuki and Kira chase after him and Kira finishes the scout -- an icewalker barbarian -- off with a second arrow. The body is dumped down the mountain and the group returns to camp.

In the morning, the group follows the best possible path that the scout had been taken and discovers a demense in the area when Kira becomes disoriented and cannot navigate properly. A Icewalker lookout post with a wolf is stationed at the mouth of a cave.

Mizugami convinces the group to back off and call in a group of the Dragon Legion to take care of the issue. A Talon of troops is sent out and the group maintains a watch over the cave. Mizugami manages to keep Jahanna from doing anything stupid with little more than a frown and a look.

In the morning, while Kira and Kazuki are on watch, they witness a Icewalker squad returning with a likely-unconscious Habib (Ranka's bodyguard). They have, however, taken one casualty and two of their numbers are wounded.

The Talon arrives the night of the second day after the message is first sent out. One of the two Dragonblooded with the Talon is Cathic Melaudus (who was sending infallable messengers back-and-forth with Ranka to update each other on status).

As the Talon approaches the cave mouth the guards are alerted by the noise and Mizugami and Jahanna leap into action. They jump the and prevent them from running into the cave. Jahanna is hurt, but they dispatch the guards just in time for the Talon to arrive. They storm the cave and very quickly overwhelm the remaining warriors and the 4 shaman.

Habib was found alive but in very bad shape. He had been tortured for information but never broke. None of the other hostages were found, but evidence of blood magic was discovered. The demense was already tapped and a hearthstone was forming, but it will be dismantled to be resynced into a manse.

Ascending Fire The month begins with two people getting messages from different sources. Mizugami gets a letter from Cynis Tenoba (The Dragon Lord). He learns that the Icewalkers were led to the site by a spirit wolf. They were building one end of a spirit gate so that "The Chosen Walker may return to the North." They were working with a Cheraki person named Amethyst Scholar. The Ice Walkers were happy to work with him since he seemed to be a strong ally to the spirit wolf. The Amethyst Scholar was the one who taught the shaman the sacrifice ritual to build the gate.

Virutous Cloud sends a message to Ranka. She has learned why the Icewalkers had acted. They were building the gate to bring Lucrecia back to them. She does not know the reasons, but there is an artifact known as the Stone Crown involved.

During Judas' training, Cynis Takgana and Chead make mention of a field trip that the class will be attending will interfere with his training. Chead will be going along with the class during the trip so that Judas can continue his training.

Margard Miyako approaches Kira one evening to ask some questions about house Mnemon since she is nearing graduation and she is weighing her options.

Mizugami invites all of the Dragonblooded students to watch the spirit lights. Quintero invites Jahanna to accompanying him. He tries his best to flirt non-egregiously with Jahanna. Kazuki doesn't help by continuing to encourage him.

Tevaned approaches Kazuki during the party and asks about the Idiots' training. He offers some alchemical concoctions that will help them whenever they find themselves in a situation where they might be forced to fight. Kazuki tells him that he will talk to the others about it and will let him know later.

Lasha approaches Ranka during the party and asks if Ranka has ever done much training with Incomparable Ebony Comet. Lasha recommends that she stay away from any offers of training with him.

Margard Moro approaches Kira during the party. She comments on how Kira always manages to drag her classmates along on adventure -- which she can totally get behind. She asks Kira what she is going to do when she graduates, like how to drag the rest of her class along. Moro wants to try to get Miyako and Reflections to join her in the future, but she is not sure how to accomplish that.

At one point during the month, Admiral Helkar visits the Palace of Len Occam looking for Judas. He invites Judas and a half-dozen of his captains to a pub-crawl.

End of Descending Wood Finally, two weeks before the end of the semester, Danic tells the class that they will be going on an extended trip to learn horsemanship. In two days, they will be going on a cross-country trip on horseback. They are asked which professors they want to bring along.

Mizugami suggests not bringing along the professors but getting a lesson and study plan.

Kazuki brings Hikaru and his Idiots along. The Idiots will be led along by Reflections while the rest of the group is training.

Chead will be coming along to train Judas while Haining will come along for Ranka's training.

Mizugami ensures that everyone sticks to their lessons during the trip -- especially the idiots.

The trip is fairly uneventful, but the students see a side of Danic they have never seen before. She isn't as heavily dressed and they finally see her pouch of Infinite Chakram. She not only teaches them horseriding, but he also teaches a little bit of survival skills as well.

Judas provides a menu for the Dragonblooded every night. The non-Dragonblooded get leftovers.

Judas' uncle questions some members of the group about their ambitions and motivations. Ranka seems like an ideal wife. Kazuki has so much potential. Mizugami reminds him of his brother.

Ascending Fire One month left of school.

One week into the final month, Saiki approaches with a new problem. A "machine" is producing snow goons that are wreaking havoc in the lower city.

The group goes down and has no real problem taking care of the problem. The Fire aspects are able to melt everything in their path while the artifact weapon wielders are able to turn them off with a touch. The group gets to the machine; Kazuki, Saiki and Judas use their weapons to pave a way for Kira to get to the machine to turn it off.

Kira sees that the machine can be moved and identifies the places to remove it from the wall. The students carry the generator back to campus.