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 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.

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…

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…

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 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"

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Mechanical Notes:
Loot happens
Level 2!