The original Arvaarad dies, leaving the new Arvaarad (Blue) with a Mysterious Tome™. The party meets. Huzzah!

The party murder faces some rats.

The party murder faces some wolves. The smarter ones run like the bitches they (possibly) are.

The party murders some Vints (there was much Qunari rejoicing). Then we find the Plot(!) in letter form.

THE LETTER!

“Our Master is using the storm. Find the book. Search the wreckage.

~ Septimus"

Mechanical Notes:
Loot happens
Level 2!

We found Markarth. Huzzah!

Then we encountered the sub-mission: Pretty, pretty PCs! Silly Avvar does not understand courtly camouflage…

Seeking the Tevinter by means of the lyrium trade netted us a dwarf named Goram Ortan. He wanted us to do a little bit of Hidden Object in the Haunted Mansion {{Which I’m pretty sure is a Disney-produced smartphone game}}. True to form for a house owned by those with Nevarran blood, this house is populated with skeletons! One set of bone shards later, the party manages to find the box (with a Pentagast shield) and the ring (on the big nastier corpse thing that the party made double-dead).

After making the exchange, Goram sent the party on their way to Cumberland in Nevarra after rumors of a very large transaction of lyrium to the Tevinter…

The party is secured transport ‘for free’, which in Surface Dwarf apparently means ‘guards who aren’t being paid’. Everything goes well until the crew comes across a village which has been the victim of arsonists.

The bandits responsible apparently belong to the class of psycos who enjoy watching their handiwork…as the party stops to help put the fire out, the bandits pop up out of the crowd and begin to try and murderface the people ruining it. Sadly for the bandits, they are mere NPCs and are rapidly cut down by the slicy-dicy parts of the party.

In a rare instance of dividing the party being a successful gambit, the Saarebas managed to dig some poor fool (Malcolm) out of one of the burning buildings while the rest of the party is off murdering things. He is able to confirm that the bandits had singled him out as a former member of this caravan guard and were looking for something in this caravan in particular. This leads the party to decide the best defense is a good offense and go off tracking the bandits.

The bandits are shortly found. There are too many for an easy assault so the party returns to the preyed-upon town. The Orlesian uses Persuade: IT IS SUPER EFFECTIVE. With ten townsfolk as support, the party goes back to burn some tents, freak some horses, and otherwise cause massive chaos.

Unfortunately, while this was going on, a small handful of the bandits return. They slaughter a few people, including the Dwarven caravan leader, and steal the ring that had been found in the prior town. With a trail to follow and a sense that the ring is more important than previously assumed, the party prepares to go off in chase…

Following the ring thieves, the party stumbles across the body of a single Hurlock. Further bodies of horses lead to a cave. Instead of going in, the group instead elects to track down the trail of a single person who fled the cave. When the individual is found, the party learns that the ring was carried by a man named Matthew who had been consumed by Darkspawn.

The ring thief executed having suddenly and sadly died of bloodloss, the party elects to go onward toward Cumberland, leaving the ring behind with plans to send a letter to Goram with the map of the location.

Five days later, the party takes shelter in a small hamlet. While there, a pair of dragonlings decide to have mutton for supper. This proves to be an unfortunate last choice as the party merrily slaughters them and then loot their corpses for trophies and useful things.

Shortly thereafter the group reaches Cumberland and find that, a month from now, the Grand Tourney will take place. General consensus agrees that, barring urgent reasons to move on, the party will participate…

After finding lodgings, the party decides that funding is something they would like to secure. After being introduced to the novel concept of the Chantry board, they set off after a small troop of bandits. Soon they learn that smaller groups are more worrisome than the larger sort but are still successful.

To toast their victory, the party ventures to the realms of the higher society folk, enjoying their drinks in magically cooled glasses. Despite the best efforts of Lova to ensure otherwise, the party has a pleasant evening and leave without causing more of a fuss than Laurent can handle.

A meeting with Orta reveals a Lyrium exchange about to transpire. Blue, as the team scout, sets off to listen in. The transaction takes place between the Carta and a group of five Tevinter mages (plus Slaves) lead by a woman named Claudia. Six carts worth of lyrium are exchanged for a massive chest of gold.

