Trying to do a game summary 2 months after running the game is not the smartest situation I’ve ever gotten myself into, but this is nevertheless where we find ourself, Dear Reader.
Straight On till Dawn Game summary
The party for this adventure was:
- Halfhitch Strake, Goliath Fighter/Barbarian, played by Sid
- Owl in the Morning, Tabaxi Rogue
- Cyran Demere, Halfling Blood Hunter
Couple others, but it’s been a while and I can’t remember. Sigh.
The characters are adventurers who are currently in the city of Cordonis. They have each registered at Markhiv’s Post, an establishment that organises caravan guards and general security work. Markhiv informs them that a couple of priests from the Temple of the Dawn (a shrine to Dallgrim) are looking for an escort for for a journey to and from Dawnstone Hall, far to the southeast at the borders of the Pale Waste. The assignment will be a week’s travel to Dawnstone Hall and a week’s travel back, with each party member being paid the standard guild rate of 10GP per day.
Plot progression
The party is immediately suspicious that not all is as it seems, but take the job. They report to the Temple of the Dawn in Cordonis, while keeping a keen eye out for anything suspicious or anyone following them. They meet their employers - Varthey, an old dragonborn priest and Osha, a young acolyte. They are both priests of Dallgrim, and are traveling to Dawnstone Hall to attend the annual Dawnstone Council, which is a gathering of priests of Dallgrim from around Loorou.
The party wait for the priests to gather their belongings - a horsedrawn cart, carrying a heavy chest, and head out of Cordonis. At the gates of Cordonis, the party perceives that one of the gate guards is paying particular attention to the party. However, on being confronted, the guard denies any interest in the party and the party decides to carry on, rather than make a scene.
During the first evening’s rest, the party waits for Varthey to fall asleep and engages Osha in conversation. They discover that Osha has only recently been assigned to this Dawnstone Temple. They learn that apart from acting as the priesthood of Dallgrim, priests of Temples of the Dawn are also called upon quite regularly to adjudicate disputes, although these are usually family matters or matters of ethics and honour rather than more worldly matters that go to the Duke’s courts. Decisions made by Temples of the Dawn are usually written down in ledgers that are then transported to Dawnstone Hall to be compiled into the Books of Yff. The chest on the wagon contains these ledgers. Osha has also discovered that Varthey has not attended the Dawnstone Council for a few years now. On further questioning by the party, she tells them that over that period, there seem to have been multiple disputes between two prominent Cordonian trading houses - House Rinnaka and House Onath - that have been adjudicated by Varthey. This is extremely unusual - normally disputes of this nature would be taken before the Duke’s courts, and not the Temple of the Dawn. During the course of the night, the party also perceives a party of riders moving past them at a distance.
On the next day, as the party is passing through a vineyard, they are ambushed by cloaked and hooded figures. During the course of the fighting, Varthey falls off the wagon (the party do not realise that he is trying to escape in the confusion). The party are able to defeat their ambushers and capture one of them, who reveals that they were in the employ of House Rinnaka and were tasked with stopping the party and stealing or destroying the contents of the chest. At this point, Varthey once again tries to escape, but is captured by the party.
Osha immediately takes charge and offers to double the party’s pay if they take Varthey into custody and deliver him and the ambusher to Dawnstone Hall to face justice. The party agrees, and delivers Varthey and the ambusher to Dawnstone Hall, where the Dawnstole Council tries Varthey and finds that he has been accepting money from House Rinnaka to favour them in their disputes with House Onath. They are paid for their trouble.
NPCs
Varthey
Varthey is an old male Dragonborn, who was a priest of Dallgrim. He was however discovered to be corrupt and has been punished by the Dawnstone Council.
Osha
Osha is a young priest of Dallgrim who, due to the events of this one-shot, is now in charge of the Dawnstone Temple in Cordonis.
Lore/Locations
Priesthood of Dallgrim
The party learnt some of the lore of the Priesthood of Dallgrim, their role in the society of Cordonis, and Loorou at large.
Cordonian Trading Houses - Rinnaka and Onath
The party learnt in passing of two Cordonian trading Houses - Rinnaka and Onath, who are traditional rivals. House Rinnaka appears to not be above bribery and murder to get an advantage over House Onath.
End State
+280gp to each party member, paid by the Dawnstone Council. The party members have also earned the favour and regard of the Priesthood of Dallgrim but may have earned the disfavour of House Rinnaka.