The carts lead the party out of town and to a rather large camp of Tevinter. Blue manages to slip into the command tent unseen and hears someone tortured, with the unfortunate victim crying out for mercy from Lord Septimus.

Attempts were made to recruit the chantry. Perhaps because of Laurent’s tone, perhaps because there is a chantry informant, or perhaps because of pure bad luck, the lay brother refused to assist.

After Blue makes peaceful contact with some Tevinter soldiers, learning Claudia will compete in the Tournament, the party decides to try the Chantry board again to find a gainful way to pass the time. Finding the missing person is still in fact missing, they head into the poorer side of the Dwarven quarter and learn that a dwarven girl, Kenedra, has been kidnapped by other Dwarves.

Blue is able to learn from the local downtrodden the base of the gang in question, the Bleakwatch.

The players then lose the last of their attention span and thus ends the session.

Having learned the Bleakwatch is mostly full of elves, Blue goes to the local Alienage to learn what she can about the group. The locals are happy to share with a fellow elf that Shesella leads the group and that they have something to do with Lyrium. Also of interest is murmurs about something big about to happen involving a dwarf…..

Since the party has the information of forthcoming lyrium purchases, they set of with the intent to make an exchange (hopefully) of information for the captive. Unfortunately, a poor choice of words ends with the captive dead. Shesella, however, is perfectly happy to talk about the reason she’s vexed. Someone named Blane, a disgraced Chevallier, is involved in cutting the Bleakwatch out of the lyrium supply.

As plans are being made to give over the first location as a gesture of good faith, a lyrium-addicted former Templar busts rudely into the discussion. In an act of mercy/self-defense-/good PR, the party immediately springs into action to take the offender out.

Several days pass and the party meets with Shesella at the agreed location to hear how the raid had gone. They learn that things were a bit messy but productive. It is clear that Blane is the person to get to stop this all and so they gather the data they can about him. Shesalla is happy to reveal that Blane is often in the company of a Lady Sennova, a local noble. The good lady is planning a party and the group begins to plan a way to get Lawren, at least, invited…

The party, in an attempt to get invited to the party where Blane will be present, sets out back to the fancy bar. They listen carefully to the people there and identify the habits of one Jemimah Ropper, an Orlesian noblewoman. Lawren makes her acquaintance and, through the promise of three undisclosed favors, manages to procure three invitations.

Leaving a very upset Lova behind, the three who actually know how to dress up for parties head out. Things go well for the first few hours but then Lawren spies Blane heading out of the main ballroom. He follows him down, with Blue behind him, and finds Blane and three others. Lawren manages to survive the first rush and successfully retreats up the stairs, just in time for Cayda, who has heard Blue scream, to arrive and turn one of the guards chasing Lawren into a walking bomb. The door is slammed shut as an elven servant tries (and fails) to stealth stab the Saarebas. The elf is knocked out even as the poor fool behind the door explodes.

Miraculously, none of the other guests seem to note anything amiss. Through the artful use of the ‘My friend is drunk’ method, the three manage to depart with the servant in tow. Lawren, needing to change his clothes, returns to the inn only to find Lova (and Steve) gone. The Qunari, meanwhile, head off with the elf toward the abandoned warehouse from the lyrium observation prior…

The captive elf having given up nothing of use, the party soon returned their thoughts to competition in stead of the hunt for Lyrium.

The Grand Tourney proved too taxing for any but Lova, though in other events the party was more fortunate. Laren and Lova qualified well in the archer’s tourney and Blue qualified in the throwing tourney.

In the evening, Kal-Sharok arrives and there is almost a street brawl to rival West Side Story between them and Orzammar. Lord Lyulf Azaharg of Kal Sharok and his people demand the right to compete. In the ensuing hubub, Laren manages to stop most of the fighting while Blue urges those around her to allow the new arrivals to fight. This earns both Qunari the displeasure of Lord Quennar and Lord Kynrick of Orzammar but does earn the personal thanks of the rival leader.